Page 7

Ha-joon

My phone vibrated with a message right as I walked into the hospital.

Father: Your mum isn’t here. She had the kitchen make a bunch of food and our real estate manager just asked me how much we’re planning to spend on the condo in Atlanta she’s interested in. Thought you would want the heads up.

Shit.

Double shit.

That meant Mum was here, and I didn’t need many guesses to know who her goal was. Just as I was texting back to ask for more information, I heard her laugh from off to my right.

And there she stood with Ellie Reed.

Shit, shit, shit .

I jogged over there and glanced between them. “Mum, what are you—”

“Ha-joon, don’t be rude,” she said firmly.

I cleared my throat and turned to the other woman. “Good morning, Ms. Reed. I’m sorry that—”

“Don’t apologize for your mother when I did nothing wrong,” Mum cut in. She pulled me down into a hug and kissed my cheek before handing me over the bags she had. “Share with your new coworkers. Ms. Reed and I had a lovely chat and she’s a woman of good taste.”

“You’ll change your mind when I call your chef demanding more soy eggs and asking when the dumplings are coming,” she teased.

“Any time, any time,” Mum accepted. “I hear you have some nice seafood here in this part of America. Now I’m craving some seafood spring rolls.

” She pulled me down to kiss my cheek again.

“I will find you a nice place and handle everything with the politics of the move. You focus here and leave the rest to me.”

“Oh, Mum, I can find my own—” I started to argue.

“Of course you can ,” she chuckled. “You’re a grown man—a successful and smart grown man who we’re proud of.

You’re simply blessed that you don’t have to and I will.

You have enough on your plate.” She turned back to Ms. Reed and put on her best charm before walking towards the exit before I could even try to argue.

“I am so sorry that my mum came and… I don’t even know,” I said under my breath, bracing for impact.

Ms. Reed took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She’s worried about you moving out of the country to a place where she can’t protect you—your name can hurt you more than help you. Just leave it at that and it didn’t upset me that she—she didn’t upset me.”

I snorted, biting back a smile when she raised an eyebrow at me.

“My mum is many things. She doesn’t upset people unless they’re assholes, Ms. Reed.

Mum is the only person who can tell me that I’m an idiot and I never get offended because she’s right and more importantly she doesn’t judge it.

She simply wants to fix it and everyone to be happy. ”

She seemed to think about that a moment. “Yes, she has that gift. Even as she told me that I was wrong to not consider you sooner, she was understanding and on my side of the decision as well. You’re lucky to have her.”

“I am. Thank you.” I almost asked about her family, but it was as if I saw some sort of armor slam into place, even in her gaze.

Then it filled my nose. So her family was clearly a topic that was off-limits.

“I’m glad you’re starting off on the right foot and are early,” she said as she switched the topic before waving me to follow.

I won another brownie point with her when I agreed to the complete package that was offered. It was more than competitive and I wasn’t hard up for money, so trying to argue for more was—it wasn’t something I would do. Especially not for a job I would want.

“My current hospital doesn’t want to let me out of my contract,” I told her, feeling like a child confessing I broke an expensive vase. “I didn’t think it would be this big of a deal considering it’s almost up and I’d hinted that I didn’t want to resign but—”

“But you make them a lot of money, Dr. Clark,” she chuckled darkly. “And to most for-profit hospitals, that’s all that matters. We reinvest in our people and medicine with our profits. That’s why we thrive while others exist and a few excel.” She gave me a kind look that made my heart thump louder.

“I’m unsure how to proceed without making it worse,” I admitted, thinking it was best to be honest with her like she said.

She studied me a few moments. “If your mom comes through with the white kimchi with Korean radish she offered, I’ll handle it as a favor and make you shine.

That, and I’m going to transfer some of Dr. Joyce Tai’s patients to you right away.

They might not be exactly your field, but they’re a bit obsessed with her and I don’t like it. ”

“She has a following and too many fanboys. Yes, I’m aware of her reputation,” I hedged.

She instantly bristled. “Just so we’re clear, she’s never touched a patient or dated one. She simply treats their animals like animals when she treats them , and sometimes it transfers over to the men they are because she’s a beautiful woman.”

