Chapter 21

Lainey

It was dark when he woke me.

“Hey. I’m heading into the hospital,” he whispered, brushing a few hairs off my forehead. My brain felt a little fuzzy, but between the pizza and water Sam had poured into me, I was feeling better than expected after all the pinot.

“What time is it?” I was pretty sure I'd left my phone somewhere downstairs to fend for itself last night. Hopefully it had enough battery for me to call a car.

“It’s almost six. You should sleep in. Just didn’t want you to worry when you woke up alone.”

I smiled. It was warm under his covers, and smelled like Sam—like clean laundry and coffee and something else that I wanted to bathe in. And I got a few extra hours to wallow in it before I had to get up? Amazing. But…

“I can head out. I don’t want to creep around your house.”

He stroked my jaw, leaning in close. In the quiet darkness, with both of us whispering and the chill of early morning air teasing my nose, it felt like we were in our own personal bubble. A miniature snow globe that no one could intrude on.

“Feel free to creep. Your clothes are in the dryer. There’s a pitcher of decaf breakfast tea in the fridge.”

“You made me tea?” I’d stumbled into his house babbling like a tipsy wacko about him texting me more, and he repaid the favor by doing my laundry? The awe I was feeling must have leaked onto my face. He smiled down at me.

“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a surgeon. Putting some tea bags into a pitcher is well within my skill set.”

“You have to add water, too.”

“Damn. Knew I forgot something.”

It wasn’t even six a.m. and he’d already made me laugh. Plus, I was still riding the high from my cathartic drinks with Tess and Jasmine. Was this a dream? Did most people wake up feeling this cozy and content in the morning?

“Is there anything I can do before I leave? I can throw the sheets in the wash?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, if you insist. I’ll just laze around here for a few hours enjoying my tea and snooping before I call an Uber.”

“Your car’s here.”

I blinked at him. This was a dream. I’d left my car to sit cold and alone overnight in the R 3 parking lot. “What?”

Sam went sheepish. “I hope you don’t mind. I gave Will your keys. He’s driving it back here in a minute, and I’ll take him over to the gym on my way to work.”

“Who are you?” I should start calling him Super Sam. We should all start calling him Super Sam. He was amazing. For some unknown reason, he chose to spend all his selfless, amazing energy on me.

That soft smile made another appearance. He pressed a few kisses across my cheeks. “I’m Sam. Nice to meet you.” Then he handed me my fully charged phone. I swooned.

After locking up with the code he’d given me (a code to someone’s house wasn’t equivalent to a key. Right? Maybe it was a temporary code that expired after a day, like one you could give to a house sitter.), I flicked through missed texts from last night.

A screenshot of a picture Tiago had sent him accompanied the last message. I was leaning over the table, grasping Jas’s arm and laughing. We were all smiling. My phone pinged, and I scrolled to a new message.

Days later, the texts still made me blush. Aside from sitting down to plan out our upcoming ablation, Sam and I had barely gotten to see each other since that morning. We did a good job of acting professional, giving each other the same distant courtesy that we used to. Though, admittedly, it was hard for me to remember what we used to be like.

Even though it was only a few weeks ago, pre-Sam times seemed foggy to me, like he’d walked into my world and turned on a light.

“Doctor Carmichael? A moment?”

I refrained from grinning like an idiot when I saw him coming down the hall, instead dismissing the residents I’d just finished leading through rounds before I turned to face him.

“What can I do for you, Doctor Reese?”

His gaze flicked to mine. He continued to both love and hate when I called him Doctor.

“I wanted to check something with your calendar.”

“Ah!” He smirked as I fumbled my laptop, ducking into the physician’s lounge to grab a table. Next month’s schedules came out today. As a senior fellow, I usually got my requests, but there were probably a few instances where Sam and my days wouldn’t completely match. He looked over my shoulder as I pulled up my calendar. Our eyes flicked between his screen and mine, comparing.

I couldn’t help smiling over my shoulder at him. All our off days lined up, as did most of our on-call and admin time. His gaze roamed my face, the corner of his mouth quirking.

