Page 84 of Secret Baby for Dr. Grump

But a week into calling, texting, and realizing she hasn’t replied once other than to confirm a playdate with Riley two weekends later, my anger comes crashing down on me when a couple of things flash into my mind: she’s not coming back. She’s not changing her mind.

Olivia doesn’t want me anymore.

Anger turns into misery. Misery makes it hard to keep up the confidence, and soon, any reason to go to the hospital—or even do anything beyond rolling out of bed—feels pointless. I call in sick in the next couple of days, only pulling myself out of it when there’s yet another scheduled surgery that I can’t miss.

It’s just my luck that Kyle is the first person to greet me when I finally manage to pull myself together. He scrutinizes my face first.

“A little birdie told me that you’ve become a monster since your medical assistant quit on you.”

“You can tell that little birdie to fuck off.”

Kyle’s lips quirk, but his brows betray his worry. Not wanting to face that, I sidestep him. But the man is tenacious, following me in my office and sitting his ass on the edge of the table beside mine.

Olivia’s table…or it was hers, at least. Fuck. I miss her so much.

But I hate how she dumped me so much.

I hate that I know I won’t be over it, and my next playdate with Riley will probably be messy as hell. On cue, I take out my phone to check for a reply—and realize too late that Kyle’s still watching me.

“Your phone didn’t ring. Which means you’re waiting for a message. And since the little birdie told me that your medical assistant filed an immediate resignation, I’m going to assume…”

At that, I stop him with a sharp look.

“Nothing. You assume and people will talk. You assume and you’ll jeopardize someone’s reputation, and she can’t even defend herself because she’s not here anymore.”

If anything, that confirms his assumptions. But I know Kyle. He takes in my words in silence, then nods.

“Hmm. Point taken.” He holds up his hands. “And hey, no malice here. My little birdie is just concerned.”

Wanda. I don’t even blame her for calling me a monster because that’s exactly how I’ve been acting lately. My shoulders relax a bit when I realize Wanda didn’t tell Kyle anything—he’s just smart enough to put two and two together.

Kyle tilts his head. “So, I take it you’re returning full time to the hospital now?”

“Hmm.”

“Good. I’ve been covering for your absence, and honestly? I can’t stand your patients.”

My lips quirk at that. “That’s because they demand the best. And you’re not even a neurosurgeon.”

“I’m the only one they can pull last minute. And I am the best at my field, which is what I mostly discussed with your patients, anyway. So, I take it you got dumped and your assistant moved on?”

He means it in a work-related manner, I think, but my heart sees it differently—and just like that, it cracks again, reality hitting me so hard that my knees almost buckle. I manage to control myself in front of Kyle, though, and jerk toward the door.

“Stop gossiping and go do your thing.”

“If you mean charming the hospital staff and other patients, sure. By the way, just because I can’t stand your patients doesn’t mean they hate me. On the contrary…”

“Steal them all you want.”

He chuckles, understanding I don’t mean that. Despite what he says, I do like most of my patients. But the memory of the patients that I don’t like reminds me of the patient who was rude to Olivia—and just like that, she’s in my orbit again and I’m a miserable fool.

I strap it all down and get to work. My mood doesn’t improve when I find out that James isn’t in today and all HR can say is that Olivia’s resignation was cleared by the director before it even got to them. When I reach one of the staff lounges and hear laughter, I almost want to leave the hospital.

Which I can’t.

I still have to turn a corner to see them since they seem to be in one of the corner couches, but I’m already scowling and more than ready to spread my damn mood like a disease.

“You seem to be in a good mood lately, Mark,” someone says, to which Mark responds with another laugh. It grates on my already frayed nerves.

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