Leaving At Last Chapter 04
“Dr. Rhodes, I have to get back to work.”
“If that’s all, you should go.”
The color drained from Talia’s face.
“Talia, come here.”
Briar stood a short distance away, his gaze cold.
As if I were just another coworker.
Fine by me.
I pulled my sleeve from her grasp and turned to leave.
But not long after, the three of us were back in the same OR.
Someone had called in sick, and I was filling in.
The patient’s condition was unusual, and the hospital was treating the case with extreme care.
Briar was lead surgeon, with Talia as first assist.
I took a deep breath, changed into my surgical gown, and triple-checked every instrument.
Halfway through the operation, my nerves were stretched taut. I didn’t dare lose focus for a second.
The expressions on both their faces were grim.
“Hemostat.”
I passed the instrument to Talia.
But her hand trembled.
The hemostat clattered to the floor.
Before I could bend to retrieve it, Briar’s cool voice cut through the quiet.
“Replace her.”
“Get Collins in here.”
By the time I walked out of the OR, my back was soaked in cold sweat.
Thankfully, it was a minor slip-up, and the surgery was a success.
After work, Talia, looking shaken, left without a word.
Briar approached me, exhaustion etched on his face, but his voice was full of disappointment.
“How can you call yourself a nurse when you make a mistake like that?”
I looked up at him, stunned.
“You saw what happened. It wasn’t my fault.”
“So you’re saying it was Talia’s fault?”
Briar’s gaze darkened instantly.
“So now you’re blaming other people for your mistakes, Blair?”
In that moment, I understood.
He’d already decided to pin this on me.
I pressed a hand to my chest, my breathing suddenly tight.
I don’t know what Briar said to the head nurse afterward.
But the next day, I was publicly reprimanded.
A patient’s family member overheard.
Soon, the whispers started.
“That nurse, Blair, can’t even hold her instruments steady.”
“How is someone like that allowed in an OR?”
“Someone like that is going to get a patient killed.”
To quiet the situation, the hospital suspended me for a week pending an internal investigation.
The head nurse sighed.
“The pressure from administration is intense.”
“I fast-tracked your resignation.”
“You should take your personal belongings with you today.”
At three that afternoon, I changed into my street clothes and packed my things into a cardboard box.
Briar saw me and frowned.
“They’re firing you over something this minor?”
I shook my head.
“Suspended.”
He visibly relaxed, even reaching out to ruffle my hair.
“Just think of it as a vacation.”
“Go home, get some rest. I’ll take you somewhere nice next week.”
I gave a noncommittal hum, then carried my box out of the hospital.
He didn’t know I wasn’t coming back.