Chapter 38
SULLIVAN
Bree’s gaze slid from me to Liana, her expression tightening with wounded suspicion. “You told him?”
My sister lifted both hands in surrender.
“I promise, I was being a good friend. I was just trying to keep you from making a mistake.” She shot me a look that said she’d have my balls if I screwed this up before she turned back to Bree and smiled.
“Talk to my idiot brother, and hopefully, you won’t hate me after. ”
“Liana—” she started.
“I have budgets to pretend to care about.” She was already backing away, sending Bree a pleading look and pressing her palms together.
“Just give him a chance. I know you said nothing could change your mind, but you might just kick yourself if you only find out about this after. At least have all the relevant information and then make the decision, right?”
She turned and disappeared down the corridor, leaving Bree and me standing in a silence so thick, I could practically feel it pressing against my skin. For a moment, neither of us spoke. I just drank her in, seeing her properly for the first time in almost two weeks.
There was a tightness in her shoulders that made her look somehow fragile, like she’d shatter if anyone touched her. She was also clutching a folder to her chest like it was Captain America’s prized shield and there were shadows under her eyes that hadn’t been there weeks ago
Shadows I’d put there. My heart cracked, tried to knit itself back together, then fractured all over again.
“You were really going to quit,” I said, my voice rougher and a lot more uncertain than usual.
She didn’t look away from me. “I still am.”
Her words felt like a full body blow. I stared back at her, noticing how pale she was and the watery redness of her eyes. “I hurt you that badly.”
“Yes,” she said, not cruel, just honest.
I nodded, swallowing past the sharp burn of regret and remorse climbing up the back of my throat. “You’re right to be angry, and you’re right to be hurt. I deserve both.”
Her eyebrows pulled together slightly, like she hadn’t expected me to feel that way. Or perhaps she didn’t believe it. “Why did you stop me, Sullivan? This is hard enough as it is, so just spit out whatever it was Liana wanted you to say so I can get this over with.”
“I can’t stand that I made you feel like leaving a place you love was the only way to protect yourself, but I’ve already fixed the mistake I was about to make. That’s why I came here. To stop you.”
Cautious disbelief flickered across her expression, her eyebrows rising slightly but her jaw hardening. “What does that even mean?”
“It means that you were right. There was a better way to handle the cuts. A way where nobody loses their job and patient care doesn’t take a hit.”
Her grip tightened on the folder. “That sounds convenient. You just suddenly found another way, huh?”
“No, not suddenly. I should’ve figured it out before you had to scream it at me,” I admitted. “I just didn’t see it even though it was there right there in front of me.”
She studied my face, searching for cracks in the story. “What did you do, Sullivan?”
“I scrapped the termination list,” I said simply. Her breath caught, the sound barely audible, but I wasn’t done yet. “Emily keeps her job and so does everyone else.”
Emotion broke through her carefully controlled expression. Bree’s eyes widened before they started glistening with tears, but it still didn’t look like she quite believed me. “That still doesn’t explain how the math works.”
“It works because I took a pay cut.”
The words hung between us for a long beat before her eyebrows swept up in genuine surprise. “You did what?”
“I cut my own salary. Significantly.” I held her gaze. “It turns out you and everyone else were right about that too. It’s the most efficient way to balance the budget without gutting the staff.”
She stared at me, stunned into silence for several seconds. When she finally managed to speak, her voice was soft but sincere. “That’s great, Sullivan. I mean that. I’m glad you did it. There aren’t many CEOs who would.”
Relief rushed through me. “Well, someone I care about knocked some sense into me. So thank you for that.”
She nodded and exhaled slowly. Some of the stress eased out of her expression, softening a few of the lines on her face, but then she tilted her head, studying me with that sharp, perceptive focus that always made me feel like she could see straight through every defense I’d ever had.
“I’m proud of you and I know that the staff will be more appreciative than you can even begin to imagine, but that doesn’t magically solve every other problem. For example, what happens the next time you get a bright idea like that? Or like the paper gowns?”
The question didn’t carry accusation, sounding more like fear and experience than a true belief that I would deliberately fuck up.
“I’m really glad you asked,” I said. “That’s the other thing I needed to tell you about.”
She crossed her arms, staring up at me with something that looked a lot like hope in her eyes. “Okay. Well, I’m listening.”
“It’s no secret that this is the first time I’ve taken on a hospital,” I said.
“In the past, Crowne Medical was separate. We worked in the industry, but in our own little corner of it where we developed what people needed and sold it. We sent technicians and training teams to teach medical professionals how to use our tech, but that’s it. ”
“Okay. I knew all that.”
“Yeah, but the point is that I realized it would make a lot more sense to move our main testing facility into an actual medical environment, which is why we’re here.
Having our newest advances available directly to patients.
And the data we’d get that way made sense, but I somehow didn’t take into consideration that the hospital wouldn’t just be another branch of the company. ”
Surprise flickered in her eyes. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do. Not yet. I came in here determined to make this an extension of Crowne Medical, but it’s not.
It’s a hospital owned by Crowne Medical.
Big difference.” I raked a hand through my hair and gestured vaguely around the corridor.
