by Aiden Bates
Jason just stared at him.
Finn deflated. "Okay. Maybe the lack of staff played a small role."
Jason stared at him again.
"Fine. The lack of staff, which played a role in what happened to Idoni's friend, might not have had to happen."
"All right. Excellent. And as I go to make the offer of a settlement, I can tell the Jenkins that you're making an effort to understand the obstetrics department better, so that you can get your head around their staffing needs a little bit better. Because at the end of the day, it really does come down to patient care. If Silver Oak isn't the best in Syracuse anymore, Finn, then they're no use to Regent anymore. You understand what I'm saying."
Finn took a deep breath. He let it out slowly. He took another one. "Okay. Okay. I can do that. You're right. I'm sorry. Something about that guy just makes me fly off the handle." He forced himself to breathe again. "But yeah. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I don't want it to look like they got hurt because Idoni and I don't get along, and I don't want them to get hurt at all." He pressed his intercom button. "Hey Marcia?"
"Yes, Mr. Riley?"
"Reschedule all of my appointments. And tell Carter Idoni to expect company."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Not what I was expecting, but okay. I'll let you know what happens with the Jenkins'."
"I'll let you know if I need bail money, after spending a whole day with Carter Idoni."
Finn headed down to Obstetrics. He found that the path into Idoni's office was blocked, this time by another cute omega. This one had a lab coat over scrubs, and his name tag proclaimed him to be Allen Frye, N.P. "Sorry, he's in with a patient right now. I'm pretty sure that his schedule is clear for the rest of the day, but you didn't call down before that patient's appointment. So here we are."
"Here we are." Finn looked around. The nurses looked at him with open hatred, but none approached him. "So. You're a nurse practitioner."
"And a midwife. Midhusband, I guess." Frye gave a chuckle. "I can officiate at most omega births, assuming that there are no complications. I can work on women, too, but considering that there's just one of me and four midwives for the ladies they usually have me dealing with the boys. In an emergency, though, I help out wherever I'm needed."
"That makes sense." Finn nodded. Frye had a sharp, snowy scent to him. It was unusual, to say the least, although it could be described as complimentary to Idoni's. "Have you worked here long?"
"Ever since I got my RN. I worked at night and put myself through the PhD program to become a NP." He blushed and looked away. "Carter's been a huge help, you know? He really encouraged me."
"Did he now?" Finn tried not to sound too forbidding, even though that was his entire mindset right now.
"You bet." Frye didn't seem to notice. "He gets that most of the time, we don't need a medical doctor to intervene, and we don't need to burden the healthcare system or families with those costs. Some doctors look down on nurses and NPs, but Carter is a big supporter."
Finn nodded slowly. Carter was a big supporter of nurses, and Finn had just cut their hours. No wonder he'd snapped. Well, that and the patient, of course.
Finn scratched his beard. "Is Dr. Idoni always so…"
"Aggressively anti-authority? No." Frye managed a little grin. "He's actually an awesome guy. He'll work with just about anyone, if it helps people."
Finn ran his tongue along the back of his teeth. "I see. So putting things in terms of dollar value…"
"In one ear and out the other. Sorry." Frye gave him a cheerful smile that would have seemed vacant if not for the piercing eyes. "At least when there are people's lives involved."
The door to Idoni's office opened, and a slim-hipped omega walked out with a broad smile on his face. Idoni watched him go, but the smile fell away as soon as the door closed behind the slim man. "He's going to need a C-section," Idoni pronounced.
"Does he have some kind of genetic deficiency?" Finn asked, watching after the young man.
"Huh? No. Did you see those hips? There's no way that they'll open up enough for a canal birth." He shook his head. "Besides which, he's had a pelvic break in the relatively recent past."
"Yikes." Frye winced. "Well, good thing we've got you and the resident guy there."
Finn frowned at them both. "He's not a resident anymore. Huntington is a doctor on a two-year assignment."
"Thank you for reminding us of that." Idoni rolled his eyes. "You know, yesterday he got stuck helping me scrub in to a surgery. The nurses were all doing patient care."
Finn's cheeks blazed "About that." He forced himself to meet Idoni's eyes. "I may have been a little heavy handed with my cuts to nurses' hours. I think it's probably a good idea if I shadow you for a day, maybe even two, so that I can get a better idea of the ebb and flow of the department and your staffing needs. It's pretty obvious that I don't quite get how things work down here, and that's having a negative effect on patient care."
Idoni flinched like he'd been splashed with cold water. Finn wanted to grab him and shake him. Did he really think that Finn was so shallow, so pathetic, that he couldn't admit when he'd been wrong? "Do you think that shadowing a nurse might be a better idea?"
Finn smirked. "I'd get a great idea of what an RN, or a nurse's aide, or an LPN, or a NP does, and how the ebb and flow of their day goes. I still wouldn't have the first clue about the department as a whole. You're the one delivering babies. You're the one who has to deal with all of those practitioners at the same time."
