Chapter 15 #5
“I’m choosing us,” Maggie corrected. “I’m choosing living. Like Sarah wanted. Like you’ve been telling me to do for months.”
“How do you feel?” Kim asked.
Maggie considered that. “Terrified. Exhilarated. Certain and uncertain at the same time.”
“That sounds about right for a major life decision,” Kim said. “Have you told Evie?”
“Not yet. I wanted to make sure it was real first. I’ll tell her tonight.”
“And how do you think she’ll react?”
“I think,” Maggie said slowly, “she’ll try to talk me out of it. Tell me I’m sacrificing too much. Try to be noble and selfless.”
“And what will you say?”
“That I’m not sacrificing. I’m choosing. There’s a difference.”
Kim was quiet for a moment. “Maggie, I’m proud of you.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re doing exactly what we’ve been working toward. Letting go of control. Trusting that you’re enough without the armor of Oakridge. Choosing love over safety.” Kim paused. “Sarah would be proud too.”
“I hope so,” Maggie whispered.
“I know so,” Kim said firmly. “Now go tell Evie. And Maggie?”
“Yeah?”
“Enjoy this. You’ve earned it.”
Maggie had one more call to make before Evie got home.
She dialed Dr. Chen’s direct line, half-hoping it would go to voicemail.
Chen answered on the first ring.
“Maggie. What can I do for you?”
“I need to see you tomorrow,” Maggie said. “It’s important.”
“Everything okay?”
“Define okay,” Maggie said. “Can you do eight AM? Before rounds?”
“Of course. My office?”
“Please.”
“I’ll see you then,” Chen said, and hung up.
Maggie set the phone down and looked around her apartment.
In less than twenty-four hours, she’d initiated a job change, interviewed for the change, and accepted the said change.
It was the most impulsive, least controlled thing she’d done in years.
And it felt absolutely right. She felt alive again, and she knew if Sarah could see her from above, she’d be smiling at how far she’s come.
At 6:30 PM, Evie’s key turned in the lock.
Maggie was in the kitchen, pretending to cook dinner, her hands shaking too badly to actually accomplish anything useful.
“Hey,” Evie called, dropping her bag by the door. “Sorry I’m late. Doctor Patel had a—” She stopped, seeing Maggie’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Maggie said.
Evie crossed to her immediately, hands on her shoulders. “You look like you’re about to throw up. What happened?”
“Sit down,” Maggie said.
“Maggie, you’re scaring me.”
“Please. Just sit.”
Evie sat at the kitchen table, watching Maggie with worried eyes.
Maggie turned off the stove—she’d been stirring nothing in an empty pan anyway—and joined her at the table.
“I had a phone call this morning,” Maggie began.
“You said. With who?”
“Cedar-Sinai. Their medical recruiter.”
Evie’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because I emailed her last night. After you went to bed. Asked if a position I’d turned down six months ago was still available.”
“Maggie—”
“It was,” Maggie continued. “So we had a call. They made me an offer. I accepted it. I’m leaving Oakridge. I start at Cedar-Sinai January sixth.”
The words hung in the air between them.
Evie stared at her, mouth open, clearly trying to process what she’d just heard.
“You’re... what?”
“I’m leaving Oakridge,” Maggie repeated. “Effective end of December. I’ll give four weeks notice tomorrow morning. January sixth, I start over at Cedar-Sinai. No restriction. No ethics committee. No hiding.”
“You can’t. Are you crazy? What the hell?” Evie said immediately. “Maggie, you can’t leave Oakridge for me. Your reputation, your career—”
“Will be fine,” Maggie interrupted. “Better than fine. Cedar-Sinai wants me. They’re paying me more than Oakridge.
They’re giving me research opportunities.
And they don’t care about what happened with Rebecca because that investigation cleared me.
Evie, I can’t wait around. I love you. I’m moving past Oakridge and finally living for me and that means choosing you. ”
“But you love Oakridge—”
“I love you more,” Maggie said simply.
Evie stood abruptly, pacing to the window. “This is too much. You’re throwing away everything you’ve built—”
“I’m choosing differently,” Maggie corrected, standing too. “There’s a difference, Evie. I’m not running away. I’m running toward. Toward you. Toward us. Toward a life where we don’t have to hide or pretend or wait four more months to be together.”
“What if you regret it?” Evie’s voice broke. “What if six months from now you resent me for making you leave?”
Maggie crossed to her, taking her face in both hands.
“You didn’t make me do anything. I chose this.
Last night, I watched you break. I heard you crying yourself to sleep.
And I realized—I can rebuild a career anywhere.
