The air outside of Hannah Cassidy's room was suddenly tense, and James wasn't aware of what he was interrupting. As far as he knew, scheduling doctor Morris for surgery and reporting back was part of the process, so the blonde man didn't really understand why Jack Cassidy was looking at him so intently, as if he wasn't welcome there. For years, James had dealt with his type, as many of his father's business partners had been Jack Cassidy's one sense or another, but he never had grown quite used to being looked down on. Regardless, the time spent in the presence of this man would (hopefully) be considered minimal. 

“It's nice to meet you, sir,” James said, shaking Jack's hand firmly with a polite smile. He didn't like the look in the older man's eyes, and for a brief second, James worried that he was being placed. No one in New York knew about where he had come from, or that he was the son of [i]that[/i] senator, but Jack had connections and James bore an unfortunate resemblance to his father, sans beard. “We're going to take good care of your wife.” 

Jack released James' hand, eyes still filled with scrutiny. He straightened the lapels of his expensive suit and nodded once. “I have faith in Doctor Morris,” he said, although it sounded as though it was more of a threat than words of praise. The vulture-like man turned back to James, questioning how long he had been working there, trying to find a single weakness.

Truthfully, James couldn't say that he minded or was surprised. If there was someone that he cared about, in the hopsital and about to be operated on, he would want to know the credentials of the doctors and nurses involved as well. Although, the fact that Gabriel had pulled him in to assist with the surgery should have said something. “Today is my first day, mister Cassidy,” James relayed, and the older man frowned. 

“Is there any way the surgery could be moved up?” Jack asked, now completely ignoring James' presence in obvious disapproval. “I have a meeting tonight,” a rather unsavory one, “and would prefer not to postpone.”

Frowning to himself, James hoped that Gabriel wouldn't try to accommodate Jack, no matter how much money he had. Downstairs, a family was being torn apart, a woman's parents were on their way to say goodbye and her husband was a mess. What kind of person would James look like if the OR team came to collect Elizabeth Charles that afternoon instead of that evening? Maybe he had too much of a heart for this, too big of a conscience, but James didn't think it was fair for those parents to miss the chance to say goodbye to their child. 

“There's no room to change anything around,” James interjected, much to the chagrin of Jack Cassidy. Of course, Gabriel would more than likely have the final say, it was his surgery and he had the right to be manipulate the situation out of the best interest of everyone involved.