Redemption Series Boxed Set, Books 1-4

by Sandi Lynn

  “Welcome back, Dr. Finn. Dr. Harper. Happy to see you’re both on time today. “Dr. Harper, how is the boy you helped last week?”

  “He’s paralyzed, your Honor. But I’m hoping with Dr. Finn’s help, he will have a chance to walk again.”

  Why the hell would she tell the judge that? I took in a deep breath and just wanted this over with as quickly as possible.

  “Let’s hope that happens. Now, moving on to the reason why you are back in my courtroom. You have filed to have your marriage annulled. Dr. Finn, you are one of the best neurosurgeons in the country, and Dr. Harper, you are one of the best trauma surgeons around. You’re both young and so incredibly successful for your ages. The thing that I’ve thought about over the past week, after having my clerk gather some information on the both of you, is why would these two extremely intelligent doctors, who barely know each other, decide on the spur of the moment to get hitched while attending a medical conference in Las Vegas? Any answers?” She looked at me and Grace.

  “We made a mistake, your Honor,” I spoke.

  “Your Honor, they were highly intoxicated and not of sound mind,” Tony spoke.

  “Blah, blah, blah.” She waved her hand. “You know what I love? I love when people screw up their lives or make mistakes, and instead of taking responsibility themselves, they blame the alcohol. Maybe you shouldn’t have drunk so much.” She glared at us. “With that being said, I am denying the annulment of your marriage for at least six more months.”

  A sickness settled in the pit of my stomach as I started to profusely sweat.

  “What the fuck, Tony?” I whispered.

  “Your Honor. My clients and I aren’t quite sure what’s going on here.”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on. It is the decision of this court that the marriage between Dr. Jamieson Finn and Dr. Grace Harper stays as is for six more months with the following rules set in place: Dr. Harper will move into Dr. Finn’s beach home, where they will reside as roommates for the next six months. I have already ordered your apartment complex to change your locks first thing tomorrow morning. So, I would advise you, Dr. Harper, to gather your things after leaving this courthouse. Also, there will be someone visiting your home, Dr. Finn, once a week to make sure that Dr. Harper is indeed staying there.”

  “Your Honor, you can’t do that!” I shouted.

  “Dr. Finn, I can do anything I please. If you want to make it a full year, I can change it right now.”

  “Jamieson, don’t say another word,” Tony spoke.

  Grace

  I stood there in shock and took in a deep breath to prevent going straight into a panic attack. Why the hell was she doing this? The last thing I wanted to do was live with that man.

  “I’m sorry, your Honor, but I need an explanation as to why you’re doing this to us?” I softly and calmly spoke.

  “Why, Dr. Harper? I’ll tell you why. The two of you were incredibly irresponsible. I’m sure during your inebriated state, you thought it would be fun to go and get married without realizing the consequences after the fact. You both took something sacred and made a mockery of it. I would hate to think that either one of you would act so reckless in the operating room. Let this be a lesson to both of you. I’m sure your attorney will appeal this decision, which I will tell you right now is a waste of your money. This case, if you are lucky, will get to the appellate court maybe in a year. I will see you back here in six months. Court is adjourned.”

  I slowly sank down in the chair behind me as Jamieson stared at me.

  “Can she do this?” I asked Tony.

  “She’s the judge. This is her courtroom. She can do anything she wants.”

  I took in a deep breath as I stood up to leave.

  “We’re appealing this,” Jamieson spoke as we followed Tony out of the courtroom.

  “Jamieson, it’s going to take longer than six months. Listen, my best advice to you both is to just co-exist. You’re both doctors and have very busy schedules. You won’t even see each other that much at home,” Tony spoke. “It’s only six months. It could be worse. Just deal with it and it’ll be over with before you know it.”

  “This is unacceptable, Tony!” Jamieson harshly spoke.

  “Jamieson, that’s enough!” I shouted at him. “We don’t have a choice, so just shut up!” I stormed out of the building.

  “Grace!” he yelled as he ran after me and grabbed my arm. “This is not okay.”

  “No, it’s not! But like I said, we have no choice. I’ll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine.”

  I left the hospital around seven thirty, went to my apartment, packed my bags, and drove over to Jamieson’s house.

  “Hey,” Jamieson spoke as he opened the door.

  “Hey.”

  “Is that all you brought?” he asked as he stared at my one suitcase.

  “No. My other bags are in the car.”

  “I can go get the rest of them.”

  “No. I can do it. Just tell me which room I’ll be staying in.”

  “Up the stairs, first door on the right.”

  I took my suitcase up the stairs and opened the door to the room that I’d be staying in for the next six months. I felt sick. I hated leaving my apartment behind. Especially when I was still paying rent and couldn’t live in it. I’d finally made it into a home, my home. A place where it felt good to go to after a long, exhausting day at the hospital. Now, I’d be staying in a place that didn’t feel so good. A place where I didn’t want to be, and I wasn’t welcomed.

  I went downstairs to grab the rest of my things from the car and I saw Jamieson walk in with my other suitcase and my bags.

  “What are you doing? I told you I got it.”

  “I know, but I wasn’t going to let you do it all by yourself while I just stand here. I’m not that much of an asshole.”

