9781631052347OnCallKenyan (6 page)

“I
don’t want to interrupt anything. I know you are pretty much set on trauma. But
your fellowship isn’t in another year.” He rattled on without taking a breath.
“What I am trying to ask is if I could woo you to my side, for the afternoon at
least. I’ve got this major brain bleed, complicated by a tumor—”

Katherine
could see AJ make up his mind. He wasn’t up to being enticed to join a
different team. But the severity of the surgery was making his mouth bleed.
Just then it hit her, what was the case again? “If it’s that bad why are you
here?”

“I want
AJ Ross.” The neurologist spat out. “She’s a twenty-six year old girl. Just
finished law school, after touring Europe for a year. She’s got her whole life
ahead of her. I want you to come help me make sure she’s going to live it.”

Katherine
jumped when she heard AJ grunt. “Looking into the mind of a woman. How could I
pass that up? Maybe while I’m there I can finally figure out how their minds
work.”

Katherine
refused to make eye contact with AJ. She was afraid to. But that didn’t mean
she couldn’t feel the intense white hot, anger burrowing through her skull.
Before she knew it she was alone and without an answer.

* * *
*

“Katherine Marie Henry!”

Her
spine stiffened, and her body froze under the weight of her father’s angered
bellow. Slowly and in doubt, Katherine turned her weary body toward her father,
a weak apologetic smile on her face. “I know father, I missed breakfast and
brunch again.”

“Let’s
not forget lunch, and your grandfather’s memorial dinner.” He was roaring at
her even as he strode out of his office.

“I seem
to remember you missing some dinners, birthdays and my recital. You sure as
hell didn’t go to any of Duke’s football games. I wonder, maybe that’s the
reason he turned out to be such a stick in the mud.” The second Katherine shut
her mouth; her eyes were wide with disbelief. The exhaustion and crazy hours
had finally gotten to her. She had been robbed of her sanity. Being crazy is
the only way she could justify standing up to Harry Henry Senior, the seventh,
and badmouthing Harry Henry the eighth, also known as Duke.

But she
had already started and she felt the impulse to finish. “Most parents ask their
children how they are. Especially if they just walked into the house, in the
middle of the day, from a thirty-six hour shift.
Especially
since she has to go back to work in four short hours.”

“You
chose your profession.”

“And
you chose yours. I don’t work for you. I don’t have to answer to you—”

“You
live under my roof and you have to do what I say.”

“Maybe
I’ll just move out.”

“With
what money?” he sneered.

“What
do you mean with what money?” Katherine let out a nervous laugh. “The trust
fund grandfather left to me has already been released to me.”

“That
won’t last you long.”

“Not
everyone needs a private chef and a million workers in the house to actually
live.” Katherine knew it was true, but she didn’t know how true it would be for
her. She had spent twenty-four years living in a house with an army of staff.
Everything she had wanted had been given to her. She didn’t have to exert
herself, or think ahead about what she needed. Everything she had needed and
wanted was always there for her, even before she asked or thought of it.

Panic
slithered into her heart and settled there. Maybe she should take back the challenge
she’d just dealt her father. She thought about apologizing and almost did, but
her father cut into her thoughts.

“If you
think you can make it on your own, so be it. You can move out before your
shift. I’m sure your brothers won’t mind helping you.” Harry began walking away
but stopped to deal his final blow. “Your allowances won’t change. But there
will be no moving company to help you.
My
realtor will also not be helping. Don’t take the Evoke, it belongs to me. And
please don’t disturb Duke with your problems. That stick in the mud is running
a multi-billion dollar company.”

* * *
*

“She
asked me to sleep with her.” AJ barked out a strangled laugh.

“Is
that a problem?” Reno looked at AJ over the rim of his glass, hoping it would
hide how absurd he thought AJ’s problem was. AJ shot him a look of disbelief
that urged Reno to say something else, something useful. “Maybe she just wants
to move past that awkward phase of your relationship. Try it, if it doesn’t
work out, at least you would have had some fun.”

