Fated Love Read Free Page B

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    Annoyed to discover that she had lost her focus, Honor spoke more sharply than she intended. "I'm not sure what you were led to believe, but it's not going to be possible for you to see only surgical problems down here. We're—"
    "I wasn't led to believe
anything
except that I had a job." Quinn tilted her head with the barest flicker of a grin. "Is that still true?"
    Despite herself, Honor laughed. "Well, considering that you passed your
practical exam
this morning with high marks, I'd have to say yes."
    "Good, because I've already put down first and last months' rent on an apartment."
    Honor caught herself as she was about to ask where Quinn was living. For some reason, she couldn't seem to keep her mind from wandering from professional into personal areas, which was distinctly unusual for her. She was friendly with all of her colleagues, but, for the most part, her time was spent on administrative responsibilities or patient care. She didn't socialize very much with any of her colleagues other than Linda, and she almost never saw her fellow attendings outside of work except at departmental functions.
I'm probably curious because she just appeared out of nowhere. It's not like there's really any great mystery about her. So, I'll just get this little introductory talk out of the way, and we can all get back to routine."
    "The Monday morning rush is going to start very soon," Honor began, "so let's go over the ground rules before that happens. We try to see patients on a first come, first served basis as much as possible. Obviously, if there's an acute case, that takes priority."
    Quinn nodded, watching Honor unconsciously turn the wedding ring on her left hand as she spoke. The ER chief had beautiful hands—narrow, supple, and long fingered. Those hands appeared very much like the woman herself—graceful and lithe and strong. With a start, Quinn realized that she had missed the last thing that Honor had said. "I'm sorry? What?"
    Honor regarded her quizzically. "I said that I don't have a problem with you selecting out the patients with complaints that seem to be surgical in origin, because that just makes sense. But if there's a patient with a critical condition or someone who has been waiting a long time, you'll need to see them even if their complaint is a medical problem."
    "I expected to do that," Quinn said evenly. "I've been boning up on my emergency medicine the last few weeks." She lifted a shoulder and shrugged. "I'm not that far out of medical school that I don't remember how to handle medical problems. I'm a little behind on the latest drug treatments, but I'll catch up."
    "I'm sure you will." Honor stood. "Don't be afraid to check with one of us if you're not sure about something—-just until you're a little more comfortable with the kinds of conditions you'll be seeing down here. I'm sure it will be very different from what you were used to at St. Michael's."
    For the first time, Quinn averted her gaze, and a faint flush rose up her neck. Until four months ago, she had expected to be the newest trauma attending at St. Michael's right about now, not a green ER doc at the bottom of the totem pole. "Yes, I expect it will be."
    As they walked back toward the main work area, Honor concluded by saying, "There will be at least four attendings scheduled to work during each twelve-hour shift. I put you on days the first few weeks so you can get your bearings. For the time being, you'll basically be on two days and off one, with some variation to accommodate personal days and the like."
The same shifts I work, at least until I can trust you alone.
    "Fine." Since Quinn had no close friends in the city and had nothing planned, she didn't really care when she worked. She just wanted to be busy, because alone time meant too much time to think.
    "Okay then. I'll be around if you have any questions."
    "Thanks." Quinn took a deep breath, walked to the counter, and picked up the first patient chart. Chief complaint: