Chapter 5 You are the topic
Callahan POV
She still had that shock expression on her face and I could literally see her gulp.
“Wait,” she said into the phone, her voice suddenly much quieter.
I raised an eyebrow.
She swallowed.
“I’ll call you back.”
She ended the call.
Silence.
Her fingers tightened around her phone as she stood there, clearly trying to figure out what to do with herself.
“I wasn't talking about you,” she blurted.
I stared at her.
She immediately winced.
“That sounded worse than I meant it.”
I remained silent.
She cleared her throat.
“I mean, I wasn't talking about you specifically.”
My expression didn't change.
She shifted awkwardly.
“I mean…uhm..you never heard anything, Doc.”
“Nothing right?”
I looked at her for another second.
“I don't recall asking.”
Her eyes widened again.
Right.
I walked past her without another word.
Behind me, I heard her let out a quiet, frustrated breath.
“Great,” she muttered.
I kept walking.
Apparently, my day had just become more interesting.
“Someone is giving her a hard time already?”
I let out a quiet laugh as I stepped out of the lab room. I hadn't meant to listen in, but after hearing her complain so passionately about the person she had been talking about, I couldn't help finding it amusing.
I walked down the hallway, and a few steps ahead, I spotted the HR representative. I caught up with her and stopped.
“Oh, Dr. Callahan. Do you need something?” she asked immediately.
“Yes.” I glanced briefly in the direction Miranda had disappeared. “You saw the doctor who just passed?”
“Yes. Dr. Miranda?”
“Exactly.”
I turned my attention back to her.
“I need to see her report.”
She stared at me for a few seconds, clearly confused by the request.
“What?” I asked.
“You want her report?”
“Yes. She works under me.”
I didn't bother explaining further. I walked away, leaving her standing there.
I had no particular reason to be interested in Miranda Hart's record.
At least, that was what I told myself.
Miranda POV
I practically ran back to my office.
The moment I got inside, I shut the door behind me and crashed into my chair.
“What the fuck was that?”
I dropped my head against the back of the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling as the memory replayed itself in my head.
Me complaining about him.
Him standing right in front of me.
That cold, unreadable stare.
Oh, goodness.
I covered my face with both hands.
“Why did I have to say all of that?”
I sat up abruptly and started pacing around my office.
Did he know I was talking about him?
Of course he knew.
Who else was I describing?
The tall, intimidating doctor with the permanent expression of someone who had just been personally offended by the existence of the human race?
Definitely him.
My stomach twisted.
“What is he going to do about it?”
I stopped pacing.
Could he report me?
Could he make things difficult for me?
Could I actually lose my job because I complained about my boss on the phone?
My eyes widened.
“Am I going to lose my job?”
The thought of it freaked me out.
I had just gotten this job.
“OH NO.”
I grabbed my forehead and groaned.
“Miranda, what were you thinking?”
Nothing.
Apparently, I wasn't thinking.
I dropped back into my chair, staring at my desk.
The more I sat there, the more my mind came up with terrible possibilities.
Maybe he would call HR.
Maybe he'd bring it up in front of the entire department.
Maybe he'd—
“No.”
I stood up again.
“I need to stop thinking.”
If I stayed in that office, I was going to spend the entire afternoon torturing myself with imaginary scenarios.
I grabbed my phone, slipped it into my pocket, and walked out.
Maybe getting familiar with the university side of the hospital would help distract me.
At the very least, I needed somewhere to go before I drove myself insane.
So I headed down the hallway toward the university section of the building, determined to forget the fact that I had just insulted my boss directly within his hearing range.
But the further I walked, the more I noticed people looking at me.
Not just one or two people.
Doctors in scrubs glanced at me as they passed. A nurse looked up from her computer and stared for a second too long. Even two residents talking near the nurses' station paused when I walked past them.
What?
I slowed down.
Is there something on my face?
I discreetly pulled out my phone, pretending I wanted to check my messages. Instead, I opened the front camera and tilted my face slightly.
Nothing.
I checked my teeth.
Nothing.
My hair?
A little messy, but nothing embarrassing.
I quickly locked my phone.
“So what are these stares for?” I muttered under my breath.
Maybe I was being paranoid.
I turned the corner and almost bumped into someone.
“Oh, sorry!”
The woman stepped back quickly, then looked up.
“Oh, Dr. Miranda.”
A small smile appeared on her face.
“Laurel.”
I returned her smile, though mine probably looked more awkward than friendly.
Dr. Laurel Williams.
At least I knew one person here who didn't make me feel like I was being examined under a microscope.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes moving over me.
“Yes. Yes, I'm fine, Dr. Laurel.”
I straightened my scrub top unnecessarily and cleared my throat.
Laurel gave me a suspicious look.
“Okay…” she said slowly. “If you say so.”
I nodded.
She smiled again. “Are you heading somewhere?”
“Yeah. The university side. Are you?”
“Same direction, actually. I was just walking around.”
“Oh.” I looked around the hallway again. “You seem really familiar with this place.”
“I am.” She laughed. “I practically grew up in this hospital.”
“That explains it.”
