Forbidden Prescription 2: MFM Ménage Stepbrother Romance (Medical Romance)

by Brother, Stephanie

  The interns didn’t know whether to laugh or not. James seemed pretty serious.

  “That’s about it for orientation. Now, the real fun can start.”

  An excited chatter filled the room.

  “Settle down,” he mocked. “This is how it’s going to go: I will take you around to see various patients. I’ll ask you questions, and if you know the answers, you’ll get the pleasure of treating patients. If you don’t, you’d better study up because you’ll soon get left behind. Ready? Let’s start.”

  The interns jumped out of their chairs and followed James out the door like ducklings. Isabella dug her fingernails into the inside of her palm. This was the moment she had been waiting for since she started medical school. This was the time to prove that her hard work was worth it.

  As nervous as she was, Isabella was also incredibly excited. While she couldn’t practice medicine without close supervision, she was still a doctor. She had the ability to help the other doctors treat patients, and that was the first step toward achieving her dream. All she had to do was beat out six other interns.

  “Are you ready for this?” James asked Isabella, grinning.

  “You have no idea,” she replied.

  “Good,” he said. “Things are about to get crazy.”

  He raised his eyebrow at her, ever so slightly. He seemed like the type of man who was naturally flirty. He reeked of confidence and knowledge.

  Isabella found him mildly infuriating but particularly fascinating.

  Chapter Three

  Despite her fears, Isabella made it through the first few days of her internship with no issues. She had answered tough questions just as well as anyone else in her group and earned the prize of getting to work hands-on with patients. So far, she had only sutured and placed IV lines, but it was better than nothing.

  By the end of her first week, she knew where everything was in the hospital and wasn’t mistaking supply closets for exam rooms anymore. The hospital was a chaotic place, but she felt a sense of calm working amongst the hustle.

  Isabella was taking a rare moment of free time to chug a cup of coffee in the nurse’s station. Jordan approached her, massaging her right hand.

  “I’m starting to think that they’re just rewarding us with the crappy jobs the other doctors and nurses don’t want to do,” she said in a hushed tone. “I’ve basically sewn a quilt’s worth of human skin today.”

  “Better that than what Matthews was assigned today. He had to drain some old guy’s nasty abscess. I heard he still can’t get the smell out of his nose.”

  They chuckled, knowing too well that they could be in his position at any time.

  “Are you going out for drinks tonight?” Jordan asked. “The guys told me that we’re meeting up after we finish today.”

  “No one invited me.”

  “They probably forgot. Hell, I nearly forgot. Of course you’re invited.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You’re going,” Jordan interrupted. “I’m not going without you.”

  “I might just stay in and catch up on my reading. I heard a rumor that we’d be quizzed on metabolic disorders next week.”

  “You can do that later. It’s healthy to socialize and to blow off some steam. Plus, what’s that saying about keeping your enemies close?”

  Isabella thought for a moment. She wasn’t interested in socializing while there was work to be done, but perhaps Jordan was right. It would be good to have some insight into the minds of her competitors.

  “Fine,” she submitted. “Just a few hours, though. Then I’m going to finally get a good night of sleep.”

  “I knew you’d see reason.” Jordan smiled.

  “Dr. Lopez, you’re needed in Room Two. Patient has a ten-inch laceration on their lower left leg,” a nurse said, handing a chart to Jordan.

  “Are we closing it with staples?” she asked hopefully.

  “The patient is an aspiring model with her stage mom in tow. They’re demanding the very best doctor to suture her. Everyone in Plastics is busy, so we’re just going to pretend that you’re the best fit for the job.”

  Jordan rolled her eyes at Isabella. “Okay, let’s get this over with,” she said, following the nurse back to the exam room.

  “Dr. Carter,” James said as he walked down the hall to the nurse’s station. “Are you busy?”

  “I’m finishing up some paperwork,” Isabella said, writing notes on her chart. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Come with me,” he said mysteriously.

  She gave him a quizzical look and followed him down several corridors. They walked in silence until James gestured to a small room. It looked like a supply closet, but Isabella didn’t remember seeing it before.

  “What is this?” she asked hesitantly.

  “You’ll see,” he said with a grin.

  The room was completely dark except for the blue-white glow of x-rays on the wall. They were in complete silence except for the soft hum of the light.

  “Are those …?”

  “Yep,” he answered for her. “We’re looking at a patient packed with balloons full of drugs.”

  “That’s a pretty serious intestinal obstruction.” She marveled at the x-ray.

  “Oh, most definitely. I guess he got greedy with the smuggling jobs and overdid it. Came in when he was unable to pass them.”

  “That was smart. Well, as smart as someone can be when they’re filled with drug balloons,” she added.

  “Yeah, he’ll be going to jail, but hopefully, we’ll get him there alive. If even one of those balloons bursts before we get them out, he will overdose.”

  She stared at the image. Little white orbs dotted the colon like inner tubes on the river.

  “Scrub in,” he said abruptly, breaking her from her trance.

