Dr. Grump’s Surprise Baby (Bossy Bachelors #2)

3. Dominic

CHAPTER 3

DOMINIC

“ C an I get you a drink?” Jonathan Nash asked as Dominic sat down at the bar.

Dominic shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. “I’m going back to the hospital after this.”

“You spend too much time there,” Jonathan said. “You’re going to burn out.”

“I have a job to do,” Dominic said. “The work we do is too important not to give it every bit of our time and attention.”

“Look, I’m not saying the work isn’t important,” Jonathan said. “You know I would never say something like that. But we have more support now than we have in the past. This new crop of interns means that we’re going to be able to balance our caseloads a little bit more effectively.”

“Not on your life,” Dominic countered. “Have you seen these kids? They’re a pack of duds, Jonathan. Usually I wash out half of them, but I have to tell you, I think they’re all going to be gone by the end of the year.”

“You don’t mean that,” Jonathan said. “You haven’t even given them a chance, Dominic. How can you be ready to write them off already? They might turn out to surprise you.”

“Well, it would definitely be a surprise if they did,” Dominic said. “You had a third of them today. Can you honestly tell me any of them were worth the investment it will take to train them? I mean, really.”

“I’ve only spent one day with them, Dominic. I wouldn’t write anyone off after one day.”

“Well, I can tell you that the group you had today were the bottom of the barrel,” Dominic said, grabbing a handful of bar nuts. “I’m sorry I gave them to you, I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I knew that if I tried to spend the day dealing with them, I would lose my temper.”

“I think they did a fine job,” Jonathan protested.

“Oh, come on,” Dominic laughed. “You can’t be serious. What about the redheaded one?”

“Dr. Clancy?”

“Pff. Don’t call him doctor. That boy is not going to be a doctor. Not at Chicago Grace, anyway.”

“You’re probably right,” Jonathan admitted. “He doesn’t really have the stuff. He got a little squeamish when I asked him to do a blood draw.”

“Yeah, see, that’s crazy. You can’t be too squeamish to draw blood, even if you are a beginner.”

“You’re right,” Jonathan said. “But maybe he’ll find work in a clinic somewhere. He doesn’t have a future as a trauma physician, but there are plenty of specializations where you don’t really have to deal with blood, and he might do well in any of those fields.”

“Either way, he’s a washout when it comes to our program,” Dominic said dismissively. “And what about the one with the squeaky voice?”

“Dr. Flaherty? Dominic, you can’t wash people out for having squeaky voices.”

“I’m not saying that’s the reason she would wash out,” Dominic said. “I just don’t think she takes the work very seriously. When I had her, she spent most of the day gossiping with one of the nurses about what color scrubs would look best on her. I don’t have time for that sort of thing on my hospital floor. If that’s all she’s here to do, she ought to go right now.”

“Look, all the interns are in a new place for the first time, meeting new people,” Jonathan said. “There’s going to be a little bit of socializing as they get to know one another. The way I figure it, as long as they’re not sleeping with each other in the on-call room, it isn’t my problem. A little gossip never hurt anybody. It’s certainly not enough to get someone cut from the program. I think your standards are too high.”

“And I think yours are too lax,” Dominic said. “What about the blonde one?”

“Which blonde one?”

“Dr. Swinton.” Even though he didn’t approve of her, Dominic was annoyed to have to acknowledge that she was one of the few interns whose name he already remembered. Of course, it was because she had made a bad impression, not a good one. Still, he would have preferred to be able to say that she had made no impression at all.

“I thought she was the best of my group today,” Jonathan said. “By a mile, actually.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Not at all. I split them up and had them spend some time one-on-one with some of the patients, and Dr. Swinton had the best bedside manner of anyone I’ve seen come through the program in a long time. She’s not going to need to be taught how to make patients feel at ease, the way you and I were. She’s got it without even having to try.”

“Okay, so she’s sociable,” Dominic said. “That’s not enough to make a good doctor. Lots of people can make other people feel at ease. Waitresses can do that.”

“Yeah, but waitresses can’t place a catheter. Dr. Swinton can.”

“That’s a really basic procedure.”

“Are you just determined not to like anyone?” Jonathan asked him. “I know we run an exacting program, Dominic. We wash out more candidates than any other training hospital in the state of Illinois. But some people are going to make it through. Some of these interns are going to be doctors. And I’m saying that of the group I saw today, Dr. Swinton is the one I’d put my money on.”

“I should have taken you up on that drink,” Dominic grumbled.

“Yeah, you should,” Jonathan agreed. “And you should call it a day and go home after this instead of back to the hospital, but I have a feeling you won’t do that.”

“I have a lot of paperwork ahead of me. I’m going to be working all night.”

“Of course. How long has it been since you spent a night at home, Dominic?”

Dominic didn’t answer the question.

