I squeezed my eyes shut from behind my glasses. “I feel like if I died, it would take me a solid twenty-four hours to realize I’m in hell.”
Then I groaned, remembering. “And then there’s this asshole I’m working with, this new guy I can’t stand—”
“Oh? Who?” she asked, looking back at her phone, only sounding mildly interested.
“Dr. Maddox.” I made a face.
She paused and looked up at me over her screen. “Jacob Maddox?”
I rubbed my forehead tiredly. “Yeah. You know him?”
“Wonderful man,” she said matter-of-factly.
I froze and blinked at her. “I’m sorry—what?”
Her beeper started going off. “I know his mother,” she said, looking at her pager. “I’ve known the whole family for years. I have an emergency C-section, I need to run.” She got up.
“Wait. Are you sure we’re talking about the same Jacob?” I said, watching her grab her bag. “Brown reddish hair? Sort of yea high—”
“He was head of emergency medicine at Memorial West. He’s an excellent human being.”
I stared at her. An excellent—“Nobody likes him!”
She flung her bag over her shoulder. “Well, they’re wrong. Drinks later?”
“I can’t. But—”
“Text me when you’re free.”
She grabbed her coffee and I watched her walk off, high heels clicking. She dropped the cup into a trash can, turned a corner, and disappeared.
I sat there blinking after her from behind my glasses.
What the hell was that about?
She didn’t say anything nice about anyone, let alone men. An excellent human being? Gross.
Whatever.
I was too exhausted to even think on this. I had to broach the Mom/move-in subject with Benny today. Then if he said yes, I had to actually move him in, which I doubted he’d be able to help with in his state. I didn’t have time to ponder the benevolence of what’s-his-face.
I finished my coffee alone and then went to the locker room to get rid of the hoodie and glasses and change my tampon. I felt surly and extra grouchy, so when I got to the ER and saw Gloria standing by a patient room with Hector, peeking through a crack in the curtain, I came up behind them like a cranky old woman getting ready to chase people off her lawn. “What are you doing?” I grumbled.
“Shhhhhh,” Gloria whispered. “We’re watching.”
“Watching what?” I said, straining to look around them through the sliding glass door.
“Dr. Maddox,” she whispered.
I groaned. “Oh God, what has he done now?”
I hadn’t seen him for a few days since the supply closet Go Fuck Yourself. I think he was avoiding me.
Good.
Hector didn’t look away from the window. “This little girl came in with a dog bite and he’s sewing up her doll.”
I wrinkled my forehead. “He’s what?”
“Yeah. I was just in there. I guess the dog tore her doll and she was all freaking out and crying, and Dr. Maddox goes in there and starts talking all soft to her like, ‘Mija, let’s take care of your baby, okay?’ And then he gets his suture kit and starts working on the doll, while his resident started the kid’s stitches, so she wouldn’t notice it. Dios mío, I have never seen anything so sweet.” He turned to Gloria. “Do you think he’s single?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I also think he’s straight.”
Hector shook his head. “No. No way. I seen him at the Cockpit.”
“Where?” she asked.
He leaned to look around her into the room. “A gay bar in uptown. It was definitely him. I never forget a jawline like that.”
“Just because he was at a gay bar doesn’t mean he’s gay,” she said. “I heard he used to date some doctor at Memorial West. A woman,” she added. She nodded at me. “Come look.” She stepped aside so I could peer into the crack in the curtain.
I could see Dr. Maddox, the patient’s mom, a second-year resident, and Jocelyn in the room. Dr. Maddox had his back to us, sitting next to the gurney. His scrubs were hiked up and he was wearing colorful socks again, though I couldn’t make out the design from here.
He had the doll on a table, and he was stitching her up. The little girl couldn’t have been more than four or five. She wasn’t crying, she was distracted. He seemed to be telling her a story as he worked because she giggled. Even Jocelyn smiled, and she was one of his earliest and most dedicated haters.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” I muttered. “He’s not Satan after all.”
“What are you guys doing?”
We jumped at the voice. Zander was coming toward us from the double doors.
“Hey. Nothing,” I said, putting my back to the glass. “Just watching a procedure.”
Gloria and Hector took this as their moment to exit and left.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I came down to tell you, I’m releasing Benny today. He looks good. Ready to go.”
I immediately perked up. “Great!”
“So who are you watching?” He peered around me into the room. “Oh, Jacob.” He grinned when he saw what he was doing. “That son of a bitch, look at him in there. I always did like his bedside manner.”
I cocked my head. “You know him?”
He nodded. “Yeah. We were roommates for years. One of my best friends. Great guy.”
I made a face.
He eyed me. “What?”
“No, it’s just I keep hearing that today, but nobody here likes him much.”
He drew his brows down. “Jacob?”
“Yeah. He’s kind of a dick.”
Zander barked out a laugh so loud it surprised me. “Jacob is not a dick. That guy’s the nicest dude you’ll ever meet, trust me. He’d give you the shirt off his back.”
“Jacob,” I deadpanned, crossing my arms. “He’s totally rude.”
“If he’s coming off that way, he’s probably just nervous. He’s an introvert, kind of shy.” He looked at his watch. “Look, I gotta run.” He started jogging backward. “Hey, be nice to him, yeah? He’s one of the good ones.” He turned and jogged the rest of the way to the double doors.
I gawked after him. One of the good ones?
I’d known Zander for years. I not only respected him as a doctor, but I also trusted his judgment in general. I didn’t think he’d say that about anyone unless he believed it was true. I mean it wasn’t true, Jacob was definitely an ass. And he was in cahoots with Gibson for the chief position, which I was still pissed about. But I did believe that Zander believed Jacob was a nice guy.
And Jessica also believed Jacob was a nice guy…
Gibson must like him too.
Huh.
I looked back through the glass. Jacob was finishing the doll. He wiggled it in front of the little girl and then bopped her gently on the nose with it before handing it to her. She clutched it and beamed.
I felt my face soften.
I mean, he had brought me that warm washcloth that day in the supply closet. He could have just taken off, especially after I snapped at him in Benny’s room. And I never really apologized for running into him that day either. Now he was over here saving dolls from certain death…I guess he wasn’t all bad.