And Call Me in the Morning (14 page)

“Come again? I thought I was Mr. Rough, Tough, and Ready to Rumble the way you see me.”

“You are. You talk with your machismo, not from here.” Taye tapped to the left of his breastbone. “It's a guy thing; I get it. We don't do the heavy emotional stuff. Which is why most of us get in the kind of trouble we do.”

Eli glared dourly at Taye. “You sure you're on track for internal medicine? I'd think again. It's like talking to Holly Junior here.”

“I've been considering that.”

Enough. Eli's natural rough good humor got the better of him. “There's no squashing you, is there?”

Taye grinned cheekily, with one cheek. Christ, as black and blue as he was, odds were good he'd
still
scare the patients. “Witness the proof. I get knocked down, I get up again.”

“You're young. Resiliency comes with the territory.”

“That's an excuse. But hey, this is me dropping it.” Taye held up his hands, palms out, just in time for their stop to be called over the train announcement system and the car to jerk to a halt. “If you ever want to pick it up again, you know how to reach me.”

“Unless you're being pasted to the floor of a bar or used as a homophobe's punching bag.”

“Like I said. Some things are worth it. I love Richie.” Taye raised one shoulder. “That's all there is to it. For me.”

“I thought this was you dropping it.” Eli made exaggerated jazz hands and nearly clipped an impatient passenger in the elbow.

“I think you know me better enough already not to believe that.”

Eli snorted. “Touché. Hey.” He stood and gave Taye a hand up. “I'm working on it. I'll work harder. Like you said. Worth it.”

Funny how Taye's pride extending his direction went a long way toward shoring up that good feeling and determination. “I have a pool table,” Eli blurted.

“Say again?”

Christ, he really was sorely out of practice at extending the offer of friendship, Zane excepted. Eli cleared his throat and tried again. “I have a pool table. First thing I bought for my place when I had a decent paycheck again.”

“I like a man who has his priorities straight.”

“Straight, hah. Anyway. You and Richie should come over some night, if you play.”

Eli knew Taye picked up right away on how rare that invitation was. “I'd be honored,” Taye said, offering Eli his hand to shake on it.

Eli did, quickly, then dealt out a firm nudge to get Taye moving off the train. “Shake a leg; we're going to be late.”

He trudged behind Taye, wincing out loud at the blast of cold air once off the train. It could have gone worse, that talk. Could have gone a hell of a lot better too. Wanting to say things, that was huge for Eli.

Not being able to get a word of any substance out, that was hugely worrying. Eli hadn't known it'd gotten this bad. Not that he planned to shout his business from the rooftops anytime soon, especially not after seeing Taye's colorful patchwork face, but…

What was this going to mean for Zane and him in the long run? Call him pessimistic if you would, but Eli doubted it'd mean anything good.

For all that, Eli
did
have a little extra spring in his step during the first couple of hours on the job. Fate smiled down upon them, one of those rare, golden moments in a hospitalist's life where patients were mostly cooperative, incoming cases weren't too rough, and he actually had time to toss back a cup of coffee and, once, make a bolt down to the cafeteria to grab some bagels and bananas for Zane's breakfast.

“I hear the two of you finally found your way together,” Holly remarked in passing when she found Eli in the doctor's lounge, making quick work of his own share of the food. She stole a bite of Eli's banana, pinched neatly off the end rather than bitten into. Dainty touch, grip like steel. Eli found himself fairly glad he was keeping other lengthy objects out of her reach.

“Who, me and Taye? He's a good kid.”

Holly smiled like the Madonna and bent to kiss Eli's cheek.

“What was that for?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said, rubbing a smudge of professionally understated gloss off his skin. “I'm proud of you.”

“Bah,” Eli grumbled, nudging her on her way. She laughed at him.