“Sam,” I whispered, checking to make sure no one was around. Two doctors sat at a table in the corner, too far away to hear us. “What are we going to do with all this time? I mean, look at that!”

Next Friday, our calendars were identical, color-coded blocks. My next attending interview in the morning, our ablation surgery in the afternoon, then an entire night and the next day off. After only snatching a few hours together here and there, the concept of a whole two days together—nearly thirty-six hours of free time, at that—seemed like an embarrassment of riches.

“I have some ideas,” he murmured, pulling out his phone. I glanced through the rest of the month. My last as a fellow. My surgery schedule was packed, which was a good sign. Between standard procedures like stents, and more complicated ones like Sam’s ablation and a few others with Cooper, I was fully booked. All the rest of the time…I’d probably be somewhere in Sam’s vicinity. It felt too good to be true.

My phone chimed, and I glanced at the screen. Samuel Reese has shared a calendar invite with you!

A blue time block that simply said, “dinner”, nestled into the blank space of my personal calendar next Saturday night.

“Oh my God, did you just ask me on a date via calendar invite?” I hissed, grinning as I hit “Accept.”

“We’re not dating.” We shared a secret smile before I forced my attention back to my computer screen. There was only so much time we could spend smiling into each other’s eyes before people took notice. I glanced at the following month and its appointment-free days. By that point, it wouldn’t matter, would it? I’d be an attending and the trial period would be over. We’d be free to do this officially.

Honestly, if I could have slapped a title on him then and there, I would have. Despite a few bumps like my post-Katie freak out, I felt good about all of this. All those text exchanges and late-night phone calls and stolen, rushed lunches over the last few weeks had eased me into the concept of being with him, for real.

“Another surgery off the books.” I jumped as Cooper slammed his bag down on the table. “This is getting out of control. Someone needs to talk to Caplan.” He aimed a cutting look at Sam, who casually closed his laptop while he slid into a chair.

“Don’t look at me.”

“He listens to you. You’re the most level-headed one out of all of us. If you say something, he’ll do something.”

Sam shrugged, sitting back. “He hasn’t done anything yet.”

“Damn, that’s right. You almost blew a gasket when they switched Jones into that EVLP. Never seen you so worked up.”

I nearly strained my neck to stare at him. “Is that right?”

Sam’s eyebrows lifted. “It was bullshit.”

“It was bullshit!” Cooper cut in before I could say anything. “Dude’s grandfather is on a hell of a power trip.”

“Can’t we do anything about this? Go to others on the board?”

Cooper snorted. “You mean the other people who’ve been in Sturmond’s pocket for the last fifteen years? Not likely. Hopefully, he’s only freaking out because his baby boy is up for a permanent position here, and everything else will go back to normal once that settles itself out. Otherwise…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“Otherwise, what?” I knew a lot about how hospitals worked, but the dynamics between physicians and leadership was still somewhat of a mystery to me.

“Otherwise, I’m out.”

“What? You’d just leave?” My jaw was probably hanging open. I’d worked my whole life to be a surgical attending. It had never occurred to me that someone would just pack up and leave it. It didn’t help that I got freaked at the thought of my favorite surgical partner abandoning me.

Cooper rolled his eyes. “It’s not like it would be hard for me to find a job, Carmichael. I’m one of the most prominent figures in this field. No offense, Reese.”

I was probably the only one who noticed Reese’s mouth tipping subtly into a smirk. “No problem.”

“I could write my own check somewhere. I won’t stay here if they keep interfering,” Cooper finished, eyeing the coffee machine.

“But Cedar is the best cardiac hospital in the country!” I protested. We were the best surgical team in the country. “Where else would you even go?”

“Won’t be best for long if they keep roadblocking my fucking surgeries. I’d rather go somewhere where I have a chance at making a difference.” Cooper tapped on the table, glancing at the two of us. “Like that ablation you two are working on? The simultaneous valve repair is going to make it tricky. You feel in over your head there? Want me to take the lead?”

