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Dr. Donaldson’s smile disappeared and he nodded. “Yes, of course. Excellent thinking.”
We walked over to the meeting room, where Dr. Okafor and Davis awaited us with two men I didn’t know.
Davis made eye contact and the corner of his mouth turned up, and my stomach flipped in response. Stupid tailored suit. Stupid chemical impulses. Yes, Davis was the most attractive person I’d ever been in close quarters with, but did my ridiculous body have to continually forget the fact that he didn’t want to work with a woman on the task force?
I refocused my mind on our work. And definitely not the emails he’d sent or the way yesterday’s had made me laugh out loud with the gymnastics he’d performed to get ten words in a row that started with J.
I took the seat next to Davis at the conference table for the best view of Dr. Donaldson’s presentation. Before he could introduce himself, though, Dr. Okafor’s phone buzzed and she hurried out.
“Does she have patients?” I made the mistake of musing aloud.
“No, her Hot Pocket is done,” Davis murmured back. How were we sitting close enough to whisper?
I shot him a scowl. Surely he wasn’t disparaging the intelligence and professionalism of his boss. A woman. A woman of color, no less.
There it was, exactly what I’d been waiting for.
And as I’d feared, the memories of his other emails made being right bittersweet. I didn’t want to be right about Davis, or anyone who’d go to that much effort because he’d learned I liked language.
Davis simply rolled his eyes at my glower. “Her daughter is due to deliver her first grandbaby any day. She takes every call.”
Oh. Did that change the nature of his joke? I wasn’t sure.
I focused on Dr. Donaldson’s presentation on superbugs: the presentation we’d hoped to give at that San Francisco conference last month. When it was my turn to speak, adding the relevant points from our recent research, the Health Department officials barely took their eyes off Dr. Donaldson, except to scowl at me as if I’d interrupted. In my peripheral vision, I thought I saw Davis give a small, encouraging nod each time I spoke.
This man needed to get his misogyny straight. He was over here getting out-woman-hatered by these strangers. Hopefully I’d never have to work with them directly.
On the other hand, if I did, maybe they’d have to give me more respect.
Dr. Okafor hadn’t returned by the time Dr. Donaldson and I finished and joined the others at the table. After half a beat of silence, Davis turned to us. “Thank you, Dr. Donaldson and Dr. Croft.” He turned to the department dudes. “As you can see, they are the experts.” Davis addressed us again. “Dr. Croft, do you have any further recommendations for the Health Department?”
I blinked twice. I’d gone over the presentation with Dr. Donaldson before, but I’d been roped into this meeting at the last minute; it wasn’t as though I’d had time to prepare anything else.
He was putting me on the spot to make me look stupid and fail. Well, it was going to backfire on him, because even if he hadn’t looked at the city’s guidelines while we’d worked on the hospital’s and state’s, I had.
I recovered from my surprise and aimed a bright smile at the Philly Health Department officials. “I noticed that the city’s HAI plan is out of date, and several recommendations need to be updated to follow the CDC’s current guidelines. We’re working on revising the hospital’s protocols now, but coordinating with local officials is vital in a city with so many healthcare facilities.”
For the first time, the department dudes made eye contact with me, nodding sagely. “Thanks for bringing that to our attention,” one of them said. “We will definitely make that a priority.”
“Actually, considering our work with the task force for the state’s guidelines, maybe it would be better if we did,” I said.
The department dudes glanced at one another, doubtful.
“Excellent idea, Dr. Croft,” Davis said before they could object. “How soon do you need a draft?”
They set a deadline for next month, and Davis showed them out. He turned back at the last second to beam at me. Without thinking, I returned the smile. It didn’t feel false at all—it felt natural.
Davis’s witchcraft again.Iknew what he really thought of me; why was he treating me this way?
How wrong was it that I was upset someone was being nice to me?
I questioned myself the whole way back to our unit. Having found no answers, I couldn’t help but turn to Dr. Donaldson.
He was already looking at me—studying me, really. “It seems like you and Mr. Hardcastle are getting along.”
“Does it?” I guess it would look that way, but—
But what? There was no but. We had gotten along for a thirty-minute meeting.
