Riley Mackenzie - Beautifully Awake

“First of all, if I tell you to round on someone, you do it. No questions asked. Second of all, if we lay so much as a finger on a patient, they become our fucking problem. Understand? I don’t care whose service they technically fall under—you’ll make sure you put a goddamn note in the chart every day. That’s how I run my service.” Dr. Intensity resurfaced. I lingered back, speechless, while Guy’s face had what the fuck crawled up your ass written all over it.

Guy’s common sense kicked in and told him not to debate hospital policy technicalities with Chase. He was never going to win. “Whatever you want, Chief.” He held both hands up in surrender. “I’ll add the kid to the list, make sure we round on him.”

“Actually, any patient on the KimCore gets added to the list. Starting now,” he barked.

Guy had to be mentally counting down the days left on this rotation. Him and me both. But for polar opposite reasons. Jackson was spot on when he said Guy rubbed Chase the wrong way, so I couldn’t blame Guy for wanting off this service. I, on the other hand, had enough sneaking around pretending to only have a professional relationship with my boss.

“Sure.” Guy didn’t bother to hide his eye roll when he answered Chase’s last demand. I wondered if Chase was punishing Guy or if he really believed the KimCore patients needed neuro’s attention. Chase’s attention. God, I hoped it was the latter; otherwise my sweet, sexy boyfriend was just being a dick. What the hell was KimCore anyway?

When the elevator opened, I gave Guy a sympathetic wave before stepping inside. Chase wasn’t done.

“And while you’re at it, Dr. Hunter, remember your job is to actually teach the intern something, not just scut him out. Why don’t you give it a fucking try? You have time for sex tales in my OR; you have time to teach. Understand?” Point made. Loud and clear. Dr. Possessive was totally not over it.

Guy, being Guy, ignored Chase’s spanking and got the last word in. “Enjoy the elevator ride, Chief.”

Luckily, we didn’t speak about Guy or anything else from the morning during lunch. In fact, we skipped speaking in general. Instead, Chase did as he promised if I came with him, and fed me some delicious sushi.

“So, Lee, you need to keep the weekend of August twenty-first open for Sierra’s baby shower.”

It was a little before nine and the rest of the team was at surgical grand rounds.

“Weekend?” Leanne questioned.

“The shower is going to be in Cape Cod.”

“As in, Massachusetts? What, Arizona was too far?”

I ignored her sarcasm. “It’s gonna be Jack and Jill, so you can bring your flavor of the month.”

“You mean Jack and whore.”

Oops, she wasn’t feeling my humor.

“You know I’m teasing. What? You can dish it out but can’t take it, huh?”

Leanne continued to pout despite my joke. Okay, it probably wasn’t all that funny.

“Whatever,” she caved and sighed.

I laughed. “Anyway, it’s going to be at the Wychmere Beach Club in Harwich Port.”

“So you’re basically telling me I need to sit in the car for six hours or probably more because we’re gonna hit a shitload of traffic to prance around at a fancy beach club.” This time she feigned annoyance.

Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sierra’s parents bought plane tickets for all of Sierra’s friends, but I didn’t say that. “Oh come on, it will be a blast. We’ll head up Friday after work, go out, have some drinks … and after the shower, we can hang on the beach, and work on our tans. It’ll be fun.”

“Okay, okay. You had me at sun and tans. I’m in, now I just have to find a date.”

“What about Jack? You guys have been eying each other up and down for weeks.” I swore Leanne’s cheeks turned magenta; I didn’t think she had it in her. “Leanne Crowley, are you blushing?”

“Don’t you have something better to do? Discharge someone, call an insurance company, whatever the hell you do.” She waved me off as she stood and circled the counter, attempting to busy herself.

“I hit a nerve,” I said, chuckling. “He’s hot, Lee, and genuinely awesome, you should totally work that.”

Leanne immediately twirled her long blonde hair. She was definitely considering, or reconsidering, Jack.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt.” A tall, thin suited gentleman approached us at the nurses’ station. “I’m looking for Ms. Lili Porter. The security office sent me to this floor.”

I shifted uncomfortably. He looked very official carrying a large sealed envelope.

“Can I help you? I’m Lili Porter.”

