“Tell me,” he urged with gritted teeth. “It is Kate Hades and her father, isn’t it? Tell me the details so that I can find something to bring them down.”
“And you think I haven’t tried? You think I would give you up that easily?”
She placed her hand on his cheek, softly recalling and committing his features to heart. The tears fell from her eyes.
“I had hoped you would forget me,” she said. “That you would move on. You’re a smart guy, Caleb, that is exactly what you should have done. But what is this? Why am I still buried so deeply within your heart?”
He took her hand from his face and held it against his chest. “You are my heart,” he said. “The moment I chose to love you was the moment it ceased from being inside of my chest. It is with you, so when you left, you left me incomplete, and you’re about to do it again. Please don’t break me once again. I won’t survive it.”
“Caleb stop!” she cried, and began to pull her hand from his grasp but he wouldn’t let her go.
“I can’t lose you,” she said. “I’d rather be without you than risk losing you. You can’t win over ruthlessness.”
“Yes, I can,” he exclaimed and the moment he said that, she froze. She looked into his eyes, and he knew that in that moment she believed him, and it scared her. There was a laughter behind the door and it brought them back to where they were.
She instantly began to wipe the tears from her eyes, as the complaints came through the door at why it wouldn’t open. She hurried over to her seat and picked her pizza back up.
“I need to kiss you,” he said and she stared at him.
“I’ll come by your office.”
“Promise?”
She nodded.
“Stop eating that trash,” he said. “I’ll get you a new box.”
He stepped away from the door and it fell open, almost throwing a nurse inside. He walked away before she could regain her composure enough to see him.
Chapter 20
“Who was that?” the nurse asked, and Aisha cocked her head as if to see past the door. She shrugged, so the nurse went out to check but Caleb was already gone.
“It was Dr. Pace, wasn’t it?” she asked and Aisha nodded with a smile.
The nurse’s eyes widened as she came over to sit with Aisha. “He wasn’t still scolding you for the child’s incident, was he? Oh my, I can see the tears in your eyes. Were you crying?”
“He was really mean,” Aisha said, and the nurse shook her head in pity for her.
“We call him Dr. Frost,” she said. “Pity you. Now you’re on his black list.”
“He has a black list?”
“He does,” the nurse said, “but he doesn’t know it. We’ve chucked it up to him being so brutally honest in every sense of the word. If he’s pissed off at you, he becomes a little colder or snappier. He can be dismissive one evening and the next morning he smiles at you again.”
“Isn’t that based on his mood?”
“To be honest, I don’t think he projects that onto us. He is only ever cold and snappy after he’s scolded us for something wrong, not just for any reason. He’s really good at hiding his feelings when it comes to himself. He’s a strange one, that Dr. Pace, but incredibly attractive.”
Aisha smiled and returned to her textbook.
“There’s word around the hospital though…” she began in a gossipy tone. “That you two are…”
Aisha lifted her gaze, her face expressionless. “We’re what?”
“You know…” the nurse teased and Aisha chuckled.
“No, I do not know.”
“He saved you in the ER, and just a few weeks later you’re working here.”
“We were acquaintances,” she said. “We used to work in the same hospital so we can’t help but be a bit more familiar.”
“Oh.”
Aisha suspected that the nurse was going to keep prying so she shut her book and rose to her feet.
"If a box of pizza comes, don’t you dare eat it all,” Aisha said to her and left the room. She got a call as she headed to Caleb's office, so changed her direction and hurried to the ER.
As she arrived, she met a gathering of the residents and a few nurses in the Hybrid Room. A report was shared with her as she arrived.
“Have you paged Dr. Pace?” she asked, and as if on cue, Caleb responded.
“I’m here.”
Aisha stepped aside, her stomach fluttering at the sight of him. He took the stethoscope from around his neck and examined the patient. Thereafter, the CT scans were brought to him.
“I’ll take this surgery,” he said and turned around to leave, but was stopped.
“Dr. Pace?” Jeremy Reed called. “Who’s going to be your first assistant?”
Caleb looked at the eager faces. “Well, who’s interested?” All the residents and intern shot up their hands, including Aisha.
“Dr. Graves will be the first assistant on this one,” he said. “We’ll discuss in time for the next.”
The groans of complaint echoed across the room.
“Why Aisha?”
“Because she’s a General Surgery specialist,” he said, “or do you want to take this opportunity from her?”
Aisha lowered her head as a blush spread across her face. Her specialist was not General Surgery since she was yet to choose one, and he knew that. “I’ll get ready,” she said and hurried from the room.
