“Why?”
Before Boxer could utter an explanation, the door to his room opened, and my superior strode inside. Dr. Sawyer quickly took in the scene: me sitting with a patient, the unlit candle, the juice boxes. It didn’t look good. Not at all.
“Dr. Ward, may I see you outside for a moment?” His tone was clipped and formal.
I set my juice box down and rose, trying to appear like I hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Boxer saluted me on my way out, and I glared at him.
Thankfully, Dr. Sawyer wasn’t paying attention because he was already waiting for me in the hallway.
He was about a decade older than me and very sure of his position at the hospital. “What are you doing?” Dr. Sawyer demanded the moment the door to Boxer’s room closed. “You know that fraternizing with patients is against the rules.”
“I wasn’t fraternizing.”
“It didn’t look that way to me.” He stared me down. “I need my overnight shift in the ER covered on Saturday. You’re going to work it for me. Hope you didn’t have any plans.”
He turned and marched away without saying another word.
I glared at his back, biting back a waspish retort.
* * *
“Well, Boxer,” I said late the next morning. “It seems our time together has come to an end. I’m discharging you. You can go home. I’m releasing you back into the wild.”
“Is that how you see me, Doc? As a wild animal?”
“Don’t get distracted. Do me a favor and attempt to heed my rules.”
“Which rules would those be?” he drawled with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“You know which ones, but if it will give you a kick to hear me say sex and masturbation, then I’ll oblige. No sex and no masturbation for a couple of weeks.”
He chuckled. “It did give me a kick. Thanks.”
“You should be up and moving freely, no heavy lifting, no exercising. I wish you’d take something for the pain, but you’re a grown man who knows his limits. I’m asking you to observe them.”
“Anything else?” he asked in amusement.
I handed him a sheet of paper. “If you have any of these symptoms, you need to go to the hospital immediately. No dawdling.”
He took the blue paper and glanced at it for a moment before folding it in half and placing it on the bedside table.
The humor in his eyes remained, but his smile dimmed. “I got you in trouble, didn’t I? With Dr. Prick.”
My lips twitched at Boxer’s apropos nickname of Dr. Sawyer. “You didn’t get me into trouble. I got myself into trouble. I should never have been spending time with you.”
“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me this morning?”
“I haven’t been avoiding you. I had an emergency bowel obstruction I had to deal with.”
“Hopefully not yours,” he quipped.
“Apatient’s.”I mock glared at him, which made his teasing grin widen. “Please take care of yourself. Your recovery is important, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Seriously, Boxer.”
“I heard you. You’ve got my word that I’ll take it easy.”