Free The Unexpected Crush, Book One (An Alpha Billionaire In Love BBW Romance) by Alexa Wilder Page B

Emergency Room. It felt like the other two ER interns, Kyle Martin and Julia Gimbal, took turns snickering about it over the course of the day. I tried to remind myself that they were probably jealous that I’d been chosen to help out in the surgery and were treating me accordingly.
    “Look on the bright side,” Julia said at one point with a fake smile, “you’ll probably never have to help out in surgery again.”
    We both knew that Julia would’ve killed for the opportunity to help in surgery, knowing how ambitious she was, but I chose not to point out that fact. Instead, I took comfort from the knowledge that she was obviously threatened by me.
    “We both know I had nothing to do with what happened,” I replied with a smile, channeling confidence I didn’t actually feel. “Dr. Taylor actually commended me on my performance.”
    With that, I turned and walked away, pretending like Julia and Kyle’s attitudes didn’t bother me. I watched them later, chatting casually with each other, and couldn’t help the pang of loneliness I felt.
    This has nothing to do with me personally , I kept repeating to myself. It’s not that I wanted to be included in their snarky little group, but having a friend would be nice. I couldn’t help but wish that Carrie had been a member of my intern group — how different things could have turned out if the had been. I made a mental note to ask her out for coffee soon.
    Things were getting back to normal by the end of the week — as normal as they could be in any Emergency Room, that is. The gossip had died down and, though I still wasn’t getting along great with the other interns, they were no longer being outright snarky to me.
    I’d also begun to accept the death I’d witnessed in the operating room as a learning experience — just part of the job. Theoretically, I had always known that patients sometimes died during surgeries, but now that knowledge was a little more first-hand. I decided to stop thinking about it and move on.
    That all changed, however, when I was called into the Department Chair’s office on Friday afternoon.
    “Kaia, welcome,” Dr. June Barns said as she ushered me into her office and motioned for me to sit.
    Dr. Barns was in her mid-forties, with short greying hair and wire-rimmed glasses. She had always been nice to me, yet I couldn’t help but find her intimidating. She’d been at St. Luke’s for decades and was one of the most respected doctors in the hospital — and in the field. Being able to work under her guidance was one of the reason I chose this hospital for my internship. Hesitantly, I took a seat across from her.
    “So, Kaia, why don’t you tell me about your experience helping out in surgery the other day,” Dr. Barns said once I was comfortable.
    I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I wasn’t sure what to say. Surely, I wasn’t in trouble, right?
    “I… I was there just to help. There isn’t much I can tell you, the other doctors would probably have more details. I was just holding the retractors. Then, when the patient began to crash, I switched positions with another attending, who helped attempt to get the situation under control.”
    “That’s what it says in the file here,” Dr. Barns pushed the folder across her desk towards me.
    I wasn’t sure what to do, so I remained quiet.
    “The reason I’ve asked you here,” Dr. Barns continued, “is because this case has been chosen for presentation at next month’s Morbidity and Mortality conference. Are you familiar with what that is?”
    “Yes,” I replied, relieved to finally discuss something I was comfortable with. “An M&M conference is a regular review of complications and errors made during the patient’s hospital stay. Cases are reviewed, system errors are identified, and ways of improving patient care are discussed.”
    “Well,” Dr. Barns said with a smile, “you sure have the textbook definition down. But that’s basically it.” She paused.