Lincoln Hospital (Trauma #1) (4 page)

“Is that...” she peered closer at her friend.  “Is that a man’s coat?”

Sabine blushed, completely out of character for her, and tugged on the ends of the belt. “No.  Yes.  Well, so what?  A coat is a coat.  Don’t change the subject, Athena.  We’ve got to get in there.”

Athena decided to let the matter drop for the moment but promised herself she would get to the bottom of the mystery owner of the obvious men’s coat Sabine was wearing. Straightening her spine, she nodded at Sabine that she was ready and the two stepped forward towards the main entrance.  A squeal of tires and a sudden blast of a blaring horn had both jumping back out of the path of a silver sports car that came tearing around the corner.  The car narrowly missed flattening their toes by inches and then slid smoothly into a front parking space.  In shock, Athena stared transfixed as the owner climbed from the car and pressing the key fob over his right shoulder, engaged the locks on his car with a subtle
beep beep
.

“Sorry,” he tossed to them in a way that expressed he was most definitely
not
sorry at all, before leaving them standing there gaping after him.

“Jesus fucking fuck.  Do you see him?  Oh, my God he’s a walking orgasm maker.  I think I just soaked my panties, Thene,” Sabine breathed, clutching her arm for balance.

“Since when do you wear panties?” Athena muttered back almost absent-mindedly as she watched the rude man’s departure.  Sure, he was dead sexy, but he obviously had some sort of God complex if he could almost kill them the way he did and then brush them off as though they were last week’s leftovers.  In that one second their eyes had met, she’d glimpsed something in his almost black gaze.  Something that spoke of power and authority.  Whoever he was, it definitely wasn’t his first day on the job like it was theirs.  His denim clad legs showcased muscular thighs and a tight ass.  The black dress shirt stretched tight across his chest and arms, making him appear impossibly built.  Yes, the way he carried himself and his flashy car—that she now recognized as a Jaguar—spoke of someone in a position of rank.  But above all, he was a grade-A douche and she hoped they had no dealings with him at all.

Sabine was still gushing on and on about his dark hair and wondering aloud if she could get a ride in his backseat after shift was over as they hurried towards the front doors.

“Sabine, no.  The guy’s an ass.  He nearly ran us over and didn’t even care!” The sliding doors closed behind them and spotting a sign that announced
Surgical Intern Orientation
with an arrow, she steered them to the right while trying to talk sense into her best friend.

“Who cares?  I’ll take it as a hazard of getting a piece of that drop-dead gorgeous man,” Sabine shot her a sassy wink.  Athena rolled her eyes and together they pushed open the double doors that the signs indicated lead to the intern locker rooms.  The room was filled with around twenty men and women all talking excitedly while pulling on white lab coats and picking up pagers from a waiting table.

In the center of the room, a middle-aged man stood calling names from a tablet, scrolling and tapping as people called out, “here!” in reply.  Spotting them, he raised his eyebrows and then looked pointedly at the clock above their heads.  Turning slightly, Athena took note that they were indeed fifteen minutes late, thanks to her cold feet and their near death experience with Mr. Asshole of the Year.

“Names,” he ordered.

“Athena Payne?” she answered automatically, grimacing when it came out as a question.  She cleared her throat and tried again. “Dr. Athena Payne, sir.  I apologize for being late. There was an...incident in the parking lot.”  His nod was the only response she got to her lame excuse and she urgently elbowed Sabine to get her to pay attention.

“Sabine Adams,” she called out after tearing her eyes away from a blond-haired, blue-eyed stud trying to nonchalantly flex his biceps after he caught Sabine’s eye on him.  Her friend was as boy-crazy as they came and had more sexuality in her baby toe than Athena had in her whole body.  She wasn’t a prude by any means, but chasing her next one-night stand was not as high on her priorities as it was on Sabine’s.  She had goals, ambitions, a plan.  Getting tied up in some messy hospital romantic drama was not part of it and she’d be damned if anything stopped her from what she’d worked so hard for in medical school.  If she wanted to be the best, the only thing that would put her at the top was keeping her eye on the prize and proving herself as a serious contender very early in the game.  Surgeries.  She needed surgeries and a lot of them.

