medicine {h.s.}

CHAPTER TWENTY

april.

"Bitch boy," Ruth calls, swirling her straw around the cup of water in front of her. Monty—still unaware—gave her the side-eye for another night of water. TJ—aware—says nothing, but smiles slightly with his arm around the back of the booth. A small gesture—not possessive in the slightest—but entirely encompasses the approval that I have the feeling she is looking for from him.

"I prefer Abaddon, actually, coming from you." Harry admits as he drops down on my side of the booth. Monty and I are forced to slide in closer together due to his late arrival. We had all made plans to connect at the Fat Monk tonight. It's been a while since we all cleared the time in our schedule to get together in a place outside of my house and the hospital. Though one could argue that the Fat Monk is technically just an extension of the hospital, it feels different enough that we are happy to do it. Harry's first day of his cardio rotation got him off a bit later than the rest of us who were working peds. None of them know the true reason behind his change. Everyone thinks that Will had just requested him for a longer training period. Fortunately for Harry, Britt had nothing else to say about the matter. Harry was smart enough not to show his face around her today and she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. I'm not afraid to open mine on the behalf of Harry.

Monty's fingers drum on the table as he watches their exchange with a neutral eye. "Alright then, Abaddon," Ruth amends, holding her hands up innocently, "how was the extended cardio rotation? Good enough to keep you away from your actual speciality?"

All eyes turn to Harry. He winces, the salt still fresh in the wound of his career kissed goodbye. The words leaving his mouth are slow and prolonged, but deliberately careful. "Actually, I've been thinking of switching my speciality. I was just lucky that Gracie was able to get me in with Dr. Morrison and that he let me spend more time on his service." He is fumbling with his hands as he waits for their questions. On his part, I think it's smart. None of them knew why he was so passionate about peds in the first place. Changing his mind is something totally natural. Especially coming off of a cardio rotation, it seems entirely normal for him to want to spend more time before he makes his final choice as to what type of residency he will pursue.

The reaction is immediate. "Gracie?" TJ asks, his brows pulled low as he tries to figure out the hidden meaning of the words. Nothing has gone over his head on the matter. "How the hell did she help? What kind of pull do you have with the Chief of Cardio surgery?" By the end of his questioning, the inquiries are directed to me specifically. I knew this would happen. In order to preserve Harry I agreed to put myself on the line. I don't necessarily intend for this to be any old fling between Will and I, so the rest of them would have found out about our relationship sooner or later. For the sake of keeping the truth about Harry's relationship with Britt a secret, I agreed that I would tell tell them sooner.

"We're actually dating," I admit. The words sound foreign coming out of my mouth. While Will and I are yet to have any sort of chat about the status of our relationship, I would go out on a limb to say that the both of us are dating. In terms of labeling—that is still ambiguous.

"What?" Ruth shoots up in her seat, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Wait—" Monty interrupts, speaking loudly enough to be heard over the inquisition in Ruth's tone. I turn to him, figuring that his question will be less accusatory than Ruth's will be. I've not yet forgotten about how she reacted when she found out that Fitzy had requested me specifically to work with him for our time in the plastics unit. "You two," he says pointing between Harry and I, "aren't together?"

I whip around to face Harry, my face already flushing a bright red. Ruth and TJ are snickering opposite him, remembering when they had asked the same question not that long ago. In this present moment, I suppose I could see where he could get that conclusion from. Harry and I are comfortable with each other. Right now: I'm practically sitting on his lap because this booth is too small for the five of us and his arm is around my shoulder. We spend a lot of time together, just the two of us. I suppose I understand where this line of thought comes from, but knowing our relationship the way that I do, I just think it is comical that someone would ask. Will himself even hinted at the question only yesterday—even when he knows that I've only been seeing him.