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There was a small but vocal contingent, led by the woman who had been in his bed every single night this week, that was adamantly opposed to the hospital being taken over by the private sector. They were also highly suspicious of anything the hospital’s administration endorsed. With good reason. Drew had encountered several stories of the administration reneging on promises they’d made in the past. It only made his job harder.
He never brought up the audit when he and London were away from the hospital, respecting her request to keep their personal and professional lives separate. But their professional encounters were about to become a lot more frequent.
Drew nervously tapped his pen against the edge of the table as he waited for the hospital personnel who had been selected to work more closely with Trident’s team to file out of the room. They’d chosen people from every area of the workforce, from janitorial staff and paraprofessionals, to nurse practitioners, phlebotomists, and surgeons. The plan was to have these well-respected staff members become ambassadors for the cost-cutting measures Trident would eventually recommend implementing.
London had missed the meeting, having been called in for an emergency hernia repair just prior to its start. It worked out perfectly as far as Drew was concerned. He’d suggested from the very beginning that they meet with her privately. He understood how influence worked; if London had been in the meeting with the rest of the staff, everyone would have waited for her reaction before deciding how they felt about Trident’s proposal.
London didn’t seem to recognize just how much power she wielded with the staff. It went deeper than normal admiration. She wasn’t afraid to buck the system on behalf of her colleagues and had earned their devotion in return.
London’s obliviousness to the clout she had here at the hospital was both surprising and refreshing, given the Texas-size ego she’d had fifteen years ago. She would walk into a room just knowing she was the smartest person there.
The thing is, when it came to London, she had the chops to back up all that arrogance. Because she usuallywasthe smartest person in the room. He’d told her at the reunion that she owed him for pushing her to do better when they were in high school, but it was the other way around. That big, beautiful brain of hers had fascinated him. He’d done all he could to impress her, busting his ass in every single subject his senior year to keep up with her.
Instead of being impressed, she’d labeled him a threat.
It never failed. She inevitably took the inverse position of what he was shooting for. Case in point, engaging in these impersonal, unemotional hookup sessions after work instead of taking the time to reconnect in a more meaningful way. He didn’t expect her to share her deepest, darkest secrets with him, but her ability to remain so detached after the hours they’d spent in bed this week had begun to grate on his nerves.
Although, despite her declaration that she wanted only sex from him and nothing more, Drew had persuaded her to at least have a drink and talk for a bit before they got undressed in the evenings. But it was mostly casual conversations about things happening in the world around them, nothing too personal. He’d learned that she hated discussing politics, even with people who shared her political views. And that she hadn’t seen a movie in a movie theater since the firstBlack Panther.
He’d also discovered she didn’t keep in touch with any of their former high school classmates, even though she’d remained in Austin. He hadn’t kept up with many of them because he’d known them only a short time, having transferred to Barbara Jordan High halfway through his junior year, but London had gone to school with most of their classmates for the entire four years.
She talked more about the two friends she’d met because of the guy who’d been dating all three of them. It was as if she were closer to people she’d known only a few months than those she’d gone through four years of high school with.
Maybe he should recruit her two friends to help convince her to work with Trident’s team. He was willing to try anything. Drew had no doubt that if news of Dr. Kelley sanctioning their audit hit the hospital grapevine, others would hop on board.
First, he had to ensure that shewason board. And having Frederick Coleman in the room probably wouldn’t help his case. Drew had heard rumors about the tension between the administrator and London. There was no love lost there.
“Dr. Coleman,” he said, striving for an air of perplexed concern. “I have a question about Dr. Kelley.”
“Ah, yes,” Coleman said. “The superstar darling of the pediatric unit.”
If the patronizing undertone of Coleman’s words hadn’t told him enough, the snide lift to the man’s lips sure had.
“She does seem to be well-liked among hospital personnel,” Drew said.
“She’s a bit too unorthodox for my taste—and too mouthy—but the staff listens to her. That’s why Doug—Dr. Renault—wants her on this team. I don’t think you’ve had the chance to meet Doug yet, have you?”
Drew shook his head.
“If you ask me, Doug is the one responsible for Dr. Kelley thinking she’s the best thing that ever happened to this hospital. He wined and dined her to get her to join our residency program, and now she thinks she walks on water.”
Drew was stunned that a man in Frederick Coleman’s position would discuss another colleague in such terms, and to someone he barely knew. If a member of his staff ever did something like that, Drew would immediately escort them out the door.
He still wasn’t clear on what the beef between London and Dr. Coleman was about, but he would be on her side even if he wasn’t having sex with her.
Shit. It just occurred to him that if shedidjoin his team, she may decide to end their little post-workday escapades altogether. Maybe she would see it as a conflict of interest, even though they both had the same goal—saving County.
The door to the conference room opened and a tall, slim Black man with a bald head and a white goatee walked in. London followed right behind him. They were both in their blue hospital scrubs and white coats.
“Ah, Doug. Glad you could make it.” Dr. Coleman gestured to the older man. “Dr. Douglas Renault, this is Drew Sullivan from Trident Health Management Systems. He’s the head of the consulting team.”
“Happy to finally meet you,” Dr. Renault said. “I was out much of last week in Sonoma, walking my youngest down the aisle.”
“That’s right,” Coleman said. “How did that go?”
“It was the wedding of her dreams,” Renault said. “That’s all that matters.” He looked at his watch. “I have a consult in another twenty minutes, so why don’t we get down to business.”
London had taken a seat next to Renault. Drew followed her eyes as she took in the room’s occupants. He noticed the barest hint of confusion, but she played it off well.
