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I sigh and take my hair down from the ponytail. As I run my fingers through my hair, I try to convince myself that socializing with everyone won’t be that bad.
Except I know it will be that bad. They’re going to want to talk about their patients, and I need to get back to mine.
I rummage through the cabinet just to the right of the door, looking for a snack I can take with me. I find a protein bar in the back and stuff it in my pocket.
The scent of coffee fills the room, making my mouth water. The sooner I make the coffee and get out, the better.
Maybe I should call Brookes later.
Although things are good with us, I don’t know if he’s the person I should be calling when I lose a patient. I don’t know if things are good enough for him to be the person I lean on after a loss.
I sigh and roll my shoulders back, trying to ease some of the tension from my body. None of that matters right now. I can figure out what feels right in the moment. Right now, all I need is coffee and to get back to Joshua.
As I weave my way through a couple people, I catch a glimpse of Henry McAllister staring at me from his perch on one of the tables. He arches an eyebrow, his chin tilting upward.
He carries himself with the air of a king sitting court. The nurses and doctors gathering around him look completely enraptured with what he’s saying.
Dr. Reynolds grins over his shoulder at me. “Jessie, come over here for a moment. You have to hear what Henry is saying. Henry, this is Jessie Karlsson. She’s the emergency department’s star resident.”
My cheeks warm and I check my pager, hoping that someone needs help. At first, I was desperate to spend the last five minutes of my shift making a coffee. Now, all I want to do is get out of this room.
I want to go sit with Joshua and hold his hand while he dies. I want to be there with him, so he doesn’t have to pass alone.
Instead, I’m standing in a room of sharks, all of them looking at Henry McAllister like he holds a massive net of fish. If blood spills in this water, it’s game over.
Though Brookes doesn’t say much about his father, it’s clear that their relationship is less than stellar. Not that I’m surprised. I’ve run into Henry a couple times over the years at conferences and demonstrations. Even though I’ve only been sitting in the crowd while he was a presenter, I knew I wanted nothing to do with him.
Just like I want nothing to do with him right now.
The cruel glint in Henry’s eye doesn’t seem to be caught by anyone else as he turns his attention to me. “Ah, so you’re the woman my son could stand to learn a thing or two from. I hope you take him under your wing and teach him the proper way to do his job.”
All I see is red. I don’t know how a parent can sit in a room full of people and make a joke about their son. I don’t see how Henry can talk down about Brookes in front of all these people.
He’s making it seem like he doesn’t think his son is worthy of being a doctor.
With a dad like that, why would anyone ever want to talk about him?
My hands ball into fists. “I think your son is a good doctor. I don’t think there is anything I could give him that he would benefit from.”
The room falls silent. One of the men in the room scoffs. “I’m sure you give him a lot he benefits from, and not just a little intubation show either.”
The words are whispered, but in a room this silent, it feels like they’re screamed. My body burns with mortification as Henry’s gaze narrows. He looks me over, the corner of his mouth turning upward.
This can’t be happening right now. There’s no way this is happening right now.
More whispers erupt as people turn to look at me. I try to keep my cool, staring straight ahead like their words can’t get to me. They don’t know anything. Hell, whatever they think they do know is probably wrong.
Henry chuckles, that cold gaze still fixed on me. He clasps his hands together, clearing his throat and waiting for the room to fall silent again.
My heart pounds against my chest. If he says another horrible thing about his son, I’m going to put him in his place. Nobody deserves to have their father come to their place of work and talk about them that way.
No matter how difficult and strained the relationship is with my mom, I know she would never do that to me. She would never sit here and make me look incapable of doing my job in front of my peers.
“He was always easily distracted as a child,” Henry says, his tone low and slow as his gaze darts toward the door. He looks back at me, the corner of his mouth twitching. “It’s no surprise that he’s found another distraction here.”
“Excuse me?” I ask, my tone sharp as I cross my arms and glare at him. He might be able to get in Brookes’ head and under his skin, but he’s not my father. I have nothing to lose if I tell him exactly where to go.
Henry sits taller, grinning as he shrugs. “You heard me. I knew my son would find a distraction while he was here. I knew it would be less than a month before he fucked this up for himself.”