  “Wait, what?” she stuttered. “You’re letting me assist?”

  He laughed. “I’m letting you observe. You might learn something.”

  This was so much more exciting than sutures and picking debris from wounds. Even if she was just observing, she was still excited to scrub in on her first surgery as an intern.

  James flicked off the lights from the x-ray. Isabella gasped at the sudden darkness. She was alone with her gorgeous mentor in a tiny, pitch-black room.

  “Not afraid of the dark, are you?” he teased, turning the door handle. She was disappointed and relieved at the same time to be surrounded by people again.

  “No,” she said. “I guess I’m a little on edge these days. Stress and all, you know?”

  He smiled, and she followed him to the operating room. There, a nurse helped her into scrubs and she meticulously cleaned her hands. After two pairs of gloves, Isabella was ready to watch.

  She watched in awe as James helped another surgeon carefully make incisions in the patient’s abdomen. He worked with perfect precision, like a robot programmed to understand every delicate feature of the human body.

  His face was mostly covered by his mask, but his eyes showed great intensity and focus. It was evident that he lived for this—to go inside the human body and solve any problems that he may encounter. To him, surgery was no different than taking apart a computer and putting it back together to make it run more efficiently. The body was a machine that he had the skills to improve.

  “There’s balloon number four,” James announced, plopping a rubbery mass in the tray. “One more to go. Dr. Carter, will you come forward, please?”

  Isabella looked around like there was another Dr. Carter that he was referring to.

  “Dr. Carter?” he asked again.

  She stepped forward from where she was observing until she was within arm’s reach of the patient.

  He looked her directly in the eyes. Their faces were so close that she could smell his hair product from underneath his scrub cap.

  “I need you to reach into the bowel there and carefully grab that last balloon.”

  “Really?”

  “Would you
rather I find another intern to do it?”

  “No, no, I’ll do it.”

  “Good. Careful, now. You don’t want to break it.”

  Isabella inserted her hand into the patient’s open cavity. It was a rush. She had sliced cadavers to no end in med school, but being inside a real, living human was so exciting. She felt around until she found the foreign object and slowly pulled it out.

  “Excellent work,” James said gently.

  “You can take it from here, Dr. Johnson,” the other masked surgeon said, returning to the scrub room.

  There were nurses and anesthetists around, but to Isabella, it felt like she and James were the only two people in the room.

  “Now, all we have to do is close him up,” James said.

  She watched him with great intensity as he closed the body with graceful precision.

  “So, how was your first surgery?” he asked without looking up from his work.

  “Amazing,” she gushed. “It was truly incredible.”

  “I’m glad you had fun. The best surgeons still have that spark, even during the most routine procedures.”

  He handed his instruments over to Isabella. “Want to finish up? I know this is about all you guys are allowed to do, but all the practice really helps.”

  She took them in her gloved hands, expertly stitching the tissues back together. She had spent more free time than she would care to admit practicing.

  “You’re a pro,” James noted. “Don’t let that go to your head,” he added quickly. “You still have much to learn.”

  Isabella hid a shy smile under her mask. When she finished, she handed the instruments back over to James, brushing her hands against his. A jolt of electricity shot through her stomach.

  “It’s about time for you interns to leave,” he said, looking up at the clock. “What do you have planned for your weekend?”

  “The group is going to a bar tonight, and then I’m just going to study for the rest of the weekend.”

  “Try not to have too much fun tonight,” he said.

  “I’ll be in bed by midnight,” she said coyly.

  On the drive home from the hospital, Isabella felt buzzed. Not only did she get to take part in a surgery, something that no other intern had done yet, but her attending complimented her on her work. Once home, she took a quick shower, applied a light coat of makeup, put on a blouse and skirt she never seemed to have an occasion to wear, and drove to the bar to meet her colleagues.

  She found the group of them sitting around a table, two dripping pitchers of beer halfway gone.

  One of the interns, Justin, slid an empty glass toward the vacant seat. She was oddly touched at the small gesture. She wasn’t very talkative at the hospital, so she was surprised that they were acting friendly toward her.

  “I told you she would come,” Jordan boasted to the boys. Isabella poured herself a full glass of tasteless beer as she listened to everyone’s recap of their first week.

  “My highlight of the week was getting hit on by a senile old lady,” Craig said.

  “Did you take her up on her offer?” Justin teased.

  “I sutured forty wounds,” Jordan added. “I think that’s a world record. What about you, Isabella?”

  She scrambled to think of something mundane she did over the week, but her mind kept going back to surgery. She couldn’t tell them about that. It would make them all hate her, and things were actually going well.

  “I think I made enemies with a nurse. He sent me to get fresh syringes, and I got distracted along the way and forgot.”

  They nodded in approval. It was reassuring to hear that other people made mistakes.

  “The next round is on me,” Isabella announced, trying to shift the attention away from her experiences that week.

  She got up from the table and went to the bar, handing the bartender her credit card. She peeked back at the table—they were all smiling and laughing. It was nice to be part of a group, even if everyone was ready to stab each other in the back to get in on a surgery.

