Page 24 of The Doctors Will See You Now

What the fuck is a Load-y?

Marlene slammed her fingers on the keyboard and cursed about technology under her breath, making me jump. I wondered how many weeks of working here it would take to get me used to her lack of finesse.

“Yeah,” Melissa said and popped the pink gum inside of her mouth. “That’s your new office nickname. Isn’t it great?”

Load-y? My nickname? Like someone just shot their freaking load on my face? Was she shitting me?

“Uh…not really,” I responded. “How about I just go by Mel?”

“Because I’m the Mel in this office.”

Of course.

“But everyone calls you Melissa.”

“Yeah, but sometimes I go by Mel.”

Sometimes? More like never. Two weeks into the job and I’d yet to hear anyone call her Mel.

“Okay… Then, I’ll just go by Melody,” I decreed and hopped up from my seat before she had a chance to argue. “And we can put the new patient in exam room six.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and handed me the patient’s chart before sashaying on her heels into the hallway. I followed her lead and noted that Melissa was walking straight toward an unsuspecting Will. He sat at a desk in one of the small alcoves in the main hallway and appeared busy reading through a patient’s medical file.

Instead of watching what would most likely be an entertaining exchange, I shuffled into exam room six to get the room set up. Melissa had turned into Nancy Drew, sleuthing on a daily basis in an effort to figure out which staff members Will had possibly slept with.

Not her, I’d deduced. Not her.

Which, I had to admit, made Will all the more impressive. She made it pretty obvious he’d had opportunity.

Not that I didn’t understand her a little. I wanted to be near Will too—but I’d also been fighting that feeling. The last thing I needed was another guy who wasn’t looking for something serious.

I didn’t know much about him. Maybe he wasn’t a player. But I knew all too well that women from all over Manhattan were willing to help him give it his best go.

“Dr. Cummings, your ten o’clock is here,” Melissa’s far too loud voice echoed down the hall and into my ears while I busied myself with pulling fresh white paper onto the exam table.

“Okay,” he said at what I guessed was a normal volume.

“Load-y should be bringing her back to exam room six now.”

Jesus Christ. This bitch.

“Load-y?” he asked, confused. Justifiably motherfucking confused. No one on the planet should have a nickname based on a come shot.

Melissa sighed. “The nurse.”

Silence descended between them until she elaborated. “Your new nurse.”

“Are you talking about Melody?”

“Yeah. Load-y. That’s what she likes to go by.”

“She likes to go by Load-y?” I could literally hear the disbelief combined with amusement coloring his voice. If his tone had an actual color, I’d say it was aubergine—because what the fuck kind of color is that anyway?

“Yep. She loves it.”

Yeah, it was safe to say that Melissa was probably going to be my least favorite coworker in the office. She spent most of her time browsing BuzzFeed and watching YouTube makeup tutorials behind the reception desk. That, on its own, I could support. I was just as down to see what my McDonald’s order said about my sex life as anyone else.

But she also had a penchant for attitude, laziness, and obviously, horrible nicknames. Load-y. Holy water in a wineglass, that was by far the worst name anyone had ever come up with. It made me sound like a washed-up old porn star who had taken one too many money shots, and I had a feeling that was her exact intent.