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The kind that made people straighten up just by instinct.
The woman spotted him and lit up like she’d just found backup.
She turned to me with a smirk, like she had just won a game I didn’t know we were playing.
The moment Dr. Richard stepped between me and that couple, I felt like I was holding my breath underwater.
He wasn’t the kind of man who raised his voice or put on a show.
He carried a quiet authority, the kind that didn’t need volume to be heard. Tall and always dressed in pressed scrubs with polished shoes, he moved like someone who bore the weight of the hospital on his shoulders. Everyone respected him, from the doctors and nurses to the janitorial staff.
He stood right in front of us, calm but serious.
His face gave nothing away. For a split second, I thought the worst.
My stomach twisted. I was sure I was in trouble.
Maybe I had broken some rule without realizing. Maybe he thought I had disrespected the patients. The woman looked downright victorious, standing next to her husband like she had just scored a point in a game I didn’t even know we were playing.
“We’ve been waiting for 20 minutes! It’s outrageous. I don’t know how people like her get hired here.”
I opened my mouth, ready to explain that it was just a short break, that I hadn’t even been on the same floor where they were waiting.
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