Road to Recovery (5 page)

Switching her coffee to her left hand,
she walked a few steps toward him, extending her right hand. “Good
morning, I’m Brooke Malone.” She fought not to gasp at the touch of
his hand in hers. The heat of it. She didn’t think it had anything
to do with the coffee she had been holding either.

“
Lucas Mathews,” he replied,
gesturing toward the table. “Have a seat, let me grab myself a
coffee.”

“
I can have some food sent
up. I wasn’t sure how long we would be,” she said as she settled
into her seat to patiently wait across from where he had set down
his keys.

“
I’m good, thanks. We won’t
be too long. I only want to touch base, get an idea of where you
are and what you are working on, what we are looking for. That type
of thing.”

***

Lucas appreciated how she calmly waited
for him to finish preparing his coffee. No nerves there, all calm,
cool and relaxed.

He knew enough women in his life to
know when someone felt the same spark he did. And he knew she did.
Wasn’t that fascinating and encouraging? She might be able to hide
it better than him, but it was there just the same.

He hadn’t mistaken her jolt of
recognition when she saw him or the slight intake of her breath
when her palm held his. But she was quick to recover and put
herself back in professional mode. Though to be honest, he wasn’t
sure she had another mode yet. He was willing to put in the effort
to find out.

“
So,” he started, as he took
a seat across from her, “a little background on your position and
our need for it. I’m sure you’ve figured out I’m the Head of the
Legal Department.” He continued at her nod. “My staff, which
consists of two other attorneys, a few clerks and secretaries,
handles everything from malpractice lawsuits, all the way down to
staff grievances. Grievances that make it past the Human Resource
Manager, that is. We obviously have a chain of command and most of
the issues regarding grievances get resolved before they end up in
my department. But when they do make it to us, we have a committee
that reviews all the facts and conducts interviews. That will be
one of your responsibilities, a liaison of sorts between Legal and
HR.”

He paused, took a sip of his coffee and
waited to see if she would speak, but she sat there and patiently
waited for him. “The laws are constantly changing, and we’ve
realized a lot of our policies for staff, such as Corporate
Compliance, HIPAA, not to mention Safety Regulations, need to be
updated rather quickly. It’s a full time job to stay on top of the
changes and assure those laws and regulations are being followed.
Not only for the patients but for our employees as well. Which
brings us to the second part of this job and where your expertise
will come into play.”

He watched the slight questioning rise
of her eyebrow, but she still remained silent. “You have a lot of
experience dealing with OSHA and safety regulations, not to mention
working around and with the unions from your previous job. I’m sure
I don’t need to tell you that most people don’t like to be the
middle man dealing with unions and their members?”

She waited for his pause and then took
that opportunity to smile. “No, you’re right.”

Realizing she wasn’t going to say any
more than that, he decided to change the conversation a bit, hoping
she would be more forthcoming. “You’ve been here a few weeks now?”
he asked.

“
Yes.”

Hmm, direct question, direct answer.
Another approach, he thought. “How are you settling in? Finding it
different than your previous job?”

She placed her hands in front of her on
the desk. “I’m getting there. Settled, that is. In some ways I’ve
found this job extremely different than my last, and in other ways
the same. The work itself is pretty much the same, or will be, only
a different environment.”

She paused, smiled briefly. “There are
more employees for one, not to mention the facility itself. That is
definitely bigger than I’m used to. But I’m easily adaptable. When
it comes down to it, even though it’s a hospital, it’s still a
business like anything else. There are definitely some pros to
working for a big company.”

He tilted his head a bit, grinned.
“Like the gym?” When he saw her eyebrows rise, he explained. “I’ve
seen you there a time or two, but have to say it took me a bit to
put it together. You look different there than you do right
now.”

Brooke blushed. “So I’ve been told,”
she muttered.

Not wanting to push it, sensing her
change, he asked, “How about filling me in on what you’ve found so
far? Any questions or concerns or how you see your position as it
relates to my department?”

She skimmed the tablet that she had set
up in front of her. “Actually I’ve been looking over and organizing
all the policies you mentioned. Plus others, of course, putting
them in a time line. I’ve arranged many of the ones you’ve listed
at the top. I realize that the legal portion of the policies will
be worded and approved by your office once I’ve completed them.
Then will I distribute them to each department?” she
asked.

At his nod, she continued. “I’ve
actually compiled a list of projects I hope to tackle, time lines,
goals and such for each. Not to mention questions pertaining to
each before I even start. I wouldn’t want to step on toes, or take
on something another department may handle. I realize I don’t
report to you, but a lot of what I’m doing, or plan on doing has to
pass through Legal before it is all finalized. At least that is my
assumption?” She paused.

He confirmed, “Yes, we will work
closely together on any policy you write. I have to sign off on
anything prior to distribution, or at least my department does. Job
security for us,” he added jokingly. She didn’t smile, so he
cleared his throat. “In all seriousness, hospitals are a breeding
ground for lawsuits. Not only from patients, but from employees
too, which is why we need to focus on Work Conduct among staff and
patients alike. Both polices and trainings. Needless to say, though
you don’t report to my department, you will work more closely with
us. Sometimes more than the Human Resources Department.”

Several topic changes later, Lucas
noticed the time. “I’m sorry to cut this short, the time got away
from us. If you don’t mind, can you email your list of projects,
along with the questions you have? I will try to get back to you in
a few days. Then we can schedule another time to meet, and go from
there.”

“
That sounds good,” Brooke
said as she stood up and walked around the table where Lucas was
already waiting at the door.

He gestured with his hand chivalrously.
“After you.”

He was right. She had on some killer
black heels.

***

“
Ahhh, Friday!” Cori climbed
onto the elliptical bike next to Brooke. “So did you set up an
appointment with Dr. Chen yet?”

