“Except for Trauma.”
My father gave spots to my brothers even though I desperately wanted one, and now there’s no room there for me. Neither one of them cared one way or another, but I did.
“Right.” Jake takes a drink of his beer. “But general surgery has a great spot open. It pays well. You get consistent hours. You’re closer to home.”
Now that soundsboring and quiet.
Living in Las Vegas has brought me out of my shell, even before meeting Roman. I like it here. I like who I am here. And going home feels like giving in to yet another thing my family wants.
“I’ve got some time left on my contract, but who knows after that?”
My answer satisfies him for now, and we get through the rest of the meal enjoyably. He tells me about a new girlfriend and we swap stories about crazy cases we’ve seen lately. By the time dinner is over, we’re both completely stuffed and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. The very worst part about all the competition between us is that it’s strained the normal brother-sister relationship. Times like this, I miss it even more.
“What did you say the name of this guy you’re working for is? Maybe Dad knows him.”
I almost laugh out loud. There is no way my dad and Roman would have ever crossed paths, but Jake’s tech savvy and even a simple Google search of Roman paints a pretty clear picture.
“Uh, I don’t think he’d know him,” I say. “We’re—”
I’m cut off by the ring of my phone. As I fish through my purse, Roman’s name flashes on the screen. My gut instinct is to throw it into the Koi pond a few feet away from us, but I can’t do that. He’s paying me to be available to him at all hours, no matter how angry I am or how childish he’s being.
“Hello?”
“Maddie, hey.” His voice is short. “We had another incident tonight. Can you meet me at the warehouse?”
My stomach sinks. Incident is ominous. I wish he’d just tell me what was going on so I could prepare. “Um, sure. I’m about thirty minutes away.”
“That will work. Get here as soon as you can.”
The line cuts.
“Everything okay?” Jake arches an eyebrow at me as he signs for the bill.
“That was my boss. I’m so sorry, but they’ve had an emergency and I have to go.” I gather my jacket and purse.
“No worries at all.” He stands, setting his napkin on the table. “I have an early flight tomorrow. We’ll see you in a few weeks, right? For Dad’s party?”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll be there. Thank you for dinner.” I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and wave as I head out.
Parking in Las Vegas is notoriously terrible, and my car is several blocks away. Roman’s tone was urgent, and I can only imagine what kind of mess is waiting for me. If history is any indication, it’s something terrible and someone’s life is in danger, so I take a cab instead of wasting time getting to my car.
It’s a quick drive to the warehouse, and I hurry inside. Unlike the first night, there is no clear victim. There are about ten men casually milling about; no one seems hurt.
“Hey Doc!” one of them calls.
“Nice outfit!”
The dress and heels I wore to dinner feel vastly out of place, and I wish I had my sweater. ”Is Roman here?”
Behind me, he clears his throat. Leaning against the doorframe, he has his thick forearms crossed over his chest and a gruff expression. He’s in a pair of gym shorts and a gray t-shirt, which seems odd, considering that even when he woke me up inthe middle of the night, he put on a dress shirt and slacks just to come here. “Hey Maddie.”
“Hey, who is hurt?”
“Right this way.” Roman nods behind him and walks that way. I follow, confused by how nonchalant everyone seems to act. With someone hurt, you’d think there would be a little more urgency.
“What happened?”
Roman leads me into a gym at the back of the warehouse. “We were playing a little pickup game and one of the guys got hurt.”