Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
I know she will eventually, and I’ll probably riot or whatever equivalent. Maybe I can bribe her to stay longer. I know we are still several years away from that happening, but she’s so good that I’m already dreading the day.
I spend the last few hours of the day replying to what feels like a million emails. Finally, at five o’clock, I’m ready to call it. There are long hard days being the CEO of Charleston Memorial Hospital, a position I was lucky to grab right out of college. I’d done some interning with the previous CEO and somehow, he managed to convince the board, my young blood was exactly what they needed as his replacement. The job isn’t a straight nine-to-five, but today, I’m done. I want to go home, strip out of this suit, grab a shower, some food, and maybe a cold beer, and catch up with Linc before crashing into my California king.
I’m sitting on the couch with my feet propped up. I just finished dinner, just a couple of burgers on the grill, and now I’m relaxing with a cold beer. The front door opens, and I turn to look over my shoulder to see Lincoln stepping inside with a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder.
“Hey, man,” he says hesitantly.
“I’m not really feeling up to throwing hands tonight,” I tell him with a chuckle. His shoulders relax.
“I wouldn’t fight back if you were,” he says. He drops his duffel bag to the floor and plops down in the recliner. “It was the right thing to do, but I still feel like shit.”
I ignore his comment. “There are a couple of burgers on the counter if you’re hungry.”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
“You just getting off work?” I ask. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I see it’s after seven.
He shrugs. “This is an early night for me.”
I finish off my beer and stand. “The spare bedroom is yours. I’m going to shower and call it a night.”
“It’s not even eight.” I hear the surprise in his voice.
“I need my beauty sleep. I don’t stay this handsome naturally.” I laugh.
“Fuck off.” He chuckles. “Thanks, man, for letting me stay here.”
I nod. “You’re my best friend. I might not agree with the way you handled the situation, but that doesn’t mean I hate you. Pissed off, yeah, but that’s diminishing slowly. Just do better.” I feel like my father lecturing him. “You know where everything is,” I say.
He holds his fist out for me, and I knock my knuckles against his before taking my now-empty bottle of beer to the recycling bin and heading upstairs to shower. By the time I reach my bedroom door, my shirt is off, and I toss it on the chair in the corner, along with the others from this week. My suit jacket is still downstairs. I make a mental note to grab it all Friday morning and drop them off at the dry cleaners before my meeting with the pediatric practice we’re buying.
We just renovated our maternity ward, and adding pediatrics to our list of available services is a good move. For all the babies we deliver, we can refer to our own pediatricians, and they’ll do rounds on all newborns. I went back and forth with the board, trying to decide if we should build an office and hire new physicians or buy an existing local practice. I guess word got around because three weeks ago, Dr. Phillips called and said that he and his partners were interested in selling.
I jumped at the opportunity, and the board agreed. The contract is ready, and the last step is for me to tour the facility and meet the physicians and staff. This deal has been in the works for months. I’ve already looked at the numbers, and the practice is profitable. Our CFO has signed off on the numbers as well. I’m just triple-checking at this point. I’m a young CEO and I don’t want to make a huge mistake that will hinder the hospital in any way. The physicians are all equal partners, and they’re tired of the business side of things. They just want to see their patients and be done. It’s the perfect scenario for all of us. It also helps that they’re located just a few blocks from the hospital.
Quickly discarding the rest of my clothes and tossing the dry-cleaning items on the chair, I throw the rest in the hamper in the corner. My bathroom is one of the reasons I bought this house. The shower is huge. Walk-in, with a long bench in the corner. There isn’t a shower door and no curtain to deal with. When I turn the water on, the rain shower head starts, as well as the jets. They’re extra, and I didn’t think I’d ever use them, but damn, they’re nice after a long-ass day sitting at my desk looking over contracts. They, combined with the scorching-hot water, help soothe my sore muscles.