LITMIR.BIZ

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      He let out a hiss of disgust; he’d been reading Rose far too many fairy tales if he was comparing the chief of surgery to Snow White.

      Did that make him a dwarf? Though the way some of those surgeons and nurses moved through the hospital, it was like they were on their way to the mines for the day.

      Virginia drove away and Gavin scrubbed his hand over his face. He needed a beer and to veg out in front of the television for a while.

      One of the perks of being in the city.

      He drove through the streets in a trance, letting the day’s surgeries just roll off his back. When he pulled up into his sister’s pink-colored marina-style home in the outer Richmond district, a twenty-minute commute from the hospital, he finally let out a sigh of relief mixed with frustration.

      It had to be pink.

      His whole life seemed to be wrapped up in various shades of pink from coral to bubble gum. At least his scrubs weren’t pink.

      The lights were all on in the living room above the garage, which meant the girls were home from dance rehearsal. Rosalie’s car was on the street outside. The garage door opened and he pulled the van inside, next to his tarp-covered Harley.

      I know, baby. I miss you too.

      He sighed with longing, pulling the garage door down and locking it. Rosalie, having seen him pull up, was leaving as he opened the locked gate onto the street that led to the front door.

      “Dr. Brice, how was your day?” Rosalie asked, brightly.

      “You don’t really want to know. How’s Lily?”

      Rosalie gave him a broad, toothy grin as she heaved her bag over her shoulder. “You don’t really want to know.”

      “That bad?”

      “It’s been a rough day for her.” Rosalie moved past him to the car. “When is your next shift?”

      “Tomorrow, but then I’m not on call this weekend. I don’t go back until Wednesday afternoon.”

      “Ah, a four-day weekend. Que bueno. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dr. Brice. Have a good night.” Gavin waited until Rosalie was safely in her car and had driven away before he locked the gate and headed inside.

      The stairs from the entranceway to the main level were scattered with various dance paraphernalia and pink things. As he took a step something squished and squeaked under his feet, causing Rose to materialize at the top of the stairs, scowling with her chubby little arms crossed.

      Gavin peeled the rubber giraffe from under his foot. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to step on Georgiana.”

      Rose grinned and held out her hand. Gavin placed Georgiana in Rose’s hand. “How’s Lily?”

      Rose rolled her eyes and then skipped off. Gavin groaned inwardly and dragged himself up the last few steps.

      He found Lily sitting at the kitchen table, her chin resting on the table with a dejected look on her face. The same face Casey had made when he’d been taking care of her when their dad and mom had left them while they did their duty to their country.

      It made his heart hurt just to think about how much he missed his sister.

      “Lily.”

      Lily glanced at him sideways, her blue eyes so like Casey’s. “I know. There was an emergency. I get it.”

      Gavin took a seat opposite to her. She talked so much like a little adult. “There was an emergency, in fact, a car accident. I had to perform surgery.”

      “Did you save the person’s life?”

      “I did.”

      Lily sat up straight. “Then I guess that’s worth it.”

      At least someone thinks so.

      “Very mature of you, Lily. Look, after tomorrow’s shift I have the next four days off. I’m not on call and I can spend it with you and Rose.”

      Lily chirked up. “Really?”

      “Really. We can go down to the piers, watch the sea lions.” Rose skipped into the room then and crawled up on his lap.

      “Can we get some clams?” Lily asked brightly.

       Clams? I was willing to offer ice cream…

      “You girls like seafood?”

      “Yeah, Mom used to take us down to the fish market all the time. We’d get some seafood and she’d make her famous chowder.”

      Gavin nodded. “Sure. I’ll try to make you guys some chowder. How about you two get ready for bed?”

      “Sure.” Lily got up and took Rose by the hand, leading her towards the front of the house. When Gavin had made sure they were out of earshot he laid his head down on the table. He had never thought he would be a father because he had always been afraid he would be terrible, like his own father was. Oh, his father was a hero all right, but he’d never hugged them, never complimented them and had never been there. It was the same with their mother and it terrified Gavin to his very core. He didn’t want to become like them.

      Only Casey had had the same fears about becoming a mother and she had been one of the best.

      God, I miss her.

      He just hoped he was doing right by his nieces.

      He owed Casey that much.

       CHAPTER THREE

      VIRGINIA PICKED UP Mr. Jones’s chart and read Gavin’s notes quickly. When she glanced up she could see Gavin through the glass partition in Mr. Jones’s room. Mr. Jones was still unconscious, so he needed to be in the ICU, but Gavin was speaking to Mrs. Jones.

      At least Virginia assumed it was Mrs. Jones, as the woman had been by Mr. Jones’s bedside all night. Which was what the night charge nurse had told her when she had started her shift at five that morning.

      “Is everything okay, chief?” the charge nurse at the desk asked.

      “Yes, Kimber, everything’s fine.” Virginia smiled and handed the binder back to her. “Just checking on the ER’s newest celebrity before I head into surgery.”

      “Who?”

      “Dr. Brice.”

      Kimber grinned. “Oh, yes, I heard about the excitement in the ER yesterday. I always miss the drama when I’m off.”

      Virginia cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so? What did you hear?”

      “That Dr. Brice inserted a chest tube in front of the investors.” Kimber shook her head and chuckled to herself. “I bet they were impressed.”

      Virginia didn’t say anything else as Kimber walked the file back to where it belonged. Before Virginia had been the Chief of Surgery, she’d had friends and comrades she’d been able to talk to about anything. Now, because of her position, she had to be careful of everything she said.

      There was no one she could blow off steam with. No one to vent to.

      Except the cactus in her apartment.

      Even then it wasn’t the most animated of conversations.

      She missed the days when she could go down to the cafeteria and sit down with fellow attendings and residents and shoot the breeze.

      Heck, she could even talk to the nurses back then.

      Now they all looked at her for what she was. Their boss.

      Their careers were in her hands.

      Kimber returned back. “Chief, really, is there

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