“I
don’t want fun. She’s different. I don’t know why or how, but she just is.” AJ
shook his head in disbelief. What exactly did he want? His tone low, barely a
whisper, afraid that the world would hear him, afraid that he would hear. “I
want what you have with Lisette, what Dad and Mama have. I want someone to call
me every ten minutes, just to tell me they love me, or to check on me. I don’t
want to sleep alone, or with so many different faces. I just want one body next
to me, the same smile to greet me each morning for the rest of my life.”

“AJ,
are you saying that you want a happily-ever–after?” Reno mocked him.

“The
reason you can laugh is you already have what you want.” AJ looked down at his
buzzing phone and saw a number he didn’t recognize. He let it ring, sure that
the person on the other end was a woman whom he didn’t want to talk to. He was
going to ignore the phone once more when Reno picked it up.

“Hallo?
What?” Reno’s puzzled face drew him in. “AJ, it’s for you. It’s Katherine
Henry.

Chapter
Four

“Katherine Henry, I never thought—”

AJ was
silenced by a kiss. The pressure of Katherine’s fingers into his biceps
confused him more. He took a step back as she pushed him into his apartment.
“What?”

“Sweetheart,”
Katherine chirped. “This is my brother Christian. Christopher and Duke couldn’t
come. I see your sisters aren’t here. Just as well. You can put my bags down
here Christian. AJ will take them into our room for me.”

AJ
looked up and for the first time noticed the gigantic blond, blue-eyed man
behind Katherine. He studied both of them, and the resemblance was staggering.
He also recognized him from the bonfire he’d met Katherine at.

“You
are Katherine’s boyfriend.” AJ took the hand stretched out to him. “I am
Christian Henry, the last born. Christopher has class and Duke has work. I’m
afraid you will just have to settle for me.”

“That’s…that’s
fine.” AJ followed him as Christian walked into the large apartment and set
Katherine’s bags next to his couch. “Suitcases. Why—”

“We can
move them in later on,” Katherine blabbered on. She walked over to her brother
and took his arm. Quickly and not subtly, she hurried him out of the door.
Christian could barely get out a goodbye when the door shut in his face.

“What’s
going on?” AJ finally asked after a few minutes of strained silence.

“Not
now, please. I need to be at work in two hours. I didn’t get any sleep before
my father tossed me out. Bedroom?”

“First
door on the right,” he mumbled.

“I just
need two hours of uninterrupted sleep. We can talk about me moving in after our
shift.”

“But—”
AJ’s protests was met by a slight click as the door shut behind Katherine. He
fell onto the couch, his head resting in his palms, shocked into silence.

AJ
sneaked out of the house the next morning. What exactly was he supposed to say
to his fake girlfriend, his new roommate he couldn’t have sex with, but wanted
to? AJ sighed and rubbed his temple. He could feel a migraine coming on and its
name was Katherine Henry. His phone buzzed and it was his little sister. Maybe
she could offer some comic relief.

“Hey,
Piggy.” AJ answered his phone as his eyes searched around the room for
Katherine’s sandy blonde hair. “Sure, whatever you want sweetheart,” he
answered absent mindedly. When he saw Katherine’s loose pony tail, he ended the
conversation with his sister, not really knowing what he had committed to.

He
pushed his way through the crowd of residents to where Katherine was. Leaning
forward, he whispered. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Just a
second,” she said distracted. “Do you see the size of that tumor?”

AJ
looked up and through his foggy exhausted eyes he saw the patient. He was in
his hospital bed, unconscious, probably sedated. The residents were all gawking
at him like he was some world wonder. The tumor was occupying the left side of
his chest. That explained why Katherine was there, but the other hundreds were
only there to stare. Thank God he was unconscious.

“It’s
about our living situation.” He whispered.

“I’ll
pay half the rent. I won’t get into your space. We’ll both chip in for the
groceries, but under no circumstances am I doing your laundry. I can’t even do
my own,” she muttered under her breath.

“What
about the other thing.” AJ hoped she understood what he meant. There was no way
he was rehashing their sex talk in the midst of a dozen nurses he had taken to
bed.

“Other
thing?” Katherine turned to face him. It took a few seconds but he could see
the realization in her eyes. “You mean the
other
thing
. We can do that if you want. I’m glad you finally agreed.”

