Page 3 of Rules of the Heart

“Alright, people, good job! Let’s close her up and get her to recovery.”

Ella was floating on a cloud as she wheeled Wendy to the surgical ICU for observation and recovery. Wendy would live a long life. She had the chance to begin her life anew after her parents disowned her, free of cancer. It was everything Ella had hoped for.

She knew, of course, that what she had done would inevitably come out, but she had hoped to at least get some sleep to prepare herself for the confrontation with James.

No such luck. James was waiting at the entrance to the ICU, his arms folded and his expression thunderous.

“What the hell is this?” he hissed.

Ella took a deep breath. “I did the surgery on Wendy pro-bono.”

“I can see that! What I can’t understand is how I could have made myself any clearer when I told you that you were NOT TO DO THE SURGERY!”

Ella handed Wendy’s bed over to one of the ICU nurses before turning to James. “You made yourself perfectly clear, but I made an oath, James. I swore to save lives, not to save money. I chose to go against your orders. The decision is solely on me. None of the others who participated knew that the surgery was happening without your approval.”

“Get out of here,” James snarled.

“What?”

“Get out of my hospital and don’t come back! This is one time too many, Ella! I’m not dealing with your insubordinate shit any longer. You’re fired!”

Ella rocked back on her heels. She had known that she’d be in trouble, but she hadn’t thought James would take it as far as firing her. “James, be reasonable. We’re on the same side here. We’re both out to save lives. Let’s just talk about this like adults.”

“The time to talk about it like adults is long past, Ella. There are no more second chances for you—or third, fourth, or fifth chances. You’re a brilliant surgeon, and I hate to see you go, but I cannot have someone who is going to blow millions of dollars of hospital money without authorization. It’s just not feasible.”

Perhaps he was expecting her to apologize or beg, but Ella wasn’t going to do either of those things. She still held that she had been in the right, and any doctor who cared about their oath would see that.

“Fine.” She had to fight back tears as she turned to leave. This place had been her second home for over five years now. When you loved your work as much as Ella did, it was inevitable.

Now, she would need to find somewhere else. Ella wasn’t hugely worried about finding a new job. She was one of the top surgeons in her field. Sure, she had a reputation for not playingby the rules, but was that really important when she did what she was truly supposed to do—save lives?

Ella went home and fell straight into bed, exhausted. She supposed that she didn’t have to get up tomorrow, at least, being without a job.

Ella was woken what felt like minutes later, though she could tell from the sun that it must be several hours, by her phone ringing.

She answered without looking at the screen. “Hello?” Her voice was scratchy with exhaustion and she cleared her throat.

“Hello, is the Doctor Ella Ashton?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“My name is Andre Kline. I heard that you are in the market for a job.”

Well, that certainly got out quickly. She hadn’t even sent out any applications yet.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’d like to offer you a position at my facility—Yarley Medical.”

Ella’s breath caught in her throat. Yarley Medical had one of the best surgical wards in the country. Working there would be a dream come true.

“Seriously? Yarley wants me? Do you know about my track record?”

“That’s right. We heard about the surgery you did yesterday. That kind of thing may be unorthodox, but it’s gained you a lot of public sympathy, and hiring you would be a huge publicity boost for the hospital, not to mention your skills as a surgeon.”

“How is there already a publicity boost? I just did the surgery last night!”

“When your team heard that you were fired, one of them did a confidential interview with a reporter. They didn’t reveal theiridentity, but they told your story, about how hard you fought for your patient and were punished for it.”

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