Mine at Last (12 page)

“Of course. Sure, I’ll definitely stop by. Is there anything else you need or anything I can do?”

“No, just stop by. Mind you, if you’d like to stay over, you’re perfectly welcome. Your old bedroom is still there.”

“No, I’m fine at the hotel. I have everything already set up.”

“Okay. I’ll leave a key in the usual spot and the alarm-system code is the same. I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Okay. Have a safe trip and I hope your friend feels better soon.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll see you at the end of the week.”

“Pearl, one more thing. About Dominik and...”

“Go for it. You’re both adults, single and God knows you’re seriously attracted to each other—believe me, the man is more than interested. He never took his eyes off you the other day. And I know you’ve had an itch for him for years. Need I say more? Enjoy.”

“Thanks, Pearl.”

“Anytime. All right, I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay. See ya,” Shauna said, then disconnected.

She smiled slyly as she thought about the real possibility of being with Dominik. There was nothing holding her back. She looked at the time. It was already well after six. She decided to call it a day. She put the files away and grabbed a pad of questions for Dominik she’d been accumulating all day. She gathered her things, turned off the light and locked the door.

She knocked on Dominik’s door and waited. He didn’t answer. She knocked again. There was still no answer.

“He’s in the E.R. right now. There was a pretty bad accident with a few major incidents earlier. Did you need me to get him?”

Shauna turned and saw a nurse walking down the hall toward her. “Oh, no, that’s okay. I’m sure he’s busy.”

“Do you want to leave your name?”

“That’s okay. I’ll catch up with him later.”

“I’m Donna Pullman. I’m the chief nursing officer.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Shauna Banks.”

“I heard you’re from the Cura Medical Group,” she added.

Shauna had asked Dr. Gilman that her presence in the hospital be kept as quiet as possible. The last thing she needed was a hundred questions from concerned employees. But she knew word would get out. It always did. “Yes, I am.”

“Is the buyout going through?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything one way or the other.”

“I hope not. I like this hospital exactly like it is.”

“Compared to other hospitals, it’s pretty outdated, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but that’s part of its charm and character.”

Shauna wanted to tell her that charm and character had nothing to do with medical care and service. At some point, everything needed to be updated. “I guess we’ll see. Have a good evening,” she said and then started down the hall to the exit.

“I’ll tell Dr. Coles you were looking for him.”

Shauna nodded. She’d rather she didn’t, but explaining that would be senseless. “Thank you.”

Shauna followed the signs back to the E.R. exit. As she passed the waiting room, she glanced over and saw it practically full. She knew Dominik was busy. She continued to the door.

“Hey, you’re leaving already?”

She turned and saw Dominik walking up behind her. “Hi. Yeah, I’m leaving,” she said, waiting for him to catch up.

“I was told you were looking for me.”

“I stopped by your office. I had a few questions for you.”

“Do you want to ask me now?”

She glanced behind him briefly. “I can see you’re busy. They can wait.”

“Actually, I’m taking a break right now. Come on back.”

She nodded and followed him back to his office. He opened the door and she walked inside. As soon as he closed the door, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. They reveled in the embrace until the need for air parted them. He held her tight in his arms and she held on to him. After a while she leaned back and looked up into his eyes. “You look exhausted.”

“It’s been a long day.”

She nodded. “I heard there was a bad accident.”

“Yeah, a three-car accident, one with six passengers inside,” he said. “The cleanup is pretty messy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“So, you have questions for me,” he said. “Shoot.”

She pulled her notepad from her briefcase and asked her questions. He answered, giving her as much information as possible. For the next twenty minutes he explained method and principles related to E.R. procedure. When they were done, she had a very good understanding of how the E.R. ran previously to his management and the mistakes made under Dr. Bowman’s tenure. “Okay, that’s it for now.”

“Good. Now I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Have you thought about our previous conversation?”

“I have.”

“And?”

“And,” she said, then paused and shook her head, “I don’t know what to say. My job requires me to be extremely discreet.”

