Dan’s head jerked back. “What?” he repeated, totally lost. “That guy is an asshole! And I wanted to tell him. He can’t talk to you like that. Especially because you’re a woman.”
Harper closed her eyes slowly, as though counting to ten, and let out a deep breath. Her coffee-black eyes flashed open and locked onto his.
“Dan, I appreciate you wanting to defend me, I really do. But you swooping in to save the day only works to discredit me further.”
“What? How?”
She licked her lips and sucked the bottom one between her teeth. “Men like him are a losing battle. They’re set in this archaic mindset that no amount of yelling or brute force can reason with. He looks at me and sees a small girl playing make-believe as a doctor. Men like him”—she pointed at the door—“decide from the moment women like me walk into the room, that we’re a threat to their outdated thinking and need to be put in our place. If I raged and yelled, it would solidify in his mind that women are too emotional to be taken seriously. Having someone like you fight my battles? It’s almost worse. It’s showing that I can’t handle myself. It’s like I’m a damsel in distress, and you’re the gorgeous hero who waltzes in to save the day and pull out the stupid tooth. It invalidates me even further in his eyes.”
“So you just pick and choose your battles? Even though that guy is completely off base and has no right to treat you like that?”
“It isn’t picking and choosing battles. It’s knowing how to fight them.”
“Has stuff like this happened before?” His brows furrowed even further. Harper looked at him like he was an innocent kitten.
“This happens all the time. Many men don’t trust women to work on them. They don’t believe we’re capable of skilled clinical work. Hell, many male faculty members have the same belief.”
“But that’s … stupid,” he said.
A warm smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. “I agree, but you going ham on some crotchety man won’t change centuries of chauvinism.”
She raised her hand, moving it like she was about to stroke his cheek, causing his skin to buzz in anticipation as it hovered between them. He saw the moment she became aware of the gesture and dropped it heavily to her side.
“You wait here,” she said. “I need to get Dr. Ren.” Dan nodded and watched her retreat down the hall.
He leaned against the wall, letting his head drop back with a thud. He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes and groaned quietly. Dammit, feelings are exhausting.
After a few minutes, Harper reappeared at the end of the hall, a tall, wiry woman walking with her.
“Dan, this is Dr. Ren, chair of the OMFS clinic,” Harper said when the women stopped at the door.
Dan shook the intimidating woman’s hand, her height allowing her to look down her angular nose at him. Her clothes were clean and tailored under the crisp lines of her white doctor’s coat. Everything about her was sharp.
Without a word, Dr. Ren rapped on the door, then entered.
Mr. Owen stewed in the chair, his face purple. Seeing that Harper’s direct supervisor was a woman, he shook his head and let out a grunt.
“Great,” he growled. “Another one. Is there a gentleman I can speak to?”
Dr. Ren’s eyes narrowed. “No. And hello to you as well. I’ve heard you are noncompliant with the surgery, yet unwilling to leave.” Her voice chilled the room. Even Mr. Owen cowed a bit.
But the bastard didn’t know when to stop. “Listen, lady, I just want a man to come in here and pull my goddamn tooth. I don’t understand why that’s so hard for everyone to get. Take one look at this girl and tell me she can handle it,” he said with a challenge.
All eyes turned to Harper, but she continued to stare at Mr. Owen, looking bored. Dan couldn’t help but smile.
Dr. Ren let out an exasperated breath. “I do not know why you think you’re entitled to disrupt my entire department with this inane request, but since you have removed me from issues that actually matter, let me make myself clear: Dr. Horowitz is a gifted student and her talents are wasted on this conversation. If you want to pick your surgeons based on prejudice, go to a private practice. Do not come to a teaching clinic and insult our students, and, in turn, insult me and my ability to mold incredible doctors regardless of their gender or any other qualifier you may possess. We have the right to refuse treatment to any patient who is insubordinate to the care of our clinicians. A security guard is waiting for you in the hall to escort you out. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know it’s a man.”