“Oh, really? Are you on probation for falling asleep and not hearing a call?”

“Uh, no.”

“Do you have a recent traffic violation?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then get the hell out of my boat.” Cristina sighed and straightened, looking positively green now. “Okay, I’m getting up. Watch your shoes.”

“Stay.” Brooke didn’t quite dare put her hands on Cristina as Dustin had done, but she held them up. “I’ll clean out your rig for you.”

Cristina pulled the cold pack from her head and stared at Brooke. “Why? What do you want?”

Brooke let out a little laugh. “I’m offering to do something nice for you, even though you’re not all that nice to me, and you’re questioning it?”

“I’m less than ‘not all that nice’ to you, I’m downright bitchy. So the question stands, New Hire. Why would you do my job for me?”

Brooke shrugged. “Why not?”

Cristina just stared at her, the pain evident in her eyes but not hiding her cynicism. “The question isn’t why not, but why?”

“Maybe I like to help people.”

“We all do. Hence our jobs.”

“Maybe I just do it nicer than you.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Cristina’s lips at that, then she very carefully covered her eyes with the compress again and leaned back. “Everyone does everything nicer than me.”

“True,” Dustin agreed, coming back into the room. “You’re officially off duty, Cris.”

Cristina peeked out from the cold pack to shoot him a look.

“You’re sick. Take the break.”

Cristina sighed. “Go away. Both of you just go away and let me die in peace.”

Dustin lifted her off the counter.

“Hey!”

“If you won’t put yourself to bed, I’ll do it for you.”

“Oh, sure, wait until I’m debilitated before you finally make a move on me.”

He stared down at her, clearly shocked, his glasses slipping down his nose. “You want me to make a move on you?”

She didn’t answer.

“Cristina?”

“There’s a very real possibility I’m going to throw up on you. So if you could stop talking, that would help.”

“And if you could stop trying to tell me what to do when you’re as green as a leaf, that would help.”

She laughed very very softly. “Assertive, too. Who knew? Hey, New Hire?”

Already heading for the door to go clean Cristina’s rig, Brooke glanced over. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“A PARTY,” Brooke muttered to herself. She’d showered and was now standing in the center of the bedroom she’d made hers, the first bedroom in her life that she loved without reason.