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“We can dispense with formalities, Ezio. This chat is purely off the record.”
“Okay.” He nodded, and Will motioned to the couches for them to sit at, moving over to them.
“About this morning… I wanted to apologize for walking in on you. It’s not a private room per se, but you weren’t exactly standing in the corridor either. You were entitled to expect that no one would interrupt you.”
A ghost of a smile tilted Ezio’s lips, but the sadness in them remained. “Thanks, William. I appreciate the sentiment, but you really don’t need to apologize. You’re right. I should have been more discreet.”
Will held up his hand to stop Ezio from continuing. “That’s not what I meant. I’m still struggling with last night; my brain doesn’t seem to be working. I was trying to say that I won’t share anything about you and the man you were with.”
“It’s all good, and I’m glad that Eddie is okay. He seems like a great guy.”
“He is.” Heat washed over Will’s face, and his smile turned goofy. When Ezio grinned back, Will looked away, pressing his hands to his cheeks to ward off the blush he knew was staining his skin red. “Okay, well, that was it. I just wanted to reassure you that I won’t be starting rumours. We’ve never spoken about whether you’re out at work, so I wanted to reassure you that no one will hear it from me if you prefer to keep your sexuality to yourself.”
“He’s a passenger,” Ezio blurted and squeezed his eyes closed, gritting his teeth.
“Oh,” Will stumbled, rendered speechless for a moment. “Wh….” He didn’t even know where to start. Will knew there were ethical issues with doctors dating patients, but it hadn’t appeared that the man was there for treatment. Was he visiting someone? Will remembered the curtain between the beds. The man had pushed through the door to the treatment room. Who had been on the other side of the curtain? Was it his child? Elderly parent? Will didn’t even want to know about the quagmire of ethical issues that Ezio was possibly skirting the line of, but there was one rule he was in clear breach of. “Ezio, you can’t date passengers. You know this. Every staff and crew member has it written into their contract. You can’t have any relationship with them other than a professional one. What I saw was… not professional.”
“I know.” He sighed and scrubbed his forehead. “I know. I don’t even know how it happened. One minute I went for a walk on deck to get some sun. The next he was there, and I was… hooked. He’s everything I ever wanted in a partner.”
Will pressed his fingers into his temples, a headache quickly building. This was the part of the job he hated. “I know I said that this conversation was off the record, but Ezio, I can’t ignore this. I don’t want to do anything, but I don’t have a choice.”
“I know.” Ezio nodded. “I get it. I’ve broken the rules, Captain. More than once.”
Will sat up straight. He thought he knew Ezio; this revelation wasn’t what he expected to hear. “More than once with the same passenger or on more than one occasion with different passengers?”
The horror on Ezio’s face said it all. “No. God no. One passenger only. And he was very definitely consenting.”
“Who was he visiting in the infirmary?”
“His daughter. She was dehydrated and fainted. I had her on an IV drip overnight to make sure she was okay in case they had a long trip home today.”
“So you met her father before she became your patient?”
Ezio paled. “Yes. But, Captain, I conducted myself ethically. I—”
“I’m not suggesting you engaged in anything unethical, but I needed to ask the question. This is a liability issue for the ship and for yourself. You could get into a world of hurt professionally if what went down ever gets back to the medical association, or even head office.”
Ezio nodded. “Yeah.” He sighed again. “When do you want me to finish up?”
“I’m not firing you, Ezio, because if I do, it needs to go on record, and I won’t do that to a friend. Can you resign? You can finish up at the end of your contract.” Will had asked him a question, but it was purely rhetorical. If Ezio didn’t resign, he would need to ensure head office didn’t renew his contract. Will pinched the bridge of his nose. “As captain, I need to tell you to keep your dick in your pants with the passengers until then. If it happens again…”
He nodded again, tight-lipped. “It won’t. Thank you,” he whispered after a moment. “I’ll submit the letter directly to Emira later today.” Ezio stood and held his hand out to Will, who took it and pulled him in for a hug. He clapped Ezio on the back and asked, “Did you get his number?”
Ezio shook his head sadly. “I didn’t want to overstep the boundaries by asking for it.”
Will’s mouth popped open in surprise, and a laugh broke free. “Um—”
“Yeah, I know. Stupid now that I think about it.”
“Sorry, mate. About everything.” Will walked him to the door and rested his hand on the knob.
“You’ve done me a solid, William. I appreciate it. It was my mistake that put me in this situation to begin with. But even though I’ve lost my job over it, I can’t count him as that.”
“I get it.” Will nodded and opened the door for Ezio, watching him walk away with a sadness that wasn’t entirely selfish. The doctor was damn good at his job, and they worked well together. His departure would be a loss for the Dreamcatcher. But his friend had just lost everything, and that hurt Will more.
nineteen
Eddie
