Max was quiet for half a second. Then he said, “Subtle.”
I ignored him.
Catherine closed the laptop halfway and looked at me. “I could’ve handled him.”
“I know.” But I was being a jealous ass, which made no sense.
“Do you?” I hated that question. Mostly because I deserved it.
I lowered my voice. “Yeah. I know.”
Her expression softened a fraction, which somehow made me feel worse.
“I’m not here as my dad’s daughter,” she reminded me.
I pissed her off, and Max was grinning from ear to ear.
“Sorry, truly, I am,” I said. I felt terrible. I had to get my shit together.
Max suddenly became very interested in my reaction.
Catherine blinked, like she hadn’t expected me to agree so fast. Her eyes held mine for a second.
“Okay,” she said softly.
That should’ve been the end of it. It wasn’t. Because I could see why it mattered. She was standing there in scrubs, laptop open, doing the work, trying to earn respect in a room that would already question whether her last name got her through the door. And I had basically announced her father’s job title because some rookie smiled at her too long and I forgot how to act like a normal person.
Dr. Patel called Catherine over. “Catherine, can you pull up Leo’s previous injury history from the intake file?”
“Of course,” she said.
She looked at me once more before she rolled the laptop cart toward Dr. Patel and Leo.
Max waited until she was out of earshot. “Well.”
“Don’t.”
“That went well. Way to piss her off.”
“I know.”
Max’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t push. For once.
We stood off to the side while Leo sat on the exam table and answered questions. Catherine stayed beside the laptop, typing notes when Dr. Patel asked her to, pulling up information, and keeping her eyes on the screen unless she was spoken to. She wasn’t trying to take over. She wasn’t trying to show off. She waslearning and doing her job. And I couldn’t stop watching her. At one point, Leo said something that made her smile. Not a big smile. Just a small one, quick and warm. It bothered me. Which made me an asshole.
Max leaned his shoulder against the wall beside me. “She’s good at this.”
“Yeah,” I said before I could think better of it. “She is.”
Max looked at me then. “She wants people to take her seriously.”
“I know.”
“Then help her with that,” he said. He was more like her big brother than a cousin so I understood why he was so protective of her.
I nodded, my jaw tight. “I will.”
Across the room, Catherine glanced up like she felt us talking about her. Her eyes met mine for half a second before she looked back at the laptop. Half a second was enough. I felt it everywhere. Leo finished with Dr. Patel a few minutes later and hopped down from the table. Catherine handed him a printed sheet.