His encounter with Diana went better. She might be as loud and uninhibited as a motorcycle cavalcade, but you did know where you stood with Diana. “Gimme,” she said, grabbing his banana. The fruit, not anything else, but from the way her sharp teeth snapped deep and fast in the innocent flesh, Eli decided he was suddenly very glad he'd found and fallen for Zane and not her.

“Christ, it's like watching a piranha fall upon a cow carcass.”

Diana flipped him off and finished his banana. “Those bagels up for grabs too?”

“Hands off.” Eli guarded them. “They're for Zane. He's been awake since God knows when, and you know him. He's forgotten food exists, let alone that he needs it to survive.”

“True enough.” Diana still stole a bite and popped it in her mouth. “Don't glare at me. I'm a lady.”

“If you're a lady, I'm a Bengal tiger,” Eli informed her. He watched Diana lick her lips, idly noting that it did nothing for his libido—and mouthiness aside, Diana was indeed a fine-looking woman.

Huh. A thought came to him. If anyone in this place had her finger on all the pulses, it would be this firecracker eyeing his bagel with hungry intent.

He pushed the remnants of the food over to her. “For a price.”

“As long as it's not my firstborn, name it. No smart comments. I'm still fertile.”

Eli cringed.

“No better way to make any man cringe.” Diana snickered at him and bit into the bagel. “What did you want to know?”

What would be the harm in asking? “I've heard a buzz about a teaching position going at Duke University,” Eli said as casually as he could. “A couple of the doctors seem to be getting pretty worked up. What's it all about?”

Diana gave Eli a flat, level look and named a salary that would have made Eli choke on his bagel if he'd still been eating. “Jesus Christ. No kidding?”

“Nope. This is serious business. Not to mention a chance to get in on some cutting-edge research, serious grants, and relative peace and quiet in which to concentrate on medicine rather than dealing with HMO bullshit.” Diana sat back and shrugged. “You graduated from Duke, didn't you?”

“Guilty.”

“God, you must have hated it down there. If I cut you open you'd bleed pure Chicago.” Diana wrinkled her nose at him. “It'd be something, though, wouldn't it? To show them you could not only do it, but come back and kick their asses at it.”

She'd taken the words right out of Eli's head. Externally, he nodded and made a noncommittal noise. “Who's head of the search committee? Might be someone I know.”

Nice. Smooth. Eli patted himself on the back even while wondering what the hell he was doing.

“Umm…” Diana drummed the tabletop, lips together in a thoughtful moue. “Got it. Dr. Kazaran. I keep wanting to call him Dr. Kazoo.”

“You would.” Eli stood to rumple her hair.

Diana slapped him away. “I am not your kid sister. Do that again and you'll be pulling back nubs.” She blocked his path when he tried to dodge around her. “Hang on. Why did you want to know about Duke?”

“Idle curiosity.”

“Uh-huh.” Diana snorted. “Can I have the rest of your coffee?”

“Woman, anyone would think you hadn't eaten in days.”

“I'm a doctor. When do you think the last time I had to sit down to a proper meal was?”

“What about your date last night? Didn't you get to chow down then?”

Eli knew as soon as he'd asked that that hadn't been a wise question. Diana cackled wickedly at him. “No.” He walked away at speed. “No details about your sex life allowed within my hearing.”

“Your loss!” she called after him, already tonsil-deep in decent coffee. Eli struggled to keep a straight face until he'd made good his escape.

Dr. Kazaran. Eli knew the guy. Stuffed shirt on the surface, but if you surprised him with some ingenuity or a new take on an old problem, you were on your way to the top of his respect list. Eli had done that once or twice back in the day. Maybe more than a couple of times.

If he applied for the job and Kazaran remembered him…hell, he'd have a shot. More than. Eli hesitated in a juncture of hallways, one that could lead him back to the floor, one that could take him to an elevator down to the hospital library where he could do some more research, maybe fire off an e-mail to Kazaran.

Just to see if he would be considered good enough. That was all Eli wanted.

