Chapter - 22 - Change of heart

"From now on, you are one of us and never let anyone put you down. If your family spews some nonsense next time, don't even bother to hear it. Understood?" asked Dr.G in a serious tone to Alice. Alice was so happy to hear her words and bobbed her head with a smile.

"Okay, let's focus on our meeting now." Gianna clapped her hands loudly to make them focus on the meeting. "As I said before, the details about the project are clearly given in the file. Go through it properly and submit the necessary details that I have mentioned, before three in the afternoon. No excuses will be accepted. If you fail to submit, you are out of the team. Understood?" asked Dr.G looking at the team with a serious look.

They nodded their heads and cleared a few doubts they had about the project. Alice looked at the clock and gasped loudly. "It's already 9:10 Dr.G. We are late for the rounds!!" Gianna smiled at her and said, "It's okay, I have informed the nurses that we will be late for the rounds." Alice let out a relieved sigh and sat on her chair.

After discussing for some more time about the project, Dr.G said, "Okay if there is nothing else, let's wind up here and start with the rounds." Ralph stood up at once and spurted out, "You didn't tell us about the coffee with Dr.Jason." Gianna looked at him helplessly and said, "Dr.Jason asked me to have a coffee with him so he could congratulate me for getting the approval for the project." They all nodded hearing her reply but Stanley asked in a low tone, "but why did you laugh happily with him?"

"I laughed while chatting with him?!" asked back Dr.G to Stanley and all said yes in unison. Dr.G couldn't remember why she laughed and after a few seconds of thinking she remembered what really happened. "Oh that!! I wanted to tell you all about the project immediately after I met with Dr.Henry but was interrupted by that ICU drama and completely forgot about the project. It was Dr.Jason who reminded me about the project and we laughed together thinking how such a big project could slip off my mind." They were satisfied with Dr.G's reply and happily started to clean the table before going for the rounds.

Dr.G left first for her office informing she will be at the staff station in another 15 minutes. They started preparing for the rounds when Ralph found his phone was missing. It took him a few minutes to find the phone which was on the shelf above the water dispenser. He placed his phone there when he went to bring water for Alice. He switched on his phone to find 10 missed calls from Dr.Zane. He immediately dialed back to ask why he called him so many times.

"Where were you Ralph? You have no idea how crazy it is to be in the ER. From the moment I stepped in to this moment all I hear is 'Dr.G is dating Dr.Jason'. Did you find anything about the rumor?" Ralph was shocked to hear Dr.Zane's frustrated voice over the phone and replied calmly, "Dr.G is not dating anyone, Dr.Zane." Zane was confused whether he was hearing things. "What do you mean? Say it clearly!" shouted Zane over the phone. Ralph cleared his throat and told all the details of what happened yesterday night and today morning.

There was a silence over the phone for a moment and Zane started laughing like a maniac. Ralph knew it might seem like Dr.Zane is crazy but it was actually a laughter of relief. This was the same way they felt when Dr.G cleared their doubts. "Good that Dr.G took initiative to ask you all about it, otherwise God knows when this rumor would have come to an end. Now let's start spreading this news so that the baseless rumor would disappear." They all agreed to what Dr.Zane said so that no one would talk any more nonsense about Dr.G.

Meanwhile, on the way back from the rounds, Dr.Jason heard the nurses talk about him dating Dr.G and was surprised and happy at the same time. Jason thought, 'I wish my love Gianna would hear about this rumor and have a change of heart and show some interest towards me.' He didn't know how the rumor started but didn't reprimand the nurses because he wanted them to talk more about it and the whole hospital to know about it. He happily left for the ICU ward with his team and wondered when Gianna would come to meet him to talk about this matter.

In the recovery ward, Dr.G and the team talked with Jamie and Mr.Alfred who was admitted last week because of the traffic collision and was happy that they were recovering well. They stopped next in front of the private ward where Mr.Peter was moved to. Victor opened the door to the ward and went in along with Dr.G. To their surprise, Mr.Ellerbrock was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper in the room. They never expected a boss would sit with his sick subordinate.

Mr.Ellerbrock stood up slowly and greeted everyone with a faint smile. They respectfully nodded at him and continued with their examination on Mr.Peter. Stanley and Alice now understood why Ralph and Victor were so frantic after meeting with Mr.Ellerbrock. Mr.Ellerbrock gave a killer vibe even though he is aged like a fine wine. Gianna looked at the charts and was satisfied with the improvement shown by Mr.Peter.

As she turned to leave, Mr.Ellerbrock stopped her gently and asked about his grandson's condition. "He is under sedation which will wear off any time now. For now there are no complications but can confirm only after he is fully conscious." said Dr.G and left the room without another word. Gianna couldn't forget how he offered his money for her treatment and the way he behaved towards Victor and Ralph whenever she looked at him. Mr.Ellerbrock looked at her departing image and knew she was still upset with him.