CHAPTER 46
Jasper walked down the clinic hallway, each step pounding in his temples like a dull ache. He noticed how the nurses looked away the moment he appeared—how they whispered to one another as if he were contagious. His worst fear had finally come true.
He grit his teeth, fighting the urge to slam his fist into the glass partition he passed.
He reached the reception desk and planted both palms on the cold counter. The young woman behind it flinched. He tried to catch her gaze, but she stubbornly focused on the screen. Stalling. Jasper felt the heat rise in his chest. He was already on edge.
“What do I have today?” he asked sharply.
The receptionist started flipping through the schedule on her computer, her fingers trembling, her eyes fixed on the screen.
“We had a surgery scheduled right now. The patient isn’t here. What’s going on?” He glanced around and pulled on a surgical mask. Too many people were nearby—and every one of them had likely read the news.
The problem was real. The board could call him in at any moment—even though he owned part of the company. And he couldn’t imagine his life without surgery.
Karina finally lifted her eyes and looked away again. She hesitated, swallowed, and whispered:
“Mrs. Whitmore… canceled the surgery this morning.”
Irritation flared inside him. His hands curled into fists.
“What do you mean, ‘canceled’? She begged me to fit her daughter into the schedule! Does she suddenly not need her child’s life saved? Has she lost her mind?”
Anger knocked the air out of him. He’d reworked his entire schedule for this. The girl was seven. So much effort—all wasted?
“I guess the rumors got to her,” Karina murmured.
Jasper looked at her, feeling the knot in his chest tighten even more. She wasn’t the enemy, he reminded himself. He needed to stay composed. If he showed just how shaken he was, everyone would assume the rumors were true.
“Call everyone on the waitlist,” he ordered. “Tell them a slot opened. I’m not going to sit around doing nothing just because someone prefers gossip over saving their kid.”
He turned to leave, then stopped sharply and looked back. She flinched again.
“And call every patient scheduled this week. I want confirmations. My time is too valuable to waste.”
She nodded quickly and buried herself in the screen. Jasper pivoted and walked away.
Only then did he realize that for the first time in years, he wanted to just… walk out.
Leave. Disappear.
He shut the office door and dropped into his chair. His breathing was heavy, anger rushing through him like blood. He wanted to act—to do anything—but impulsive decisions would only destroy more. So he forced himself to calm down, clicked his mouse, and opened the updated schedule.
He was standing in the hallway, finishing a conversation with the anesthesiologist, when his phone vibrated. Nolan. Finally.
“Yeah,” Jasper said into the phone, motioning to the anesthesiologist that the conversation was over.
“Don’t worry,” Nolan said right away. “Your runaway’s with me.”
“What runaway?” Jasper frowned. He’d expected something entirely different.
“Your daughter, man. Lynn.”
He fell silent for a couple of seconds. His hand tightened around the phone.
“You picked her up? Where was she?”
“Something like that,” Nolan replied calmly. “The guys called me over. I came by and took her to my place. Fed her. She seems a little steadier now.”
“Nolan…” Jasper started, but Nolan cut him off.
“Listen, maybe we should meet up. Talk. Man to man.”
“I don’t have time. Say it now.”
Nolan let out a heavy breath, as if what he was about to say tasted unpleasant.
“Okay… she wants to hire me. She wants me to dig. To figure out what’s true and what’s just those online reporters blowing smoke.”
A chill ran through Jasper’s body.
“Don’t you dare get involved,” he snapped. “Everything she read is a lie. A setup. A fake. Tell her that. Take the job, take her money, but in a couple of days hand her a fake report.”
“Jasper,” Nolan scoffed. “I’m not stupid. I knew something was off the moment I saw you two together. I thought she was just related to your ex, since Lynn looks so much like her. Turns out she’s the mom.”
“Enough,” Jasper cut him off.
“All right,” Nolan sighed. “But you’re gonna have to either tell her the truth or come up with something unbelievably convincing. The kid’s smart.”
Jasper didn’t answer. He just breathed.
“What about that bastard?” he finally asked.
“Give me more time. We’re not going easy on him this round. And we’re sure as hell not waiting for the law to take its sweet time.”
“Don’t spare the money,” Jasper said quietly. “This is personal now.”
“I’ll prep everything properly.”
“And… thanks for Lynn. Keep an eye on her, okay? I’ll stop by tonight. Try talking to her.”
“Better tomorrow. She’s fired up. Won’t wanna see you. No offense.”
“I’m surprised, Nolan,” Jasper said sharply. “Giving parenting advice when you don’t have kids of your own.”
“Yeah, well, I can still tell when someone screwed up spectacularly,” Nolan shot back with a smirk. “You’ve got one shot, Jasper. Don’t miss.”
“I won’t,” Jasper said, his voice low. He hung up.
He stood there for a few seconds, unmoving, the phone still in his hand.
He inhaled deeply, as if that might make things easier.
It didn’t.
Lynn was with Nolan. Frank was still breathing, but not for long. Nina was hanging on by a thread. And Jasper himself was balancing between a past clawing out of its grave and a present splitting apart at the seams.
Time to end this. Jasper turned and headed to the OR. To do the one thing he still did best—save other people’s lives while his own was falling apart.