Page 48

Gabe

“ P aging Dr. Kingman to the ER.”

Gabe looked up from his patient notes and glanced reflexively to the ceiling on hearing the overhead page. Since there was no one else in the dictation room to hear him do it, he indulged himself for a moment in groaning dramatically.

Fuck . He was supposed to be finishing up by now, giving a report to the day-shift ICU doctor, but so far they hadn’t even shown up yet.

Most likely because today the oncoming doctor was Dr. Monroe, and that motherfucker always stopped in the cafeteria for his morning coffee after clocking in for the day. It was infuriating, even on a good day.

And today was not a good day.

The overhead page repeated, and Gabe logged out of the hospital computer and hustled down to the ER.

A patient there must have ended up with a breathing tube down their throat.

Gabe’s fellowship was centered on critical care and pulmonology, meaning he focused specifically on lungs.

He mostly took care of patients requiring breathing machines on the hospital’s two ICU floors.

It suited Gabe, taking care of ventilated patients. He wasn’t like Danny, who was warm and sweet and had the kind of presence that made people—patients, coworkers, randos at the coffee shop—feel immediately at ease.

Gabe didn’t put anyone at ease. He could be charming sometimes, sure.

A leftover sheen from his days as a high school prom king.

But it was a superficial charm at best. Because when it came down to it, he could also come off as a bit of an asshole.

Gruff when he should be gentle, firm when he should be soft.

But Gabe’s patients were often sedated, and they couldn’t talk with a breathing tube anyway, so Gabe was able to care for them in the way he did best—with good medicine, genuine respect, and a healthy amount of emotional distance.

As Gabe walked through the ER, his gaze darted to the nurses’ station before he caught himself.

Apparently he was too used to keeping an eye out for his brother to stop now.

He pulled his focus to looking for the charge nurse on duty, hoping they could tell him where his new patient was.

He spotted Dr. Monroe first, consulting with an ER doctor in one of the bays.

The asshole raised his coffee cup to him in greeting.

Fucking Dr. Monroe. At least the ER didn’t need Gabe anymore, if the day-shift doctor was already there.

“What’s up your ass this morning, Doc?” asked a bright, absurdly cheery female voice. Gabe knew it well. He looked down to see Chloe, nighttime charge nurse and his brother’s work bestie.

Gabe shrugged, suppressing the urge to glance at his watch. “Nothing. Just ready to get out of here.”

“Funny. You usually seem like you couldn’t care less what time you leave.” The short brunette raised an eyebrow at him, but Gabe ignored the gibe. “Have you heard from Danny?”

Gabe’s little brother had left the day before for his belated honeymoon, and Gabe was officially on puppy duty.

He wanted to be annoyed with Roman for not waiting until after the honeymoon to get Danny a puppy, but remembering the ecstatic look on his brother’s face as he showed off the little fur ball made it hard to hold a grudge.

“He texted me when they landed,” Gabe answered. “Then Roman texted to tell me I wasn’t allowed to text them unless Ferdy had some kind of emergency.”

Chloe laughed brightly. “That’s actually pretty sweet. Little lovebirds.”

Gabe fought the urge to roll his eyes at her blanket approval of Danny’s husband. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know Danny’s husband was a monster.

Then what do you call Danny? a snarky voice in his head asked.

Different. It’s different , Gabe told himself for the hundredth time.

He honestly didn’t know what was true anymore. He’d thought, when he moved back to Hyde Park, that he’d have…time. Time to get back into the swing of things after the hell of residency. Time to reconnect with Danny. Time to reconcile his anger at and love for his mother.

But by the time he was even close to settled, his mother had forgotten him, Danny had been practically a stranger, and Gabe had been wondering why he’d even moved back to a town he felt never actually knew him.

Now it was a year later and Danny didn’t really need Gabe at all—he was married to his honest-to-God literal soulmate, for fuck’s sake. Their mother was declining every day, despite the supernatural assistance, with Gabe no closer to unfurling the tangle of emotions she invoked in him.

And Gabe was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that vampires existed. That he was somehow now surrounded by them. That the world he’d fought his whole life to make sense of didn’t come close to what he’d imagined it to be.

Gabe took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth, doing his best not to spiral into that familiar mess of thoughts, focusing instead on Chloe and chatting for a few minutes more while he waited on Dr. Monroe. Chloe even offered to walk Ferdy if Gabe needed some backup.