Idoni screwed up his face. "I'm not the only obstetrician on this ward, you know. I'm not even the head of this department." Then he shrugged. "I'm okay with it as long as you are. There are a few rules, though. You don't get to be in the room for patient appointments. Those are private—and that's not me being a jerk, that's the law. If we go into a delivery or a surgery, you keep your hands to yourself at all times, and you follow the orders of someone who knows more than you do. I don't care if they're an LPN or an orderly, if they've got more experience in that room than you do, they get to tell you where to go and what to do."
Finn didn't like it, but it made sense. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. I'm just trying to get a sense for the ebb and flow. I will keep my hands to myself and touch nothing but my phone, which will be for taking notes only."
"Okay. Let's go suit up." He checked his watch. "I've got a voluntary omega sterilization in twenty minutes. Come on, this one should be good for you. This one was scheduled, so as long as we don't have any unexpected births halfway through we should be good."
They changed into scrubs, which were then covered by paper gowns, caps, and masks. The patient was already unconscious, with the anesthesiologist looming over him like a guardian angel. Every part of the omega in question was covered by drapes, except for the area that Idoni would be cutting.
The surgery only took half an hour, but it was half an hour that Finn would never forget. He hadn't had the courage to look, beyond taking a count of the staff needed for the job. The stench of the operation was enough for him. Idoni's pager went off halfway through, summoning them to a birth. Idoni ignored it in favor of finishing the surgery, but as soon as the patient was closed up he raced for the scrubbing sinks to get ready for the next act.
The patient in this case was another omega. He was clearly in extreme distress, and Frye was already in there with him. Frye crouched down by the man's nether regions, which were covered by a drape. "The birth canal isn't forming," he told Idoni. "Not even a hint of it. The poor man's in agony. Contractions are less than a minute apart."
Idoni winced. "Get an epidural into him. Mr. MacKenzie, we're going to have to give you a cesarean."
The agonized man stared up at Idoni. "Is it safe?"
"There are risks. It's major abdominal surgery. But Mr. MacKenzie, there's no other way to get this baby out of you." Idoni already had the mask on and the gloves.
Nurses swooped in to prepare MacKenzie's body for surgery. An anesthesiologi
st showed up to apply the epidural, and as soon as it took effect Idoni started to cut. The surgery didn't take long, only a moment, and the next thing that Finn knew there was a wailing baby boy in the room.
So far, an hour had gone by and eight different nurses had been necessary. Finn's plan had called for four.
Finn took a deep breath and prepared to eat a lot of crow. It was going to be a long day
Chapter Five
Carter settled into the beanbag chair and picked up the first book that Adam had selected. "Giraffes Can't Dance? Didn't we read this like, two hours ago?"
One of the twins, Carter was pretty sure that it was Larisa, pointed at the giraffe on the cover and giggled. "Giraffe!" she said.
He kissed the top of her head. "That's right, sweetheart. It's a giraffe." He let the kids find places to lounge around him and read the first words of the book.
There were more books, of course. Tom and Paul's kids didn't have to pack books when they came to Uncle Carter's to stay the night. The kids had a room of their own at his house, and Carter had dedicated half of his finished basement to a playroom and storage for kid things. They had shelves of books to choose from.
He couldn't bring himself to see that as pathetic, even though he knew how it looked from the outside. These kids weren't his. They'd never know that their Uncle Carter had once lived with their dad, and had chosen a life in Syracuse to be with their dad. All that they needed to know was that Uncle Carter loved them for themselves.
Carter's doorbell rang, and he bit back a curse. Why would someone be visiting at this hour of the day? He couldn't leave the kids in the playroom to amuse themselves, of course. He had to herd the twins down the stairs, and trust that Adam would follow of his own accord. Fortunately Adam was a good kid and tended to do what he was told.
Carter opened the door to find Finn Riley standing on his doorstep.
The children all looked up at Riley. "Him's tall." Madison pointed at Finn and squinted. "And him has flowers on him's shirt."
Larisa cackled. "Him's shirt has wings!" She pointed at Fin's oversized, contrasting cuffs.
Adam grabbed onto Carter's leg. "Who's this guy, Uncle Carter?"
For his part, Riley froze and looked at the Geary children with a rictus of horror on his handsome face. "You have… children…."
Carter laughed at him. "Temporarily. These are Tom and Paul Geary's kids. They had a wedding to go to and asked if I'd keep an eye on the little ones for the night."
Adam scowled at Riley. "Which he did, because he loves us. We've got our own room here, and you don't!"
Carter hid another laugh behind his hand. Adam was being rude, and he knew that he should check the kid, but right now it was just too funny to see his nemesis' face.
Riley recovered some of his aplomb, although he still seemed to be trying to avoid contact with the children. "Well, no, I wouldn't expect to have a room at your Uncle Carter's house. You've known him for a lot longer than I have. I'm Finn Riley."
"I'm Adam Geary, these are my sisters, and this is my uncle Carter. You don't get to touch them." Adam was still holding onto Carter's leg, but he scowled up at Riley and waved a fist at him.
