Fourteen of a Kind (Kind Brothers #19)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

E lla

“There.” I smiled as I held up the large tumor I extracted, examined it, and dropped it in the basin.

“Would you like me to close, Dr. Kind?” one of the residents asked.

“That’s okay. I’ll do it.” I smiled.

“Good work, Dr. Kind.” I heard over the O.R. intercom.

I looked up at the operating theater and saw my dad standing there with his hands tucked tightly into his pants pockets.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t forget your mother is cooking for us tonight.”

“I haven’t forgotten. I’ll be there.” I smiled.

After closing my patient’s head, I tore off my scrub cap and gloves and walked out of the O.R.

“You know, Ella. You really need to let your residents do some of the closings.” My dad hooked his arm around me as we walked down the hall.

“I know, Dad. But this patient is extra special. I wanted to do it myself.”

He kissed the side of my head. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

“Bye, Dad.” I smiled.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent Landon a text message.

“I’m out of surgery, and I’m starving. Lunch in the cafeteria?”

He didn’t respond, which I thought was odd. Walking down to the ER, I stopped at the nurses’ station.

“Hey, Karla. Have you seen Dr. Piazza?”

“I believe he said he was going to take a nap in the on-call room. He’s pulling a double.”

“I know. Thanks.” I smiled.

I went down to the on-call room, opened the door, and froze when I saw him having sex with another woman.

“Shit. Ella.” Landon jumped up and grabbed his pants. “I thought you were in surgery?”

“You two-timing piece of shit. How could you?” Tears filled my eyes. “And you, Penelope. What the fuck?”

I looked over and saw Landon’s phone sitting on the table. Walking over, I picked it up, threw it on the ground, and smashed it with my foot.

“What the hell, Ella?” he shouted. “I need that.”

“You can have him.” I shook my head at Penelope and ran out of the room.

“Paging, Dr. Ella Kind. Cardiac O.R. Three, STAT!” I heard over the hospital’s intercom.

I ran up the stairs in the stairwell to the fourth floor. When I got to the O.R., a scrub nurse held out a gown, gloves, and a surgical mask for me.

“What’s going on, Uncle Christian?”

“I wanted you to see this,” he spoke. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I swallowed hard.

“It’s something, or there wouldn’t be tears in your eyes.”

“I just caught Landon and that skank Penelope in the on-call room.” I looked at the surgical staff, who stared at me.

“Oh, boy.” He sighed. “We’ll talk about it after I show you this.” He pointed to an area of the heart he was working on.

“What the—I’ve never seen that before.” I looked up at him. “How are you going to get that out without killing the patient?”

“That’s why I called you in here. I need your help. I’ve only seen this once during my residency. The surgeon I worked under wouldn’t touch it, and the patient died three months later. But we’re not going to let this patient die. Thoughts, Dr. Kind?”

I stared at the large tumor hidden behind the patient’s heart. “You will have to resect it, but you’ll only have about ten minutes to do it.”

“More like seven minutes,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s do this.” I reached my hands into the patient’s chest and grabbed his heart.

“Start the clock,” Uncle Christian said to the nurse.

“Damn, that was intense,” I sighed, pulling off my scrub cap as my Uncle Christian and I walked into the scrub room. “Thanks for letting me help.” I smiled, pulling off my gown.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, sweetheart. Now, tell me what happened with Dr. Piazza.”

“He was having sex in the on-call room with Penelope. Six months, Uncle Christian.” Tears filled my eyes. “It makes me wonder how many other women he was cheating on me with.”

“You don’t give him another thought. No one in the family liked him. And if your dad had his way, he would have been out of your life after the first week,” he smirked.

“But I did like him. I loved him. God, this hurts so bad.”

“Listen, Ella.” He hooked his arm around me as we walked down the hall. “I know it hurts, but you’ll be okay. You’re strong and intelligent and know better than anyone that a man isn’t worth it. You deserve better. And one day, the man who is supposed to be in your life will walk into it when you least expect it. You’re only twenty-two.”

“Thanks, Uncle Christian. I’m going to change and head home.”

“I’ll see you later.” He kissed the side of my head.

C hristian

“Marcy, call Dr. Piazza to my office stat.”

“Will do, Dr. Kind.”

I sat down at my desk and placed my hands behind my head.

“Hey, babe. How did the surgery go?” Charleigh grinned, walking into my office.

“Exhausting.” I smiled, holding out my arms.

She climbed on my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“I called Ella in to help.”

“I heard.” A smile crossed her lips.

“She caught Landon in the on-call room having sex with one of the nurses.”

“Oh my God. She must be heartbroken.”

“She is. She walked into the O.R. with tears in her eyes. Poor girl.”