I’ve done it before. But I can’t rebuild us if I let this distance destroy what we have. ”
Tears streamed down Evie’s face. “You’re serious. You’re really doing this.”
“I already did it,” Maggie said gently. “The offer letter is signed. The start date is confirmed. Tomorrow I tell Doctor Chen. This is happening.”
“Maggie—”
“Sarah wanted me to choose living,” Maggie said.
“She wrote about it in her journals. Over and over. Choose living. Choose love. Choose presence over control. And I’m finally doing it.
I’m choosing you. I’m choosing us. I’m choosing a life where I can stand next to you at the hospital and not have to pretend you’re nothing to me. ”
Evie collapsed against her, sobbing.
Maggie held her, letting her cry it out, understanding that these were tears of relief and fear and overwhelming emotion all tangled together.
“Are you sure?” Evie finally asked, voice muffled against Maggie’s shoulder.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Maggie said.
“What about Christmas? We’re supposed to go to Sacramento—”
“We’re still going,” Maggie said. “And now when your mom asks when she can meet me officially, I can say January. No more restrictions. No more hiding. Just us.”
Evie pulled back, searching Maggie’s face. “You’re really okay with this? Starting over at a new hospital?”
“I’m more than okay with it,” Maggie said honestly. “I’m excited. Cedar-Sinai feels like... closure. Full circle. I left there under a cloud, even though I was cleared. Coming back on my own terms, by choice, for the right reasons—that feels like redemption.”
“And if people at Oakridge talk? If they say you left because of me?”
“Let them,” Maggie said. “It’ll be true. I did leave because of you. Because loving you matters more than what people think about why I left.”
Evie kissed her then, desperate and grateful and disbelieving all at once.
When they broke apart, Evie was smiling through her tears.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she said.
“Believe it,” Maggie replied. “You’re stuck with me now. Full time. No more part-time girlfriend who has to pretend she doesn’t know you at work.”
“When do we tell people?”
“I tell Doctor Chen tomorrow,” Maggie said. “Then she’ll tell HR, and HR will make an announcement. After that, it’s public knowledge. We can tell whoever we want however we want.”
“Your residents are going to be devastated,” Evie said.
“They’ll survive,” Maggie replied. “And maybe it’ll be good for them. Learning that sometimes the best doctors choose living over prestige.”
They spent the evening on the couch, Evie asking questions—about the position, about the salary, about the start date, about how the transition would work—and Maggie answering each one, feeling more certain with every word.
Later, in bed, Evie traced patterns on Maggie’s skin in the darkness.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?”
“For choosing me. For being brave enough to do this. For showing me what love looks like when someone stops being afraid.”
They fell asleep wrapped around each other, the weight of four more months lifted, replaced by the promise of a future that didn’t require hiding.
The next morning, Maggie knocked on Dr. Chen’s door at exactly 8 AM.
“Come in,” Chen called.
Maggie entered to find Chief of Medicine already at her desk, coffee in hand, reading glasses perched on her nose.
“Maggie. Good morning. Sit.”
Maggie sat, hands folded in her lap, trying to project a calm she didn’t entirely feel.
“So,” Chen said, removing her glasses. “What’s this about?”
Maggie took a breath.
“I’ll cut to the chase. I’m resigning,” she said. “Effective December 31st. I’ve accepted a position at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center starting January sixth.”
Chen’s expression didn’t change, but Maggie saw surprise flicker in her eyes.
“Ah, well, I see,” Chen said carefully. “This is... unexpected.”
“I know.”
“May I ask why?”
Maggie met her gaze steadily. “Because I’m choosing to live instead of survive.
Because my wife died six years ago asking me to do exactly this—to take risks, to choose love, to stop managing every variable.
Because Doctor Brooks and I can’t make it four more months under this restriction without it destroying what we have.
And because some things matter more than safety.
I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t be restricted. ”
Chen was quiet for a long moment.
“Cedar-Sinai,” she finally said. “That’s... poetic.”
“Full circle,” Maggie agreed.
“They destroyed you there. Did you forget that?”
“No,” Maggie corrected gently. “Rebecca tried to destroy me there. Cedar-Sinai gave me a fair investigation and cleared me. And now they want me back. That feels like redemption, not destruction.”
Chen leaned back in her chair. “You’ve spent five years rebuilding here. Building relationships. Establishing yourself. Earning back respect.”
“I know,” Maggie said. “And I’ll rebuild at Cedar-Sinai. I’ve done it before. I can do it again.”
“And Doctor Brooks? She’s staying at Oakridge?”