  “Yeah. Okay,” I spoke with sarcasm. “Anyway, thanks.” I went to grab them from him.

  “I can carry it up, Grace. Stop being so stubborn.”

  I rolled my eyes and started walking up the stairs while he followed behind. Suddenly, I stopped mid-step and turned around.

  “This whole pretending to be nice is starting to get on my nerves, and I’ve only been here ten minutes. Just stop, Jamieson. You don’t want me here and I don’t want to be here. So let’s stop the fakeness and do our own thing.”

  “Wow, you really hate me, don’t you?” he spoke.

  “No.” I slowly shook my head as I sat down on the step. “I don’t hate you. It’s just that judge is an idiot and it really bothered me what she said about us being reckless in the operating room. Who the fuck is she to say something like that?”

  He set down my suitcase and sat down on the step with me.

  “She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. Maybe other surgeons are reckless in the operating room, but not us. I’ve seen you operate and you’re incredibly skilled and talented.”

  “Thanks.” I gave him a small smile. “So are you.”

  “Listen, Grace, I’m going to be very honest with you. I don’t like to share my things with anyone and I like living alone. All my things have their place and I tend to get anxious if anyone messes with that.”

  “Are you like OCD or something?” I arched my brow at him.

  “No. It stems from my childhood. But don’t ask because I’m not telling you anything.”

  “Honestly, I don’t even want to know. I gave up trying to figure you out.” I smirked. “Even if you are my husband.”

  He chuckled. “That word really gets to me. I don’t want to be anybody’s husband, no offense.”

  “None taken.” I smiled.

  Chapter 31

  Jamieson

  Living in the same house with her wasn’t going to be easy. No matter what happened between us and how angry I was, she was still one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all the sex we’d had. What I wouldn’t give to go into her
bedroom, throw her on the bed, and fuck the life out of her. But I couldn’t. Things between us were different now. Once this got out at the hospital, my sex life would go to shit. What the fuck was I going to do? I just had to keep telling myself that it was only for six months, but it felt like more of a life sentence.

  Grace was in her room and I was headed to bed. It was late, and I was sure she was sound asleep. As I passed by her bedroom, I heard her talking. Her light was off, so I slowly opened the door to check on her. I found her standing in the corner of the room, in the pitch dark, repeating the same thing over and over again.

  “Time of death,” she spoke.

  “Time of death.”

  “Time of death.”

  I turned on the light in the hallway and stepped inside the room. Walking over to her, I placed my hand on her shoulder.

  “Grace.”

  “Time of death,” she spoke as she looked at me.

  I took hold of her arm and walked her over to the bed.

  “Get back into bed,” I spoke as I covered her with the sheet.

  She rolled over on her side and tucked her hands underneath the pillow. I walked out of the room, and before shutting the door, I looked at her one last time. What was going on in that head of hers?

  The next morning, I walked downstairs, and she was already up and had the coffee made.

  “Good morning,” I spoke.

  “Good morning. I was just leaving.”

  “How did you sleep?” I asked.

  “Pretty good. That bed is really comfortable.” She lightly smiled.

  “No nightmares or dreams?”

  “Why are you asking?”

  “It’s just I was on my way to bed and I heard you talking. I opened your door to check on you and you were standing in the corner of the bedroom repeating ‘time of death.’ Last night wasn’t the first time I heard you say that in your sleep.”

  “Oh. Well, if I was, I don’t remember. I have to go. I don’t want to be late.” She grabbed her purse.

  When I arrived at the hospital, I went straight to my research room. I didn’t have any surgeries scheduled for today, so I figured while it was quiet, I’d do some research on the electrode implants.

  “Is it official?” Renata asked as she walked in. “Is your marriage annulled?”

  “Good morning to you too, Renata. No. It is not annulled.” I sighed.

  “Why not? What happened now?”

  “You’re going to love this. You better have a seat.” I gestured with my hand. “The judge ordered Grace to move into my beach house for six months. She basically said it was our punishment for being so reckless and mocking the sacrament of marriage.”

  Renata held back a laugh until she couldn’t anymore.

  “You’re kidding. So now you and Grace are living together? At your house?”

  “Yep.”

  “And she’s still your wife?”

  “Yep.”

  “This is karma in its highest form.” She laughed. “Well, not for that poor girl, but for you.”

  “I’m glad you think it’s so funny. Don’t you have people to boss around? I’m trying to work here.”

  “I’m going to go down and check on that poor girl and make sure she’s okay.”

  “Renata, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure, what it is?”

  “Last night I found Grace standing in the corner of her bedroom. She was sleeping but repeating the words ‘time of death’ over and over again. Do you have any idea why? It isn’t the first time I’ve heard her say that in her sleep.”

  She stared at me for a few moments with a look of hesitation.

  “She calls time of death all the time. Maybe it bothers her.”

  “Yeah. Maybe,” I spoke.

  I continued with my research and then got on the phone and called the doctor in Switzerland.

