The Alpha’s Dangerous Obsession

5.

Nodding, I followed her to the first room. The layout of the offices was a little labyrinth-like, but I knew I’d get the hang of it soon enough. Skye stopped at a door. “This one is yours; I’ll take the next one down. If I go in with you on each patient, we’ll get hopelessly behind.”

Nodding, I took the tablet again. “I’ve done this a time or two. I gotcha.”

After examining the patient, I asked the RN to order a strep test and went out to the hall to the little alcove set up for doctors to put their notes in before going to the next room. It helped us be able to see more patients each day without getting way behind on our notes.

As soon as I put in the info I needed, I checked the schedule, then looked at the intake notes, and I noticed some problems. The nurses weren’t filling the notes out completely and hadn’t updated each section.

That was a problem. I’d actually had cases before where the most obscure fact about the family history or patient symptoms had helped diagnose. If they didn’t fill it in completely every time, something might get missed.

In most parts of my life, I wasn’t a stickler about much of anything. Except charting. I had to be a d**k about it, whether I wanted to be or not.

Skye walked out of the room beside the one I’d seen my first patient in. “Hey,” I said. “Can I ask you something?”

She nodded as she tapped at her tablet. “What’s up, doctor?”

“First, please, call me Anthony. Or Tony.”

Skylar sighed and looked up from her tablet as if I’d asked her to do me some huge favor. “I think it’s best if we keep things professional, Dr. Mason.”

Fine. I’d play along for now. “Well, what would you recommend for getting the nurses to chart a little more thoroughly?”

She narrowed her eyes. “What’s wrong with the way we chart?” She’d lumped herself in with the rest of the nurses, though she was more doctor than a nurse, despite not having an MD or PhD.

“It needs to be more thorough. I’ll play along and work whatever schedule, and I will be as flexible as I can. Easier for me to blend in here than for the entire staff to adapt to my way of doing things. But one thing I can’t bend on is charting.”

Her nostrils flared. “We’re thorough. But I’ll make sure the staff knows to dot every I and cross every T. Will that be sufficient?”

I sighed, but what could I do? “Thank you, Ms. Wills.”

“You’ll have no problems with us.” She looked at her tablet again. “If you’ll excuse me, we both have more patients. They’ll all be in these rooms along these halls, and the patient portal on your tablet will tell you if they’re ready for you to go in and in what order.”

I nodded but didn’t remind her I was familiar with the program. She knew. Skylar walked down the hall and into one of the rooms. I tracked her with my hearing and an innate sense that I’d never had with anyone else. I was pretty sure as long as my arm was burning, I’d be able to find her anywhere in the hospital.

“How do you know Dr. Mason?” a female voice asked her. I was fairly sure it was Cam, from the meeting.

“I don’t know him. Not anymore.” Her words hurt. But she wasn’t wrong. She didn’t know me. We hadn’t seen each other in eighteen years or so. But I had every damn intention of fixing it. I’d had to wait until I became alpha, but that was happening at the next full moon.

The day wore on and every time Skylar and I passed one another in the halls, nothing got better. She was just this side of openly hostile with me.

When she talked to the patients or the other staff, it was with a kind, gentle voice. With me, it was the utmost of professionalism.

My old NP back in Boston called it professional b***h, but heaven help me, I never would’ve said that to Skye’s face. Or her back. Or ever uttered the words out loud.

By the end of the day, I knew I had my work cut out for me. The tension between Skye and me was thick enough to cut. I had to fight against my parents for this relationship, and now I was going to have to fight Skylar, for, well…for herself. It was time for me to stop this farce and claim my mate.

Chapter 3

Skylar

Finally, it was Friday. TGIF. I used to watch special shows on TV on Fridays, and ever since, it was ingrained in me to look forward to the weekend. Every week, though, it never failed, I got behind on paperwork. I had to stay behind and catch up because going in on a Monday and facing paperwork from the week before was never a good thing. I’d learned that very early on. Always finish it on Friday.

I finally finished and headed for the front. As soon as I came out of the back hallway, I saw Cam, still at the desk, working on paperwork of her own. Half the time she was there later than me, updating billing records and the like. Since we’d put her on salary, she just did it, no matter how often I tried to get her to hire someone part-time. “It’s not in the budget,” was her rote answer.

“I’m sorry, dear, but the doctors have all gone,” she said. I stepped forward and peered around the corner to see a tired-looking mom and the top of a blonde-headed child’s head on the other side of the counter.

With an internal sigh, I walked closer until I could see the child. Strep was going around severely, and the ER was probably a cluster right now.

The mom spotted me. “Can you see us?” she asked pitifully. “She’s running a fever, and now I’m not feeling so great.”

“I could see you,” I said. “But hospital policy requires there be a doctor and a nurse present. I could be either in this situation, but I’m the only one here.” I hated to tell her that, knowing something nonemergent like this would take ages at the ER.

“I’m here.” Damn it. Anthony’s voice was the last one I wanted to hear. Why couldn’t it have been one of my nurses? It’d been a trying week. Working in close proximity with Anthony after not being around him for so long was beyond strange. It was like I didn’t know how to act around him anymore. He was a different person. The guy I’d known and loved was a young boy, but Dr. Mason was a grown-ass man. His voice was deeper. He’d grown even taller and though I tried so hard to ignore it, he was a lot more handsome. He’d outgrown every bit of gawky teen that my best friend had been back then.

On top of that, it was odd seeing him in his element. He was obviously a good doctor and loved his chosen career. The kids all loved him, too.

Not to mention the moms. It hadn’t escaped my notice that suddenly there were fewer dads bringing their kids in for their checkups. How those mothers had gotten the word in one week, I had no idea.

Another thing that I hadn’t missed was the fact that we both chose careers in the medical field and we both chose to work with children. Again, I ignored it because it didn’t matter or mean anything. Not at all. Not even a little. Who cared what field he’d gone into? Not me.

“Great,” I chirped. “Come on, you guys. Cam will get you checked in.” I shot her a grateful look before turning around and going back toward the exam rooms. I waited there for Cam to finish, staunchly ignoring Dr. Mason, who waited beside me, then the mom and daughter walked into the back waiting area. “Come on, you get no-wait service.”

The mom beamed at me. “I’m Briana. And I can’t thank you enough.”

Waving her off, I grabbed a tablet and started the questions.

Dr. Mason had requested that the information be filled in completely, so as we walked to the closest exam room, I made sure to be thorough, not skipping the least little question, no matter that I knew damn well this child had strep and all we needed to do was the test, which was easy as pie. They even made strep tests that could be done at home. No medical degree required, though most adults didn’t realize they could get them.