A Man with Nerves of Steel (Joseph Hart) novel Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Since the conversation was going nowhere, Joseph simply left without another word. On his way back, his mood was dark. However, Bernard’s words had forced him to see reality with absolute clarity.

“I’m just a nobody of a doctor!”

Joseph let out a self-deprecating laugh. Once he accepted his own mediocrity, he actually felt a lot lighter.

He hurried back to get some rest, but before 8:00 am, a phone call woke him up. It was the ICU head nurse telling him to get to work as soon as possible-Gregory Barlow, the department’s deputy director, had finally found an excuse to come after him.

“I’ve got no beef with him. He never gave me a hard time before, so why is he targeting me today?”

Joseph felt helpless. After washing up, he hurried to the ICU.

“Oh, Dr. Hart, you’re finally here. Dr. Barlow marked you as late. You’re on the morning shift now after he adjusted the schedule. Did you forget to check the shift changes last night?”

The head nurse, Paige Yates, knew Joseph had only gotten off work after midnight, so she understood he needed to catch up on sleep.

“Yeah, I got back too late and had some stuff to deal with. I just didn’t have the time.”

Joseph glanced at the attendance sheet and saw he had indeed been marked late. Since there was nothing he could do about it, he threw on his white coat and headed to the morning case discussion meeting.

Little did he expect to be called out the second he walked in. Gregory barked, “From now on, anyone who shows up late like Joseph can skip the morning meeting altogether!

“A doctor who can’t even be on time and has zero concept of time has no business working in the ICU. They can seek greener pastures elsewhere.”

As their eyes met, Joseph could tell that Gregory seemed displeased with him, which only confused him further. Gregory was already the deputy director of their department. Was there really a need to get ahead at his expense?

Joseph said, “I’m sorry for being late. I’m reflecting on it, and I’m ready to hear any criticism you have.”

“Then why don’t you tell us why you were late?”

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