Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
2
LUKE
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath when I see the state of my office. It’s a wreck. There are coffee mugs, half empty bottled waters, papers from notes I left for myself to take care of today, and who else knows what. There’s no end in sight. Tackling the mess will be my first order of business. We have nurses, medical assistants, receptionist, and administration assistants, but this isn’t part of their job, and with Lennie officially out on maternity leave, it means pulling up my shirt sleeves to get to work.
The only reason she ever helped in my office is because the woman couldn’t sit still. She’d come in here during her break, take a small nap on the couch nestled beneath the window, then wake up and pick up around my office.
“That bad?” I turn around to see my partner, Antonio Gallo. We both worked at the hospital today. His schedule consisted of surgeries, and I was in labor and delivery.
Lately, he’s been gone more than here, not that I begrudge him. His dad is getting up there in age, always in and out of the hospital for one thing or another. His folks need him. They’re close. They’re also Italian, which makes it a whole other level of how tight knit they are.
“Eh, transcriptions and cleaning up this mess. At least I’m done with rounds for the day. You?” I’ll probably be here another hour or so, get what I can done, and deal with the rest tomorrow before I start seeing patients in office.
“I’m out of here. All of mine were outpatient today except for one. Thought I’d be in and out, but it took longer, even doing it laparoscopically. Imaging didn’t show everything.” Gallo runs his hand down his face, the toll of the day hitting him all at once.
“Shit, hate when that happens,” I tell him, grabbing the empty bottles and cans to toss them in the trash. I’ll deal with the others once our conversation is through.
“Me, too. How much longer will you be here?” he asks. I already know where this is going, and I’m more than prepared. It’s not like I’ve made any plans. Asher is with Lennie, Trent has Kennedy and Briar, Johnny is more than likely at the club for a couple of hours before he’ll head home to be with Winnie and their son, Sebastian. Tysen is on a flight, and Maci is more than likely with him. There’s no telling what Jagger and Lyric are getting into. Our group is dropping like flies; not in a bad way, more in the way of settling down. As it is, the only single ones left are Jude, Crew, Matthew, and me. Though, I don’t think Matthew would take kindly if his housekeeper started dating any time soon.
“A while. You need me to check on your patient before heading out?” I may as well open up the conversation for it.
“If you don’t mind. The patient’s name is Shaelynn Parker. I’ll forward you her chart. As long as everything looks good tonight, I’ll swing by in the morning to do her discharge paperwork.” He’s heading to his parents’ this weekend, and there are only two more days left in the work week. It doesn’t much matter; one of us will be on call regarding our patients, and unless it’s labor and delivery, we’ll have one of the other doctors on rotation help out. We’ve made a few changes lately, that being one of them.
“Don’t come back around in the morning. I’ll call you in the morning to let you know what’s going on, and as long as everything’s good, we’ll send her home.” There’s no sense for him to come back in. He’ll never fucking leave, especially if another colleague sidetracks him.
“You sure? I know you’ve been picking up a lot of my slack. Fucking hate it, and I’m damn sorry.” Ah fuck, shit must have gotten worse, and Gallo hasn’t said anything about it.
“I’m positive. There’s no reason to apologize. This is life. We help where we can. You’d do the same. Go be with your parents, man. They need you. Take whatever time you need. We’ll figure it out, yeah?” He nods, breathing out a heavy sigh. Hopefully, it gives him some relief from the overwhelming pressure he’s under in his personal life.
“Thanks, appreciate it. I’ll let you get back to this and keep you posted about everything else.” We shake hands, and I pull him in for a quick, one-armed hug, clapping him on the back, before he heads out the door. I go about my task of tidying up my office, thankful for the attached bathroom so I can make quick work of emptying the bullshit I’ve let pile up. A few trips later, and I’ve got the place in a semi cleaner state. There are still piles here and there, a package from a patient, and then mail to open up.