Brant sighed and counted to ten. When he reached eight, the phone in his pocket stopped vibrating. He knew who was calling; his mother had been calling all day long. He stood in the elevator and stared at the numeric readout over the doors.

Before the elevator had traveled the distance of a single floor, the phone rang again. Brant groaned and pulled it out of his pocket. He checked the caller ID. Yup, it was still her.

And if he knew anything, she’d keep calling until he picked up.

Brant sighed. “Hello, Mother.” If his tone was a little less than welcoming, well, she’d just have to deal with it. She was the one invading his life, not the other way around.

“Brant, don’t ignore me; that’s very rude of you.”

“Sorry, but it’s been a very bad and busy day. When I’m with a patient I can’t take time out for personal calls.”

“Very noble. However, I happen to know you’re not with patients today. I know because I spoke to Bertram. He, at least, will talk to me.”

Bertram. It figured. “And what did Bertram have to say?” The car stopped on the third floor and Brant got off, phone held to his ear, and tried to figure out where the office might be. He’d been in this hospital for years and could have given organized tours of the operating rooms and patient wards, but the administrative offices were a part of the facility he almost never visited. He looked around for guidance, and saw a reception desk off to the left. He suspected if he asked nicely there, he wouldn’t likely be taken back to see Winters. Not without an appointment. And certainly not when his reason for needing to see him potentially involved bloodshed.

He ignored the desk and went through the nearest set of ornate double doors.

Someone at the desk protested. He waved his badge at them.

His mother had not stopped talking.

“…He said you’re now unemployed.” At least she got straight to the point, as always.

“I’m a surgeon, mother; as long as I have my license, I am never unemployed.”

“You still have your license?”

“Yes…hang on…” He flagged down a man with CUSTODIAN on his badge. “Where are the director’s offices?”

The man pointed down the hallway and said, “Second left and then it’s on the right. You can’t miss it— big fancy thing.”

“Thank you.” Brant returned his attention to the phone at his ear. “Still there?”

“Darling, if I wasn’t still on the line, your phone would be screaming. Again. Now, tell me why you threw away the best medical group in the country.”

Brant smiled. “Because my mother raised me to have good sense.”

“Brant…”

“Listen, I told you about the girl from Belize—”

“The doctor you’re sleeping with.”

“No! Well, yes, but that’s not who I’m talking about.” Brant walked to the second right and proceeded down the hallway, which seemed to have morphed into another patient area. He stopped, looking around at more nursing stations and private rooms. It looked exactly like the fifth floor, which looked exactly like the fourth. The door at the end of the hallway read OBSTETRICS. He came to a full stop, as though he’d forgotten how to open doors.

“I mean the girl, the one who needs surgery,” Brant supplied helpfully, when it seemed his mother wasn’t keeping up.

“Your pet project. Very altruistic, I’m sure. Even if this is nothing more than a side benefit of getting into her doctor’s pants, I’m still proud of you for helping someone in need.”

“It’s not like that, Mother.” Brant retraced his steps and took the first hallway. “When has it ever been like that? Have I slept around?”

“She’s not in need?”

“Of course, she’s…I mean the doctor, her doctor.”

“The one you’re shagging.”

“No!”

“You haven’t had sex with her? I thought you’d said she was living with you.”

“Well, yes, I mean, yes we have, do, are…and she’s staying with me, not living with me.”

“Oh, Brant, what’ve you done? You can’t even speak clearly. Thank goodness, she’s just staying with you. However—”

The door at the end of this hallway said CARDIOLOGY. Brant discovered it was nearly impossible to throw his arms in the air while holding a phone against his ear. “Look, that jackass Mangal doesn’t want anything to do with her.”

“Well, she’s not dating him, too.”

“He doesn’t want me to work on the burn victim!” Brant enunciated every word. He didn’t realize his voice was carrying until he received a sideways look from the nurses’ station. He found himself in the main hallway, trying to figure out which way he was supposed to be heading. At this point the receptionist was ignoring him, more intent on whatever she was doing with her phone than in helping anyone.

“Perhaps he’s concerned about a scandal, dear.”

“Scandal?” Trust Mother to take the side of the suits. “What could be so scandalous about helping a little girl?”

“Not the girl, dear, her doctor…oh, Brant, keep up! Have I not taught you anything growing up?”

He groaned inwardly. Clearly not. “Well, what about her?”

“The girl or the doctor?”

“Ah…” Brant covered the receiver and quietly mouthed a few select curse words. “Excuse me.” He flagged down another orderly. “Where is the director’s office?” The man pointed. “Thank you.” Brant returned the phone to his ear. “He told me second right,” he mumbled.

“No, dear, he said left. I heard him. Now, about this scandal—”

Brant came to a stop and nearly collided with a student nurse. “Okay, I’m stopped. You have my complete attention. What scandal?”

“Sweetie, when you told me that this young doctor was staying with you, I didn’t say anything; you’re an adult, after all.”

“You said you were impressed.”

“And I am, dear. She’s a very impressive young woman. Running a clinic in a jungle can’t be easy, and so I assume she isn’t either.”

“Isn’t what?”

“Easy.”

“Mother!”

“Oh, don’t be a prude. I understand that you’re a good-looking young man, with prospects and urges and all that. If you need to sow a few wild oats, as your father used to say…”

“I hate that expression,” Brant muttered, feeling his blood pressure beginning to rise again.

“Good, so do I. That’s fine, but you’re in the public eye even more so now with this faceless jungle girl crap I’m seeing all over the internet. You can’t drag your sordid sex life into the public spotlight.”

“There is nothing sordid about any of this!”

“Brant.” His mother sighed and took a deep breath. “You know better. You know why you can’t be seen having a lover. Even if it’s innocent, which you’ve admitted it’s not, there are lives other than yours in the balance. All I’m saying is that you need to use some discretion!”

First Alice, now this. Brant stared at the phone.

He was so not ready for this conversation.

Besides, if he was right, he’d just spotted his man.

“Gotta go, Mom. Call you later.” Brant closed the connection on her protests and chased after the back of a man in a suit, carrying a briefcase and looking his clothing had just been cleaned and pressed while he was wearing it. The hospital director. In the flesh.

His phone began buzzing in his pocket. Brant found it easier to ignore this time.