Page 26 of The Surgeon's Secret

Lexi offered a small smile. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Catherine reached for her hand, brushing her fingers against Lexi’s wrist. It was a simple touch, but it sent a ripple of something sharp and painful through Lexi’s chest. Because Catherine didn’t belong here. Not really.

But she was here. And Lexi had let it happen.

Catherine tilted her head, studying her. “Are you okay?”

Lexi wanted to say yes. Wanted to shove her feelings down like she always did. But the words felt like ash in her mouth. Instead, she exhaled slowly and looked away. “I don’t know.”

Catherine frowned, but before she could press further, Lexi took a step back, gently untangling their fingers. “I need to get ready for work.”

She didn’t look at Catherine as she left the kitchen, knowing that if she did, she might not be able to keep pretending she was fine. And pretending was the only thing holding her together right now.

Turning her thoughts over in her mind, Lexi reached for her phone, her fingers grazing the edge of the screen as she unlocked it, eyes briefly catching on the time. She had to go to work in less than an hour, but a part of her wanted to go back to bed and hide from the reality that was waiting for her.

A quick glance at her messages told her that wasn’t an option.

Josephine:Let’s talk later.

That was all. It should have made her feel hopeful, but Lexi didn’t know what to say. Their relationship, which had been strained since the beginning with weight of their shared history, had felt like walking on eggshells since Josephine found out about the affair. Josephine had barely acknowledged Lexi since, refusing to look at her in the hallways and offering only sharp, short answers to anything Lexi said. Lexi wasn’t sure how to fix it.

She sighed, locking her phone and setting it aside. She couldn’t focus on Josephine right now. Not when the memory of Catherine’s touch was still fresh in her mind, still pulling at her heart in a way she couldn’t explain.

Her mind kept going back to the way Catherine had looked at her—like she was the only person in the room, like they had all the time in the world. But Lexi knew better than anyone thattime was a luxury they didn’t have. Secrets, after all, had a shelf life.

She couldn’t avoid the truth forever.

Lexi moved through her morning routine on autopilot, trying to push away the rising tide of guilt that accompanied her every thought about Josephine. The wall Josephine had built between them was impenetrable.

Lexi had hoped for something more. She’d hoped that the bond of being sisters would be enough to bridge the gap of the years they’d lost. But every time she tried to extend an olive branch, Josephine recoiled. She was cold, distant, like she didn’t care about Lexi at all.

And Lexi didn’t know how to fix that. How could she fix something that Josephine clearly didn’t want to fix?

There had been times when Lexi had wondered if Josephine even cared. Maybe she was fine with being an only child. Maybe she didn’t want the complication of another family member, especially one who came with baggage. The realization stung more than Lexi cared to admit, but it also fueled her determination. She wasn’t going to give up. She couldn’t. Not when she’d already lost so much.

But today, like the days before, Josephine’s iciness was deafening.

Lexi’s phone buzzed again, pulling her from her thoughts. Another message from Josephine:

I’ll be at the hospital early today. Can you meet me in my office at noon?

Lexi stared at the message, her heart skipping a beat. The last thing she wanted right now was to face Josephine with the weight of her secrets hanging over her. Lexi wasn’t sure what this conversation would entail—was Josephine finally going to bring up how she felt about having a sister? Or was she going toconfront Lexi about the growing tension she’d noticed at work, the distracted glances, the secret relationship?

Lexi clenched her jaw and ran a hand through her hair. This wasn’t the time for more conflict, but it felt like it was inevitable. Lexi was terrified of what Josephine might say—or worse, what she might do about the affair.

She had no idea how to balance it all. She had no idea how to reconcile her growing feelings for Catherine with her desire to forge a relationship with Josephine. The weight of the affair—her love for Catherine, their secret moments—felt like a heavy secret she carried everywhere she went.

It wasn’t just Catherine and Josephine that she was lying to. It was herself.

Lexi glanced at the clock. There wasn’t time to think about it any longer. She had a job to do, and she couldn’t let herself drown in the chaos of her emotions. She had to put one foot in front of the other, focus on work, and hope that by the time she got to the hospital, she’d have figured out what to say to Josephine.

But deep down, Lexi knew that nothing would be easy anymore. The web of secrets was tightening around her, and she was running out of time to untangle it all.

The hospital was buzzing as usual with the rhythmic sound of footsteps echoing through the halls, the distant beeping of machines, and the hurried murmur of nurses and doctors attending to their rounds. Lexi moved through it all like a ghost, her body going through the motions but her mind elsewhere. It was difficult to focus with her thoughts constantly drifting back to Catherine and the growing emotional conflict within her.

The affair with Catherine had become something more than just a physical connection. It had seeped into her mind and soul, threading its way through her every thought. But as much as it felt like the most right thing in her life, it also came with a hefty burden—the secrecy, the guilt, the fear of it all falling apart. And today, that burden felt heavier than ever.

Lexi made her way into the surgical wing, trying to push her internal chaos aside as she focused on her first patient of the day. But despite her best efforts, her mind couldn’t help but wander. It was as if every patient she passed in the hallway and every colleague she saw was a reminder that she was hiding something monumental from the people she worked with every day.

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