“That’s
not—” AJ was silenced by the sea of eyes glaring at him. He stepped closer to
Katherine and leaned down, so that his lips were close to her ear. “That’s not
what I meant—”

“Doctor
Ross, Doctor Henry, I’m glad you both agreed to scrub in on this.” AJ heard
Lyle’s scornful voice.

“I
never agreed to scrub in on this surgery.” AJ pointed out.

“I do,
I agree.” Katherine chirped.

“Are
you saying Cardiology is not good enough for you?” Lyle snapped. “Do you think
the heart is not as important as the brain? Or Cardiology is not as
cool
as trauma?”

“I
didn’t say that.” AJ could feel the rage build up inside him. Lyle was putting
him on the spot, trying to make him look bad. Lyle was challenging him in his
own field, and AJ had no other choice but to accept. AJ didn’t have that many
hours in cardio, and it seemed like Lyle knew that. But he wasn’t going to
fail—he was a Ross after all. “Fine, I’ll scrub in.”

“Great!”

AJ
wished he could knock Lyle’s triumph smug clean off his face. But in order to
get to the snake, he would have to push past other doctors and nurses, and leap
over the patient’s bed. On a normal day, he would probably do it, but he was
exhausted. “I’m headed home.”

“Let me
grab my gear.”

“You
live together?” The redhead gasped.

AJ
stared at her, the whole time trying to remember her name. But when it didn’t
come to mind, he shrugged and walked away.

* * *
*

“I’m
exhausted!” Katherine groaned as she dropped into the sofa. She studied the
hard set of AJ’s face and knew what was brewing in his mind. She couldn’t blame
him. She had barged into his home; lied to her brothers that he was her
boyfriend, and now because of her, he probably can’t get laid.
But I offered,
she thought.

“You
can use the spare room. I’m just going to study the notes your boyfriend gave
us then go to sleep.”

“He’s
not my boyfriend.” She groaned.

“Lyle
and I never used to interact. But when I start talking to you, all of a sudden
he’s got something against me. He’s out to get me, and it’s because of you.” He
was snarling.

It was
somehow true. She should never have belittled Lyle and sung AJ’s praises. Now
he was stuck in a surgery he didn’t want. On the positive side, they were a few
hours from performing a life-saving surgery.

The
tumor had taken over the left side of his chest, feeding off the same artery
that supplied the heart’s blood. It was also in the patient’s chest cavity,
pressing against his ribs and lungs. And if that wasn’t enough, the skin tissue
which had been affected was massive. They would not only try to cut out the
unhealthy tissue but they would also be doing a skin transplant. This mix of
surgeries made careers.

“Don’t
pay attention to him. Just ignore him.”

“What?
Are we in kindergarten?” AJ snickered.

Katherine
dragged her weary body to the bedroom. With a loud
oomph
she dropped into bed. She didn’t bother snuggling into the
covers. She pulled the duvet around her body and slowly started to fall asleep.

“What
the Hell?”

Katherine
leaped out of the bed, her body charged from sleep by the shrill shout of an
unknown female. She stood with the bed between her and the sexy Latina in a
mere rumor of a towel. “I know karate,” she lied.

“And I
know whoop-ass.” The Latina half snorted a laugh. “What are you doing here?”

“I live
here.” Katherine straightened from her defensive crouch and dropped the fists
already balled before her. There was only one explanation for this.
I am SO going to kick AJ’s ass
. “I’m
sorry but I think you are in the wrong room. The
service department
is down the hall. It’s the only room at the end,
you won’t miss it. But if you like, I could draw you a map,” she said with
excessive politeness.

“What
are you doing here?”

Katherine
began to get worried. What if she was the intruder? The other girl was about
the same size as herself. She could take her, or hold her own until help
arrived. Katherine didn’t like the clench in her jaw, or how she kept
questioning her with her teeth in a tight lock, the words barely getting out of
the tiny gaps they left.

But
Katherine wasn’t leaving. AJ had given her this room, and besides, she had
nowhere to go. If she had to defend it against a seething woman, she would.

“What
the hell is going on here?”

