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“Thank you, Ollie,” I tell him when he is done with his presentation, forever grateful for the amount of effort he has put towards this. “This has cleared up so much for me. I have already had a few companies reach out to me for these sorts of sponsorships. I thought they were a scam; you know, like the Nigerian prince asking for money?” Oliver laughs at this, his dimples flashing, like little beacons of happiness. “So I ignored them. I will go back now and have a proper look.”
“You can send me through any offers and I can have a look through them.” Ever Mr Helpful.
As my lunch hour comes to an end, knowing the reaction I will get from Mr Toad Face if I am one minute late, I thank Oliver again and get to my feet, feeling my tail bone throbbing. Is a tail bone actually a bone that can break? I think to myself with some concern. I try to limp in as subtle a way as possible as I say goodbye to Oliver, feeling all warm and chocolaty gooey inside at the lengths he seems to be willing to go to make this a success for me. With each painful step I make towards the office, I am now more confident that I won’t have to work there for much longer.
CHAPTER 14
Lilly
The next day, after another eternity of eight hours at the office, I attempt to distract myself from any thoughts of both Oliver and the trepidation surrounding my upcoming date and decide to visit Amy at the hospital and take her some cake to brighten up her evening. I choose to bake her a carrot cake because, you know, it’s a hospital and carrots are healthy. I send a text to Amy to find out when she will have time for a break and make my way to the emergency room for an emergency catchup.
When I get there, I am struck, as I always am, by how frantic the place looks. Everyone is moving at pace, yet it all comes together like a well-choreographed dance. Amy’s face lights up when she spots me and the cake in my hand and motions me to the break room.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she calls out.
As I settle in one of the hard plastic chairs in the break room—they don’t look like this on Grey’s Anatomy—I scroll through my phone while I wait for her, hoping that maybe Grant has contacted me to cancel our upcoming date. It is not a good sign that I want the date to be over before it has even begun.
“Sorry about that, busy night tonight,” Amy says, out of breath, as she takes a seat across from me, reaching for the cake with eager hands.
“It’s carrot cake,” I tell her, sliding it across the table. “Vegetables are good for you,” I add with a smile.
Amy laughs as she takes a bite and groans. “Yes, the lemon cream cheese frosting tastes utterly healthy.”
Before she has finished her second bite, I rush to ask her, “Can a person break their tail bone?”
Amy pauses in the act of swallowing a huge mouthful of cake and gives me a smile that suggests she knows exactly why I am asking.
“Had a bit of trouble sitting in a chair recently?” she asks with a laugh.
“Shut up! It hurts,” I tell her, attempting discreetly to rub the bruise that has developed overnight.
“You should be fine. Let me know if it gets any worse.” She leans back with a sigh and rubs her tired eyes.
“Busy night?” I ask.
Amy nods. “It’s always busy here, but tonight has been manic. I think it must be a full moon or something. We are filled to the brim with lots of crazy cases.”
I lean forward, ready to hear all about it, and motion for her to tell me more.
“Well, the evening started off with a bang, literally, when a teenager came in having let off fireworks in his hands.” I wince and laugh at the same time. “And then there is the guy who was high on something and thought he could fly, so he jumped off his roof, wearing only a cape no less, and broke his leg. And then there were the thirteen geniuses from a local university party who came in with ‘food poisoning.’ Turns out, from what they were throwing up, they poisoned themselves with a lot of Jell-O shots and vodka.”
I laugh at her description and once again marvel at what Amy does on a daily basis.
“You are amazing, Amy,” I tell her, filled with quiet awe.
“Who’s amazing?” comes a deep masculine voice from behind us. “Are you talking about our Amy here?”
Amy stiffens in her seat, and I turn to see Dr McHottie make his way over to us.
“Don’t give her too many compliments. Her head is big enough already,” he finishes, patting her on the head and subtly stroking her hair, but he removes his hand when he sees me watching. Amy jerks her head away from him and mutters under her breath.
“And who do we have here?” Dr McHottie turns his attention to me, and I finally get a good look at him. Holy hotness, this guy is gorgeous. Like otherworldly gorgeous. No wonder he is causing Amy so much angst. I look up at his six-foot-plus frame and stare into his dark-blue eyes, taking in his high cheekbones, his chiselled jawline, and his salt-and-pepper hair. This guy is McDreamy and McSteamy combined.
“You must be Lilly. I am Lucas. I work with Amy,” he says with a slight accent (Italian?), reaching out to shake my hand with a genuine smile. Is that a gap between his front teeth? Oh no, Amy is a sucker for a front tooth gap.
Tongue-tied by what is in front of me, I nod dumbly.
“Hi!” I squeak at last.
