Leaving At Last Chapter 03
Back at my station, Kim hesitated before leaning in.
“Blair, did you and Dr. Vale break up?”
Even though he hadn’t agreed, as far as I was concerned, we were done.
I nodded.
Kim looked almost relieved.
“No wonder. A patient’s family member was just making a scene.”
“She shoved Dr. Rhodes, and Dr. Vale scooped her up and carried her to the ER.”
“I was right there. It was barely a stumble.”
“But you should have seen him. He completely lost it.”
I frowned.
“Did she hurt her hand?”
Though my chest was tight, my feet were already moving, carrying me toward the ER.
Back in school, Talia had thrown an arm around my shoulders more than once and declared, “One day, I’m going to be the top cardiothoracic surgeon in the country.”
“Blair, once we’re in the hospital, I’ll look out for you.”
If her hand was injured, she’d never operate again.
My mind raced with the worst-case scenarios.
When I reached the ER, Talia was lying on a gurney, her eyes red-rimmed.
“Talia, are you okay?”
I hurried to her side.
She forced a smile when she saw me.
“I’m fine. Just a twisted ankle.”
I had just started to relax when Briar spoke from beside her.
“Happy now, Blair?”
I froze.
“What?”
“If you hadn’t thrown a fit, Talia wouldn’t have come looking for you.”
“And she wouldn’t have gotten pushed around by that patient’s family.”
I stood there, speechless.
Talia immediately nudged his arm.
“Why are you blaming Blair?”
But Briar’s gaze remained fixed on me.
“After all these years, how are you still like this?”
“Always needing everyone to cater to you.”
“Do you really think you’re some kind of princess?”
The room went quiet.
My eyes began to burn.
He must have realized he’d gone too far, because his tone softened slightly.
“Just… try to be more stable, okay?”
He reached out to wipe away my tears, but I jerked my head away.
I took two steps back.
“Dr. Vale, we broke up.”
“You don’t get to talk to me like that anymore.”
Briar let out a humorless laugh.
“Are you done yet, Blair?”
Even Talia looked at me with disapproval.
“Stop this.”
Honestly, the two of them were a perfect match.
Neither of them ever really listened to me.
And they certainly never acknowledged my feelings.
I managed a small smile, then turned and left.
From that day on, Briar stopped speaking to me.
And since I was deliberately avoiding him, we went more than two weeks without exchanging a single word.
But as one of the hospital’s golden boys, gossip about him still found its way to me.
For example, to help Talia with her recovery, he bought her an oat milk latte from La Colombe every day.
And then there was the paper they’d coauthored, which had just been published in *The New England Journal of Medicine*.
The hospital director had even praised them publicly.
Sometimes coworkers would ask me about them.
I’d just shake my head and say I didn’t know.
One afternoon, Talia stopped me.
She caught my sleeve.
“So you and Briar have a fight, and now you’re giving me the cold shoulder, too?”
“You’re both so stubborn.”
“I’ll mediate.”
“Just go make up with him, okay?”
I looked at the friend I’d known for so many years.
Suddenly, she felt like a stranger.
We had known each other longer, and I hadn’t done anything wrong.
But she always took his side.