Page 24 of Drake Eternal

I wasn’t at fault.

They were for breaking the ethics rules.

I went into the kitchen area and selected a sandwich and some soup and paid for my food. Then, I found a table at the opposite end of the cafeteria from them and sat with my back to them, so I didn’t have to even look at them.

I ate in silence, reading over my Facebook feed to see what was up with Sophie and Kate back in New York. Luckily, Kate made sure to post every day something with Sophie so I could smile and not miss them so much. There was a photo Kate had taken on the boardwalk, with Sophie standing on the bottom rung of a fence overlooking the water, waving at the camera, wearing her special sunglasses which were rainbow-colored and had heart-shaped frames. She seemed so happy that I couldn’t help but smile.

Such an easy-going child…

I hearted the post and in a comment below the photo, I wrote, I miss my two girls!

Then, I checked my emails and finished my food while reading over the news headlines. Just as I was getting up to leave, I saw Sam barreling towards me. Paul was trailing behind her, his expression one of embarrassment.

I stood and gathered my papers as she came to my table.

“Don’t think you’ll get away with this,” she said under her breath as she passed me. Luckily, that was the end of the conversation. She kept walking, but Paul looked incredibly guilty. Sam was a very strong dominant personality, which was why we would have never worked out as a couple. She had to be in control, and she had to have things go her way.

I hoped that Paul had more strength than that, because as a hopeful surgeon, he had to be in control, not waiting for someone else to tell him what to do.

Maybe he, like I had been, was just using her for sex, and wasn’t really into being a true couple.

Paul stopped beside me. “You don’t have to worry,” he said quietly. “We ended the relationship. She wasn’t happy, but I decided that there was too much gossip for my comfort.”

“I’m sorry that it worked out this way, but in truth, I have an oath to keep, and I value my friendship with Dr. Owiti too much to have said nothing. I hope you understand.”

“I do.” With that, he gave me a weak smile and then walked by.

So, he had broken it off with Sam, figuring it was a mistake to keep up the relationship…

That would make Sam even more angry with me. Part of me felt guilty for breaking them up, but also, the other part — the more dominant part — knew it was necessary. There was a rule about relationships with your resident for a reason. It was bad for everyone, even if the sexual relationship was fulfilling temporarily. It got in the way of evaluations, which could never be unbiased if you were sleeping with your resident.

But they didn’t have to break up once she was no longer his supervisor.

It must have been his idea.

Sam would be extra angry with me as a result.

I finished my food and gathered up my paper and went back to my office, determined to put it out of my mind. Still, I was worried about the fallout between Sam and me. It would affect our ability to work together. Hopefully, we wouldn’t have to. If we did, I vowed to be professional, and I hoped Sam would do the same, but she sounded vengeful.

That comment was meant as a threat.

As I walked down the hallway back to my office, I wondered whether I should let Michael know about what she’d said. Part of me wanted to just forget about Sam and her anger, but another part thought that perhaps it would be best to let Michael know, just in case I turned up dead one day…

I smiled to myself. Sam was angry, but she wasn’t a killer.

She wasn’t Lisa Monroe…

I sat behind my desk and spent the next few hours reviewing case files and studying CT scans, evaluating patients so I could prioritize them for surgery. In that way, I passed the afternoon. Finally, around five o’clock, I heard a knock at my door.

“Come in,” I said and glanced up from the files in front of me.

It was Michael.

“Do you have a few minutes? I thought we should talk.”

“For you, anytime.”

Michael came inside and sat in the chair across from me. He rested his hands on the arms of the chair and exhaled heavily.

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