Medical Malpractice (Sin & Redemption #4)

Prologue

GAbrIELLA

Twenty-six years old…

I smoothed my hands down my tight black dress, ensuring that I looked immaculate.

It was the night I was going to admit my feelings to Leonardo.

I had built up my courage one brick at a time, and since we were coming to the end of our postgraduate Doctor of Medicine program, I knew I had to grab life by the metaphorical balls and jump.

It had been four years since the day I ran into the troublesome duo of Leonardo and Nico—best friends who were so starkly different, they regularly clashed in personality and nature.

However, they had always said that once they met me, they found their counterweight. That I was the one person who equalised their conflicting sides. And I was inclined to believe them.

Since our forced group assignment together, us three musketeers were inseparable.

Leonardo was the serious one, always keeping us in line with his rigid stance and unwavering disposition.

Nico was the fun-loving jokester who sometimes pushed his unpredictability a little too far.

And me? I was the glue that meshed them together, my character a healthy mixture of both.

Due to our ingrained dynamic, I was hesitant to break that bond by admitting my love for Leonardo. And god, did I love him.

It was sudden and gradual at the same time. I didn’t even know I was falling until I had already hit rock bottom, my heart cracked open at the feet of my best friend.

I cultivated that treasure and kept it secret for over three years, hoping and wishing he felt the same. It could have been my imagination—or pure, blind hope—that I picked up on subtle signs and minute tells that made me think he was experiencing the same torture I was.

I couldn’t know for sure, but I owed it to myself to try.

However, there was one other emotion that always took root when I thought about him.

Guilt.

When I admit my feelings, how will that affect our relationships as a group? If Leo rejects me, will I lose Nico as a friend too? Am I being selfish, putting my own feelings above the two most important people in my life?

By going through with my plan, I was risking everything. That was why it had taken me so long to get to that moment.

Was my love for Leo worth the risk? Yes. He was worth it all.

The heavy bass from the house party vibrated through my frame, shocking me back to the present. It was late, partiers spread everywhere, and I had to squeeze through sweaty, gyrating bodies to reach the other side of the room.

My eyes roamed the crowd. Where are you?

A firm hand grasped my elbow, and a familiar voice tickled my ear. “Shit, Gabs, you look hot,” Nico said.

I turned and gave him a shy, self-conscious smile. “You don’t think it’s too much?”

He bent and gave me a peck on the cheek, the alcohol on his breath threatening to knock me over. “It’s the last party before we graduate. Of course it’s not too much. You’re beautiful.”

I didn’t usually put so much effort into my outfit, hair and makeup.

Or anything to do with my appearance, really.

I was lazy… Unlike the gorgeous Anna, who was currently hanging off Leo as if he were the only reason she remained upright.

Her perfectly manicured hands roamed his chest, arms, shoulders—fucking all over.

Anna was in some of our classes and bragged regularly about how they were a “thing”. Leo always denied her self-made rumours to Nico and me, but I wasn’t sure if the rest of campus had received the memo.

They were in the kitchen, their backs to us, facing the opposite side.

Umph. The air whooshed out of my lungs as I watched her press onto her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, then she retreated down the corridor towards the bathroom.

“Gabs, you alright?”

“Huh?” I had completely zoned out and forgotten to guard my useless emotions against Nico, whose intoxicated eyes read me so well that there was no denying where my mind had been.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide anymore. I know,” he said, his stare severe and looking the most serious I’d ever seen him.

“You know?”

“I know how you feel about Leo.”

I wished I had an out, an excuse to escape the claustrophobic hold Nico had imprisoned me in. But there was no escape. Our nonchalant funnyman had me pinned.

“I-I—” I couldn’t even speak, literally lost for words. My head bowed, admitting defeat.

Nico grasped my small hands in his big ones, then squeezed. “I’ve got you, Gabs. I’m going to help you with this.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“You’re my best friend. Of course I will help you.”

Within five minutes, he told me the simple plan, and against my better judgement, I agreed. I was a coward, too insecure to do it on my own.

Nico gave me a resolute nod and swaggered towards our best friend, wrapped his arm around Leo’s shoulder and whispered his prepared speech in his ear.

My rib cage rattled with how fast my heart was beating. I thought the useless organ was going to give out on me.

You can do this. You can do this. Just take the first step.

And I did. One step led to another as I approached their backs.

Then Leo’s hissed, angry words hit me, my feet unwilling to get any closer due to the pain ripping through my body.

“I told you she’s a friend. Nothing more. Stop pushing this narrative, Nico. You’re pissing me off.”

“Why won’t you even give her a chance?” Nico asked.

“Because I don’t feel that way about her, and it would be cruel to lead her on.

” Leo sighed. “The only thing that I care about is the friendship I have with you and Ella. You’re the only ones who matter to me.

I would never do anything to jeopardise our friendship. I won’t give that up for anything.”

I was irrevocably friend-zoned.

Oh, this hurts. All of a sudden, the party was too loud, too packed, too much for me. So I ran.

I made it to the footpath outside when strong hands jerked me into a solid chest. Nico’s calming scent lulled me into a space where I could just let go. And that’s what I did.

I cried and cried at the lost love that never even began. My makeup smudged all over Nico’s designer shirt.

“I’m sorry, Gabs. I’m so sorry.”

His apologies only made me cry harder.

When I came to, I was in my bed, snuggling into Nico, soaking in his warm comfort.

“Oh, god, I’m sorry,” I said, attempting to disengage. He didn’t let me, squeezing tighter.

“Don’t be. It sucks you and Leo didn’t work out, but I don’t want you to lose hope.”

I sniffled. “I won’t.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Good. Because he isn’t the only man out there for you, Gabs. There may be another person lurking in the shadows… waiting for his moment… wanting to have his chance with a remarkable woman like you. Would you give that man a chance, Gabs? Would you?”

His tone was casual, but the connotation was off. His question felt heavy, as if my answer could potentially change my future forever. The weight of it made me pause as I adjusted to the swift change from sorrow to anticipation.

Maybe Leo wasn’t the one for me. Maybe I had to search elsewhere, but just as close.

I checked in with my emotions, and only one resounding offer echoed throughout.

Yes. Yes. Yes. “Yes,” I said.

Nico just hummed, kissed my hair and ordered me to sleep.

Earlier in the night, I’d had my heart broken. But instead of bleeding out, I had encountered another, willing to piece all those severed parts back together.

I fell into sleep with a new sense of hope and opportunity.