“Are you with us here, Payne?” Realizing she’d been caught staring into space, she blushed and quickly turned her attention back to the man calling out the roll call.   His annoyed expression relayed that she really was blowing her chance at a good first impression.  She’d have to work extra hard to prove she wasn’t an airhead.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.  Now as I was saying, I’m Dr. Murphy, the Chief of Surgery.” Hearing those words, Athena’s heart sank.  The Chief? This was the Chief and she’d not only been late, she’d been caught daydreaming like a five-year-old child. 
Just fucking great
. “I’ll be splitting you up into groups of six and then you’ll be meeting the residents that you’ll be working under for the next year of your internship.  Your residents are your Gods; you’re to listen to them and if you want my advice, make them as damn happy as you can.  They will have the deciding vote on when you finally get to step foot inside an OR for the first time.”

The room fell silent as soon as he mentioned the word ‘surgery’, with all eyes pinned to him.  It was the nature of the beast, interns were known to be blood-thirsty; craving the scalpel and the chance to get in on the action in the OR.  Surgery was one of the most competitive occupations out there, there was no telling what one of your co-workers would do just to get their feet in that room.  It was cutthroat, brutal and cost people friendships.  Horror stories and rumors were spread everyday of underhanded tactics that doctors stooped to just to be the chosen one to make that cut.

“Adams, Payne, Sullivan, Barton, Tucker, Breyers.  You’ll be with Dr. Webster. Pick up your pagers there,” he motioned towards the table, “if you haven’t already done so.” A pointed look in their direction with that comment, caused Athena to blush once again. “Your lockers have already been assigned.”

There was a small flurry of activity as pagers were picked up and belongings stored away in lockers.  Athena pulled out the white lab coat hanging in hers and took a moment to run her fingers over the embroidery over the left breast. 
Dr. Athena Payne, M.D
., seeing her name associated with those two very important letters filled her with a sense of accomplishment, of belonging.  She’d actually done it.  Finished medical school and was about to embark on the first step in the journey to making all her dreams come true.  Despite all the obstacles, all the endless nights studying and cramming, she’d made it.  Now it was her time to shine.

“Payne, Adams, hang on a second,” the Chief called out to them as they headed out the door. With a sinking feeling, Athena turned back and offered the Chief a small smile. Sabine’s sigh could be heard from the Statue of Liberty and it took all of her effort to not smack her on the back of the head to get her to shut up and not get them in any more trouble.

“Yes, Chief?” she asked.

“Being accepted into this program at this hospital is not only an accomplishment, it’s an honor.  We receive applications from across the country from thousands of intern hopefuls.  We are the most competitive, we house some of the best surgeons in the field and when completing this program, our residents go on to accept some of the most prestigious placements.  To be chosen is a privilege, not a right and it’s not something either of you should be taking for granted.” He let the weight of his words fall on their shoulders, his hard blue eyes locked on both of them before continuing. “Do not be late tomorrow.  If you aren’t here to be serious, there are quite a number of people that didn’t get your spot that would be happy to take it.” He turned on his heel and left them in locker room without another word.

Athena covered her face with her hands and let out a loud groan. “Oh, my God, Sab, this is a disaster!  The Chief hates us already!  And did you see all the smirks and giggles from the other interns, we’re laughingstocks.”

“Oh, stop.  Those lamebrains are just jealous.  So maybe we’ve annoyed the Chief, but look on the bright side—he knows our names already and there’s no bad in that,” she linked their arms and dragged Athena from the locker room, refusing to let the situation get to her.

Once in the hall, they met up with the other interns that had been assigned to their resident.

Bianca Sullivan, Richard Barton, Clarence Tucker, and Oscar Breyers were the other interns they’d been paired with, Athena had learned after glimpsing their names on the Chief’s tablet when he was lecturing them. The group of four stood impatiently waiting for Athena and Sabine to join them.  Bianca was a tall, dark-skinned beauty who had her thick black hair gathered up in a bun on top of her head.  Black rimmed glasses perched on her nose as she watched them approach. She opened her mouth to speak, but the guy to her right beat her to the punch.

“You’re lucky we waited for you.  I didn’t want to, but she,” he hooked a thumb at Bianca, “insisted.” Bianca huffed and offered a hand to each of them.

