doctor and they would take some thinking about.
He paused in the dining area to survey the pile of purchases he’d made that morning. Grayson would be pleased that his little brother had finally decided to make something of himself, or even more appropriately, make something for himself.
The subtle scent of cured leather drifted across to him and he inhaled deeply. His fingers itched to get started but he knew he had to sign up for a few more classes before he felt confident enough to go it alone. Of course his father would call him a fool and a pussy for his new choice of career. Did he care about what his father thought anymore? It was time to find out.
Chapter Seven
‘I can’t meet with you today, professor. I have patients to see.’
Helen closed her eyes against an impending headache and gripped the phone more tightly. After her intense evening with Jay, her dreams had been filled with such erotic imagery she’d hardly slept.
‘Forget about the patients. It is imperative that I see you.’
Helen glanced up to see Nancy, the head nurse, at her door. Nancy raised her eyebrows and pointed at her watch. Helen nodded. She knew she was falling behind and she already had a full schedule.
‘How about lunch time? I can meet you for half an hour at one.’
Professor Peter Hart’s sigh was so loud, Helen winced. ‘Well, I suppose it will have to do. Don’t be late.’
Helen took great satisfaction in dropping the receiver into the cradle from a great height. After the debacle of her divorce from David she certainly hadn’t expected Peter, her former tutor and mentor, to follow her to another hospital. But here he was, still making her life difficult. Sometimes she hated all the politics and games in her profession, especially those sprung on her at the last minute.
‘Sorry, Nancy. That was the boss.’
Nancy wrinkled her pert nose and leant against the door frame. ‘I heard. I also heard there are going to be some changes around here.’
Helen sat up. The hospital was a veritable hive of gossip and scandal, and dear Nancy was the queen bee of knowledge.
‘Are you going to tell me or leave me to walk into a meeting with Professor Hart unprepared?’ Helen got to her feet and picked up the pile of charts Nancy had deposited on her desk.
‘I hear his highness is retiring.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’
Nancy shrugged. ‘Nope, that’s what they’re saying. Apparently, he’s received an offer to head up a research unit in the drug company that wants to develop your product.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘I thought you’d know all about it.’
Helen stiffened. The rumor that she had slept with her mentor and collaborator wasn’t a new one. To some, it was the easiest way to explain her rise to the top of her profession. She’d learnt not to react to the implied insult although it still hurt.
‘Working in the private sector sounds right up his alley.’
In her opinion, Peter Hart had become a doctor for all the wrong reasons. He was incredibly political and not above manipulating anyone for his own advantage. Almost from the first, she had regretted asking him to sponsor the necessary academic progress of her new discovery. She’d been too young to see the project through by herself and too ambitious to see the downside of confiding in Peter until it was too late.
Their academic success and the interest from Nifen-berg in developing a new, more malleable and resistant plastic for joint implants hadn’t stopped him from siding with her ex-husband. After her divorce, Peter had assumed she should be the one to leave her job so that her ex could take over her position in Southern California and continue to advance his career. Despite Peter’s considerable charm, and the fact that she did owe him for her academic success, she didn’t consider him an ally.
As she made her way down the hall to see her first patient – an elderly woman who’d fractured her arm in three places after slipping in a
He paused in the dining area to survey the pile of purchases he’d made that morning. Grayson would be pleased that his little brother had finally decided to make something of himself, or even more appropriately, make something for himself.
The subtle scent of cured leather drifted across to him and he inhaled deeply. His fingers itched to get started but he knew he had to sign up for a few more classes before he felt confident enough to go it alone. Of course his father would call him a fool and a pussy for his new choice of career. Did he care about what his father thought anymore? It was time to find out.
Chapter Seven
‘I can’t meet with you today, professor. I have patients to see.’
Helen closed her eyes against an impending headache and gripped the phone more tightly. After her intense evening with Jay, her dreams had been filled with such erotic imagery she’d hardly slept.
‘Forget about the patients. It is imperative that I see you.’
Helen glanced up to see Nancy, the head nurse, at her door. Nancy raised her eyebrows and pointed at her watch. Helen nodded. She knew she was falling behind and she already had a full schedule.
‘How about lunch time? I can meet you for half an hour at one.’
Professor Peter Hart’s sigh was so loud, Helen winced. ‘Well, I suppose it will have to do. Don’t be late.’
Helen took great satisfaction in dropping the receiver into the cradle from a great height. After the debacle of her divorce from David she certainly hadn’t expected Peter, her former tutor and mentor, to follow her to another hospital. But here he was, still making her life difficult. Sometimes she hated all the politics and games in her profession, especially those sprung on her at the last minute.
‘Sorry, Nancy. That was the boss.’
Nancy wrinkled her pert nose and leant against the door frame. ‘I heard. I also heard there are going to be some changes around here.’
Helen sat up. The hospital was a veritable hive of gossip and scandal, and dear Nancy was the queen bee of knowledge.
‘Are you going to tell me or leave me to walk into a meeting with Professor Hart unprepared?’ Helen got to her feet and picked up the pile of charts Nancy had deposited on her desk.
‘I hear his highness is retiring.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’
Nancy shrugged. ‘Nope, that’s what they’re saying. Apparently, he’s received an offer to head up a research unit in the drug company that wants to develop your product.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘I thought you’d know all about it.’
Helen stiffened. The rumor that she had slept with her mentor and collaborator wasn’t a new one. To some, it was the easiest way to explain her rise to the top of her profession. She’d learnt not to react to the implied insult although it still hurt.
‘Working in the private sector sounds right up his alley.’
In her opinion, Peter Hart had become a doctor for all the wrong reasons. He was incredibly political and not above manipulating anyone for his own advantage. Almost from the first, she had regretted asking him to sponsor the necessary academic progress of her new discovery. She’d been too young to see the project through by herself and too ambitious to see the downside of confiding in Peter until it was too late.
Their academic success and the interest from Nifen-berg in developing a new, more malleable and resistant plastic for joint implants hadn’t stopped him from siding with her ex-husband. After her divorce, Peter had assumed she should be the one to leave her job so that her ex could take over her position in Southern California and continue to advance his career. Despite Peter’s considerable charm, and the fact that she did owe him for her academic success, she didn’t consider him an ally.
As she made her way down the hall to see her first patient – an elderly woman who’d fractured her arm in three places after slipping in a
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