Danny had somehow found himself some good friends in this stagnant mountain town. For his part, Gabe always felt like he was seeing the same old people from high school everywhere he went. Same former friends. Same former teachers. Same former hookups.

It was all just…exhausting.

After Chloe left, promising to check in about the dog in a few days, Gabe lost the battle and glanced at his watch. It was six o’clock in the morning already. Fuck . Gabe should have been heading out the door already.

He looked over to the patient bay where Dr. Monroe was apparently done with the medicine side of things, focusing his attention now on attempting to flirt with one of the nurses. She, to her credit, looked more bored and annoyed than anything else.

The man was notorious for trying to fuck anything that moved. He’d even tried to figure out which way Gabe swung when he first started at the hospital. No go though. He wasn’t Gabe’s type.

Not that Gabe had a specific type. But Dr. Monroe, smarmy bastard, definitely wasn’t it.

As far as who might be… Gabe pointedly ignored when those thoughts immediately led to him picturing a certain beautiful monster. It was clearly time to leave, if his tired brain was going to such stupid places.

“Monroe,” he barked. “Can we get started?”

Dr. Monroe glanced up from his reluctant prey, eyes widening in surprise at Gabe’s harsh tone. “What’s your rush, King? You got a hot breakfast date?” The douchebag sounded a little jealous at the thought.

And then, in a classic case of the world’s worst possible timing…

“Morning, Highness.” The words, coming from directly behind Gabe, were a silky-sweet purr. He hadn’t even noticed anyone approaching.

How did that fucker always move so quietly?

Gabe turned, already knowing what he’d find waiting for him. A bright, maniacal grin. Artfully tousled blond hair. Pale-blue eyes.

The very reason Gabe had been so eager to get out on time that morning. To avoid a situation exactly like this one.

Soren had arrived.

He’d insisted on picking Gabe up at the hospital and driving to the care home together, but Gabe had been hoping to meet his designated chaperone in the parking lot, away from the prying eyes of his coworkers. Clearly Soren had other ideas.

Roman’s little vampire friend was, as always, looking ridiculously fashionable for their small Colorado mountain town, in tight black jeans and some flowy designer top.

Gabe didn’t get it. No one needed to look like they just stepped off the runway in a place where the main highlights were hiking trails and winter sports.

At least Soren wasn’t wearing a fucking fur coat, like the first time Gabe had met him. Small mercies.

He didn’t think Soren’s greeting had been loud enough for anyone else to hear, but Gabe went on the defensive anyway. “Stop calling me that.”

He hated that it had only taken a single instance of Soren hearing one of the locals call Gabe by his high school nickname, King, for him to forever mock Gabe for it.

Soren only grinned at him, looking pleased with himself for riling Gabe up with two simple words.

Meanwhile, Dr. Monroe sidled closer to them both, his eyes lighting up in obvious interest. “Who’s your friend, King?”

Gabe resisted the sudden and irrational urge to tell the other doctor to fuck right off. “This is Soren. Friend of Danny’s.” It was immensely satisfying watching the smile on Soren’s face slip at being designated the little brother’s friend. “Soren, this is Dr. Monroe.”

“Charmed.” Soren gave Dr. Monroe a thorough once-over, practically batting his blond lashes, and Gabe bit back his irritation at the slow perusal.

His coworker was a manwhore, and Soren was a compulsive flirt.

It would make perfect sense for the two to get it on, and Gabe definitely didn’t care enough about either of them to be bothered by it.

He focused his gaze elsewhere, pointedly ignoring their small talk. He just didn’t like it when his two worlds mixed was all. It had nothing to do with Soren’s almost ethereal beauty, or the way Gabe’s blood boiled when he pictured the slimy ICU doctor pawing at the vampire’s delicate frame.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Gabe needed to get out of there.

“I’ll go get changed out of my scrubs,” he broke in gruffly, turning away without waiting for a response. It wasn’t his business who Soren flirted with, but Gabe didn’t have to stand by and watch it happen.

Today just wasn’t a good day.

Gabe was badging into the employee locker room before he even noticed Soren had followed him. He gave the vampire a stern look over his shoulder. “You’re not allowed in here.”

Soren’s only reply was a blank stare, as if arbitrary human rules like staff-only locker rooms were so foreign a concept they didn’t even merit a reaction.