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Chapter 4
DRAKE
My shift in the ER passed quickly due to a larger than normal number of traumatic brain injuries.
A single accident led to two patients, each needing my skills to rule out anything more than a concussion. Some idiot decided to ride on a motorized skateboard without a helmet and was knocked down in a crosswalk by a pedestrian. The pedestrian was fine but the skateboarder was unconscious and had a real injury to his temporal lobe. Surgery to relieve pressure on the man's brain was necessary, which kept me busy for most of the evening and watching him overnight. The usual assortment of neuro cases rounded out the evening and by the time my shift was over, I barely realized twelve hours had passed.
Before I left, I checked over each of my patients from the previous night and spoke with the nurses on the neurosurgery ward to make sure things were under control.
Then I went to the staff room and had a shower at work instead of waiting until I got home. I wanted to be able to slip right into bed with Kate – and possibly with Sophia if she was in the bed with Kate – without running a shower or making any noise.
I took a clean set of scrubs I kept in my shared office space and went to the shower facilities set aside for staff and had a quick shower. After dropping off my dirty scrubs in the laundry, I popped into the staff room to grab one of the donuts I saw there during a break and ran into Clint Blackstone, a trauma surgeon, who worked the same shift as I did and who was in a tete a tete with one of the nursing staff.
"Hey, Drake," he said and waved me over. "Christy was just telling me that she knew your wife back in Manhattan before you two were divorced."
I glanced at the woman, but didn't recognize her. She was on the short side and a bit portly, with dark eyes and her brown hair pulled back in a bun. If she knew Maureen, she'd know all about our divorce and probably my sordid past in Manhattan.
"Hello," I said hesitantly. "I don't believe we've met."
Christy smiled at me – an obviously forced smile. "I worked with Maureen before you two split and I came out here just after your divorce. Maureen put in a good word for me and I've been here ever since."
"Good to meet you. Well, I'm off for two days," I said to Clint, "so I won't see you until next week."
"Have a good one," Clint said. "Remember that we're going to play a round of golf someday soon."
"It's on," I replied and pointed to him. "Next week."
"Sounds good."
I smiled and left the two of them in the staff lounge, wondering what stories Christy would tell. I could only imagine that her opinion of me would be bad.
I left the hospital and walked through the still-crowded ER parking lot of the staff section to my car. Before I could get inside, I heard footsteps and turned to see Christy walking briskly behind me. She was obviously trying to catch up to me.
"Oh, Drake," she said and was slightly out of breath when she reached my car. "I wanted you to know I hold no ill-will towards you over your and Maureen's divorce."
I frowned, and opened my door, surprised that she'd followed me all the way out like that.
"That's nice, Christy, but I don't know why you'd hold any ill-will towards me. It was Maureen who wanted the divorce because she was having an affair."
I raised my eyebrows, not really caring anymore about what she thought.
"That's not what she told me. She told me you were a control freak and that she had to get a restraining order," she responded tartly. "I also know all about your wife's unfortunate run in with your ex-submissive so..."
She let her voice trail off suggestively.
Damn... The last thing I needed was a busybody like Christy telling people all about my past.
"So?" I said. "What's your point? You know about my past."
I couldn't stop myself. She had a lot of nerve following me out into the parking lot to tell me she knew my private business.
"So, the point is that I know about your past and I wanted you to know that we have a policy of no fraternizing with the staff."
"I'm married. Happily."
"That's fine but there can be no missteps with any of the staff. I'm on the hospital's sexual harassment committee and I keep tabs on these things. That's all."
"What?" I could barely believe what she just said. "What the hell do you mean, you keep tabs on these things?"
