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Chapter Five

Tessa

FOUR WEEKS LATER

The Guardian Angels team meeting with the software developers for KidStation takes longer than expected, and we’ve overrun our allotted time.

If I had known it would take this long to go over everything, I would have pushed the meeting to later in the week.

“Guys, I’m afraid we’ll have to adjourn until another day.” I check the time. “We should have been out of here two minutes ago and we don’t want to keep the next users waiting.”

Because everyone seems to want to schedule their clinics and meetings earlier in the week, and leave the rest of the grit work like ward rounds and major surgery lists until later in the week, the conference rooms are always fully booked on a Monday like this one.

I’d often wondered if it wouldn’t make more sense to spread out these meetings throughout the week so that the demand for conference rooms wasn’t so heavy on Mondays.

I even suggested it to some of the unit heads, but the answer was always the same from every one of them and confusing as hell.

Bottom line is, nobody wants to not have meetings on a Monday. Yep, it’s one of those Fount things.

Which means it’s The Hunger Games for conference rooms on Mondays, and everyone would rather play it than move meetings to another day.

There's so much to discover here – the quirks, characters, and its unique rhythm. It's like a whole new ecosystem.

I thought Guardian Angels Network was my fit, but I'm swiftly getting drawn to this team of incredible people under Nathan King.

We don’t see very much of him because he has so many commitments in different places across the States and internationally. But we still feel him in the very pores of the Fount.

Tim, one of my assistants who has a clear view of the corridor, cranes his neck back to peer through the glass walls. “Actually, I can confirm that the three o’ clock guys are already here. And,” he adds, his pitch rising with excitement “oh shit, it’s the King himself, with a few of his princes to boot!”

My stomach twists into knots.

“Really? The chief medical director has a meeting here with his residents at three and we haven’t been booted out on our asses yet?” Diane, my second assistant, also twists around to see.

“Okay,” I start gathering up my things, grateful to have something to occupy my suddenly shaky hands. “We really should leave now. How about we reconvene sometime on Thursday or Friday? Does that work for everyone?”

“You mean we shouldn’t wait till next week Monday?” Diane snickers, and if I wasn’t so nervous, I would join her.

Instead, I shake my head firmly. “Too bad we have a deadline to crush, we can't be indulging in any dystopian custom. So Thursday everyone?”

There’s general assent, so I continue, “Okay, I’ll have the desk clerk look at all our schedules and book a convenient time for everyone on Thursday.”

I pack up quickly, wishing the room had a backdoor I could slip through.

Why are you running from him? My inner voice mocks me.

I can’t even lie to myself. It’s because I know that my stupid crush on Nathan King is back in full-force, and since I haven’t seen him in almost a month, I don’t trust myself not to do something silly.

Like ogle him in front of everyone.

I’ve hardly even seen the man, but the way other doctors, nurses, and patients talk about him like he’s their best friend has somehow unearthed all those feelings I thought were buried away.

Hearing everyone else’s experiences with him reminded me of the times I would email him about charity events I was planning. And despite how busy he was he’d always make time to respond.

Since I can’t very well disappear from the room, I wait until the rest of my team piles out, then I follow.

He's having a discussion with Tim when I step onto the wide corridor, so I pick up my pace, hoping to leave before he notices me.

Despite myself, my gaze is helplessly drawn to his profile. He’s tall, his shoulders and biceps filling out the tailored white shirt in a way that should be outlawed. His thick, wavy hair is slightly tousled, and his ever-present five o’clock shadow adorns his chiseled jawline.

So. Fucking. Hot.

My greedy eyes beg to linger on him but I give myself a mental shake. As I try to walk past the group Kaiden, one of the residents, stops me.

“Hey, Tessa! Just the woman I’ve been trying to find.” He leaves the group heading into the conference room and jogs back toward me.

Seeing no way around having to stop and talk to him, I muster a smile when he reaches me. “Hi, Kaiden, you doing alright?”

“I’m good, thanks, just gearing up for in-training exams. You know how it is.” He replies, his smile is warm, but there’s a hint of something more in his dark gaze, a subtle flicker of interest.

I nod, thinking of Isa's similar grind as a surgical resident. “No doubt you’ll nail it Kaiden,” I say with a confidence I hope he finds reassuring.

“Thanks, Tessa.” He shifts slightly, an eager note in his voice. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something. We're throwing a little get-together for Jackson and Gary's anniversary. It'd be great if you could come.”