He addressed Sam, but my hackles rose at the implication that he couldn’t cut it. “Dr. Reese and I are perfectly capable of executing such a complex procedure.”

“Whoa. I didn’t mean it like that. I just want something interesting to think about before I fall asleep with a scalpel in my hand.” Cooper rose. “I have to grab a cup before my next consult.”

“Thanks for the backup.” Sam smiled at me, opening his computer again to tap out a few notes.

“Anytime,” I murmured, not totally sold on the innocence of Cooper’s innocent comment. The man’s inflated ego probably helped him keep his cool at the surgery table, but sometimes made him insufferable as a person. I’d gotten used to his little quirks. It helped that he seemed to hold me in some esteem, even if I was technically underneath him in the hospital hierarchy.

For better or worse, our stars had risen together over the last few years. Cooper and Carmichael: the cardio dream team. The thought of him leaving made me feel slightly queasy. “Do you think he’d really leave?”

“Maybe.” Sam paused his typing to look at me, a flash of wariness in his eyes, before it cleared. “You seem upset by that.”

“Maybe,” I repeated, biting my lip and staring at the door. Cooper was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of surgeon. Smart and intuitive, focused without being a hard-ass. The two of us had a track record of success that I wanted to cling to with my own little egotistical claws. “We’re a good team. It’d be hard to lose him.”

“Professionally.”

I snorted, navigating through patient notes. I loved these moments with him, stolen and innocuous. “Obviously, professionally. What else is there?”

His throat cleared. Something about it sounded off. I cut my eyes over in time to see him take a breath. “Personally.”

This time, I snorted so hard I choked. “You think, me and Cooper?” I hacked, taking a sip of my tea. “Did you hit your head recently and forgot to mention it?”

“It’s not as far-fetched as you’d think,” he muttered, refusing to meet my eyes. His sudden bout of shyness baffled me. Was Sam jealous of Cooper?

“Um, hard pass. He’s a surgeon.”

“I’m a surgeon.” The lines around his mouth canceled out the lightness of his tone.

“Yeah, but you’re different.”

He finally glanced over, working hard to suppress a smile. “Different how?”

“Well, Cooper didn’t stand up for me to the board.” I grinned. Sam grunted, gaze following the curve of my cheek. “He said you ‘blew a gasket’ when they pulled me out of that EVLP.”

“Hmm,” Sam grunted again, eyes on his computer. I got the impression he didn’t really want to discuss this.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I told you I tried to change their decision.”

It was so very Sam to go to bat for a co-worker and not say anything about it. “Telling me you tried isn’t the same as telling me you freaked out on the board.”

“I didn’t freak out.”

“Blew a gasket sounds like freaking out. How would you describe it?”

He shut his laptop before raising his eyebrow at me. He knew I was fishing. “I may have gotten frustrated.”

“Did you yell?”

“No,” he answered quickly. Too quickly. We eyed each other.

“Just what, exactly, does it look like when you get heated, Doctor Reese?”

“Maybe you come to my place after our surgery Friday and you can find out.”

“Well, this looks cozy.” Sam and I sprang apart when Jones dropped his lunch across the table. “Nothing like procedure planning on your lunch break.”

“Right.” Sam swept his computer up. “Carmichael, thanks for checking the schedule with me.”

“Anytime.” While I watched him walk out of the lounge, I counted to ten in my head. Stupid Jones. Now I’d never know what Sam was like when he got all fired up. At least, not until Friday. My heart fluttered.

“You two have been going hard on that ablation. Must suck to spend so much time with him. Talking to him is like pulling teeth.”

“He’s a great surgeon,” I snapped.

“Whoa, damn, calm down. I’m just saying, it’s like talking to a brick wall.” I wanted to smack Jones’s cocky smile. “You want some real stimulating conversation, you know where to find me.”

“I don’t date people from work,” I reminded him for the hundredth time. Except for Saturday. I might be dating someone from work on Saturday. And…maybe Friday night, too.