Read Online The Doctor's Damsel (Men of the Capital Book 3) by Cara Nelson - Free Book Online
Authors: Cara Nelson
Ads: Link
her stitched-up hand and her cockeyed optimism to stop expecting greatness from him with no trouble at all.
“Okay then, let’s see if you can catch compassion.”
“Like a baseball?”
“From exposure. You’re a doctor, so you understand contagion pretty well, I’d imagine.”
“I did my residency in infectious diseases.”
“Fine. So you’re perfectly willing to see if being around me gives you a case of warmth and human feeling?”
“That makes no logical sense. I think the pickle’s gone to your head. Your system is clearly unaccustomed to preservatives and high levels of sodium, and it’s making you delirious.”
“It makes perfect sense. I think I can persuade you to live your life and conduct your profession with more kindness and caring. All it will take is prolonged exposure to the idea in action. When you stitched up my hand, you were fairly mean at first. When you saw I was really upset, you took off your gloves and talked to me for a second, and let me see your humanity. There’s a man in there who’s worth reaching.”
“Excuse me?”
“What I’m saying, I guess, is that I can save you, Abe.”
“Save me?”
“From ossifying entirely. They way you’re going, you’re headed for the intersection of Bitter and Hardened, and there’s not an on-ramp from there back to Happy.”
Abe nearly exploded from the struggle not to laugh. It was without a doubt the most ridiculous thing anyone had ever said to him, including her many comments about the dildo. And yet—her bizarre statement was unsettlingly accurate in a weird way.
“I’m not hanging out with you and trying to catch girl cooties.”
Abe felt like he was in the pressure cooker. He might as well be at dinner with his Onkle Knut, listening to a litany of his sins against the family and all his shortcomings as grandson and heir.
“Girl cooties might do you some good.”
“I’m immune. I was inoculated in medical school. It’s a biomedical impossibility that I could be infected with touchy-feeling love for humanity at large.”
“So what’s the risk in trying? You could call it research.”
“No, honey, I call it bullshit. I’m nobody’s knight in shining armor. I’m a damn good doctor, and that’s true in part because I’ve worked very hard at making sure I don’t get personally involved in the lives of my patients. Yet another reason I should have left your scarf in the exam room and never left a voice mail.”
Becca recoiled, drooping back in her seat, suitably chastened. She’d pushed too hard. She always pushed too hard. It was a character flaw, she decided. Becca took a deep breath, gathered the detritus of her meal into the basket, and dumped the trash into the waste can, stacking the plastic basket neatly on a shelf with its fellows.
“I guess we’re done, then, after all,” she said quietly. “I can give you a ride back to your bike if you want.” Becca stood near the door. Abe got to his feet, dumped his trash, and joined her.
“That was a little harsh, wasn’t it?” He asked gravely. She nodded. “I can’t afford to care too much about the patients in the ER, Becca. If you knew their stories, what their lives were mostly like, it’d drive you insane. The night I treated you? Yeah, there was a kid whose dad brought him for treatment after yanking his arm out of the socket and snapping his collarbone. I had listen to this asshole tell me a fairy tale about how his son fell down the stairs and hurt himself because he’s clumsy and doesn’t listen to his parents and stay out of trouble. I stood there and considered, literally, seriously considered hurting that man. It was all I wanted right then—just to pound my fist into his face until he was unrecognizable. It wouldn’t have fixed anything, Bec. The kid would cry for that dad. They cry for the worst parents—and I’d lose my license and go to jail and not be able to help anyone else because I gave in to my emotions.”
His voice
“Okay then, let’s see if you can catch compassion.”
“Like a baseball?”
“From exposure. You’re a doctor, so you understand contagion pretty well, I’d imagine.”
“I did my residency in infectious diseases.”
“Fine. So you’re perfectly willing to see if being around me gives you a case of warmth and human feeling?”
“That makes no logical sense. I think the pickle’s gone to your head. Your system is clearly unaccustomed to preservatives and high levels of sodium, and it’s making you delirious.”
“It makes perfect sense. I think I can persuade you to live your life and conduct your profession with more kindness and caring. All it will take is prolonged exposure to the idea in action. When you stitched up my hand, you were fairly mean at first. When you saw I was really upset, you took off your gloves and talked to me for a second, and let me see your humanity. There’s a man in there who’s worth reaching.”
“Excuse me?”
“What I’m saying, I guess, is that I can save you, Abe.”
“Save me?”
“From ossifying entirely. They way you’re going, you’re headed for the intersection of Bitter and Hardened, and there’s not an on-ramp from there back to Happy.”
Abe nearly exploded from the struggle not to laugh. It was without a doubt the most ridiculous thing anyone had ever said to him, including her many comments about the dildo. And yet—her bizarre statement was unsettlingly accurate in a weird way.
“I’m not hanging out with you and trying to catch girl cooties.”
Abe felt like he was in the pressure cooker. He might as well be at dinner with his Onkle Knut, listening to a litany of his sins against the family and all his shortcomings as grandson and heir.
“Girl cooties might do you some good.”
“I’m immune. I was inoculated in medical school. It’s a biomedical impossibility that I could be infected with touchy-feeling love for humanity at large.”
“So what’s the risk in trying? You could call it research.”
“No, honey, I call it bullshit. I’m nobody’s knight in shining armor. I’m a damn good doctor, and that’s true in part because I’ve worked very hard at making sure I don’t get personally involved in the lives of my patients. Yet another reason I should have left your scarf in the exam room and never left a voice mail.”
Becca recoiled, drooping back in her seat, suitably chastened. She’d pushed too hard. She always pushed too hard. It was a character flaw, she decided. Becca took a deep breath, gathered the detritus of her meal into the basket, and dumped the trash into the waste can, stacking the plastic basket neatly on a shelf with its fellows.
“I guess we’re done, then, after all,” she said quietly. “I can give you a ride back to your bike if you want.” Becca stood near the door. Abe got to his feet, dumped his trash, and joined her.
“That was a little harsh, wasn’t it?” He asked gravely. She nodded. “I can’t afford to care too much about the patients in the ER, Becca. If you knew their stories, what their lives were mostly like, it’d drive you insane. The night I treated you? Yeah, there was a kid whose dad brought him for treatment after yanking his arm out of the socket and snapping his collarbone. I had listen to this asshole tell me a fairy tale about how his son fell down the stairs and hurt himself because he’s clumsy and doesn’t listen to his parents and stay out of trouble. I stood there and considered, literally, seriously considered hurting that man. It was all I wanted right then—just to pound my fist into his face until he was unrecognizable. It wouldn’t have fixed anything, Bec. The kid would cry for that dad. They cry for the worst parents—and I’d lose my license and go to jail and not be able to help anyone else because I gave in to my emotions.”
His voice
Similar Books