Katherine
breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of AJ’s voice. She exhaled and all the
tension left her body. But when she turned around to look at her defender, the
tension rushed back into her body, a different kind of tension. AJ looked like
he had just left the bathroom. His body glistened from the water. His cotton
trousers hung loosely around his waist, revealing the powerful muscles of his
thighs under the cloth. The six-pack on his torso went well with his strong
pectorals. He was like a large bar of chocolate begging to be devoured.
Katherine groaned inwardly, taking in his appearance. She then huffed in annoyance,
knowing that with the Latina here, there was no way he would want Katherine.

Katherine
looked back at the girl who was now wearing a T-shirt. Her hair was like a
thick, black long mane. Her olive skin was a huge contrast to her full red
lips. She had long curvy legs, and a rack and an ass to keep any man occupied
for days. Standing next to her Katherine felt like chopped liver. Her heart
jumped to her throat.
What if AJ is
comparing the two of us?
She chanced a glance back at AJ and noticed he wasn’t
looking at her. It was like Katherine wasn’t in the room and all he could see
was the bombshell in the towel. But the look in his eyes wasn’t desire, but
white hot burning fury.

* * *
*

AJ was
in the shower when he heard a loud shrill that sounded all too familiar. Too
familiar, because he had been hearing it for more than twenty years of his
life. “Lisette!”

He slid
on the bathroom tiled floors as he tried to scramble out of the room. AJ
grabbed his cotton pants and put them on, struggling to get each foot in each
pant leg, but missing each time. Finally he pulled them up to his waist and
dashed to the room down the hall. He had half expected Lisette to have
Katherine out on her ear by now. Lisette wasn’t the biggest fan of his
philandering. And it wouldn’t be the first time that she had kicked out his
date. He just hoped Catalella wasn’t with her.

“What
the hell are you doing here?” He heard Lisette ask again. He could almost hear
her teeth gnash together with the clench of her jaw. Katherine was in big
trouble.

“What
the hell is going on here?” He stepped in front of Katherine, facing Lisette,
intercepting the daggers being aimed at the unsuspecting woman. “Why are you
here?”

“I
called you and I told you I’m coming to crash here. What is that?” The venom in
Lisette’s tone could out-do that of a cobra.

“Put
some pants on, Lisette.”

“Put
some pants on Lisette!” She mimicked him, down to the angry tone of his voice.
He watched as she left for the bathroom to retrieve her jeans. The whole time
he couldn’t turn to face Katherine. He could guess what she was thinking. But
he didn’t think he cared to set it straight. Lisette called back “Don’t take
that tone with me Adrian Jackson Ross. I bet you won’t be telling
that
to put her pants on. Will you AJ?”

“Where
is your car, Lisette?” AJ’s tone softened. It didn’t do them any good if they
were both angry.

“What
do you care?” She used a sad little voice. “You didn’t even ask why I came here
in the first place.”

“All
right.” AJ could feel the guilt consume him. He muttered a curse when he saw
tears well in her eyes. “Okay, come to my room and we’ll talk.”

“I’m
not going into that STD infested zone.”

AJ
could feel his patience wear thin when Lisette stuck out her stubborn jaw. He
hated that. “Let me grab a T-shirt, and we can talk in the living room.”

“I hope
you are not doing it for my benefit. Your
friend
is drooling all over herself. She hasn’t stopped looking at you since you
walked into the room. And if you don’t lace your pants there will be more of
you to see.”

AJ
instinctively grabbed his trousers as his eyes darted toward Katherine. The
crimson blush in her cheeks told him that Lisette was right. He turned around
and began to head for his room, when he realized Lisette wasn’t following.
“Lisette!” he warned in a low, but forceful tone that left no room for
argument.

“Pick
your jaw up from the floor. He’s just human.”

“Lisette!”

“Don’t
you ‘Lisette!’ me!” she grumbled as she stomped out of the room.

AJ
swallowed hard and settled a steady gaze on Katherine. “I’m sorry.”

“No
more shouting, Lisette. Tell me, what’s wrong?” AJ asked in annoyance once his
apology was swallowed by the bang of Katherine’s door shutting behind her.