"All righty then." Carter ruffled the little boy's hair. The kid definitely had his protective instincts down, that was for sure. "What do you think, Adam? Should we let Mr. Finn come inside? If we stand here with the door open we'll let all of the mosquitoes in."
Larisa gazed up at him with eyes as big as saucers. "I don't like mosquito bites!"
Carter stepped to the side and let the alpha into his house. He didn't want to. He didn't like the idea of having Finn Riley in his space, or maybe he liked the idea of letting Finn Riley into his space a little too much. As Riley crossed the threshold, Carter closed the door behind him. Admitting the soulless hospital administrator was mildly less offensive to his sensibilities than allowing mosquitoes into his private sanctuary.
"So what brings you by, Mr. Finn?" He made himself meet the alpha's eyes. He wasn't about to be intimidated in his own home, not by this guy.
"Well, I'd hoped we could have a talk about some hospital-related things. We seem to butt heads a little bit less when we're not at Silver Oak." Riley smirked. Carter thought he saw a hint of self-deprecation in that smirk, although he couldn't be sure. "I didn't realize that you had guests, however."
Carter weighed his options. He hated that his problems at work were allowed to intrude on his down time. He hated his superior's smug assurance that he had the right to show up unannounced. He couldn't deny, though, that Riley was right. They'd only had a few encounters away from work, but they'd been much less hostile than their contacts on campus.
"Well, you know, we were just having our quiet time, winding down before these little sluggers had to hit the sack. If you feel like sticking around and maybe reading some books with us, then maybe you and I can have a civil chat afterward. We'd have to keep our voices down, of course, but we can probably manage that."
Adam frowned up at him. "Are you sure about this? Can he even read books?"
Carter couldn't hold back his burst of laughter, and he didn't try to. Even Riley chuckled. "I'll tell you what, buddy. I will read to you, and you can give me a grade based on my performance." The intruder grinned at little Adam, who crossed his arms over his chest and led the way over to the stairs.
The quintet ascended back to the children's room now. Carter settled back into the beanbag chair. Adam took a defiant seat in Carter's lap, and the twins snuggled in on either side of their brother. Carter wrapped his arms around all three of them, and they looked over at Riley.
Riley struggled at first. People who haven't read to children often have a hard time reading while displaying the pictures from the book, and Carter didn't fault him for that. Once the outsider got into the swing of things, though, he got into the book and gave life and passion to the characters. Adam relaxed on Finn's lap, immersed in the story.
Riley read them four books before the twins fell asleep in Carter's arms. Adam was starting to nod off, and Riley paused. "I think it might be time for tired little boys to lie down now."
Adam opened his eyes long enough to glare, but he accepted Riley's hand and let the alpha guide him toward his bed with its airplane bedding.
Carter struggled to his feet. It wasn't easy to get vertical with a toddler in each arm, but he managed. He deposited Larisa in one toddler bed, and put Madison in the other before tucking them in. He tucked Adam in and dropped a kiss on his smooth forehead, turned the nightlight on, and left the kids' room.
Riley followed him downstairs. "That was enlightening."
Carter's back was to Riley, so he could feel safe rolling his eyes. "I don't think that watching a man put kids to bed is all that exciting, but whatever floats your boat I guess. What can I get you? Whatever you came here to talk about, I suspect it'll go over easier with a drink."
Riley's lips twitched, like he was trying not to smile. "I could go for a beer."
Carter nodded. He'd half expected Riley to demand something weird, like vodka distilled from virgins' tears. He grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and the baby monitor and brought Riley out onto the back deck, where they could enjoy the view.
Riley made himself comfortable at the table while Carter lit a citronella candle. "We're on high ground, but better safe than sorry. We've had some triple-E and West Nile in the area the past few years, so."
Riley huffed out a little laugh. "I guess I always thought of anything north of Westchester as tundra, you know? Canada, but without the hockey." He looked out at the view. "This is breathtaking. What is all of this?"
"That's the Onondaga Valley. You do get some beautiful country up here." Carter grinned. "I have to admit that when they told me I was coming to part of New York I thought I was maybe going to the Bronx. Then I did some research. I mean, except for the accents and the snow, it's not that different from back home, you know?" He took a pull off of his beer.
; "I guess." Riley moistened his lips. "You're from Tennessee, right?"
"Yup. Dyersburg, born and bred." Carter had to force himself to look at Riley's eyes. The way that the fading sunlight hit them right now, they didn't look like ice. They burned.
"How come you didn't go to Memphis or something?" Riley angled his body toward Carter. "Surely you would have been more comfortable there."
Carter kept his face calm and neutral only through the sheer force of his will. Who was he really protecting? Riley must have already picked up on most of what had happened. It wasn't like Carter had any shame anymore. "The organization that paid off my med school loans didn't give Memphis as an option. They needed an omega specialist in Syracuse, so that was where they sent me. And after my two-year stint was up, I'd kind of put down roots, I guess."