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Does her mother and her crazy roommate count? “Not recently.”
“Does she know you really care about her?”
Leaning back in my chair, I let my head lull backward. Visions of my hand slapping her perky little ass come to mind. “Probably not.”
“Well, I’d fix that. Because I can see you care. But women don’t like to have to question it. Especially if she’s into romance. They already set a high bar.”
Fuck.
* * *
“Dr. Weston?”
“Oh, thanks for coming by, Stu.” I wave him into my study. “Take a seat.”
“You said there was something you needed.”
“There are a couple of things, yes. I wanted to know if you have any more information on the Ashton situation.”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, she was let go from her float pool contract with St. Luke’s and their sister hospitals as of this week.”
Had Ashton actually been a hard-working nurse like her peers, I might’ve found a way to let Gianni handle her and the NDA she broke. From what Poppy shared, Katarina had overheard Ashton spreading rumors about me in the ER. In retrospect, she seemed to do more gossiping than patient care. It was Ashton divulging private information that caused them to sneak into the club that night. That alone was enough reason for me to want her out of our hospital. And the Devil’s Playground. But time was of the essence. We needed to contain her before any more derogatory information was leaked amongst the hospital staff.
Max, Becket, and Derek uncovered a fair amount of dissatisfaction with Ashton’s job performance from fellow nurses annoyed with her poor work ethic. Add to it, she had no problem blabbing that she made more money than her peers because she was part of the float pool. Float pool nurses are chosen because they have excellent clinical experience and are willing to work in whatever hospital or department has a need, versus being assigned to a permanent location. Questions started to arise about how Ashton, of all people, managed to land her job.
“So was there enough negative feedback received by the hospital that they were forced to terminate?”
He chuckles. “Not exactly. As it turns out, Ashton doesn’t know when to shut up. After all of our work trying to give the hospital cause to fire her, someone anonymously came forward saying they knew Ashton had been hired into the float pool after sucking off an administrator at a sister hospital with enough clout to make the transfer happen. This led to both of their dismissals.”
“Nice.” I chuckle.
Gianni had already assured me that not only was she persona non grata at DPG but that his legal team came after Ashton hard enough he didn’t suspect there’d be any further problem with her.
I take a deep breath. I cannot believe it’s come to this. “So, the second thing. It’s about Poppy. I haven’t seen her at work lately. And when I called the pharmacy, she wasn’t in. I know it’s farfetched, but I wanted to make sure you guys had seen her and everything was okay.” I almost roll my eyes at my damn self. I can’t stick security on her simply because she isn’t interested in spending time with me.
“Yeah, she hasn’t been at work all week.”
Alarmed, I sit up taller in my chair. “Is she sick?”
Stu gives me a look. “I’m not sure, boss. She spent the weekend with the couple she went to DPG with. There was another guy there too.”
“Must be that friend of Kat and Nick’s that got them into the club.”
“No. He was younger. Almost looked like he could’ve been her kid.”
Okay, now I’m really confused. Stu is top-notch at what he does. But I’m certain Poppy doesn’t have children.Aren’t I?I mean, she would’ve brought that up when I spoke about my girls. Right? “Poppy doesn’t have kids.”
“You’re right. Nothing I’ve researched says differently. But he appeared quite a bit younger.”
Reclining back in my chair, I cross my arms behind my head. “Have you seen her with him since that time?”
“No. But we haven’t seen much of her. I don’t think she’s left her house.”
Maybe sheissick. Part of me wants to go by and check on her. But how would I explain that I know she’s been home all week? Her not answering my calls wouldn’t explain that. And while she knows I have security watching her for protection, I don’t want her becoming irate when she discovers I’ve gone a step too far and used them to determine her whereabouts.
Hell, Jarod is right. I really do suck at relationships.
* * *
