My furious, low tone cut through the air, and Carl's brows rose high as I spewed out whatever words my mind came up with. Running my free hand through my hair roughly, I chuffed a scoff and shook my head hard.
"What happened? Did you lose your job? Did she lose her job? Wait— why aren't you working right now, anyway? It's, like, 2:30 in the afternoon. A—"
Once again, Carl held up a hand to stop me, and I exhaled a hot breath through my nose. My mouth dried when he smiled small, relief glimmering in his eyes, and rocked back on the heels of his expensive running shoes.
"I'm temporarily suspended with pay until Monday. It's protocol with things like this. They act first, ask questions second. It's actually a bit of a story. She practically stalked me and accused me of going on a date with my own sister assuming it was you, and you'd dyed your hair to be less recognizable."
A shocked gasp escaped me, and my hand flew to my hair protectively. "I would never dye my hair! Do you know how much money I pay to make it look like this?" I could only focus on one aspect of his declaration at a time, and my brows rose high belatedly. "She accused you of going out with your sister? Seriously?"
"Yes. When Laurie and I went to my HR office, I wondered why Eva suddenly looked so panicked. The fact that she'd overanalyzed, and my sister is one heck of a lawyer in training, made Eva's complaint less credible right off the bat. The meeting went really well for me, to be honest. During it, I had to disclose your strained relationship with your father as part of what triggered your asthma attack at The Golden Pearl, though. There's something special about children suffering for their parents, otherwise there's no explanation for why you'd knowingly put yourself in harm's way. I also... I was able to explain what happened at my car that put me at the Pearl."
Faintly, I remembered him saying he'd had some sort of experience. Just feet from me, he shuffled uncomfortably, and his chest muscles flexed when he craned his neck.
"I'd rather not get into that. The point is that Eva is also under investigation, suspended without pay, because I had much more substantial proof than just 'I saw it, so you gotta believe me'."
"What do you think is gonna happen to her? Is she going to get fired for harassing you?" Eva's only words to me zapped behind my eyes, and I scoffed lightly when Carl shrugged a little disheartening. "I wish I could give her a piece of my mind."
"They'll probably transfer her, but their sister hospital in Boston will make her way more miserable than if they fired her. Technically, Eva didn't break any rules regarding conduct. We don't work directly in the same office, and although she was far too aggressive for my comfort... it'll get swept under the rug. At most, she'll have a blemish for misconduct on her record, but only for filing a false HR report."
Grinding my teeth, knowing Carl was right, I was beyond infuriated. I trembled from the heat that boiled my blood, but Carl was quick to cool the flow when he reached a sweat-slickened palm to touch my arm. Goosebumps rose on my skin, and I sniffed a little as his appreciation morphed into something deeper.Chapter 12Melissa"Earlier..."
Glancing up over my taco, mouth open, my eyes widened at the intense, laser focused gaze on me across the picnic table. We'd gone to a beach truck rather than a brick and mortar place, just because it was close. The salty sea breeze sucked the moisture from my mouth, and Carl frowned slightly under tightly knit brows.
"You said we hadn't slept together yet."
My chin almost hit the tabletop as flames engulfed my face, and I tensed at the slow, cautious emphasis. Carl held my eyes and refused to back down, and I set down my taco in its boat before I dropped it.
"Um— ah— yeah— I... I mean... I just... I was really mad, and— you're very— um... attractive..." Stuttering wildly, I covered my cheeks with my hands to keep them sliding off their bones.
Carl didn't look at all convinced by my sputtering, and a dense lump formed in my throat, growing the longer he stared at me. Cautious uncertainty swirled in his eyes, and I managed a shallow inhale when I managed to tear mine away.
Oh, my God, I really did say that. I was mortified— Carl would never sleep with me as long as he was my doctor, and maybe not even after that! What's wrong with me that I said something like that?
"I know this is something we've tried to avoid every single time, Melissa." His voice dipped, as if even talking about it was taboo and he could be punished— and he could be! My eyes found his again unwittingly, and I clenched my teeth together as my gut started to rot with dread. "I think it would be best if I referred you to another pulmonologist."