“Is there a third option that involves me being an interventional cardiologist and nothing else?”
She blows a raspberry. “You’re no fun.”
“Are we actually going to be able to pull this off?”
She must notice my uncertainty then, her amusement dissipating as she gives me a more serious expression. “I won’t screw things up, I promise.”
I think back to our conversation after we spoke to the board; she had promised something similar then, despite how remarkably easy the board had accepted our ruse. Almost as if they had just been desperate to not have to be put in the position to deal with the alternative. Her promises are unnecessary, I think, given that she could have told me to fuck off instead of agreeing to help me in the first place, but I can’t lie and say her dedication doesn’t put me at ease.
“Okay,” I say, taking her at her word. “When will I be expected to perform for your grandmother?”
“She wants me to bring you to dinner soon,” Mackenzie says with a grimace. “She’s wasting absolutely no time. I think I can hold her off for another week or so, at least. Hopefully that will give us a bit more time to prepare.”
I don’t tell her that I’m fairly certain that all the time in the world would not be enough to prepare us for this ridiculous situation, assuming it would be unhelpful.
“Do you work tomorrow?”
She nods. “Day shift. You?”
“I have two consultations in the morning and then a bypass at three.”
She bites her lip. “How long do you think it will take for the rest of the staff to hear about us?”
She doesn’t necessarily look worried when she asks, but I can tell that underneath her jokes and her quips, Mackenzie is at least considering what our lie will mean for our lives at the hospital. I can already imagine the rumor mill, an ER physician barely out of her residency being the secret mate of the biggest ass of Denver General （yes, I’m aware of my reputation）， the hottest gossip ever to circulate. It’s going to make for an interesting workday, that’s for sure. I can already feel my quiet existence slipping right through my fingers.
I chuff out a laugh, albeit a dry one, shaking my head. “Trust me,” I tell her. “They already know.”
5
Mackenzie
I have to admit, there had been a part of me that had actually believed that it wouldn’t be a big deal, this thing between Noah and me. My last few shifts have been so busy that I hadn’t taken the proper time to lift my head up and notice my coworkers being dodgy. Sure, I assumed the news would get out, but I don’t think I’d actually prepared myself for how interesting literally everyone would find it. I guess I underestimated how rarely this place gets fed good gossip. Our story might as well be blood in the water.
I can see it now in the furtive glances when I walk down the hall, hear it in the whispers that seem to stop as soon as I enter a room; hell, an RN I’ve never met before approached me in the break room only an hour after my shift had started to ask me if I was actually seeing Noah Taylor. I couldn’t exactly tell if she was envious of me or worried I was in a hostage situation. To be fair, either scenario is entirely within the realm of possibility. I mean, Noah might be surly, but he is arguably also very hot.
By lunchtime, I’m half considering taking my food into a bathroom stall to get a break from it all, but I reason that the best way to disperse the curiosity quickly is to face it head-on as if nothing is amiss. Parker sidestepped my invitation to eat with me in the hospital cafeteria, claiming he had a server issue he needed to work on, but I suspect he is punishing me for what he feels is a bad judgment call. He likes to pretend he’s my mother sometimes.
I find out quickly I hadn’t needed to look for a lunch date at all, having underestimated the number of people who would want to grill me about my new relationship status. Gossip, it seems, is an ample incentive for social interactions. I’ve barely had time to unwrap my plastic spoon and open my apple juice when a familiar face plops down into the seat across from the table.
“You have to tell me everything.”
I take a sip of my juice to give myself a moment to form an answer, noticing how excited my friend Priya looks and taking it as a bad sign. I have to remind myself that I cannot tell anyone else the truth, even if the other person is someone I like. Noah would be pissy as it is if he knew I told Parker.
I feign ignorance. “Sorry?”
“Don’t you dare.” Priya rolls her eyes, flicking her long, inky hair over one shoulder. “How could you not tell me?”