I held my hands up in surrender. “I was not implying otherwise. My hesitation was that I’ve experienced the same from women and was hopeful we could tag off if I have a problem.”

“Yes, Joyce—Dr. Tai is always available to help and will,” she accepted as she cooled off.

So they were friends, not just colleagues. Good to know and important not to mess up with Dr. Tai. We went over the rest of the details, and I signed to get it all going even if my other contract wasn’t broken yet.

Ms. Reed didn’t seem concerned, and I believed that woman had things in hand when she said she did.

Dr. Tai was… She was one of a kind and I meant that in a good way. She was all about patient care but did not fit the typical doctor’s mold. I almost saw her more as a vet than a people doctor and actually said that.

She shrugged. “I get the best of both worlds this way. I get to rub ears and scratch fluffy booties, plus help people live better lives. It’s the job I was born for, and my patients live longer than fifteen years, so I’m not a basket case drowning in grief.”

Fair enough, and I liked her attitude and outlook.

She and her staff taught me a lot about the way the hospital worked, and everything different from my hospital was better. Much better. Everything was more efficient.

Everything was focused on patient care.

All charting was audio files attached directly to the patient records. The hospital had a team to make sure that the software to dictate what we said did it accurately just in case.

There were a lot of patients seen like in my hospital. Too many, but ASH didn’t treat everything like a damn oil change expected to be handled in fifteen minutes or less. They planned for when situations and patients would need more care.

I was in awe at the efficiency when I saw the first example with Dr. Tai.

She ordered the first rounds of tests she wanted done and then said they would contact the man’s employer to explain the quick appointment wasn’t going to be quick.

He also got a cafeteria voucher and a pass to a different waiting lounge.

Dr. Tai chuckled at my confused face. “We stay on schedule by—most people who come in just need the fifteen- or twenty-minute slots. They have something minor and we’ll do a couple of tests, follow up.

The ones that take longer or have more shouldn’t throw everyone else’s day off and make them wait. ”

I nodded. “I heard this is how humans have their physicals. It’s an all-day affair where every department does their tests and required parts.”

“Yes, it’s a bit cold and like an assembly line, but it’s one day where a woman gets checked by an OB, gets her mammogram—even a dental cleaning if they can fit it.

People appreciate one time here to get a lot done.

The delayed waiting lounge is like an executive lounge at an airport.

Massage chairs, workstations—whatever they need. Even a place for shifters to roam.”

She showed me when there was a break in the schedule and I was a believer.

People were calm and relaxed about the delay or their appointment taking longer than they’d originally planned.

The guy was perfectly fine when we saw him again hours later during the designated time.

Now we had more information and it was worth the wait.

“You don’t agree with my treatment plan,” she said after the patient left with his prescription of potions.

“I don’t disagree, but I would have handled it differently,” I replied honestly. “You’re not a shifter though, so I understand.” I realized that was the wrong thing to say when the temperature around me about dropped. “I would have forced him to shift.”

Horror filled her entire face and it took her a full minute before she was able to find words. “I would never have thought such a talented and decorated doctor would ever suggest something so gruesome and antiquated. That’s disgusting.” She spun around to storm off.

I was faster though, grabbing her arm and turning her back.

I immediately let her go after she was facing me, not wanting to upset her in that way, just simply wanting to handle this now.

“If done wrong it’s gruesome and antiquated.

If done by people who cannot do it correctly, it’s the—sometimes you have to rebreak the bone so it heals correctly, Dr. Tai. ”

She let out a slow breath and nodded. “I apologize. That reaction was—I shouldn’t have been unprofessional or—”

“You’ve seen it done wrong,” I forgave. “Many of us have.” I waited until she nodded.

“I do it right and only when I know it can be of more help.” I waited until she calmed a bit more.

“I am talented just as you are world-renowned for your potions—inventing medicines we never thought possible. I’m a rare Alpha who can do it right and knows medicine. ”

She let out another breath. “I’ve never seen it done right. I didn’t know—I truly thought medicine had moved past that treatment, not that we had messed it up.”