“As does mine.”

“Yes, of course. What I mean is that I don’t jump in and out of bed easily. And in most cases I don’t spend enough time in one location to form any romantic or sexual attachments, so this is very different for me.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

“Why me?” she asked curiously. “I have a feeling the women around here just about worship you. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard they actually adore you.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know about all that. But I do know that I like being with you, talking with you. You say oil and water—I say stimulating foreplay. And then there’s something in your eyes that takes my breath away.”

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. She suddenly felt hot. “Surrender is difficult for me. I need to think about this.”

He smiled. “Take all the time you need.”

She smiled, too. “Good answer.”

Before he responded again, there was a knock on his door. Dr. Gilman stuck her head in. Her eyes widened at finding Shauna sitting there. She smiled tightly. There was an awkwardness as she came in. “Ms. Banks, hi,” Dr. Gilman said, looking from Shauna to Dominik. “I hope everything is okay and I’m not interrupting?”

“Everything’s fine, and no, you’re not interrupting. Come in. Join us,” Dominik said.

“Ms. Banks, I thought you’d have gone home by now.”

Shauna looked at her watch and frowned. “Is that the time? Actually, you’re right, it’s late and I still have some work to do.” She put her notepad in her briefcase and stood.

“Well, I hope Dr. Coles has taken very good care of you.”

“Yes. I had some questions about E.R. procedure and he was kind enough to stay and answer them for me. I definitely have a better understanding of how the E.R. runs,” she said.

“Good. Are there any questions I can answer for you?”

“I’ll more than likely have questions for you in a few days.”

“Fine. Just let me know and I’ll be available.”

“I will. Good night, Doctors.” She nodded to Dominik and then walked out.

“Please tell me that wasn’t another altercation,” she said.

“What do you mean, ‘altercation’?”

“I heard about Friday night,” she said, shaking her head. “Your very heated discussion in the E.R. foyer with Shauna is all over the hospital. I asked you to help her, not alienate her. We need this, Dominik. We need her to give us a favorable review. There’s no way this hospital is going to survive without the Cura Medical Group’s backing. Whatever happened, whatever I just walked in on, you need to fix it now.”

“Margaret, relax, it wasn’t an altercation.”

She looked at him hard. “Okay, good. I need you to be on point and work closely with her. I need to know if she’s leaning toward going through with the buyout or not.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Be creative. Carry on,” she said, then walked out.

Dominik gathered his things to leave for the day. He walked out the long way, passing the conference room just in case Shauna had gone back there. The door was closed and locked and the lights were off. He continued to the exit, waving to his E.R. staff and then to Rodney at the security desk before heading out for the night. He got halfway to his car.

“Dr. Dom, Dr. Dom.”

Dominik turned and saw Lindy, a longtime patient, running through the parking lot to catch up with him. “Hi, Lindy. Are you okay?”

“Hi, Doc. I’m doing fine.” She smiled happily, out of breath.

“Are you taking your medication like you’re supposed to?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Good. Then I’ll see you later,” he said and turned to continue walking to the doctor’s parking area.

“But wait, I just wanted to give you something. I found it last week in the E.R. waiting room. It was on the floor where I was sitting before.” She held up a small flash drive. “I think it belongs to one of those reporters. I tried to look at what was on it just in case it was important, but it’s all scrambled up. I think it’s broken. Anyway, I didn’t want to throw it away just in case it might still be something useful. Is it the hospital’s?”

Dominik looked at the small black drive knowing it didn’t belong to the hospital. But the possibility that someone had accidently left it in the waiting room was very real. “No, it doesn’t belong to the hospital, but I’m sure it belongs to someone. And I’m sure they’ve been looking for it. You need to turn it in to security and they’ll take care of it.”

“Okay,” she said happily. “Are you going back inside?”

“No, I’m going home now. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay. I’ll give this to Rodney. Have a good night, Doc,” she said and then hurried inside.

