Page 65 of Doctor Bossy

Oh God, charges? Meaning possible fines and jail time? How on earth was I going to even afford a lawyer? I hadn’t thought this far, but I still wasn’t going to back down on my statement.

“On the other hand, you did admit to your wrongdoing,” the university president said. “So I guess that counts for something. We will let you know when we figure out if we’re pursuing criminal charges or not.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, and my voice truly cracked this time. I could hear the tears in my voice when I said the words, and I hoped like hell that I could make it out of this without crying. That would only be added humiliation on top of everything else I’d already been through today.

Finally satisfied to have caught the culprit, the two men vacated the office with the promise to return when Griffin came back. It was now time to face the music from my coworkers. Willa said nothing, but I noticed she did not even glance my way when she ran to grab the phone that had been ringing off the hook since the whole thing happened. Leila and Marco stood there silently for a few seconds until Marco finally asked in an incredulous tone, “Did you really do that?”

I looked up at him and nodded, watching his eyes flare wide open in shock. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I didn’t want to risk anyone else finding out and the suspicion falling on Griffin again.

“Wow,” he said. “That was…really bad.”

I nearly smiled. It was the first time I had ever seen Marco lost for words. He shook his head once, twice, then said, “I don’t really know what to say to you right now.”

There was something else in his voice, something I’d never heard before. When he looked up at me, I realized what it was. Marco was usually so affable and jokey that it was odd to see his face twisted in such anger.

“You realize you could have cost everyone here our jobs, right?” he berated. “And Dr. Griffin his reputation. Not to mention wash years of research down the drain. What you did was incredibly stupid.”

“Marco, that’s enough,” Leila’s voice was a quiet force, and I felt her gaze on my face. I didn’t look at her but watched Marco turn to her with an incredulous look.

“You’re defending her,” he gasped in shock.

“She’s admitted to her wrongdoing,” Leila said calmly. “There’s nothing else that can be done. Yelling at her won’t make anything better.”

Marco looked at her incredulously for a few seconds, and then he threw his hands up in exasperation.

“You know what?” he grouched. “I’m going back to work. I hope this doesn’t get out because if it does, the organization is toast.”

And with that, he stormed off, his anger a solid presence left behind in the surrounding air.

An awkward silence descended between Leila and me. I didn’t know what to say to her. But thankfully, she spoke up first.

“He doesn’t play with this job,” she said. “He’s the first person in his entire family to go to college and then medical school. This job is how he supports it. Plus, he adores Griffin. Griffin pays more than any other lab in the area, and Marco uses the money to take care of his grandmother too. If anything happens to his job, he would be out of a lot of money.“

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” I said, feeling worse and worse by the second. “I understand why he’s mad. What I did was stupid.”

She nodded, then I asked out of curiosity, “Why aren’t you angrier at me? I assumed you would be one of the first ones driving me out of the office by now.”

“Let’s just say I understand,” she said comfortingly, with a little smile that completely transformed her face. I mean, I’d always thought Leila was fairly pretty if a little too serious looking. But the smile was a little hesitant, and it gave her a girlish charm that was almost innocent.“I have friends in the other lab,” she continued. “I can see if they have an opening and put in a good word for you.”

I gave her a weak smile. I did not doubt that this news would spread quickly, effectively blacklisting me from any of the Broadchurch-affiliated labs. Maybe even all the other labs in the state, actually, if the news spread that far. I was screwed.

“Thanks,” I said anyway, and Leila nodded. She stood there for a few more seconds as if awkwardly trying to find something else to say, and when nothing came to mind, she gave me a stiff pat on the shoulder before turning around to return to her lab.

Cleaning out my desk was one of the more miserable experiences in my life. I remembered how excited I had been on my first day, unpacking all my knick-knacks, learning the inner workings of the lab, and looking forward to being here every day, partaking in important research. I remembered all my dreams from when I was young, and now it felt like they lay at my feet.

Without my permission, tears began to roll down my face anyway as I prepared to leave. My feet felt leaden as I walked out, and I waved at Leila on the way. I didn’t bother to say goodbye to Marco. I knew he was furious at me, but I hoped, sometime in the future, he could forgive this whole thing. I would miss his friendship if he didn’t.

As I walked home, I tried to think about my next step. I was now officially without a job, pregnant, and alone, with no idea what I was going to do next. And I was so exhausted from having to figure it out all the time. Sure, I was scrappy, but it felt like ever since I was young, my entire life had just been climbing an impossibly steep ladder with things being flung down at me and so many obstacles along the way. And this was just the latest. I was exhausted from fighting so much and having nothing easy come to me.

But I’ll figure it out, I tried to encourage myself.I always do.

On the way home, I called Kayley and asked her if I could stay with her for a few days. She scolded me for not telling her earlier but then assured me that I could come over. I decided to stop by my home first to grab a few clothes to go stay with her. I didn’t want to go pick it up from Griffin’s because I didn’t have the energy to deal with him if he was there right now.

I went to my house, feeling the depression nearly overwhelm me at the sight of the crime tape still surrounding my home. I ducked under it, heading in and seeing things packed by the door. Luckily, the movers hadn’t taken them yet, so I started sorting through them.

That was when I heard the sound.

I went on immediate alert, getting up and turning to the doorway, but it was too late. A dark-haired man with a scar on his cheek slipped into the house and closed the door behind him.

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