Costars (A Standalone Romance Novel) (New York City Bad Boy Romance)

by Adams, Claire

  Maybe it is the Huntington’s. I’ve noticed a certain vitriol slowly creeping into her over the last couple of months, and as far as I can tell, it came out of nowhere. I know enough about the disease to know its general progression, but I’m hardly an expert on it.

  Regardless, I’m here now and I’ve got the office to myself, so I sit down at my desk and get to work.

  After a while, I stop glancing up at the clock. They told Grace that her appointment shouldn’t take any more than half an hour, but they almost always misjudge that sort of thing.

  The biggest part of being a doctor nowadays is all the paperwork. There’s paperwork for pretty much everything.

  Office supply ordering forms, medical supply ordering forms, patient’s files, dictations, notes, insurance forms, more insurance forms, no-insurance forms, partially-insured insurance forms, insured-through-multiple-carriers insurance forms…it goes on and on.

  By the time I get caught up, my mind is sufficiently numb that I’m looking at the clock for a solid minute before it registers what time it says.

  3:23 P.M.

  Grace has been in with the trial doctors for nearly four hours.

  Time got right the hell away from me, but I would have expected a call or a knock on the outer office/waiting room door long before now.

  I pull out my phone and dial her number, but it just goes to voicemail.

  Something’s wrong.

  There’s no reason she should be this far over her time unless something’s wrong. Even if her appointment went late and she didn’t want to stop by the office because she didn’t want to risk anyone catching onto what’s going on between us, she could have stepped outside the hospital for a minute and given me a call or sent me a text.

  Now, her phone is off. Sure, it’s possible that her battery is dead, but — I’ve just got to get out of here.

  I leave the papers where they are on my desk and it’s all I can do to remember to turn the lights off on my way out.

  My keys are in my hand and I open the door to the outer office just in time to see Dr. Preston, Dean of Medicine, coming down the hall toward my office.

  “How are you today Dr. Preston?” I ask, locking my door.

  “Would you mind if we talk for a minute?” he asks.

  “You know,” I tell him, “I was just heading out-”

  “Let’s talk in your office,” he interrupts. “It’ll only take a minute.”

  I quickly unlock my office door again and flip the lights back on.

  “Does it matter which room we’re in?” I ask.

  “Not particularly,” he says, closing the door behind him and locking it. “Do you have a patient named Grace Miller?”

  “Yeah,” I answer. “Why? What happened?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” he says. “I’ve been hearing all sorts of stories about what’s been going on in your office over the last little while, and I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Jace,” he says, “now’s not the time to cover your tracks. Now is the time to be perfectly honest with me. Right now, I’m thinking that’s your best shot at saving your job.”

  I sit down.

  “What have you heard?” I ask.

  “Why?” he rejoins. “So you can confirm everything I tell you and deny anything else?”

  “I’m asking because I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about and I’d rather not go off on a tangent unless there’s some reason for doing it.”

  “You’re sleeping with a patient,” he says. “Is that a fair statement?”

  “She’s not a patient,” I tell him.

  “Oh, I know she’s in our clinical trial on JH813,” Dr. Preston says. “From what I hear, though, the two of you had an inappropriate relationship before she was in the trial. Speaking of which, weren’t you her diagnosing physician?”

  My blood runs cold in my veins.

  I never thought I would actually get the question, but there it is and I have to make a choice. Either I lie and put myself in even more jeopardy, not to mention throwing Dr. Marcum under the bus for doing me a favor, or I tell the truth, spare Dr. Marcum, and possibly lose everything I went to med school to accomplish.

  “Yes,” I tell him.

  “I see,” Dr. Preston says. “And how long have you been a doctor?” he asks.

  “I got my license about two years ago,” I tell him.

  “Are you aware that one of the stipulations for patients to be in that trial is that they must have had the disease for five years or more?”

  “How do you know that Grace hasn’t had her oligodendroglioma for five years or more?” I ask.

  “I know that she wasn’t diagnosed until just a few months ago,” he says. “Do you have any compelling reason to believe that she has, in fact, had her condition for significantly longer than she’s been exhibiting symptoms?”

  “It’s hard to say,” I tell him. “Oligodendrogliomas are notoriously slow-growing, especially in phase two where Grace is.”

  “So your position is speculative. Did you know that one of the other conditions for entry into the trial is that the patient must have been on chemo and/or radiation for a significant portion of their five or more years with the condition?”

  “Define significant,” I answer.

  “Dr. Churchill,” Dr. Preston says, “I hope you know that I’ve always liked you and respected you as a doctor. You graduated top of your class and your connections, specifically through your former professor Dr. Marcum, have provided you with the opportunity to have your own office in this hospital at a very young age and without the seniority that many of the other doctors in this hospital have. You do know, however, that having your own office does not exempt you from disciplinary action from this hospital at large or by me directly, do you not?”

  “I’m aware,” I tell him.