“I think it’s become pretty damn obvious that I need help, and while I’ll admit that I’ve always been stubborn, I’m not so stubborn that I can’t admit when I’m in over my head, so I’m putting together a review team. ”
Her eyebrows knitted slightly, curiosity replacing some of the guardedness in her expression. “A review team?”
“We’re going to choose representatives from the staff, and Liana is going to head it up. She already knows the financial landscape inside and out, and she’s not afraid to tell me when I’m being an idiot.”
“That’s true,” Bree said quietly.
“The rest of the team will be doctors, nurses, technicians, and department leads. People who understand how policy changes affect patient care and staff morale in real, practical ways. Before I implement any major restructuring or budget adjustments, it will go to them first.”
She studied me carefully, her eyes moving from one of mine to the other. “What happens if they disagree with what you propose?”
“We’ll go back to the drawing board, but I’m hopeful this team will also be able to help me problem solve. To come up with solutions together rather than just shooting me down. I’m still working on the details.”
“Collaboration?” she said slowly, almost like she was too afraid to believe she could be understanding correctly. “Real, meaningful collaboration. Not just in name?”
“Look, I’ve recently learned that the numbers don’t always reflect what happens on the floor.
They don’t show the nurse who stays late to comfort a terrified patient or the technician who catches something a machine misses because they know the patterns.
I need people who know those things to tell me when my ideas are bad. That’s the only this works.”
Her lips parted slightly, disbelief flickering across her face before she schooled it back under control. “Are you actually serious about all this? Because it sounds too good to be true.”
“I am serious, Bree. We’ll have to fine-tune the system as we go,” I said honestly. “I’ve never done anything like this before. Not in this context anyway and there will be trial and error, but I want to be better than I have been. I need to be better.”
“You do?” she asked, her voice wobbling a little bit as tears welled on her eyelids again. “For real?”
“For real. I want to run this hospital in a way that saves lives without destroying the people who do the actual saving, and I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
” I paused for a beat, but I’d come this far and she was still here, so I pushed forward.
“I don’t expect you to forget what I did and I don’t expect forgiveness just because I made some changes, but I am asking for something. ”
She swallowed hard. “What’s that?”
“A second chance,” I said, my throat and my chest suddenly so tight that I might be needing a doctor myself if this didn’t go my way. “With the hospital, and with me.”
I took a step closer, lowering my voice even though half the administrative wing was openly pretending not to eavesdrop. “I love you, Bree.”
My pulse roared in my ears as every pair of curious eyes seemed to glue themselves to us. I could practically feel the shockwaves of my confession traveling down the hall, flying into every corner of the hospital, but I didn’t give a shit.
The only thing I cared about right now was Bree. Her eyes widened, shock flashing across her face, but it was quickly followed by something deeper and warmer. Something more hopeful despite how incredulous it was at the same time.
“You… love me?” she asked, almost like she needed to hear it again to believe it.
“I do,” I said without skipping a beat. “I tried to convince myself I could compartmentalize you. Maybe even treat this like a distraction, but I failed. Pretty fucking spectacularly. You make me want to be a better man, a better leader, and frankly, a better human being. I’m not willing to lose that. I’m not willing to lose you.”
Her expression crumpled slightly, tears brightening her eyes, but she smiled through them. “I forgive you.”
Relief hit me so hard, my knees nearly gave out, but before I could even begin to respond, she stepped forward, grabbed the front of my shirt, and kissed me. Right there in front of the HR office.
The hallway erupted into a chorus of muffled gasps and very poorly disguised cheering.
I barely registered it. All I could focus on was the way she fit against me, soft, familiar, and devastatingly right.
I wrapped my arm around her hips and pulled her closer, grinning against her lips as I kissed her again.
“You’re not embarrassed of people knowing we’re together?” I asked between kisses, slightly breathless and more than slightly surprised.
“No. Not anymore.” She breathed out a soft laugh before her smile turned mischievous. “Although you might be getting in trouble with HR.”
“I checked on that,” I said, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek. “We just have to fill out some disclosure forms. Conflict-of-interest paperwork. It’s not actually anything dramatic.”
She glanced toward the HR door, then back at me, one eyebrow arching playfully. “Do we have to do that right this moment?”
“Probably not.”
“Good,” she said, sliding her hand into mine. “Because I can think of something better we could do instead.”
My pulse kicked up. “Oh yeah?”
Her answering smile was wicked and completely irresistible. “Come with me and find out.”
I didn’t need a second invitation. We ignored the increasingly obvious audience as she tugged me down the hallway and past a few staff members. I caught Liana leaning against a doorway further down with her arms crossed, grinning like she’d just balanced the world’s most complicated ledger.
Bree squeezed my hand, laughter bubbling out of her. We pushed through the exit doors and walked into the bright afternoon sunlight. The crisp air outside hit my lungs, sharp and clean, like everything had finally reset.
“Your place or mine?” I asked as we reached the parking lot.
She gave me a look that suggested I should already know the answer. “Your place. You have better snacks.”
I laughed and immediately pulled her toward where my car was parked. For the first time since she’d walked out of my office, the future didn’t feel like something I had to control down to the last decimal point. It felt wide open and she was running straight into it with me.