Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
E lla
I drove home, wiping the tears that streamed down my face. Fuck him. I was done. Stepping inside the house, it was late. I went upstairs and started the water for a bath. After pouring in some lavender-scented bubbles, I sank until the water reached my neck. My phone pinged. Reaching over the tub, I looked at it and saw a text from Graham.
“Did you make it home safely?”
I dropped my phone to the floor. It wasn’t any of his business whether I made it home safely or not. After my bath, I climbed into bed, tossing and turning because I couldn’t shut my brain off. Dr. Graham Malone wasn’t who I thought he was. I don’t make mistakes. I never did. I was too smart to make them. But when it came to guys, I did.
The following morning, after my first surgery, I went up to the rooftop for a coffee. Turning around with the cup in my hand, I saw Graham step off the elevator.
Shit.
“You didn’t respond to my text last night,” he said, approaching me.
“Why would I after what happened?” I began to walk away, and he lightly took hold of my arm.
“Ella, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not talking about this here,” I spoke through gritted teeth. “I have a surgery to scrub in for.”
“I know. You’re removing a tumor from a ten-year-old boy’s head. Dr. Ashley assigned me to watch and assist you.”
“Great. Just great.” I yanked my arm out of his grip and looked at Uncle Christian, who stood staring at us.
I took a few sips of my coffee and dumped it before heading into the scrub room.
“What happened up on the rooftop?” My Uncle Christian walked into the room.
“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Listen, sweetheart. You’re about to operate on a ten-year-old’s brain.”
“And you know I’ve never let my personal problems interfere with my work. The second I enter that operating room, my brain only focuses on my patient.”
“We’ll talk later.” He walked out.
A few seconds later, Graham walked in and began scrubbing in for surgery.
“Ella, I’m sorry.”
“You already said that, and I’m not discussing it anymore. I’ll see you in there.”
I walked into the O.R., where Cassie, one of the scrub nurses, gowned and gloved me. Graham followed behind.
“Your patient is out, Dr. Kind,” Marty, the anesthesiologist, said.
“Thanks, Marty. Are we ready?” I asked my team. “Cassie, put on my music, please.”
I always listened to classical music while I was in surgery. It helped me relax and focus on my procedure. I reached the tumor. Graham stood closely and watched as I carefully removed it from the patient’s head.
“Would you like to close, Dr. Malone?”
“Yes, definitely, Dr. Kind.”
“Page me when he’s in recovery so I can talk to his parents.” I tore off my gloves and gown and dumped them in the bin before leaving the O.R.
Entering the operating suite, I stood beside Uncle Christian while we watched Graham close the child’s head.
“You could have stayed in there and watched him,” he said.
“I could have.” I watched carefully.
“He’s a skilled surgeon,” Uncle Christian glanced at me.
“He’s also skilled in lying.” I walked away.
My pager went off. Glancing at it, I saw that my patient was in the recovery room. Walking to the surgical waiting area, I spoke with his parents.
“Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.” I walked into the room.
“How is our boy?” Mr. Taylor asked.
“He’s in recovery now. The surgery went very well, and I was able to remove the tumor. He’ll be okay now that it’s out.”
“Thank you, Dr. Kind.” Mrs. Taylor hugged me. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled. “One of the nurses will come get you and take you to recovery so you can be there when he wakes up.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Taylor smiled.
I was sitting in my office when Graham walked in.
“Hey, thanks for letting me close.”
“No problem.” I stared at my computer.
“Okay. I can see you’re still mad at me,” he said.
“About Riley’s wedding. I think it’s best that you don’t come.”
“Right.” He slowly nodded as he tucked his hands into his pants pockets. “Maybe all this is for the best anyway.”
“What is?” I asked.
“That we don’t see each other anymore. I’m only here for two years. As soon as my fellowship ends, I’m returning to New York.”
“Seriously?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Was that your plan all along?”
“Yep. I can’t stay here in California.”
“You’re such an asshole.” I shook my head.
“I know I am, Ella. I’m sorry.” He turned and walked out of my office.
I cupped my face to try and stop the tears that wanted to emerge. Since I didn’t have any more surgeries scheduled, I decided to take the rest of the day off and head to the dance studio.
“Hi, Ella,” Ari grinned.
“Hi, Ari. Is a room open?”
“Yeah. Room two is free for a couple of hours.”
“Thanks. Is my mom teaching a class?”
“Yeah. She’s in room six.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
After changing into my leotard and pointe shoes, I turned on some music and danced across the floor, escaping my misery and entering a world of peace. The door opened, and my mom stood there and watched me with a smile. Willow entered and danced beside me until the music stopped. My mom clapped, and my sister hugged me.
“Why aren’t you at the hospital?” Willow asked.
“It was slow, so I decided to take the rest of the day off.”
“I’m happy you did. That was fun.” She grinned.
“Willow, sweetheart. Can you give your sister and me a moment?”
“Sure, Mom. I’ll see you later, Ella.”
“What’s wrong, sweet girl?” My mom walked over and cupped my chin.
“Graham and I won’t be seeing each other anymore.”
“What? Why? I thought you were bringing him to Riley’s wedding.”
“It’s not working out.”
“What did he do?”
“He thinks lying to me is no big deal. He told me today that after his two-year fellowship is up, he’s moving back to New York. That was his plan all along, Mom.” Tears streamed down my face. “He was just using me.”
She let out a sigh. “Come here.” She wrapped her arms around me.
“We got into this huge fight last night about him lying to me about living in California as a child.”
“What did he say?”
“He said it’s too hard to be here without his parents, but I know there’s more to it. He has PTSD, and he won’t discuss it. He yelled at me and kicked me out of his apartment.”
“Have you seen him today?”
“Yeah. He apologized, and Dr. Ashley put him in one of my surgeries. He came to my office, and I told him he shouldn’t come to the wedding. That’s when he told me it was for the best we didn’t see each other anymore and about returning to New York.”
“I believe there’s more to it,” she said.
“Sofia, you have a call,” Ari said.
“Go on, Mom. I’m going to head home anyway.”
“Okay.” She placed her hand on my cheek. “We’ll talk later.”