“Don’t listen to this idiot.  We’re all going to be working together so might as well start off on the right foot.  I’m Bianca.” Athena offered her a friendly smile in return.

“Thanks, Bianca.  I’m Athena and this is Sabine.” Clarence and Oscar introduced themselves and Athena took an instant liking to Clarence.  With his dark hair and warm brown eyes, he instantly put her at ease with his laid-back attitude and open reception.  Oscar was the quietest of the bunch.  A little on the short and heavy side, he reminded her of the kid who was always picked last for the team which immediately endeared him to Athena.  He seemed like a sweet boy and she hoped that he’d be able to find the inner strength he’d need to survive in a surgical program.

Richard was an all around asshole and her dislike of him was immediate.  His disposition left a bad taste in her mouth and if he leered at her chest one more time she was certain to simultaneously stomp on his foot and punch him in the nose to get him to back off.  Finally giving in and introducing himself to the group, he stepped way too close into her space, causing her to frown at him.

“I’m Richard.  You can call me, Dick.” Sabine snickered beside her and Athena shot her a warning glance to keep quiet when she saw her mouth open to deliver what would no doubt have been a snide remark about his nickname.  Sabine sulked, but otherwise remained silent.

“Well,
Dick
, it’s nice to meet you.  Sorry if we caused you any sort of inconvenience,” Athena forced a smile before giving him her back. “Not sorry at all, you bully,” she muttered under her breath.  She caught Clarence’s eye and he grinned at her, letting her know he heard her comment and approved.  With the exception of Dick, they had a good group paired up.  Now, with a little luck they’d have a decent resident and the rough start to her first day would take a turn for the better.

“These must be my interns.” All six heads turned at the sound of someone speaking from behind them.  A pissed off red-head stood a few feet away glaring at them.  The name on her lab coat read
Dr. Faye Webster, M.D
.

Shit.
  This was their resident and she’d had to track them down.  There went her hopes for the first day improving.

“I’d ask you why I had to come to you, but you’re interns which means you have rocks where your brains should be and therefore I shouldn’t be surprised that you don’t have any sense.” Her black heels clicked on the tiled floor as she closed the distance between them, showcasing her shapely legs in a slim pencil skirt and stockings.

“Ma’am, it was these two that held us up,” Dick spoke up, pointing an accusing finger at Athena and Sabine.  “They were late to the orientation and then refused to allow us to come and meet you.”  Athena gaped at him, unable to believe that he’d thrown them under the bus like that, and added in a lie to make it seem worse. She felt Sabine tense beside her and knew her best friend was coiled and ready to spring at any moment.

Before she could defend themselves, Dr. Webster surprised her by looking at Dick in disgust.  “Just stop talking.  I don’t know your name yet and right now; I don’t want to know it.  Not having your fellow doctors’ backs tells me all I need to know about you at the moment.  You better learn pretty damn fast that you need to work as a team around here if you want to be accepted.  Go and gather up the charts for rooms 17B, 22C, 4A, 33B.  You can re-join us on our rounds.  Since I didn’t see you write those room numbers down, I hope you have a good memory. The first thing you’ll all learn about me is I do not repeat myself.  Remember that and we’ll get along fine. And another thing, if you ever call me ma’am again, you’ll be doing chart prep in the ER for the rest of the year. Now, let’s get moving, we’ve got rounds and we’re behind.”

Dick’s stare bordered on hateful as he glared at Athena before hurrying off to do as he was instructed.

“I don’t want to know the excuses.  Just understand that if you’re late again or do anything else to make me look bad in front of the Chief or my peers, you won’t be so lucky as to just get stuck on chart prep in the ER.  That goes for all of you,” Webster added, letting her green eyes fall on each of them.

They followed her down the hall to the first patient room and Athena couldn’t help the small amount of pride that began to rise up in her.  She was about to walk into her first patient room as a doctor, a doctor that could possibly end up operating on this patient if she was lucky enough to scrub in. Everything she’d worked for was about to start coming true.

Stepping inside behind the other interns, her heart sank when she saw the patient she was so excited about possibly cutting into was no more than a child.  A five or six-year-old boy lay in the too-white bed, his complexion pale and his small body hooked up to far too many machines.