Dominik went to his car. As soon as he got in, his cell phone beeped. There was an email message from the hospital. He opened and read it. It was Rodney notifying him about Lindy’s found flash drive. Dominik frowned. He had no idea why Rodney would send him a message about something intended for Lost and Found. He got out and went back into the E.R.

“Hi, Doc. I thought you might want to take care of this personally,” Rodney said. “This is the flash drive the lady from the Cura Group was looking for over the weekend. I could put it in Lost and Found, but I know she’s anxious to find it.” Rodney gave him the drive.

“Thanks, Rodney. I’ll take care of it.”

Rodney nodded. “Have a good night, Doc.”

On the drive home, Dominik considered going by the Gateway Inn to drop off the flash drive, but he knew going over there this late at night might be construed as something else. He decided to wait and give it to her the following day.

By the time he got home, he felt recharged. A surge of energy pumped through him. He showered, slipped on sweatpants and stepped out onto his balcony, looking out over the view he’d paid an astronomical price for but seldom enjoyed. It was the splendor of Key West with a breathtaking coastal view of the ocean and a stunning sunset.

He went back inside, grabbed his briefcase and set it on the desk in his home office. He pulled out his laptop and the flash drive Rodney had given him. He turned on his laptop and looked up Shauna’s company on the internet. There was no website, but there was a Maryland mailing address and email.

He picked up the flash drive and looked at it, wondering what it contained. Popping it into his computer would be so easy, but he knew he wouldn’t do that. Still, a slow, easy smile crossed his lips. He typed in the email address he’d found on the internet and sent a note to Shauna asking if she was missing a flash drive. He waited. There was no reply.

Convincing himself that he wasn’t disappointed wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped. He had wanted to see Shauna. He looked at the laptop’s small screen. All of a sudden, work didn’t seem like such a good idea. He saved the file, then closed the program. Just as he began to close the laptop, the email message light began blinking. He checked his mail. The smile on his face broadened.

Chapter 11

Shauna stayed up late most nights. Tonight was no exception. The hotel room was dark except for a single lamp on the nightstand brightly illuminating the area beside the bed. She sat cross-legged with her laptop balanced on her knees. She had the TV on, but she wasn’t watching it. For the past half hour, she had been going through the notes she’d taken earlier that day. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t her best work. Her initial assessments weren’t as reasoned and focused as they usually were, which meant she needed to redo most of them. It was obvious to her that she had been distracted.

She could tell exactly when it happened. The second spotted Dominik Coles standing in the conference room doorway looking at her, everything went sideways. Her heart thumped. Just the memory of looking up and seeing him there made her nerves shudder. She moved the laptop to the side, then looked around the cookie-cutter room, finally focusing on the television screen.

A commercial had just come on showing singles talking about searching for love. They were smiling and happily describing their lives after joining the advertised singles-matching program. Shauna rolled her eyes to the ceiling and chuckled. A phone number and dozens of supposedly single men on the other end was a fairy-tale empty promise preying on the perpetually hopeful. She shook her head, discounting the ridiculous claims of finding love so easily. “Finding love is not as easy as a phone call,” she said to the television.

Lately, she had begun to wonder if she would ever find love herself. Where was her Prince Charming or her knight in shining armor? When the answer didn’t readily come, she got up and walked over to the large plate-glass window and pulled the drapes aside. The hotel wasn’t the best in the city, but that never mattered a lot to her. She never paid much attention. As long as the room was clean and had the essentials, she was fine. But this evening she would have loved to step out onto a balcony to get some fresh air. Instead she just looked out over the skyline peppered with the city’s night lights.

Bathed in complete darkness, the night’s sparkling lights shone and sparkled against the many streets and buildings. Her view was of the downtown area, but as a resort city, there wasn’t much of a business district. From the tenth floor she saw streets blocked out, building roofs and treetops, and of course far in the distance she knew there was the ocean’s horizon. Even though it was late, the streets were lively with tourists and pedestrians still shopping and walking around.