Don’t Fall for the Doctor by Lacey Bolt
Chapter 5
Exam room four smelled like lemon cleaning solution, and all traces of vomit were washed away. In record time, probably. Gwen wouldn’t have an excuse to fire her today.
She pushed the cart towards the door. It tilted steeply to the side. Her stomach lurched as she dove to catch it before the cart tipped over again. She balanced it upright, then bent down to examine the wheel again. If the wheel stayed attached to the cart through the end of the week, she’d believe in miracles. Ashley bit her lip and shook her head. The true miracle would actually be if Gwen fixed the cart.
She walked to the other side of the cart and gave it a careful tug. Pain shot through her shin as the cart lurched into her leg. She let out a quiet hiss and allowed herself one second to rub her leg. Then, she straightened and backed up the cart slowly, taking smaller steps to avoid hitting her shins again. She gritted her teeth. Once she entered graduate school, she’d never push a cart again. And once she made enough money to cover rent and food each month, she’d leave a big tip for every cleaning person she met.
She gave the cart a harder tug to get it through the doorway and backed right into a wall. A wall that let out an angry sound. She jerked upright and cringed as her cart tipped over.
“Sorry,” she muttered automatically. The mess was huge. The bottle of liquid soap had cracked in the fall and oozed onto her shoes. She lifted up one foot gingerly, then the other.
“Sorry for not doing your job and cleaning my room on time, or sorry for not bothering to look where you walk?”
Ashley took a deep breath and turned to face the human wall. At least the voice didn’t belong to Dr. Evans. Unfortunately, it did belong to one of the other doctors. Why couldn’t she run into a kind patient or one of the hospital IT workers? They never bothered her.
Dr. Michael Tobers looked down at her. If he stood any taller, she’d have to strain her neck trying to look him in the eyes. Maybe the air was too thin at his height. Maybe he needed more oxygen in order to act like a decent human being instead of a smug, superior being.
Seven minutes, who can’t be patient for seven minutes? Arrogant, impatient, controlling people who were too full of themselves, that’s who.
In a fair world, self-absorbed narcissists would look ugly. They wouldn’t look like they belonged in a calendar of shirtless doctors. Much less be placed in the starring role of that calendar. Dr. Tobers’s dark hair, permanent five o’clock shadow, and intense grey eyes were all the female staff talked about for weeks after he started working at the hospital. Even Ashley fell for the gorgeous looks at first.
Well, he usually looked like a fashion model for hospital scrubs. Today, he looked like he had the flu.
A small giggle came from the nurse who stood next to him. She looked at Ashley with an icy smirk.
“Sorry, I’ll have this mess cleaned up right away, and you can have the room.” She lifted her foot again. The liquid soap made a loud slurp.
“Who’s your supervisor?” He continued to glare at her, barely moving to give her enough space to turn the cart upright again. Apparently, an apology wasn’t enough for Dr. Arrogant. Or that nurse, who muttered something under her breath.
“Gwen.”
“Any more problems, I’m calling her. I won’t have my patients wait because you aren’t doing your job fast enough.”
Ashley grabbed some towels from her cart and bent to wipe the liquid soap on the floor. At least they couldn’t see her face while she cleaned. She’d need the mop bucket to finish cleaning up the residue. The nurse tapped her foot impatiently, inches away from Ashley’s face. Weren’t nurses supposed to be kind and full of compassion? Finally, Ashley stood up, flung the last few items onto her cart, and straightened her ponytail. Her face burned, but she grabbed the handle of the cart carefully. She gently tugged it past Dr. Tobers while the nurse wrinkled her nose.
Ashley stopped pushing her cart when she got to the cleaning closet at the end of the hall and released the breath she’d been holding. Maybe getting fired wouldn’t be so bad. She could start over, in a new job, somewhere else.
She removed some items from her cart and filled up the mop bucket. The fewer items on the cart, the fewer items to pick up each time it leaned too far over. Too bad it meant that she had to clean the rooms even faster to keep up with the clinic’s pace and have time to restock the cart.
“Katie! Come here.” Dr. Tobers’s demanding voice flew down the hall. Ashley backed out of the supply closet and walked back to the area where the liquid soap had spilled, ignoring him.
“Hey, Katie, don’t go clean the exam room. Clean this mess first.” He spoke louder, with a demanding tone. Ashley looked at him. That nurse—Theresa?—still stood next to him, like a shadow. The smug look was still fixed on her face.
“Are you talking to me?” She tried to sound confident, but the words came out in a squeak.
“Your name is Katie, isn’t it?” Sarcasm dripped from Dr. Tobers’s words. “You have a mop, and there is spilled coffee on the floor. Yes, I’m talking to you. This needs to be cleaned up.”
Ashley frowned and grabbed a paper towel. She made her way to the small puddle of light brown coffee, obviously caused seconds ago by either him or the nurse. Didn’t really matter who spilled it. They were both too lazy and self-absorbed to clean up after themselves or ask politely for help.
If only they were stuck on that deserted island. Dr. Tobers would be one of the first people running to her for help cooking. He probably didn’t know the first thing about cooking or doing anything else for himself. Dr. Tobers and Dr. Evans probably had an army of people at their disposal, people to cook, shop, and clean their houses for them. Sure, they were cardiologists, but put them in a place where they’d have to take care of themselves, and they’d melt under the pressure. By the end of the second day, Dr. Tobers would beg for her help.
And she would help him, but only if he remembered her name.