Lincoln Hospital (Trauma #1) by Cassia Brightmore Read Free Book Online

shifted from foot to foot and twirled the diamond stud earring at her ear in an effort to calm her nerves. They were her favorite pair, a gift from her father on the last birthday he’d been alive.  A prized possession of hers, she never took them off, wearing them daily felt as though she carried a piece of him everywhere she went.
    “You’re in.” Cian pointed at her.  “You, you’re out.  Go find your brains and some balls and then we’ll talk about you “assisting” in my OR.  I catch you shooting your mouth off like that again and I’ll make sure the only sharp object you touch this century is a No.2 pencil.”  He finished his chastising of Dick just as Bianca and Webster joined them; Bianca’s arms weighed down with charts.
    “Surgery in ten minutes.  Get scrubbed,” he ordered Athena as he passed.  She didn’t miss the subtle brush of his arm against hers, although she fought like hell to suppress the spark of electricity it sent tingling down her spine.
    Sabine barged over and grabbing her by the upper arm, dragged her to the waiting area. “Oh, my God! Thene!” she squealed.  “First, I fucking hate that you’re getting in the OR before me. Second, you little whore, you totally want a piece of him!”
    “Shhhhh, oh, my God, would you shut up? I do not want a piece of him,” she hissed back, face on fire.
    “You do.  I saw the chemistry, the connection. Jesus Murphy, it’s like the rest of us in this hospital ceased to exist when you two were staring into each other’s eyes,” she batted her eyelashes for effect.
    “Shut up.  I banged into him that’s all and had to apologize.  Then that idiot, Dick couldn’t answer a simple question and I seized an opportunity. I didn’t mean to make him look foolish, but if I want to get in on these cardiac surgeries, I have to jump when opportunity knocks.” Athena tried to justify her actions not only to Sabine, but to herself. Covering her face with her hands, she sighed.
    “It was epic.  I love that being here is starting to bring out the badass side of you that I always knew was hiding in there.” Sabine pulled her hands away and steered her towards the elevators.  “Now go.  This is no damn nail file case, this is your first time in a surgery, Thene!  Go get some action,” she winked at her making sure she caught her double meaning before the elevators doors separated them. Athena stood staring at her own reflection in the stainless steel doors, pulse racing and skin tingling in anticipation.
    “I’m so screwed.”
     

T HERE’S A SWEET spot of time in the hospital when all is quiet and peaceful. You never know what time of day its going to happen, but when it does, it’s as though the whole place recognizes that a few minutes of serenity are needed to keep things flowing.  Patients rest more comfortably, bickering among co-workers is silenced, phones and pagers cease beeping and letting out shrill rings.  It’s the sweet spot and when you’re in it, nothing can touch you; not even death.  Cian had never paid attention to the rumblings about that particular superstition, but over the past month since the new crop of interns integrated his hospital, he’d found himself buying into it more and more. And the reason was very simple—Athena Payne.  Her innocence, her optimism was starting to affect him in a way that was unsettling.  Now on the eve of the twenty-third day, he found himself more distracted with thoughts of her than focused on the patient they were bringing in that night.
    She was quickly becoming a star in her own right.  Every attending requested her on their service and Webster and Murphy couldn’t shut up about her. Her disastrous start was long forgotten and instead the bright, shining career she was going to have as a surgeon was all anyone talked about.  Even her co-workers looked at her with admiration as opposed to envy, which was a feat in itself.  Except for that dumbass, Dick.  That douche