When she arrived to wash her hands, she met Caleb dressed with his surgical cap on and a pair of blue scrubs.
“Hey,” she said and he nodded.
“Are you ready?”
“I am.”
She went to stand by him and said. “My specialty isn’t General Surgery.”
“I’m aware,” he said. “I did it as a favor to you. So you better think long and hard about how you’re going to repay me. I doubt a simple kiss is going to cut it. Where’s your cap?”
She touched her head to see that she’d forgotten it, and her eyes widened with surprise.
He shook his head at her and began to rinse his hand.
Aisha checked to confirm that no one was coming their way and went over to hug him from behind.
“What is this for?” he asked as she revealed in his warmth.
“Nothing,” she answered and listened to his sharp intake of breath as she slipped her hand inside his pants.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“Appreciating your nomination.”
“You’re fucking heartless,” he breathed. “I’m about to go into surgery.”
“We have a few minutes.”
He chuckled, “I can’t be distracted.”
“You’re Caleb Pace,” she said, her eyes burning his. “You can’t fuck me and then focus enough to save a life?”
“No, I can’t,” he replied.
With a pout, she grabbed a few paper towels from the rack behind her and quickly wiped his right hand clean.
He was amused out of his mind. “What are you doing?”
She led his hand into her own pants and then kissed him deeply as he cupped her hard. She gasped as he slipped two fingers inside her, and began to coax her wild.
“You’ll pay for this later,” he said, and she nodded absentmindedly. He kissed her as her grip tightened against his biceps, however, just before she could reach her peak, he withdrew and slipped the two fingers into his mouth.
“What are you doing?” She fisted his shirt, and he grinned in amusement. “See you in the OR and after. Don’t let me remind you to come to my office.”
Upset, she pushed his chest and began to walk away to retrieve her cap.
“Walk properly,” he said to her, just as he turned the tap on once again.
Chapter 21
The surgery was a success.
The moment Caleb was done, he headed over to his office and sat down to wait for Aisha. However, when he found that he couldn’t sit still any longer, he went over to the door and leaned agai
nst the wall to wait. A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door, so he instantly pulled it open.
“Aisha,” he called, but instead met the gaze of the Head Nurse.
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Aisha? Dr. Pace.”
He cleared his throat and immediately turned around to head back to his seat. “How can I help you, Mrs. Kang?” he asked, and the older woman smiled at him.
“Has she confirmed that she is the one?”
“Not... officially,” Caleb said, “but she isn’t denying it any longer.”
“What about her memories?”
“It was all as I predicted. She was just faking it until she could find a way to leave.”
The nurse’s face fell at the information. “And the reason why she’s running scared? Are you aware? And have you been able to come up with a way to fix it?”
He sighed deeply. “No, I haven’t, but I plan to bring it all to an end very soon.”
The nurse covered his hand with hers for reassurance and rose to her feet. “I need you for a thoracic consult. Dr. Reed sent me.”
“Now?” Caleb asked, looking at the door.
“Right this moment, Dr. Pace,” she said. “You can speak to your fiancé when your job is done.”
With an inward groan, Caleb scribbled a note and wedged it on his table. Then he went with the nurse to one of the patient wards.
Chapter 22
Aisha knocked on Caleb’s door a few times without receiving any response.
So she pulled the handle and upon finding that it wasn’t locked, went in and shut the door behind her.
She turned around, and her heart almost fell out of her chest when she found his chair occupied by Kate Hades. She quickly regained her composure.
“You scared me,” she said, a strained smile on her face. “Where has Dr. Pace gone?”
Kate glared at her with a mix of disgust and anger. “His mother was right,” she said. “You truly are the one. You’ve even begun to work here. How dare you try to fool us all?”
Aisha gave her a puzzled smile. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Annoyed, the woman stood up and came over to hold the note up to her face. “Aisha, wait for me,” Caleb had written. “I’ll be right back.”
All of a sudden, the woman’s hand struck out and slapped Aisha across the face. “You bitch!” she yelled, her voice filled with fury. “How dare you pretend to be dead?!? There is a fucking grave for you. You’re sick! You are so...” She brought out another hand to hit her, but Aisha caught the hand this time, her gaze burning with hatred.
The woman cried out, screaming curses at Aisha. Aisha could barely contain her rage as she spoke, “You dare to lay your hand on me?” she spat. “After all that you have done? You’re the one who’s sick. You let your father frame me for a mistake that you committed, for a patient that you killed, and then sent me out into the middle of nowhere to die.”
“Lies,” she spat. “Lies!”