  “In fact,” Dr. Preston continues, “you must be aware that any breach of hospital policy, ethical codes of conduct, or the law is grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including my recommendation that your license be revoked either temporarily or permanently, I assume.”

  “Yes,” I tell him.

  “That being the case, let me ask you again: Did you knowingly involve your patient, Grace Miller, in a trial for which she didn’t qualify because you have a sexual relationship with her?”

  “She’s doing really well in the trial,” I tell Dr. Preston, as if that’s going to make any difference.

  “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he asks. “Not only have you put your career at risk, you’ve put this hospital, not to mention the clinical trial for JH813, at risk.”

  “It was the right thing to do.” I’m already fucked. I may as well say what I think.

  “In no way is that statement true,” Dr. Preston says. “You leave me no choice but to suspend you pending a hearing regarding your disturbing conduct, Dr. Churchill, effective immediately. Also, I should inform you that your patient has been removed from the clinical trial of JH813 and her results have been discarded due to the manner in which she was included in the trial.”

  “You can’t kick her out of the trial!” I shout. I’m not even trying to save myself anymore.

  “I don’t know what you and she have discussed, but it must have occurred to you that this would happen if you went down this path,” Dr. Preston says, scratching his recently shaved face. “We have rules for a reason, Dr. Churchill. They’re not only for the protection of the hospital or for companies that may be doing drug trials, they’re also there to protect patients, and even you as a doctor. What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that I had a chance to help someone that needed help,” I tell him.

  “Would she have died had you not put her into the trial?”

  “Maybe not immediately,” I tell him, “but no matter how slow oligodendrogliomas in this phase may grow, there’s always the chance that they’ll progress to
anaplastic oligodendroglioma or that, given enough time, it could cause an event that would prove fatal, so yes, I do believe I was doing the best thing for my patient in these circumstances.”

  “You seem to have a rather high opinion of what you’ve done. In what way did your sexual relationship treat her oligodendroglioma?”

  Yeah, he’s got me on that one.

  “Our relationship didn’t begin, as it were, until after she was in the trial,” I tell him.

  “But you got her into the trial because you had feelings for her, isn’t that so?”

  “She was enrolled in the trial before anything significant happened between the two of us,” I tell him.

  “From what I heard,” Dr. Preston says, “whatever you’re referring to as ‘significant’ happened before her first day in the trial, though, thus meaning she was still your patient at the time.”

  “Where are you getting all this?”

  Could Yuri really be so pissed off that I’m risking my career for Grace that she would put it in jeopardy out of spite?

  “It doesn’t matter,” Dr. Preston says. “What does matter is that as of now, you no longer have rights at this hospital. I’ll need your ID badge. I’ll let you know when we’ve scheduled your meeting.”

  “You would have done the same thing I did,” I tell him. “Personal relationship or not, you know how seldom it can be that we get a win around here. I know we save lives every day, but there are so many that we simply can’t do anything for. We can throw medication at them, but you and I both know there are some conditions that are simply going to win in the end. Whether it’s a day or twenty years, if we can help our patients live longer even by a little bit, don’t you think it’s our responsibility as doctors to do it?”

  “I don’t think you and I should discuss this any further until your hearing,” Dr. Preston says. “I need you to give me your ID badge.”

  * * *

  Grace isn’t answering her door. I’ve tried calling her, but her phone is still going straight to voicemail.

  Next, I try call Yuri and, surprise, surprise, she picks up almost immediately.

  “I know you’re mad at me,” she says before anything else, “but I just wanted to do the right thing for you.”

  “I’m suspended pending a hearing,” I tell her. “I could lose my medical license as a result of that hearing, so I’m really having a hard time buying that you just did this to protect my career.”

  “It’s not just that. You’ve got a history of being with women who treat you like crap, who try to take over your whole life and make you utterly miserable.”

  “And what business is that of yours?”

  “It’s my business,” she says. “You’re my boss and you’re my friend and…well, I don’t want to see you be miserable for the rest of your life just because some tumor chick batted her eyes at you.”

  “Why would you do this? You say that we’re friends and you say that you’re trying to protect my career and that you’re trying to protect me on a personal level, but the only thing you’ve accomplished by going to Dr. Preston is cause the very things you say you’re trying to prevent.”

  “I know,” she says. “I just got sick of seeing what was happening to you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  The door to Grace’s apartment opens a few inches and I cover the phone.

  “Could you keep it down?” Grace asks quietly. “I do have neighbors, you know.”

  “Yuri, hold on,” I speak into the phone. “Grace, would you let me in so we can talk?”

  “It sounds like you’re pretty busy right now,” she says. “By the way, you’re in a fucking mess.”

  “I know I’m in a fucking mess,” I tell her. “Can we talk?”

  “Whatever,” she says, but at least she doesn’t close the door.

  “Yuri,” I say into the phone, still standing just outside Grace’s apartment, “I’m going to have to call you back.”

