“Normal! Like any workplace, hospital staff have group chats about everyone. The cute residents, the difficult doctors, the administrators who wear too much cologne and ask too many damn questions. You just happen to be the featured attraction.”
I groaned. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“No, but it should make you feel less singled out.” She took another sip of wine, still smiling. “So why was today strange?”
“I walked into the ICU and two nurses stopped talking mid-conversation. Another one blushed when I asked her a simple question about lab results. And all day, I felt like people were watching me. Like my every move is being reported somewhere.”
“You really had no idea people were paying attention to you like that?”
“None whatsoever. I thought I was just…you know. Part of the scenery. Just another doc putting people back together.”
“Cole Vaughn.” Harper leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “You’re a six foot two Black man who looks like he’s on break from the set of a soapy medical drama. You do not blend in. You’re the opposite of blending in. People notice you.”
I stared at her for a beat. “You think I look like I belong on TV?”
She didn’t blink. “Don’t pretend to be modest. You know you’re fine as fuck.”
My brows shot up. “I do?”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Well, now you’re just fishing for compliments.”
“Thank you. I’m not, though. I genuinely had no idea anyone was paying attention to me like that.”
I picked up my wine glass, and for a moment, it was something to hold onto while I sorted out what she’d just said. “I always figured the safest way to survive in a hospital was to be just visible enough. Keep your head down, do good work, don’t invite attention. If you do that, people leave you alone.”
“Well, welcome to being objectified. How is it going for you?”
“Not good. I spent all day side-eyeing every person who looked at me. It was exhausting.”
“Welcome to being a woman in literally any professional environment.”
“It’s that bad for you?”
“Being watched?” Harper took a slow sip of her wine. “Oh, yeah. But I figured out a long time ago how to tune it out and do my job. You get used to it after a while.”
I shook my head, pulling a face. “I don’t want to get used to it. I hate feeling like I’m a bug under a microscope, every move picked apart.”
“Then you picked the wrong profession,” she said. “Hospitals are fishbowls. Everyone watches everyone. The nurses watch the doctors. The doctors watch the residents and interns. Administration watches all of us, and Legal watches Admin and lord knows who’s watching Legal. It’s just how it goes.”
I realized what she was saying. It was background noise, something you learned to ignore even if you never liked it.
Harper smiled. “In the meantime, you can console yourself with the knowledge that at least the nurses think you’re cute.”
“That’s not consolation, Harper.”
Our food arrived at the perfect time. Derek set the plates down, explained each dish in loving detail, asked if we needed anything else. We both said no and he disappeared again.
For a few minutes, there was just the sound of knives and forks, plates being scraped. The short rib was amazing. I barely had to touch it and it just fell apart. I ate slow for once, not like at the hospital where I shoveled something into my mouth between patients.
I glanced up and caught Harper with her eyes closed.
“How did I do picking out a place?” I asked. “Now I’m fishing for compliments.”
“Mmmmm. So good.” She opened her eyes and smiled at me. “This is delicious. This is my life now.”
“Just living at Provisions?”
“Showing up every night, ordering the scallops, dying happy.”