“Oh, that sounds nice. I’d love to.” Getting invited to such a personal event proves that the Fount lacks the cliquish mentality I’ve heard about in other hospitals, where there’s a strict hierarchy and doctors think themselves above everyone else. “When is it?”

He winces slightly. “This weekend. Yeah, it's short notice…”

“Shoot, I wish I could but I’ve got an event this weekend too. It’s an engagement party.”

Kaiden’s smile doesn’t falter. “Really! That’s probably going to be more fun than we’ll be having.”

Barely stopping myself from cringing, I shake my head, then shrug. “Not really my scene, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch Tim slipping away, and Nathan approaches us.

Shit.

“Demetrius.” Nathan’s deep baritone echoes on the almost empty corridor, and we both look up. As it’s customary among attendings, Nathan calls Kaiden by his last name.

With only a stern look and a jerk of his head toward the conference room, Nathan wordlessly orders him to join the rest. “Tell the others to give me five, and you’re free to start without me.”

“Sure, Dr. King. Tessa.” Kaiden reaches out to squeeze my elbow, then does as Nathan asked, heading into the conference room.

Nathan stops in front of me while I clutch the bundle of papers I’m holding in front of me like a protective shield.

“Tess.” His smile is friendly, but his eyes are anything but that. They’re searing, sending tingles of awareness down my spine.

I school my features into polite indifference. “Dr. King,” I reply.

“I’ve been terribly busy, or I would have been in touch to see how you're getting on. I trust everyone has been looking after you?”

“Oh, yes, everyone has been really nice. I need to only ask, and they’re all eager to help in any way they can.”

“I’m glad to hear that you’re liking it here.”

I nod, but neither one of us has anything left to say.

It occurs to me after about a full minute that we’re standing silently, staring at each other. I quickly look around to see if we’re being observed and see Kaiden and a few others openly staring at us.

Geez. Why does there have to be glass everywhere? No privacy!

“Um, they’re waiting for you… for your meeting.” I nod toward the conference room.

Nathan gives a cursory glance over his shoulder, but in that split second, the scene inside has transformed.

Before, everyone was gawking like meerkats spotting a low-flying plane, but now they're all laser-focused on Kaiden, who's taken center stage at the table.

If I wasn’t so high-strung, I'd find it comical how quickly they'd switched from wide-eyed rubbernecking to intense concentration, like a bunch of kids snapping to attention when the teacher walks in.

“It’s just a revision chat before they take in-training exams, and that group is pretty much set to ace them already,” Nathan informs me, a proud look on his face.

That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m more concerned about what they’d say about us.

I couldn’t cope with the looks I would get and how word would spread around the hospital.

Nathan’s voice cuts through my musings. “So, you mind me asking where you’re going this weekend, Tess?”

Surprised that he overheard my discussion with Kaiden when he was deep in his own, I debate not telling him the truth, but in the end, I decide to come clean.

“My dad’s engagement party.”

A furrow appears between his brows. “And why on earth would you do that?”

I know he’s remembering the day I’d told him about overhearing my dad tell Mom what a waste it was to have adopted me.

I shrug. “Because he invited me.”

I've resolved to give my dad one last chance to mend things, beginning with attending his engagement party. However, I'm not sure I should share this with Nathan.

“Okay.” He says the word like he’s waiting for a better reason than the one I just gave, like there’s an unsaid “and” at the end of his sentence.

“I mean, it’s been five years, and I’m here in LA. Plus, Joyce, his fiancée, seems like a nice person. Besides, I’m a big girl. I’ll be okay.”

With my hesitant tone and refusal to make eye contact with him, I’m not sure if it’s Nathan or myself that I’m trying to convince.

Nathan only watches me, his eyes full of things that he wants to say, but I know he won’t voice them.

“Alright,” he concedes, then changes the subject. “By the way, if you or the Guardian Angels feel like you need to reach me and I’m not around, you can speak to Doug Harris. He’s my personal assistant.”

“Okay, thanks, Dr. King,” I say with a bright smile.

His wince is concealed, but I catch it still.

And because he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, despite the glances we’re getting from the conference room, I say, “I should head out now. I don’t want to keep you any more than I already have. I’ll, uh, see you later.”

I walk away quickly, feeling the weight of Nathan’s gaze on my back the whole time.