Chapter 2

He was walking ahead when he felt something touch his back. He stopped instantly to turn around and see. He saw the new girl, the intern, on the ground. 

He looked at her and rolled his eyes. He had already wasted a lot of time, explaining to them about the hospital and how it worked, and here she was, trying to find more ways to waste his time. 

“Miss. Rivera, I don’t like it when people don’t use the two eyes they have. Now get up and follow me!” He barked at her making her flinch. 

He looked at his wristwatch and knew he was fifteen minutes late. He had a lot of patients to attend and she wasn’t making it any easier.

He turned around and began walking without sparing her a single glance. 

She got up to her feet and began running behind him. She made sure to maintain good two feet of distance between them. She looked around but all she could see was a classy hospital where everyone wears a uniform.

Dimitri was a man of discipline and which meant everyone had to follow a strict dress code. Light Blue t-shirt and pants for all the doctors. Brown pants and a t-shirt for all the nurses and navy blue for the cleaning and other hospital staff such as the people working in cafeterias.

Ayra had already collected her uniform three days before her residency started. She was wearing her uniform and still had her bag on her shoulders. She wanted to ask Dimitri where she could keep it but then decide it was for the best if she shuts her mouth.

He walked towards what seemed like a room and turned to her when he reached the entrance. “Keep your bag in one of the empty lockers. This is the locker room for all the surgeons. Make sure to bring a name tag with you tomorrow so you can put it over your bag, just in case someone has the same. You can find the lock inside the locker itself,” he said in monotone looking directly at her. 

She nodded hesitantly with a smile. She walked in as he stepped aside. She looked around the lockers and found one without any lock on it. She went to it and opened the metallic door. Sure enough, she found the lock inside it with instructions on how to set up a passcode. She read the instructions and quickly set up her passcode. She pulled out her white apron, stethoscope, and mobile phone and cooled the door, and locked it up.

She stepped out to see him waiting for her. As she stood next to him, he looked at her and just nodded. He started walking and she followed him.

“You have everything you want? Stethoscope and other things necessary? Because you won’t be able to come back till your shift ends,” he asked while walking.

“Y... Yes sir,” she stuttered. 

“Oh please darling call me Dr. Vittori,” he said in an amusing voice and she halted for a second and just blinked. She didn’t know what it was about him but there was something that sent shivers down her spine.

Nodding, she followed him to the main area where patients were admitted. As they walked into the reception area of the second floor, a woman quickly handed him a clipboard and a few files which Ayra, thought were of the patients.

“New resident Dr. Vittori?” The woman asked smiling.

“Yes Sheila, this is Dr. Rivera and Dr. Rivera, this is Sheila. She used to sort out all the files and details of patients but now that you are here, you will do it for me,” he said without giving Ayra even a chance to acknowledge the woman.

Ignoring him, she smiled at Sheila and Sheila returned her smile. 

“Thanks a lot, Sheila.” He said after going through a few files and collected all of them and practically threw all of them in Ayra’s hands. She was a bit surprised at first but masked it and caught all of them before she could drop any.

He began walking and looking at Sheila one last time, she walked behind him, running. Sheila on the other hand gave her an “all the best” look. 

He walked into a patient’s room and picked up the top file from the ones she was carrying. 

“How are you doing,” he asked, soothingly. Ayra was surprised to see him talking to a patient so soothingly but then it hit her, “always be emphatic” something her professors taught her. But seeing it here in action felt so different.

By lunch, she was exhausted by how many patients he had to attend and how much he made her run around. He was always cold and stoic to her but the way he spoke to his patients was so different. 

“Why can’t he speak to me normally?” She uttered under her breath.

She was so lost thinking about her new boss that she hadn’t realized that she was next in the queue to get food. 

“If you could walk ahead, it would be great,” someone said tapping on her shoulder. She looked at him for a second as his words sank in.

“Sorry,” she said as she looked ahead and back at him and walked in the front. Her food was served in the tray she was holding. Walking out of the queue, she looked around and she soon spotted Jordan and Rhea. Without thinking much she walked over to them and pulled a chair out and sat next to Jordan still pondering over Dimitri.

He was an extremely intimidating man and he didn’t hesitate to show her that. But what she found very confusing was the way his expressions changed. One second, he’d call her darling and look at her in an unexplainable way, and other times, he was all cold and unapproachable.

“What’s bothering you?” Rhea asked after noticing her. She hadn’t touched anything on her plate and was so lost.