After reading Brooke’s list of
requirements, Cori had suggested Dr. Chen. She was a fairly young
doctor, in her mid-forties, and focused primarily on sports
injuries. Not everyone liked her, because she was known to push her
patients and not take excuses or laziness kindly. But those who
were up for the challenge and focused on recovery couldn’t say
enough good things about her. Cori was right—that was exactly what
Brooke was looking for.

“
Actually, I did. She was
pretty booked but managed to get me in in two weeks. And it also
saves me the lecture from my mother when she calls tonight. So
thanks, for two things,” Brooke said cheekily.

“
Happy to be of assistance
to you. So what exciting plans do you have this weekend? Work, a
book and cleaning?” Cori asked with a silly, knowing
grin.

Brooke decided to play with her. Mainly
because Cori had been on the money with her statement of Brooke’s
weekend plans. “Actually, I was planning on organizing my
dongles,’’ she replied seriously, hoping that Cori wouldn’t know
what she was talking about.

“
What?” Cori’s green eyes
popped out wildly on her face.

Oh this is going to be
fun
, Brooke thought. “You know, dongles.
It’s important to keep them organized.” She leaned in, and
whispered, “You don’t know how frustrating it is when you need the
right one and can’t get your hand on it.” Brooke had never seen
someone’s jaw actually drop before. “Don’t you agree?” She pressed
on.

“
Ah, yeah. But, well, I try
to get mine out before I get to that point of frustration,” Cori
stammered, then recovered and smiled brightly.

“
See, you’re practical. More
practical than I am when it comes to that. You might even say that
it’s
logical
to do
it that way.”

“
OK, hmm. Whatever works,
right?” Cori said with another wide smile.

Brooke couldn’t hold back her laughter
any longer. She put her hand over her mouth to muffle it, not
wanting to draw attention to them.

“
What’s so funny?” Cori
asked.

That only caused Brooke to laugh even
harder. “Well, I guess I could be considered somewhat practical
too, as I always carry at least one with me at all times. Want to
see it?” she asked with twinkling eyes.

“
What? You’re joking. You
have a dongle with you right now? Here? Where?” Cori asked in an
excited whisper, then eyed Brooke’s bag on the floor.

Brooke slowed down to step off the
elliptical, then leaned over to pull her purse out of her gym bag.
She was reaching her hand in when Cori hissed. “Seriously, you’re
going to pull it out right here? Are you crazy?”

Cori’s eyes whipped around the gym and
then fell on Brooke’s fisted hand that she slowly opened up to
reveal the small USB key. Then Brooke calmly placed it back in her
purse and climbed back on the elliptical. She turned and grinned at
Cori, who was now speechless and unmoving on her bike.

Recovering quickly though, she accused
Brooke. “Not funny! You knew what I thought, didn’t
you?”

“
Well, I wasn’t sure at
first, then just decided to go with it. Admit it, it was pretty
funny.”

“
Yeah, I guess. I should
have known you wouldn’t have a mini vibrator in your purse. Least
of all pull it out and show me in public,” Cori
admitted.

Brooke tried not to choke on that blunt
statement, enjoying herself too much to stop now. She tried to be
as blunt back. “Of course not. I keep mine in the bedside drawer,
like most people.”

Now Cori laughed, loudly. Louder than
Brooke had wanted, drawing some attention to them after all. “Glad
to know you have a sense of humor under that calm and cool
demeanor.” Cori leaned in close, lowered her voice. “So how many do
you have in that drawer of yours? Variety or just one
run-of-the-mill?”

No matter how hard she tried, Brooke
couldn’t help but feel the heat rise up her neck to her face.
Thankfully anyone looking at them would think it was exertion from
her workout. She should have known better than to try to joke about
something like that with Cori, who always seemed to get the upper
hand. Clearing her throat, Brooke tried for her calmest voice and
looked straight ahead. “Some things are private.”

“
Oh, I don’t know, I think
you have a bit of a bad girl in you under all that prim and proper.
I’ll get it out of you. You just wait,” Cori said, taking her hands
off the bike and rubbing them together in glee. “I’m always up for
a challenge. This is going to be fun!”

Before Brooke could reply, she heard a
familiar voice behind her. “A little bad never hurt
anyone.”

Mortified, Brooke swung around and
stared right into a set of piercing pale blue eyes. And felt a jolt
of heat and embarrassment, and however much she wanted to deny it,
a little bit of excitement. Choosing to ignore the comment, praying
that Lucas didn’t hear any more of their previous conversation, she
composed herself despite her bright red cheeks. “Hello,
Lucas.”

He nodded in return and responded,
sounding just as proper. Even though she had a feeling he was
secretly laughing at her. “Hello, Brooke.”

She paused and then glanced to her
side. Ever the professional, she introduced Cori. “Lucas, this is
Cori. Cori, Lucas Mathews.”

***

Cori watched the interaction between
Brooke and Lucas. She’d only known Brooke for a week but was
positive she never had her feathers ruffled. And right now Brooke
was doing her best to not look ruffled in the presence of Lucas.
Interesting. And entertaining. Maybe she could push some buttons
here, get back for the dongle comments.

“
Nice to meet you, in
person.” Cori continued after the arch of his brow. “Well, we’ve
all heard about you. Only
good
things though, I assure you.”

“
I guess that is good to
know. But then again, I do try my best to keep the
bad
to a minimum at work.
Appearances and all,” he replied, never taking his eyes off of
Brooke’s face.

Cori watched Lucas watching Brooke’s
reaction. Maybe Brooke wasn’t so indifferent after all. Maybe she
was right, and there was a bad girl in there, or at the very least,
a fun one. Cori loved to have fun.