“And I went to the university here too.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She pointed down the hallway. “Come on. I'll give you a tour.”
My eyes immediately lit up.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I would actually love that. That's exactly where I was trying to go. I wanted to look around the university.”
“Oh, then you're in luck.” She grinned. “Come on. I know all the good places.”
She reached for my hand without thinking, pulling me along with her.
I stared down at our joined hands.
Laurel noticed a second later and immediately stopped.
“Oh.” She quickly let go. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—”
“It's fine,” I said, laughing a little. “You don't have to apologize.”
She smiled, slightly embarrassed.
“Come on. Lead the way.”
We started walking again.
“I've been stuck in that hospital all morning,” I complained. “I need to get out before I start feeling like one of the patients.”
Laurel laughed.
“You're funny.”
“I try.”
“Please, don’t say that. Let’s go. You lead the way. I’m tired of staying here. Feels like everyone is staring at me,” I said as we made our way out.
Laurel chuckled.
“You’re some kind of celebrity, and you don’t even know it.”
I raised a brow.
A celeb what??
“Huh? What do you mean?”
She shrugged casually.
“I mean, you could be one. Just like Dr. Callahan. He’s a celebrity doctor.”
She sighed dramatically and waved a hand at a male doctor who passed us, as if his presence alone proved her point.
As we walked, the sounds of the hospital followed us.
A monitor beeped somewhere behind the nurses' station. A baby suddenly started crying from one of the maternity areas, followed by a nurse's soothing voice. We passed a set of double doors as a group of surgeons in masks and caps hurried through, speaking quietly among themselves.
The smell of disinfectant was mixed with the faint smell of coffee coming from somewhere nearby.
“This place is huge,” I said.
“You haven't seen anything yet.”
We passed another corridor where a doctor was speaking to a patient's family, his voice low and serious. A nurse pushed a trolley past us, and someone called for a porter from farther down the hall.
It was busy.
Very busy.
But somehow, Laurel seemed completely comfortable in the middle of it.
We continued walking until she suddenly stopped beside a coffee machine.
“Wait.”
She pressed a button, grabbed two paper cups and handed one to me.
“For me?”
“Yes. You look like you need it.”
I took the cup and smiled.
“You're already taking care of me.”
“Someone has to.”
I laughed.
We continued toward the exit, sipping our coffee as we left the hospital building.
The university wasn't far from the hospital, just across the connecting path, and there were already students moving around the grounds.
For the first time since I arrived at Crownwell, I felt like I could breathe properly.
Then I remembered the staring.
I glanced at Laurel.
“Actually…”
“Hmm?”
“There's something I don't understand.”
She looked at me.
“What's that?”
“Why was everyone staring at me in the hospital?”
Laurel stopped walking.
Her eyebrows pulled together.
“They were staring at you?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.” I frowned. “I noticed it almost immediately. Doctors, nurses…even people who weren't doing anything. They'd look at me, then look away.”
Laurel stared at me for a moment.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
I looked at her like she had just accused me of stealing something.
“I literally did nothing.”
She shrugged. “Okay, then.”
We started walking again.
“Maybe they just like your face,” she joked.
I rolled my eyes.
“I don't think so.”
“You never know.”
“No. Something is definitely going on.”
We walked a few more steps.
Then I suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
Laurel turned around.
“Yeah?”
I blinked twice.
My mind had gone straight back to the lab.
My crazy moment with Dr. Brooks.
Then the looks.
The whispering.
The people checking their phones.
And then that doctor who had walked past me and immediately looked down at her phone.
“Oh no.”
Laurel stared at me.
“What?”
“I think…” I hesitated.
“What?”
“I think I know what this might be.”
Her face became curious.
“What?”
I looked at her.
“Remember when I said people were staring at me?”
“Yes.”
“What if they're talking about me?”
Laurel's expression changed.
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
She shrugged, trying to make it sound less serious.
“Don't think too much about it. Doctors have their little gossip groups.”
I stared at her.
“Gossip groups?”
“Yes.” She laughed. “Don't look so shocked. We're still human.”
“Okay…”
“They talk about everything. Patients, hospital drama, doctors, new staff…”
My eyes widened.
“New staff?”
“Yep.”
She took another sip of her coffee.
“If you're unlucky, you can become the topic.”
My jaw dropped.
“What?”
Laurel laughed at my expression.
“It's not always bad. Sometimes it's just harmless gossip.”
“But how do you even know what they're saying?”
“Because I'm in one of the groups.”
I immediately grabbed her arm.
“You are?”
She laughed.
“Yes.”
“Can you check?”
She stared at me.
“Right now?”
“Yes, please!”
She shook her head, amused, and pulled out her phone.
“Okay, okay. Chill out”
She unlocked it and tapped through a few messages.
I leaned closer.
Laurel's thumb moved quickly across the screen.
She opened the group chat.
Scrolled.
Stopped.
Scrolled again.
Then her expression changed.
I watched her face.
“What?”
She didn't answer.
“Laurel?”
She slowly looked up at me.
“Oh…”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
She stared at me for another second.
“You are the topic.”
