Fated Love Read Free

countertop in a completely uncharacteristic fashion.
Why am I so bothered? God, I hate feeling
off balance.
    "Yeah, but she's not the usual ER doc, now, is she?"
    "No," Honor admitted pensively, thinking about those talented hands, "she's not."
    "How could you hire someone for my department while I was on vacation? " Honor was so incensed she could barely stay in her seat. "I never even had a chance to interview her."
    Mary Ann Jones looked honestly contrite. "It came up unexpectedly, and I knew that you had a position open. I had to make the decision quickly to get the salary approved for the upcoming fiscal year."
    "You could have called me to discuss it. Linda O 'Malley knew where we were."
    "You know how these things go, Honor." The chief of medicine shrugged. "The chief of surgery contacted me and asked me to interview Dr. Maguire that very day. Her credentials were impeccable, and...I owed Fillmore a favor."
    "Great Politics," Honor said in disgust "I need a full-time ER doc, not a prima donna surgeon who probably can't tell a heart attack from heartburn."
    "It won't hurt to have a surgeon permanently on staff in the emergency room," Mary Ann pointed out. "It will be very good for the residency program, and it will cut down on the number of surgery consults you'll need to request. That will make the HMOs happy."
    "Did it ever occur to you to wonder why a surgeon would
want
to be an emergency room physician ? " Honor shook her head. "What's wrong with her?"
    "Nothing that I could see. Undergraduate at Duke, med school and general surgery at NYU, and one of the premier trauma fellowships in the country at St. Michael's."
    "I ask again, what's wrong with her? A substance abuse problem, mental instability? " Honor leaned forward, her displeasure evident "Come on, Mary Ann. No surgeon would take this position if there weren 't some kind of problem in their background. It doesn 't offer either the status or the salary of surgery."
    The chief of medicine lifted her shoulders helplessly. "I honestly can't shed any light on why she wanted this job. She comes highly recommended with absolutely nothing in her files to besmirch a stellar record. I was delighted to get her, and since she s officially a joint surgery and medicine hire,
their
department has to do all the work of credentialing her."
    "More politics. I'm telling you, someone's hiding something." Honor stood, still furious. "As far as I'm concerned, she's on probation in
my
department. If she makes one mistake or steps out of line, she's gone."
    "Of course," Mary Ann said. "I won't stand in your way if you have cause for dismissal. Just give her a fair chance."
    That had been three weeks ago.. In the interim, Honor had reviewed Quinn's CV and made a few discreet calls to friends from medical school and residency who had contacts at St. Michael's where Quinn had trained. Unfortunately, she didn't know much more about Quinn now than when she'd first been told to expect a surgeon as the newest member of her department. All anyone could tell her was that Quinn was rumored to be a rising young star, and if her star had burned out, no one knew why.
    "If there
is
a story, I haven't heard it," Honor said with a sigh.
    "She was slick this morning in that trauma," Linda pointed out mildly.
    "Yes."
    "And she's so hot the air around her sizzles."
    "God, Linda, Robin shouldn't let you out of the house without a chaperone."
    The small blond laughed. "After twelve years and two kids, Robin knows she doesn't have to worry. I was just
remarking."
    "You have drool in the corner of your mouth."'
    Linda started to raise a hand to her lips, then snorted. "Ha ha. And I suppose
you
didn't notice?"
    Honor grew very still, disconcerted when Quinn's intense blue eyes and easy grin came instantly to mind. "No."
    "Honor, come on," Linda said gently, resting her fingers on her friend's forearm. "Sooner or later—-"
    Abruptly, Honor stood. "Let's not go there again, okay? Please."
    "I'm sorry." Linda