  “This is what always fucking happens,” Yuri says. “You think you like someone, but then they just ignore you so they can go after the last person on the God damned planet they should be going after.”

  “What?”

  “Do you really think that I’m just going to stand by and watch you continue to do what you’re doing? I don’t care if you’ve already been suspended,” she says. “You’re just doing the same shit that made you miserable before and it’s just going to keep making you miserable because you go for the wrong kinds of women.”

  “The kind of women I ‘go after,’” I tell her, “is not in any way your concern.”

  “Do you have any idea how long I waited for you and that stupid fucking bitch you were dating to break up? I thought this was supposed to be my big chance, but you never even looked at me that way, did you?”

  “You’re my assistant, Yuri,” I tell her. “It wouldn’t be appropriate-”

  “Oh you can’t seriously be using that fucking line,” she says. “You’re the one who’s sleeping with a patient. You’re the one who broke who knows how many ethical guidelines so you could keep sticking it in your chemo bimbo.”

  That may very easily be the most insensitive term for anyone I’ve ever heard.

  “You’re really going to tell me that you and me being together would be inappropriate? You really need to check your fucking life, boss.”

  “Yuri,” I tell her, “I’m going to have to let you go.”

  “Fine,” she says. “But call me when you’re done; we’re talking about this later.”

  “No, I mean I’m going to have to let you go. You’re fired,” I tell her.

  “You know, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to fire someone for disclosing your unethical behavior.”

  “Well, the way it’s looking, it’s not going to matter too much whether you lay another charge on me,” I tell her. “You’ve done plenty.”

  I hang up the phone.

  After putting the phone in my pocket, I reach out to open Grace’s door further and go inside, but the door creaks open before I can lay my hand on the knob.

  Grace is standing behind the door, saying, “That was bullshit.”

  “I know,” I tell her. “I had no idea Yuri was going to-”

  “Very much not what I was talking about,” Grace says and slams the door in my face.

  It’s been that kind of day.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Rebooting

  Grace

  The downside of cutting off all contact with Jace is that I couldn’t get a referral from him. Of course, with all the shit he’s in right now, I’m not sure if that many doctors would really be interested in taking his referrals anyway.

  Right now, I’m sitting in the chemo suite of Parkside Hospital. My new doctor, Dr. Quintana, tends to favor an intravenous approach when it comes to a chemo delivery system.

  I’m not a fan.

  The oral crap was bad enough, but with this stuff, my vein feels like it’s eroding at an incredible rate and I’m getting hit with all the hell of chemo that I had just started to get used to before I went in for that stupid trial, only the symptoms are worse and they’re hitting me a lot quicker.

  “How are you feeling?” Dr. Quintana asks me after my next round of vomiting.

  “I’ve never felt better,” I tell him. “I hope there’s a marathon today because I feel like going for a nice twenty-six mile run right about now.”

  “I wouldn’t suggest that you go running in your current condition, especially for such a distance,” he says.

  Dr. Quintana doesn’t seem to understand or appreciate sarcasm.

  This is the kind of thing that makes me miss Jace. I’m not mad at him for me getting kicked out of the trial. I mean, I was at first, but I’m not anymore.

  Even when I was upset at him over the trial, I knew it wasn’t his fault, that I wouldn’t have been in the trial in the first place if he hadn’t put himself in such a precarious position.

  My phone ring
s, and it’s with a great deal of annoyance that I reach into my purse to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Grace, it’s me, Margaret. You really need to come in,” my intrepid little secretary says.

  “I’m having toxic sludge pumped into my veins at the moment,” I tell her. “Can it wait?”

  “Shoot,” she says. “I forgot you were back on chemo.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “John just got fired,” she says. “I guess he was badmouthing this idea you shared with one of the members of the board and it got kind of heated. He said that it was either him or you and they chose to keep you.”

  “Why would they fire him just for badmouthing me?” I ask. “He’s been doing that for years.”

  “Well, he may have told Mrs. Sutton that she was an idiot for wanting to go with your idea to work Memento into more markets,” she says.

  “Yeah, calling a board member an idiot will usually — they’re going to do it?”

  “Yeah,” Mags says. “They wanted me to give you a call and get you in here so they could tell you themselves.”

  “I’m stuck here,” I tell her. “Is there any way you could schedule a meeting with them for me tomorrow?”

  “Grace?” It’s Mrs. Sutton, the board member who I apparently should have talked to years ago.

  “Yes, Mrs. Sutton,” I respond.

  “You assistant said something about chemo, are you all right?”

  Okay, John may have had a point when he called her an idiot. I didn’t expect the board would know or care that I’ve got this thing in my head, but it’s pretty safe to assume that a person on chemo isn’t all right.

  “I’m just in the middle of a-”

  “Grace, I’ve talked to the rest of the board, and we’re all in agreement,” she interrupts. “We’d like you to spearhead our expansion in the Midwest. I know you’ve been softening the ground for a while now, and there’s no one else more prepared to move on this than you.”