Aisha gazed at her with such contempt that her hands began to shake. “I would have returned,” she said. “And for a long time, I was tempted to, just to kill you with my own hands. How could you ruin my life that way? All to save your own? Is your life more valuable than mine because you have a powerful father? I am someone’s daughter also!” she yelled.
The woman chuckled in dark humor. “You deserved it,” she said. “And to think that I felt pity for you when I heard that you had died.”
Swallowing her anger, Aisha started to turn away but just then the door opened and in came Caleb. She brushed her hair from her face as he took note of her disheveled appearance and reddening cheeks.
“Caleb,” Kate cried behind her. “She is really Aisha, and yet you lied to my face. Do not believe anything she has said to you. Never have I met such a contemptuous liar.”
Caleb gazed at both of them, and then sat down on the sofa by his door.
“You’re not just going to let her go are you?” Caleb asked, and Aisha’s eyes widened.
“Have at her,” Caleb said. “You have five minutes before I have to get ready for surgery.”
“What? Are you out of your mind?” Kate asked, amused.
“Do you need me to help you?” Caleb said and Aisha shook her head. “I’m good.”
She turned towards Kate who took a step back in disbelief. “You can’t be serious,” she said, but Aisha continued to approach her. She took off her shoe and flung it at Kate. It hit her on the forehead with a blinding flash, as the woman turned away from her with a scream. Aisha dragged her hair across the room, and with all the shame, and sorrow, and pain that she had suffered at her expense, hurled her to the ground. She kicked and hit her with her legs and hands until the cream suit Kate had on had turned into a mess of blood and dirt.
Aisha straightened when she had had enough, and stormed away from the office.
Chapter 23
Caleb gazed at the beaten woman on his office floor.
He knew that it would take a while for a belief to set in at what had just happened, so he watched as she picked herself up, silent sobs ringing across the room.
She eventually lifted her face to meet his, her neck high in the air. She shook her head slowly, the tears rolling from her eyes as she stared at him, unable to even speak.
“I can’t... Caleb, I will not let this go,” she said. “I will not let either of you go. All my life I have looked up to you and loved you. I can’t believ...”
Caleb rose to his feet, his hands in his pockets. “You’ve been a little sister to me,” he said. “And your father, a guardian. So for me to find out that you did this to the woman you knew I was in love with... I don’t understand how you want me to forgive you.”
“What evidence do you have?” she yelled. “You’re basing your entire judgment on mere suspicion and what that bitch has said. What if she’s lying to you?”
“She has no reason to lie to me.”
“You are insane!”
He turned around to leave, but then he stopped himself. “Why her?” he asked. “Did your father ask you to pick anyone that would cover up your malpractice, or did he specifically ask for her?”
She didn’t respond, so Caleb smiled bitterly. “I’ll find out everything,” he said. “So you can keep it all to yourself… for now.”
She chuckled in response. “If that’s what you’re going to try to do, then you might as well give up right now. There’s nothing to find, as far as my father remains the director of Doldam.”
“You still have the audacity to gloat,” he said. “If I didn’t still consider you as a family, this matter would long be under investigation. Inform your father that his surgery is in three days,” he said. “Consider it my last act of gratitude for all the care I have received thus far. After that, I hope to never see any of you again.”
With that, he turned around and stormed out of the office.
After his surgery, he brought Aisha a cup of hot chocolate and placed it on the table beside where she sat.
She was watching over the toddler that she had treated, an open book on her lap.
“Where are his parents?” Caleb asked.
“They just left for the night,” she replied. “They’ll be back at dawn.”
Caleb pulled up a chair and sat by her. “What about you? Aren’t you going to bed?”
She turned to gaze at him. “I’ll go with you,” she said and Caleb felt his heart come alive. He fought a smile and it earned him a tease.
“I wonder how people can see you as cold,” she said, as she twirled a lock of his hair around her fingers. “You’re the warmest person I know.” She lowered her hand to softly brush his cheek, while he picked up the drink and urged it to her lips. A little bit of foam stained the corner of her mouth so he leaned forward to kiss it away. As he did, the door suddenly opened and in reflex, Aisha straightened and leaned away from him, the liquid spilling upon his thigh.
“Oh my God,” she cried and put the cup down. “I’m
so sorry, oh my God. Are you alright?”
She retrieved a napkin from the tray and began to wipe away at the warm stain on his scrubs, while Caleb turned around to see the nurses watching them with blinding interest.
“There’s really no need to cause him such pain anymore,” Kevin, the male nurse, said. “The whole hospital already suspects something between you two. Do you need a first aid kit?” he asked Caleb.
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