Jonathan’s voice softened. “You judge the interns too harshly,” he said. “But you’re too hard on yourself as well. You’re allowed to take breaks. You’re allowed to stop working and go home for a few hours here and there. We have a lot of competent doctors at the hospital. The whole system isn’t going to collapse if you go home.”

Dominic nodded. He knew that. At the same time, though, it was hard to leave the hospital in the hands of anybody else. He was the only person he could really trust with the care of his patients. Anybody else might make mistakes that would have dire consequences, and it simply wasn’t a risk worth taking.

“Call the hospital,” Jonathan said. “Tell them you aren’t going to be back in tonight. Nobody would think any less of you for it, you know that. Everyone thinks you deserve some time off. Everyone would support you for making that choice.”

“Sure, but I can’t do it,” Dominic said. “I’m going back in. You’re not going to change my mind.”

Jonathan sighed. “It’s no wonder you’re not married.”

“I’m not married because I’ve never met a woman I’ve wanted to marry,” Dominic said gruffly.

“Yeah and you never will, at this rate. You’re married to the job,” Jonathan said. “No woman could ever hope to compete.”

“This is completely irrelevant,” Dominic said. “I’m not looking to get married. I’m doing what I want to be doing.”

“How long has it been since you even went on a date with a woman?”

“Do people still go on dates?”

“Dom, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime alone. I just hope you realize that.” Jonathan took a long swallow of his drink. “I know you think I’m being too hard on you, but I’m your friend. I’m saying these things because I care.”

“I get it.” Dominic said. “I’m going to head back to the hospital now, though.”

“This isn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to come out with me tonight. I thought we would have some more time together. I thought we’d be able to talk about things.”

“We did. We talked about the interns.”

“And you spent the whole time running them down. They’re better than you think they are, Dom. You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I hope they prove me wrong,” Dominic agreed. He wasn’t so arrogant as to want to be right about the interns. He wanted them to be good additions to the hospital — it was just that he didn’t think they were going to be. He had seen too many interns who were weak, naive, foolish. With a lot of the doctors, the fact that so many interns washed out of the program was either a joke or a point of pride, but for Dominic it was simply a fact. They washed out because they weren’t good enough to make the cut, and that was that.

And that was the way things were going to be for Emily Swinton. If there was any intern he was sure he had judged correctly, it was her.

Showing up late on the first day! Who would do such a thing?

Although… he had looked into the car accident she’d told him about. He had been inclined to believe it was just an excuse, something she’d made up to justify her lateness, but there had been a traffic accident that had caused massive congestion on one of the major thoroughfares. And he knew that she hadn’t lived in the area for a long time, so it was possible to imagine that she genuinely hadn’t known how to look up the traffic patterns and compensate for them. It was definitely a mistake on her part, but it might be a more forgivable mistake than he had originally imagined.

Maybe he should let that go and give her a second chance.

But she hadn’t done anything else to impress him. There was that to consider. There were plenty of interns — well, not plenty, but certainly some — who had distinguished themselves by volunteering for various tasks or proving that they were knowledgeable by offering answers to questions. Emily Swinton hadn’t done anything. She had arrived late for work one day, and that was the only thing he had to judge her on.

He had to take it seriously, because what else was there?

He said goodbye to Jonathan and left the bar, heading back to the hospital, prepared for a long night. Dominic liked working nights. The place seemed quieter somehow, more peaceful. There were times he considered reducing his workload, only working normal hours, but he knew that if he were to do that, he would miss the night shifts too much. He wanted to stick with them.

Of course, the interns were long gone by the time he got back, with the exception of the few who were on call. The on-call interns were asleep, resting up in case they were needed, the do not disturb sign flipped on the door to the on-call room. Dominic checked the schedule to see which interns were here and saw that the names belonged to two who hadn’t really stood out to him yet. Maybe he would see something from them tonight — maybe he would have the chance to judge whether they had promise or were part of the group that ought to be washed out right away.

He went into the break room, intending to get himself a cup of coffee to take along on his nightly rounds.

But in the doorway, he stopped cold, staring, unable to believe what he was seeing.

It was Emily Swinton. She was still here, surrounded by a pile of books. Studying.

She must have sensed his eyes on her, because she looked up. “Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry. Is there a better place for me to do this?”

“You’re not on call,” he said.

“No.”

“Why are you here?”

“I wanted to read these books, but they belong to Dr. Nash. I didn’t want to take them home without asking him, so I stayed.” Her cheeks went pink. “I didn’t mean to get in the way.”

“You’re not in the way,” Dominic said. “You can read here. That’s fine.”

He observed her for a moment longer, then went to get his cup of coffee. She had already turned her attention back to the book in front of her, as if she wasn’t even aware of his presence anymore.

He watched her twirl a lock of blond hair around her finger as she read.

He had been wrong about one thing, at least.

She did care about this job. She did have a passion for it.

He was going to have to reserve judgment about her, at least for now.