Lauren looked up to find Kiara looking at her expectantly. Kiara wore her usual dark blue scrubs, which made the white name badge stating she was the Nurse Team Lead even more distinct.

Lauren blinked. “It went great.” She dropped into her usual chair and leaned back with a sigh. “Dr. Hawthorne stopped me afterward and told me how well he thought I did.”

Kiara swiveled in her chair, her braided black hair swinging with the movement. “I knew you’d rock it.”

Lauren smiled at the young woman who had become a close friend. “Emma here yet?”

As if on cue, the physician assistant waltzed through the door. “I am now.”

Lauren directed her attention to the barely five-foot tall beauty, who sat down beside her with a grace Lauren herself would never possess. “Well, let’s see what you went with. Coat off.”

Emma raised an eyebrow and shrugged out of her white coat, her silky black hair sliding across her shoulders. “I don’t know why it matters, I’ll be wearing my coat when I go into patient rooms,” she grumbled.

Lauren was pleased to find Emma had chosen a modest blouse that covered her newly enhanced chest. For the most part. “See? That’s lovely and perfectly appropriate for work.”

“What’s happening here?” Kiara asked.

“Lauren’s a prude,” Emma said.

Kiara’s expression went flat. “What else is new?”

“Excuse me,” Lauren protested. “You can put those things on display all you want, on your own time. But at work? Gotta keep it professional. You don’t want Mr. Jones to have a stroke when you examine him today, do you? I’m only thinking of your patients.”

“I know. You’re right. I just got excited. Today’s the first day I didn’t have to wear that restrictive support bra. It’s been weeks since I had my surgery, and I haven’t been able to enjoy them.”

“They look great. You definitely made the breast choice,” Lauren said, careful to keep a straight face.

Kiara burst into laughter, and Emma dropped her forehead to the desk with a groan.

Lauren cracked a tiny grin. “Come on, I’ve been dying to bust out the boob jokes.”

Emma’s shoulders shook. “Holy shit. Stop it.”

“Eh? Bust? That was a good one, wasn’t tit?”

The three of them dissolved into giggles.

“Why don’t we go to happy hour after work?” Kiara suggested after she’d caught her breath. “We’ll celebrate Emma’s boobs and Lauren killing her presentation today, bringing her one step closer to being our permanent clinical pharmacist.”

“I’m in,” Emma said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

“Me too,” Lauren said.

“Excellent.” Kiara turned back to her computer and straightened her back—her cue that social time was over. “Okay, time to work. Lauren, Dr. Patel’s already in the room with a new lymphoma patient. You’re still on that rotation, right?”