Page 86 of Aching for His Discretion

She was slightly concerned, but after hearing the brotherly dynamic of Elliot and Nico fighting over the remote and Micah asking me what was for dinner, she fell in love with them.

It was most likely the sibling bond we began to grow that she admired, much different from the bond I had with Declan and Dakota.

We stayed on the phone as I kissed Grayson goodbye and walked to the hospital. This became a bit of my routine if the boys wouldn’t take me, and I felt as though I’d gotten a bit used to it.

I was in the middle of my Pediatrics elective rotation, and soon, I would be doing another rotation in OB/GYN.

I wanted to focus on my application for residency, and I think the time away from Levi definitely helped. Though I hate to admit it, I missed him.I missed him a lot.

His touch, his words, his kisses, even his overbearing, protective nature—everything about him I missed greatly... But we needed this time apart.I needed time if I wanted to trust him again.

After arriving at the hospital, I had much of a normal shift. Nothing too crazy, as I assessed most of the children who were admitted to the hospital and talked to a few parents before charting for most of the morning.

I received a message, however, that soon brought my mood sour.

Declan: Get your little ass down to the emergency room. Your fucking boyfriend shot me.

Looking at the message, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I rubbed them a bit more, only for it to still say the same thing. The typing bubble came up, and he sent another message.

I don’t want to repeat myself, Teegan.

Placing my phone in my pocket, I sprinted to my attending physician to let her know I was in the middle of a family emergency. She quickly sent me away to take as much time as I needed, and I ran downstairs and entered the ER in a panic. As I arrived, I looked around frantically before hearing a familiar voice.

“Dr. Monroe?” Dr. Woods spoke, and I looked over to see the OB/GYN resident who helped me deliver my first baby in the OR and practically forced me to work with him because he couldn’t stand the other med students. He was most likely down here for a consult on a pregnant mother; however, I noticed he was talking to someone familiar.

“Dr. Woods? Dr. Gordon?” I questioned, noticing the doctor who also invited me to his anatomy lab around the same time and showed me the man Levi, unfortunately, killed with the help of my lidocaine suggestion.

And as if it wasn’t any more unfortunate timing, Dr. Wyatt, the doctor I worked with around the time I met Levi, made directeye contact with me as he stepped out of one of his patients’ rooms. He was also the first man Levi threatened to kill for me.

I’ll talk to the nurses when I get some more pain meds and antibiotics… and if he’s mean to you again, I’ll kill him.

...Feels like it was just yesterday.

“What are you doing down here? Did you get called down for a Pediatric consult?” Dr. Gordon asked as I had kept him regularly updated about what I was doing in the hospital when I had to decline his invitation to examine cadavers...

All three men looked at me expectantly as I bit my lip and replied, “No... I, uh, have a bit of a family emergency—”

“They’re in room 212,” Dr. Wyatt said, and I nodded my head to him as a thank-you as I went over to the room.

Opening the curtain, I saw Dakota sitting in a chair by Declan, who lay in the bed with a gunshot wound to his leg.

Dakota stood up as I walked in, and Declan glared at me. “What the fuck took you so long?” he seethed, and I flinched slightly at his tone as I closed the curtain behind me.

“I-I’m sorry, I was busy trying to get down here... What happened?” I asked as I approached him.

Dakota sighed. “We were doing a job and Levi happened to show up around there. Declan opened up his mouth and said a few choice words about your relationship—”

“And Levi shot you because of it?” I asked in shock, and Declan rolled his eyes.

“Yes. And he said the only reason he didn’t kill me is because he was fucking working on himself and trying to do better for you. So he shot me in the leg and not the fucking head,” he seethed.

I walked a bit closer to his chart to see he had already been administered painkillers and that a doctor would be in shortly to extract the bullet or talk about the surgical options as well.

Trying to do better for me. So instead of killing my brother, he only attempted to cripple him…

He was still trying, though… It’s the thought that counts—

Teegan.

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