Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Would Gregori’s long, lanky legs even fit inside—ugh, brain. Stop. Just stop.
Salem shoved computer glasses onto his nose and forcefully focused. There was one follow-up today, a ten-year-old patient he remembered well because of the kid’s sass. He had been an interesting case. The kid had fallen off a water slide and damn near burst his spleen in the process.
Other than him, Salem had…a surgery this afternoon? He wasn’t supposed to.
Frowning, he opened the calendar appointment, then clicked on the link leading to the patient’s file. First page was a note from the other surgeon in the department. Dr. Kyle was maybe two weeks out of graduation, his residency completed, and this case was too much of an outlier right out of the gate. He’d deferred the surgery by two days with an urgent plea, asking Salem to please take lead and let him assist.
Honestly, Salem preferred it when the young surgeons did this. If they weren’t confident in the procedure for whatever reason, he would absolutely take lead, letting them assist and get the experience necessary so the next time they saw something like this, they’d have confidence.
Salem shot off a quick email to the surgical team in general agreeing to take lead, mentally rearranging his schedule. He’d need to get some takeout a half hour earlier than he normally ate lunch to accommodate this, but it was doable. He knew better than to go into surgery on an empty stomach.
A commotion of raised voices started up out in the hallway. It got louder and louder, to the point Salem’s instincts insisted he get up and check. It sounded like trouble brewing.
It didn’t take long to find the problem—an overweight man in a patient gown, one leg in a cast from hip to toe, wobbling around with a death grip on a crutch, all the while shouting.
“You’re not putting those fucking things in me!”
Two nurses—Jessy and Min—were trying to corral him, likely afraid he’d fall and do damage if allowed to run free, and the head nurse of this floor was right in his face. Nora was a massive woman, taller than most men, and it was never a good thing when she got involved. It usually meant things had gone south.
“Sir. You sit your ass down before I make you. You are not allowed to make a commotion like this. You’re near the pediatric wing, which means kids can hear you.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” the man snapped back. “You’re not putting any of those damn needles in me! They hurt!”
Unfortunately, Salem could put the pieces of this puzzle together without much help. Some men were such babies about pain. It was pathetic.
He stepped right in, planting himself at Nora’s side and giving the man a hot glare.
“You’re walking around on an injured leg and you’re complaining about a needle?”
The man almost looked abashed for a second before his bad temper bounced back. “I don’t want them!”
Jessy leaned in and quickly filled Salem in under her breath. “He’s due for surgery in thirty minutes. Multiple fractures that need to be pinned to heal right. I can’t get an IV or IV anesthesia started with him.”
In other words, surgery was already delayed because of his tantrum.
Salem spoke to Jessy, but his eyes were on the man. “Cancel the surgery.”
The man’s head snapped around as he protested, “You can’t do that! I need the surgery!”
“Clearly you don’t if you’re acting like this.”
“Who’s going to fix my busted leg?!”
“That’s now a you problem.” Salem got right in the man’s face. “You don’t talk to my nurses like this. The only reason I can even function as a surgeon is because of them. Without nurses, I couldn’t do shit. You don’t get to disrespect them, I don’t care how scared you are of needles.”
His pale skin was already red with anger but now it turned nearly purple with embarrassment. “I’m—who said I’m scared? I just—”
“You would not be throwing a tantrum about two tiny needles unless you were scared. But a man of your age should be better at handling his emotions. I’ve three-year-old patients who handled pre-op better than you. Now, go get dressed and get out. We will not be making you a referral.”
Nora got a grip under his arm and forcefully turned him about. “This way.”
The man whined, but he had no choice but to move as Nora hauled him back to his room.
Salem would call security if necessary, but he trusted Nora to have this one in the bag. Frankly, even he wouldn’t mess with her in a dark alley. They’d never find his body.
“Thank you, Doctor Hunter,” Jessy said, beaming. “I figured it would take another man to shut him down.”
“Always does with the misogynists. Everyone okay here?”
“We are.”
Satisfied, he gave them a nod and went back to his office.