Clarissa shook her head. “I don't know what that means.”
“You know how in a band there's usually the singer who's kind of holding a guitar, and then there's usually two guys standing behind him with different guitars? One of them is the bass, that's Kaine. The other is the rhythm guitar, which is really like first guitar, kind of. That's me.”
He had a surprisingly light tenor voice for what she expected out of a rock star. “But you're not first guitar.”
“Oh, that's Jett. First guitar is usually the singer, who sometimes plays. I'm the one who's actually always playing. So, if you hear the guitar that doesn't sound like the backbeat, it's me.”
“He’s the best. He doesn't sing like Jett, but you should see him move.” Hermione started creeping up, appearing in the video screen. “I'm Hermione.”
“And very cute, and definitely thirteen.” Gael had a winning smile for her.
“Where are you? Are you still with Kelsey?” Hermione chirped.
Gael held his finger up to his lips. “She goes by Tessa, actually. And I'm not allowed to reveal that to you.”
Hermione's face fell.
A woman off screen said, “Gael, don't tease her. She missed your concert in Cleveland.”
“Shh,” Gael said. “Also, just keep this between us.” He reached out and brought a hand that was much more feminine than his in front of the screen.
A gold ring with hands, a crown, and a heart adorned the left ring finger. “This is a Claddagh ring. Google it later.”
Clarissa stepped further out of the way, remembering that she'd noticed a similar ring on Lillian's left hand. This wasn't the time to mention this to Hermione, who was absolutely in awe.
Behind Gael's shoulder, a dark-haired, curvy woman crossed through the screen, and Hermione started clapping her hands. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I didn't, but I totally saw that.”
She was grinning so hard, and she took a quick aside to Clarissa. “Sorry I was such a bitch before. This is the best.”
Gael said, “All right, why don't I take you to band practice? The other guys are going to have to be wearing the makeup, but they can't wait to meet you. I don't have to wear it today because everybody knows who I am.”
This non-disaster taken care of, Clarissa settled back, out of frame, waiting for the next page.
CHAPTER 9
Roan stood outside OR 8 in the morning, wishing he had taken an entire mountain of Motrin. He could sense Dee, the OR scheduler, and a gaggle of OR nurses and techs hiding around the corner to witness this confrontation.
“Let me get this straight,” he gave the miscreants his most severe expression. “We had a problem in the OR over a basketball game.”
His particular targets weren’t any of his anesthesia residents but one of the third-year general surgery residents and an advanced practice lady paramedic from Rescue Alpha.
To be clear, Rescue Alpha was made of only female former firefighters for reasons that predated Roan’s tenure. They rotated in as short procedure CRNAs and surgical techs/extenders. According to the information he had received, they trained extensively to perform emergency c-sections, amputations, chest tubes, and escharotomies. Roan was involved because the argument had occurred while she was acting as the CRNA.
“Yes, sir,” the woman, nearly six feet tall and in her earlier thirties, didn’t waste words as the male resident simultaneously said, “No.”
“So, Ms.—” he checked her badge, “Amber. According to the circulating staff, there was a conversation occurring about the city basketball tournament, and it devolved into—” He quoted the way it had been documented, “—casting aspersions about his heritage and his hobbies,” he said, watching her face, which remained blank.
“Sir,” she began.
Unexpectedly, the resident, who was two inches shorter than paramedic Amber, said, “It’s my fault. I'm the one who started the fight. Though she deserved it.”
Roan faced the resident, third-year Dr. Salke, whom he’d occasionally seen in surgery. “Your fault, but she deserved it?”
“No,” the resident said as the paramedic said, “Yes.”
Salke moved to block her partially from Roan’s irritation by griping, “The firefighter team Guns and Hoses are playing the Cardiac Bypasses tonight in the championship. She said her team was going to win and that mine had a stupid name.”
He’d worked late last night to get off early today to spend time with Clarissa post-call, and they were going to put his schedule in jeopardy over an argument over the names of teams in the city basketball tournament?