“I never liked that arrogant asshole,” she said, climbing off my lap.

“He’s on his way up here,” I smirked.

“This is why I love you so much.” She leaned down and kissed my lips. “Family first.”

“Always, babe.”

“Good luck.” Her pager went off. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

When Charleigh left my office, Shaun walked in.

“Hey, what brings you here?” I grinned.

“I had a meeting. How’s everything going?”

“Things are about to get ugly if you want to stay for the show,” I sighed.

“Why? What happened?” He sat across from my desk and brought his ankle up to his leg.

“Ella caught Dr. Piazza having sex in the on-call room with one of the nurses.”

“Shit.” He sighed, running his hand down his face. “How is she?”

“Heartbroken. But she’s a warrior and will get through it.”

“I think I'll stay for this show.” He grinned. “Have you got any popcorn?”

I chuckled, leaning back in my chair. “Don’t mention what happened to the family. She’ll tell everyone when she’s ready. Marcy, where is Dr. Piazza?” I shouted.

She walked into my office. “He’s with a patient. He’ll be up when he’s done.”

“Thank you. Also, I want Penelope Frankel up here after Dr. Piazza leaves.”

“Okay, Dr. Kind.”

A few moments later, Dr. Piazza walked in.

“You wanted to see me, Dr. Kind?”

“Shut the door,” I said. “Have a seat.”

“Shaun.” He nodded.

“Dr. Piazza,” Shaun said.

“Listen, Dr. Kind?—”

“No! You sit there, shut up, and you listen to me.” I pointed at him. “It is against hospital policy to have sex anywhere in this hospital, especially with another employee.”

“Of course, she told you.”

“Excuse me?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Watch your words, Landon,” Shaun said.

“Here’s the thing, Dr. Piazza. You’re fired.”

“What?” he shouted. “You can’t do that!”

“I’m the Chief of Staff of this hospital. I can do whatever the fuck I want. I can hire and fire who I want, and you’re out.”

“This will ruin my career, Dr. Kind!”

“It's not my problem.” I shrugged. “Maybe you should have thought about that before cheating on my niece.”

“I’ll sue you for this!” He stood up and pointed at me.

“Stop acting like a child, Landon,” Shaun said. “You fuck with a Kind. You pay the consequences. You don’t stand a chance with a lawsuit. We’ll drag your name through the mud and ensure you never practice medicine again. The fact is you broke hospital policy, we found out, and now you’re fired.”

“This is bullshit!”

I stood from my desk, walked over, and pressed my finger into his chest.

“What’s bullshit is you. You are an arrogant son-of-a bitch. None of us ever liked you. You better hope you never run into Nathan.”

“Or better yet, you better hope you never run into Simon. You cheat on one of us; you cheat on us all,” Shaun said. “Good riddance, Dr. Piazza.”

“You cannot do this! I am a damn good doctor!” Landon shouted.

“In order to be a good doctor, you have to be a decent human being, which you are not. Get out of my office, collect your things, and turn in your badge. Security will escort you out.”

He turned and stormed out.

“Dr. Kind, Penelope is on her way up,” Marcy said.

“Thank you, Marcy.” I sighed, sitting behind my desk.

“Man, I hate that guy.” Shaun shook his head.

“You wanted to see me, Dr. Kind?” Penelope nervously walked into my office.

“Have a seat, Penelope. It has been brought to my attention that you and Dr. Piazza were engaging in sex in the on-call room.”

She looked down. “I’m so sorry, Dr. Kind.”

“You know he was in a relationship with Dr. Kind, right?” Shaun asked.

“It just hap?—”

I put my hand up. “No excuses. It is against hospital policy, and I’m afraid I’ll have to let you go.”

“But, Dr.—”

“There are no buts, Penelope. What you did was wrong. Actions have consequences. Let me ask you something. How long have you and Dr. Piazza been carrying on?”

She stared at me, unwilling to answer.

“You can tell us,” Shaun said. “Dr. Piazza has already been fired.”

“It happened a few times.” She looked down.

“A few times, eh? Behind Ella’s back? Weren’t you and she friends? Don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter. Security will escort you to collect your things and out of the hospital. It’s a shame because you’re a great nurse. But as I said, consequences have actions. You may leave,” I said.

She slowly stood from her chair and began to walk out of my office.

“Penelope?”

She turned and looked at me.

“You deserve better. If you’re smart, you’ll stay away from him.”

She gave me a slight nod and walked out.

“Well, that was fun.” Shaun grinned, standing up from his seat. “I have to get back to the office. I’ll see you later tonight down at the beach. By the way, that no sex policy doesn’t apply to any of us, right?” A smirk crossed his lips.

“Never.” I grinned.

“I didn’t think so.” He winked.