When we parted ways outside the cafeteria doors, I felt lighter. There was newfound excitement in the renewed possibility of picking the great Hector Medina’s brain; with that assurance, nothing could possibly have the power to wipe the grin off my face.
I was wrong.
Almost as ifevil could sense happiness, Dr. Keach got a whiff of our returned working relationship. Two days later, he sat next to me in the hospital auditorium during a grand rounds presentation.
I initially found a seat next to Dr. Bel, whom I liked and respected. Dr. Bel was an orthopedic surgeon, and though we didn’t work together much, he had started residency the same year I had. Being a surgeon, though, he usually interacted with the cool kids—the jocks actually known as surgeons—of the hospital. Anyone who says cliques ended with high school is lying through their teeth. They wereeverywhere.
As we waited for the grand rounds presentation to start, I chatted easily with Dr. Bel until Dr. Keach’s hot breath graced the side of my neck.
“Dr. Ramirez,” Dr. Keach said.
“Dr. Keach.” I nodded curtly.
“I hear paradise is back.”
“If you mean Peak View was here just two days ago to offer me an attending position in their oncology department, then yes. I’m very happy about it.”
Clearly taken aback, Dr. Keach stammered for only a second. His lips thinned, and he suddenly looked uncomfortable in his seat. “That’s not what I meant,” he clipped.
I shrugged. “No?”
“No. I meant all is well in paradise with you and Dr. Medina.”
“If you mean, the results of our trial are more than we could ever have imagined, and the oncology department is still celebrating, then yes. All is well, Dr. Keach. Thanks for your concern.”
His nostrils flared, and I thoroughly enjoyed the reaction I got out of him when he failed to get one out of me.
He turned to the doctor sitting on the other side of him and spoke loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. “Not all of us can get into med school and get jobs because of affirmative action.”
He wentthere. Dr. Keach freaking went there. When he failed at drumming up false rumors about Hector and me, he reverted to his previous favorite torture device. What he used long before Hector came to Heartland Metro. The line I thought he’d long ago forgotten, like a child with his old toys.
I froze. I didn’t want to snap at him and give him the satisfaction he sought. The auditorium was nearly full, and even though everyone around us was engaged in conversation, a scene in the crowd would not go unnoticed.
Dr. Bel’s hand drifted to my wrist, resting on the armrest between us, and he squeezed once. I blinked at him, but the motion was only a cause for me to be distracted.
“No, Dr. Keach,” Dr. Bel nearly shouted. “Some of us get here on the coattails of our daddies.” When Dr. Bel saiddaddiesin such an infantilizing way, I almost lost it and couldn’t suppress my snort. “And some of us keep our jobs because of the millions our families donate, not because of our talent. It’s lucky, don’t you think, Dr. Keach, that nepotism is still alive and well?”
Dr. Bel finished his little speech with a grin at me that saidI got you.If I hadn’t known he was happily married, I would have pounced him right then and there. Okay, maybe not right then and there, but soon. Why were all the wonderful men in the world taken?
Thank you,I mouthed to him,and he tipped his chin at me. Luckily, the presentation started soon after that, much too quickly for Dr. Keach to come up with a retort.
This was turning out to be the best week I’d had in a long time.