  She returned with full pitchers to cheers from her peers. James was right—new doctors lived penniless for so long during school that the second they get anything for free, they lose their minds. The pitchers were drained in minutes.

  Isabella was feeling giddy. In her rush to get to the bar, she had forgotten to eat supper. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last meal she’d had. She didn’t care, though. Surprisingly, she was having a great time.

  As the interns were digging through their pockets to order more booze, three pitchers were delivered to their table.

  “We didn’t order these,” Jordan said to the waitress as the other interns tried to hush her.

  “That guy over at the bar bought them for you,” she said, taking the empty pitchers.

  Isabella squinted toward the bar. James was sitting at the bar, alone, with a smirk on his face. One of the tipsy interns waved at him, prompting James to approach their table.

  “Thanks for the drinks,” Jordan said.

  “This gift comes with some strings attached,” he said. “Consider this my tip to you. Enjoy this free beer, and in return, you do whatever I say.”

  They all nodded in agreement, refilling their glasses.

  “Do you want to sit down?” Justin asked as they drained their glasses.

  “No, we’ve got to keep some boundaries, don’t we?” he teased, winking at Isabella. She gave him a sleepy smile in return.

  “I see you’re taking it easy tonight,” he said sarcastically to Isabella.

  She giggled. “I’m always easy,” she slurred softly.

  Luckily, everyone was too entrenched in their drinks to notice their short exchange.

  “On that note, I will be leaving now,” he said, turning toward the door. He let out a long sigh as he left the bar, imperceptibly shaking his head.

  After they finished their drinks, they left, splitting off into different directions. Isabella decided to walk home, giving her time to sober up before bed.

  Once home, she stripped off just inside the door, brushed her teeth, and flopped down on her bed. She felt like she was floating—from the surgery, from her interaction with the dreamy doctor, and mostly, the alcohol. In the morning, she was certain she would regret it all, but for the time being, she basked in the high.

  Chapter Four

  The next Monday came too soon for Isabella. All of Saturday was spent nursing a hangover. She tried to catch up on her reading on Sunday but was overwhelmed by the bulk of information she wanted to get through. That, and distracted by how much she was dreading seeing James at work.

  On Monday, the rest of the interns were more cordial toward her. By meeting them for drinks, she had proven that she could be one of the guys. This was the only positive result of the night.

  She avoided James at all costs, which was extremely difficult since he was their superior and they reported to him. When he spoke, she averted her eyes, and when he asked questions, she waited for others to answer for her.

  On Tuesday, he assigned them tasks during rounds and gave Isabella her assignment last.

  “Is everything okay? You don’t seem like yourself.”

  “I’m fine.” She quickly dismissed him.

  “Yeah, it’s just that you’re always first to answer questions, but yesterday, you stood in the back of the group and looked at the floor the whole time.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Dr. Carter,” he pressed. “You’re not fooling anyone. Either you tell me what is going on, or I will figure it out myself.”

  She took a deep breath and finally looked him in the eye.

  “Fine. I’m just a little embarrassed about Friday night.”

  “And why is that?” he asked, his smile growing wider.

  “I’m not used to getting drunk around anyone, especially my instructors. It’s not professional.”

  “Is that all?” he said exasperatedly. “Listen, it’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t h
ave bought you guys all that beer if I didn’t want you to loosen up a little. You’re truly embarrassed because you thought you were being unprofessional?”

  She nodded, biting the inside of her lip.

  “Nothing more?” he coaxed.

  “No. That’s all.”

  “All right,” he said, handing her a chart. “Prep this patient for her appendectomy and answer any questions she has.”

  Isabella hurried off. She didn’t want to spend too much time alone with James. He was too flirty around her and she didn’t want him to get in the way of her work. She especially didn’t want the other interns to get the wrong idea about them, especially since things were going so well.

  During the rest of the week, she made a point to volunteer for tasks that involved other people to reduce her chance of being alone with James. She worked with other doctors and dragged Jordan around as much as possible.

  “You know, I have things I need to get done too,” Jordan said to Isabella after she asked her fellow intern to go to the cafeteria with her for a late lunch. “I already ate. I don’t see why I need to be back here again. People will think I’m a glutton.”

  “Shh, just eat your ice cream,” Isabella said. “If you must know, I think James has been acting weird around me ever since we saw him at the bar on Friday.”

  “I think you’re the one who’s been acting weird,” Jordan said. “I don’t see him dragging his coworker around so he can’t be alone.”

  “Fine. Go,” Isabella said shortly. “But when I face my downfall, I’ll remember when you refused to help me.”

  Jordan rolled her eyes and left the cafeteria.

  Isabella felt childish for avoiding James just because she was afraid of developing a crush on him. Men were a danger when it came to careers, though.

  She had seen it happen with her own mother more times than she could count. Each rich husband was just another reason to not work. Her mother was a talented interior designer, but it was easier just to redecorate her homes instead of making a living doing it for other people. Her mom could hardly go for more than a year between men because then, the money might dry up.