“Umm... Nothing,” she said stalling a bit.

She had no mood to eat her lunch. After barely eating anything, she got up and took her tray, and placed it in one of the racks dedicated for it.

Pulling her id out from her pocket, she walked to the employee’s elevator and swiped her card. She got in still lost in her thoughts about Dimitri. 

Ayra was never the social butterfly but if she wanted to get something out of her residence if not anything, just an experience and recognition, she had to get through to Dimitri.

She was about to walk into his cabin when someone called out for her, “Dr. Riviera, it’s good that you are here, we have immediate surgery and Dr. Vittori is waiting for you in surgery room 4,” she said.

“Okay,” Ayra said and rushed to the surgery. She washed her hands, covered her dress, hair, and hands with gloves, and walked in. There were a few nurses, an anaesthesiologist, and Dimitri.

As she walked in and stood next to him, he began,“ So this is just a simple appendix. Let’s make the extraction quick and smooth,” he said and everyone, including Ayra, nodded.

Ayra was extremely excited but she didn’t let that show on her face. She maintained a professional look. It was her first surgery after all. Right from dissection to her first surgery was a big leap in her career. 

The nurse handed her a scalpel and she took it without any hesitation. She just wanted to jump up and down in joy.

As she was about to get started, Dimitri stopped her midway and took the scalpel from her. “You are just gonna do the suction,” he said and handed her the tube that helps in draining the blood.

She was a bit disheartened as she didn’t want her first surgery to go like this but she would take it. 

The surgery was over in a matter of minutes and they walked out and disposed of all of the things they had on. Ayra had made up her mind to confront Dimitri about his behavior towards her.

He walked into his office without sparing a single glance at her. 

As she finished her cleaning up, she took off her apron and made her way towards his office. She just knew where his office was but hadn’t really been there.

She opened the door without knocking, being the clumsy person she was. She froze for a second as she looked around the office. It was beautiful. A large marble table in between, a black couch a large leather chair for him, and two single couches in front of the table. Medical books were neatly arranged on the shelf and some accessories and weights were decorated on the table as well as the shelf. 

She walked closer to notice his name tag, Dr. Dimitri Vittori, written in bold italic. 

“You really have no manners, right?” She jumped and moved back instantly as a strong and authoritative voice boomed in the room.

She turned around to find Dimitri in a casual white dress shirt and black trousers. He had changed from his work clothes into formal. 

Ayra felt guilty about barging into his cabin without his permission. Anyone would be. 

“I... I,” she licked her lips as she looked down ashamed of her actions.

“Actually... I-I,” she was stuttering and didn’t know how to start, what to start with, and how to go about.

When she decided that she will talk to him, she made up her mind and she was going to talk to him but now that he was actually here, she lost all of her confidence. She felt vulnerable.

“What is it, doctor?” He asked as he walked to her. She took a step back as he stepped forward.

Her eyes widened when her legs hit the couch. He didn’t mind her uncomfortableness. He stood right in front of her and could hear her racing heartbeat. 

Shoving one of his hands in the trouser pocket, he leaned closer to her face and looked right into her black eyes, which were filled with uncertainty.

“What?” He said as he leaned his ear closer to her mouth and pretended like he didn’t hear what she said.

“I…” She found it difficult to speak anything at their closeness. His minty breath itched in her nostrils. She closed her eyes and opened them again inhaling deeply but the only thing she could smell was his manly cologne and his minty breath.

“I’m afraid I don’t hear anything doc,” he mocked her in his uncertain tone. She leaned back, placing both of her hands on the couch behind her. 

When she didn’t reply, he leaned in closer and his hair brushed her face. She smelt his beer shampoo and closed her eyes.

Him, being this close to her was affecting her in ways she never felt before. She didn’t know what it was. And she wasn’t like it one bit or was she?

He stepped away from her with a smirk on his face. He walked backward facing her and pulled the door of his cabin open. 

She didn’t need anybody to tell her what it meant. She looked at the door and at him one last time before heading out.

As she moved out,“ Wear proper shoes tomorrow and not heels or sandals,” he said, and before she could turn around and reply, he had already closed the door on her. 

With her wandering mind, she walked to the locker room. She paused and pondered upon what happened in his cabin. She heaved a sigh and unlocked her locker and pulled out her bag. She took her clothes from them and change into them. Putting her work clothes back, she zipped the bag up and decided to head home. 

She didn’t know how to feel about her first day. She was too confused to even describe it in the right words.