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I glance over my shoulder to throw her a puzzled look. “Who?”
“Ellis,” she answers.
Right. She left after getting a call about her mother being in an accident and she’s been gone for two days. But she’s back already?
“None of my business, McMillan,” I say to my intern.
Ellis made it very clear that she wants nothing more to do with me.
“And none of yours.”
I try to continue walking down the corridor, but Laura stands in front of me.
“Wait. Did you two break up?”
“None of your business, McMillan,” I tell her.
Still, she keeps talking. “Does that mean I can interest you in a cup of coffee, Dr. Knight? Or a drink after work? Or…?”
I narrow my eyes at her in warning.
She purses her lips. “Right. I’ll shut up now.”
“Go get those lab results I asked for,” I tell her.
“Right away.”
She scurries off. I let out a sigh, which catches Tom’s attention as he comes out of the elevator.
“Tough morning?”
I turn to the tablet in my hand to update my charts. “Why do I have a feeling you’re about to make it tougher?”
“I’m not. I’m just going to ask you a question. A very simple question.”
I sit on the bench in front of the nurses’ station. Tom does the same.
“What did you do to Ellis Smithson?”
I look at him with creased eyebrows. “What?”
“And no, ‘none of your business’ isn’t going to cut it this time, because it is my business. When an intern’s mind is not on work, it is my business. I don’t want any more patients complaining about extra stitches.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t follow.”
He draws a deep breath. “Smithson is back at work, but her mind is elsewhere.”
“And you think it’s my fault?” I shake my head. “Wow. You really have so much faith in me these days.”
“I don’t want to fight, Rainier. I just want to know what’s troubling the best intern we have in this hospital.”
“Then why don’t you ask her?” I suggest. “You’re the Chief.”
“I tried. She wouldn’t tell me anything. She’s shutting me out.”
“Yeah. She’s good at that,” I mumble to myself.
Tom touches his chin. “If it’s not about you, then she must be upset about her mother.”
“You think? Of course it’s about her mother! Her mother had an accident.”
“Did she give you any details?”
“No.”
All Ellis told me after getting that phone call was that her mother had had an accident, and then she left my apartment in haste. Not that she wasn’t about to do that anyway.
“I need you to talk to her,” Tom tells me.
“What?”
“Ask her what happened to her mother. If it’s bad, we have to help her. We’re a family here at this hospital.”
“Why don’t you talk to her?” I ask him.
“Like I said, I tried.”
“Try harder. Or ask someone else. I thought you didn’t want me near her.”
“I didn’t want you jeopardizing her career,” Tom clarifies. “I didn’t say you couldn’t be her teacher or her friend.”
“Friend?”
The very same thing Ellis wanted us to be.
I snort. “No, thanks.”
“What’s up with you?” Tom gives me a puzzled look. “The last time we spoke, you didn’t want me coming between the two of you. Now, you’re avoiding her like the plague.”
“I’m not.”
He doesn’t hear me. “Did something happen? Did the two of you have a fight or something?”
“I’m not avoiding her,” I say firmly.
I just haven’t seen her. And I don’t want to, because I’ll just be reminded of what I can’t have.
“Sure?” Tom asks.
I sigh. “Fine, I’ll talk to her.”
“Good.” He pats my shoulder and stands up. “Nice talk, Dr. Knight.”
“You know I hate you.”
“I know.”
He walks off. I shake my head. Sometimes, I wonder if maybe I should have asked someone I didn’t know to help me run this hospital.
I finish my charts, then start walking around the hospital in search of Ellis. The sooner I can find what’s going on with her and report it to Tom, the better.
~
This time, I find Ellis inside the glass gazebo in the hospital grounds, a strange hiding place considering the snow is falling heavily again. I guess it’s better than the morgue, though. She’s sitting in one of the chairs with her legs up and her knees against her chest. With that sullen look on her face, she reminds me of a bird trapped in a cage.
I enter the gazebo. She looks up.
“You’re not planning on hanging out here until you get buried under the snow, are you?” I ask as I approach her.
Her blue eyes narrow. “What do you want?”
I return the look. “Is that the way to talk to your boss?”
Her eyebrows arch. “I’m sorry. I…”
“Just kidding.” I sit down. “Tom… Chief Gordon sent me to talk to you.”
“He did?”
“He’s wondering if he should ask you to take the day off before you practice your stitching on a patient again.”
Ellis slaps her forehead. “Nobody’s going to let me live that one down, are they?”