“Yes. I’m a process server, and I’m here to deliver you official court documents.” A small, familiar lump formed in my throat. He handed me the envelope. “I need your signature here, please, just verifying you received the documents.” I took his pen and scribbled my name on the line. “I recommend you review them as soon as possible. They are usually very time sensitive. Any questions you might have, I would encourage you to contact your attorney.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Have a pleasant day.” He strode directly away without a backward glance.

“What the hell was that about?” Leanne looked shocked. “You’re being subpoenaed? For what?”

I tore the large familiar envelope open and removed the single sheet of paper.

You are commanded to appear before Judge Wilson of the Superior Court of the State of Pennsylvania for Wrangel County at the County Courthouse, 15 Main St. Wrangel, PA, on Friday, July 28 at 9 AM to testify on behalf of the plaintiff and to remain in attendance until you have given your testimony or have been dismissed or excused by the court.

“I was a social worker at a children’s crisis center back in my hometown. Unfortunately I have had to testify my fair share. Mostly family court stuff, but also a few child abuse cases. They can take forever to go to trial, guess this is one finally coming to fruition.” I sighed. “Can you tell the team I had to take care of something? Gonna run and make a few calls.”

“You okay?” Leanne looked concerned.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. It’s more annoying than anything.” The thought of another innocent child being abused made me sick to my stomach.

“Okay. I’ll let them know.”

“Thanks.” I grabbed my bag from my office and headed for the river’s edge. Call me naive, but I planned to never set foot back in Wrangel. Now I had no choice.

“Hey Asspuck,” Sierra answered on the first ring. “Aren’t you working or did Dr. Hot-as- Balls give you the day off?”

“I have to go home.” The words singed my tongue.

“Explain home?” Sierra demanded.

“I have to be in Wrangel by nine AM Friday morning,” I paused. Shit, saying it out loud made it real.

“Wrangel. You’re not going back there. What are you talking about?”

“I have no choice. I was just served papers to testify in a child abuse case from years ago.”

“You’re kidding. What the hell? You’ve been gone more than three years.”

“Yeah, but you of all people know how long it takes for some of these cases to come to trial.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Ya think?” Stealing Chase’s favorite line almost comforted me. Almost. “Shit, Sier, what if I see him … I can’t see him, but you know how freaking small our town is. If word gets out I’m coming home ... he’ll totally track me down. You know he will.” My phone chimed. Perfect timing for a pause.

Where are you?

What papers were you served?

Call me. Xo.

Grand rounds must have ended and I guessed that Leanne didn’t waste a second opening her mouth.

“Lili, talk to me,” Sierra pleaded.

“What? Sorry. I’m here, just reading a text from Chase. He’s looking for me.”

“Can’t you get out of this? I’m gonna call Dodd to see what he can do.”

“No, you’re not. I’m probably just overreacting. I just needed to vent. It’ll be quick. I’ll fly out tomorrow night and fly back late Friday night. Really, I’ll be fine.”

A familiar hand squeezed my shoulder before I felt his breath bathe the back of my neck. “Beautiful?”

“Um, Sier, I have to call you back. Chase just got here ... yeah, call you later, bye.”

“Why have you been ignoring your texts? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

I removed my sunglasses from my face “Well, I’m right here.”

“Okay, fill me in then. Want to tell me why someone served you legal papers?” He looked tense.

“Chase, it’s no big deal. I told you what I used to do back home and unfortunately, testifying was a part of my old job.” My throat burned when I uttered the word “home” out loud a second time. There was nothing homey about it anymore. “Just haven’t had to do it in a few years, so it sort of caught me by surprise.”

Revisiting all my suppressed memories was the real issue, but that I kept quiet. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his hip against the back of a bench.

“When do you have to go?”

“I have to be there Friday morning, so I’ll probably head out tomorrow.”

“We’ll head out.” He didn’t hesitate.

“Chase, that’s crazy, you’re not going to just up and leave, you have cases.” And there is no way in hell you’re coming with me. He dropped his arms and walked toward the water, pacing back and forth a couple of times before his eyes commanded my attention. “That’s sweet, but it’s no big deal. It’s less than twenty-four hours I’ll be gone, you can’t just leave.” I repeated, trying to get Chase to see how crazy he was being.