Page 88 of You Loved Me Once
“What’s going on?” The fear is etched into each syllable.
“Your wife has a bleed, and I need to go in and stop it. We’re going to prep her for surgery right away,” I explain.
He shakes his head as if he can dispel the information I just gave him. “She was fine five minutes ago.”
“Peyton, I’ll be okay,” she holds his hand, and he clutches hers.
“Ali, I love you,” Bryce tells her.
“I love you, too.”
Martina clears her throat. “I need to get her down there, sir.”
He smiles, pulls himself together, and releases her hands. “Okay,” his eyes don’t leave hers. “You’ll be okay.”
Allison touches his face. “Go do some work. I’ll be back soon.”
They kiss, and then she’s wheeled out. I start to make my way behind them, but Bryce moves, blocking my exit.
I see the turmoil in his eyes, the fear and pain, and then resolve.
“I know you’re angry with me,” he sniffs. “I’ve been a dick to you. I’ve asked you to do things I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry. I need you to know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t love you the way I should have.”
My heart races, and I raise my hand. “Allison is my patient. If you’re worried that whatever we were will affect how I treat her, you don’t have to. I care about her, and I’m going to do everything in my power. This is a routine surgery, okay? You begged me to stay on as her doctor because I’m good at what I do. Now I need to go do it.”
He looks at me with a tinge of hope and his lips form a thin line. “Thank you, Serenity. I mean that.”
Despite everything, I do care about him. I can imagine this is every fear he can imagine coming to life. His ex-girlfriend, operating on his wife after a huge blow-up. However, I’m not his ex-girlfriend right now, I’m Allison’s doctor.
“Go get some coffee, I’ll be back in a bit to update you.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, I’m doing my job.”
I head into the operating room, where Allison is prepped. My mind is moving at light speed, preparing for every possibility and creating an attack plan. Once I’m scrubbed up, I go in to talk to her one more time.
“You doing okay? Any questions?” I ask.
“Can I?” She stops. “Can I talk to you for just a minute? Alone?”
“Now?”
She nods.
“Okay.”
My stomach drops a little, but I can’t say no. I look around the room and jerk my head to the side. Everyone leaves, and her green eyes start to leak. She’s terrified, and I need to calm her down.
I pull my mask down. “I know you’re scared, but I promise I’m going to take care of you.”
“I need to tell you that I know who you are, Serenity,” Allison confesses. “I know that you were once engaged to Bryce.”
Oh, God. I can’t hide my surprise and I gasp. If she knows, why the hell is she here? Is it just to meet me? Why does it matter, though?
I quickly try to explain, “I don’t know what to say. I swear there’s nothing between us.”
“I found out about you four years ago by accident. I heard his family saying some things about letting go of you, and I got curious. There was this sadistic part of me that needed to see who you were, so I started digging. It wasn’t malicious, I just had to know if he ever truly loved me.”
