Chapter 10 SLASH
SLASH
Niles had promised me the full length of my sabbatical for the grieving I wasn’t doing. That had lasted an entire two days before he started pinging my phone, begging me to resume my surgeries. I guessed the hospital really couldn’t handle me hanging out in limbo. I was Dr. God Hands after all.
I really did need to quit. Today was probably better than any.
I slammed my office door shut, sifting through the chaos of my life.
Finn’s games were going to get us in trouble.
I needed to make a trip to the newspaper sooner rather than later.
Settled into my chair, my head resting on the desk, I realized my left hand was shaking again.
Fucking hell. I toyed with the resignation letter in my lap as I sorted through my options.
It had been written three years ago when Aeron nearly died of a broken heart.
I rewrote it when Killian left me. And yet again when Samael lost his love. I couldn’t keep doing this to myself.
My door eased open, Niles slipping in like he used to when I didn’t know he basically owned the hospital. I still fucking hated him for the way that I found out. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to discuss-”
Without meaning to, I slapped the resignation on the table and a weight lifted off my shoulders.
Niles stared at the envelope for a moment, his brows creasing with confusion before his expression turned to shock. “What? No, I wasn’t-”
“It’s been a while coming. Don’t stress. I just need…”
“Your sabbatical can be extended. I don’t-”
I had known for a while how important I was to the hospital, but it was finally dawning on me that I was the hospital.
I was its revenue, the face, the core. If I left, it would be a while but the attention would shift.
It would have to. If only they knew what these hands really did…
I shot Niles a small smile, not worthy of my status here at the hospital but I was tired.
Too tired to keep pretending. “I’m retiring or whatever.
Going to find another thing to fuck up for a while, alright? My heart’s not in it anymore.”
My heart had never been in it to save people. I just needed a place to hone my craft and what better way than a place where people paid me to slice them open? The parts I hated most were interacting with people and fixing them back up.
“Is this because of your boyfriend?” Boyfriend?
Right. Niles had seen Aeron once upon a time.
“That chef cart guy?” And… he knew the connection.
It wouldn’t be long before the public started putting all three of us together.
Niles pulled out his phone and slid it over the desk.
“You’re already popular without the press but people are thinking that his cart’s closed because you broke up. ”
I sifted through the pictures and the one article that the fucker had screenshotted to save for whatever the fuck for.
Leverage? There were pictures of me kissing Aeron in public, me at his cart, Aeron walking into the hospital, and the theories that his disappearance from the food scene was because of a broken heart.
This wasn’t good but it was only a matter of time before the people of Primrose started piecing it together. It was a good thing Samael didn’t hang out in public like we did, nor did he garner the same kind of attention.
I handed the phone back to Niles and half-smiled, wondering why he was so damn interested in my love life or lack thereof.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m resigning, quitting.
Whatever you would like to put in my file.
You’ve got access to this beautiful face for two more weeks before it doesn’t walk through your doors anymore. Capice?”
Niles didn’t answer but I didn’t need him to. The message had been loud and clear. Now, I just needed to find that motherfucker Finn before he decided to start another game.