  Grace

  I stood on the deck and stared out at the sand and listened to the whispers of the ocean. As I looked out, I saw my parents and me. A memory before they died. It was a hot and sunny day and we wanted to spend it at the beach. My mom would set up three chairs with an umbrella large enough to shade us from the sun. She would read, and my dad and I would play in the sand building sandcastles and go swimming in the ocean. Not many people could say they had a perfect childhood. I wasn’t one of those people. Mine was perfect up until I turned ten years old.

  “What are you doing?” Jamieson asked.

  “Shit. You startled me.” I placed my hand over my heart.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

  “I’m just taking in this beautiful view.”

  “Did you eat yet?” he asked.

  “No. I was just thinking about making something.”

  “Let’s order in. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  “Okay.”

  We placed an order for Chinese food. While we were waiting for it to be delivered, I went upstairs to change into something more comfortable while Jamieson set the table. The food arrived, and I was a little nervous as to what he had to talk to me about.

  “I did some research on the electrode implants and I talked to the doctor in Switzerland. They did a trial but haven’t published it yet. Ten patients, ten implants, and all ten failed. The patients were still paralyzed. I’m sorry, Grace, but Justin’s L6 was crushed. You saw the X-rays. I think you’re asking for the impossible here. The implant won’t work, and I don’t want to get that kid’s hopes up.”

  “Nothing is impossible, Jamieson. Impossible is a word you of all people shouldn’t be using. You’re a brilliant neurosurgeon. You remove brain tumors that no other doctor in the world would touch. You’ve done the impossible. So how can you sit there and say that to me?”

  “Because it’s a fact! And I will not give that boy hope when there isn’t any.”

  “Figure it out, Jamieson. Take the research they’ve already done and figure it out. I know for a fact you’ve done deep brain stimulation for certain diseases.”

  “That’s different and you know it. Or maybe you don’t because you’re not a neurosurgeon.”

  “Please, just try.”

  “I can’t. I don’t have time anyway. I’m in the middle of something else.”

  “Oh, that’s right, your schizophrenia research. You really think you’re going to find a cure for that? You have a better chance at helping someone walk. And what’s your obsession with it anyway? Do you know someone who is schizophrenic?”

  “I’ve seen patients with it and it’s a horrible way to live. If I can help them return to their normal lives, then I’m going to do it,” he spoke in a harsh tone.

  “But yet you won’t try to help a sixteen-year-old kid who was just crossing the street and was ran down by an erratic driver walk again? You won’t try to help him return to his normal life? You know what, Jamieson? All this shit you’re doing for schizophrenia is nothing but a pipedream.”

  “Get the hell out of my house!” he shouted as he flipped his plate of food over on the table, knocking over a glass as it hit the floor and shattered.

  “I would if I could, but I can’t!” I shouted back.

  He threw his napkin across the table and stormed out of the kitchen. I took in a long deep breath to try and calm my racing heart. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I knelt down on the floor to clean up his damn mess and my knee slipped on a wet spot and my arm slid across the broken glass.

  “Shit!” I yelled. “Damn it!” I held up my arm as blood profusely dripped from it.

  I officially hated Dr. Jamieson Finn. I grabbed a towel and tightly wrapped it around my arm. Opening the front door, I ran to my car and grabbed my medical bag. When I stepped back inside the house, I saw Jamieson coming down the stairs.

  “I thought maybe you left. What the hell happened?” he asked as he stared at the blood-soaked towel wrapped around my arm.

  “Nothing. Leave me alone!”

  I raced up the stairs and into the bathr
oom and locked the door. Taking a seat on the toilet, I opened my medical bag and took out my suture kit.

  “Grace Harper, open up this door!” He pounded.

  “I told you to leave me alone!”

  “Too fucking bad. You’re hurt. Let me see.”

  “No!”

  “Grace, I’m warning you!”

  “Warn all you want, Jamieson. I’m not afraid of you!”

  All of a sudden, the lock popped, and Jamieson opened the door.

  “Oh my God. Will you please just leave me alone?” I spoke.

  “Let me see it,” he calmly spoke as he approached me.

  “I can stitch it up myself. So please leave and let me get to it.”

  He carefully took hold of my arm and examined the wound.

  “You have a couple small pieces of glass in there. I need to get them out before I stitch you up. Where did you get that medical bag?”

  “My car.”

  “You keep a fully stocked medical bag in your car?” The corners of his mouth curved upwards.

  “Yes. In case of an emergency. Like this one!” I cocked my head.

  “Grace, I’m sorry. This happened to you because of me. I didn’t mean—”

  “Don’t apologize. I’m sorry for what I said. I never should have said that. This is my punishment for being mean.”

  “It looks like you’ll need about four or five stitches. Do you want to do a couple shots of tequila before I get started?” He grinned. “You seem nervous.”

  “The only thing I’m nervous about is you not doing it perfectly and leaving me with a scar. I won’t leave a scar. So hand over the sutures and let me stitch myself.”

  “I’m not going to leave a scar. I can promise you that. Are you ready?”

  “I’ll be watching you very carefully, Dr. Finn.” I narrowed my eye at him.

  He removed the couple pieces of glass from my arm and then perfectly stitched it up.

  “There. All done.”

  “Thanks. You did good.” I smiled as I stared into his eyes. “I still hate you.”