What could it hurt? Eli made the decision and headed library-ward, remembering a moment too late that he'd left Zane's breakfast behind to be seized upon by the ravening hordes. Damn.

* * * * *

Eli should have known better. After the brief lull of the early morning, the hospital piled it on in spades as payback. The five minutes he'd had to shoot a hasty e-mail Dr. Kazaran's way were the last he had to himself for most of the day. Four p.m. found him with a lunch of a power bar mostly a faded memory, a dangerous imbalance of blood in his caffeine stream, and a hell of a headache from losing a couple of hit-and-run victims.

In other words, not in the best frame of mind to tackle anything personal.

Still, the sight of Zane propped up against the wall beside an elevator, mostly asleep on his feet, made him brighten and turned his day a little better.

“There you are.”

As romantic greetings went Eli could have done better, but it was the thought that counted. Zane got that. His sleepy gray eyes popped open, and though bloodshot, they showed an immediate pleasure at seeing Eli.

He reached for Eli, though, and God help him, Eli didn't get a chance to think before his body stepped back for him out of reach.

Pleasure gave immediate way to irritation. “I have leprosy now? Thanks.”

Fuck. “I'm sorry.” Eli knew that wouldn't count for much. He tried to ease back in, finding his comfortable space, the one he'd been accustomed to back when everyone only thought they were schtupping each other instead of knocking boots in truth.

Zane didn't seem appeased. Rather he was on edge, and it looked like Eli had jarred loose a day's worth of building irritation.

“I'm trying,” Eli said, keeping it low. “You've got to give me time here.”

Zane snorted, then sighed. “Right. As you wish.”

Eli detected a note of sarcasm there but let it pass. Clearly treading lightly was the way to go. Problem there happened to be that Eli hadn't had such a marvelous day himself, and his own nerves were frayed. “Fuck it, Zane, I said I'm trying. What do you want from me?”

“What do I—” Zane snapped his mouth shut. “This isn't the place.”

“My original point.” The doctor and the friend in Eli assessed Zane's state of weariness that aggravated the man's temper and didn't like what they saw. “You've been running yourself ragged all day, haven't you?” He took a chance and laid his hand on Zane's arm, very close to the hand—though not too close—and whispered, “I missed you this morning.”

See? Trying.

Zane seemed to sense that. He relaxed a fraction. Unhappiness of a different sort replaced aggravation. “Yeah, for all the good it did me.”

Damn it. “No luck with the possible donor?”

“Nope. Apparently they've thrown in with PETA. Did you know that meat is murder and baby fish are actually better known as sea kittens?”

“They believe what they believe. Since when do you scoff at personal credos?”

“Since they'd rather drop half a mil on protest vigilantes than health care for people who have no fucking insurance, that's since when. Get off of me.” The elevator dinged.

“Christ, Zane.” Eli caught him again, truly worried now. “You keep losing your cool like this and you're going to rupture something.”

Zane ground his teeth audibly, counted to ten under his breath, but at least he was trying. “Look. I've had a day of amazing shittiness. Then I see you, and frankly, I want to hug you. Hell, I'd like to kiss you. Just a peck, even, to remind me that there is more to life than fighting a losing battle against administration.”

“Zane, keep your voice down.” Eli's temper was faring no better at this point. “Look at me. You think my day's been any more of a treat?”

“I know it has.” While Eli gaped, Zane carried on relentlessly, and despite all tiredness, that laser stare hadn't lost a single watt of pinpoint intensity. “Because you love this. All of it. One battle after another. On the streets, in Immaculate Grace's hallowed halls, it's all the same to you. You're helping people, and you fucking love it.”

“Zane,” Eli said, holding on to his temper with the last of his patience. “Either calm down or we go our own separate ways until you're ready to act like a grown-up again.”

Zane scoffed but fell silent. Not that Eli was about to let his guard down. He waited, counting the seconds. The elevator came, proved empty, and went on its way.