Chapter 157: Chapter 157 The Surgery
SOPHIA’S POV
The surgery lasted four hours and twenty minutes.
When it was done, I stepped back from the table and let the nurses take over the closing. My hands were steady, even though my arm hurt. They were always steady in theatre, no matter what was happening outside of it but the mont I walked through the doors and the adrenaline began to drain, my body reminded
exactly what I had put it through.
My right arm was throbbing. I had strained it too much.
I had known it would happen but I’d done it anyway, because the alternative was a man bleeding out on a table, and that wasn’t a choice I was capable of making differently.
The doctors’ lounge was quiet at this hour. One overhead light was on.
I lowered myself onto the couch, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes.
Just for a mont.
"Here."
I opened my eyes. Dr. Kiki was standing in front of , holding out a cup of hot water to . She was one of the few colleagues I genuinely liked.
"Thank you," I said, taking the cup from her.
She sat down across from
"Your arm."
"It’s fine."
"It’s not fine. You’ve been favouring your left hand since you walked out of theatre." She tilted her head. "Four hours of surgery on an injury that should have had you ho resting. You know better."
"The patient needed-"
"The patient needed a surgeon. There are other surgeons." She said it in a flat tone "You stayed because you can’t help it, because you are incapable of stepping back when soone needs help." She paused. "Which is admirable. And also, Sophia, it is going to break you if you don’t learn to stop."
"It’s my duty,"
"You and your duty." She stood, shaking her head. "Go ho, sleep. Keep the arm dry tonight and don’t you dare co in before nine tomorrow."
"My shift starts at-"
"Nine, Sophia."
I smiled "Goodnight, Kiki."
She pointed at
once in warning and left.
I sat for a few more minutes, finishing the hot water slowly. The lounge was fully quiet now. Outside the small window, the city was dark.
Eventually I stood, changed out of my scrubs, gathered my things, and walked out.
-
The hospital entrance was mostly empty.
I pushed through the front doors then walked outside.
It hit
imdiately. My wolf caught a scent filled with cedar and cigarette smoke. The scent was familiar.
That was when I saw him.
He was leaning against the hood of his car under a streetlight. He had a cigarette between his fingers. His jacket was open.
He stood, watching the hospital doors.
Zade.
I kept walking, like I hadn’t seen him.
"Sophia."
I kept walking.
I heart footsteps behind
then he stepped into my path, stopping directly in front of .
I glared at him.
Up close, in the bad lighting, he looked...tired. He had shadows under his eyes.
"Move," I said.
"Your arm." He sighed "You did a full surgery on it."
"That is not your business."
"How long was the operation?"
"Zade." My voice was flat. "Move aside. I’m going ho."
He didn’t move. He took one last drag of the cigarette, dropped it, and pressed it out under his shoe.
"The woman at the event," he said.
I felt sothing tighten in my chest. It wasn’t pain exactly. It was more like I was bracing myself for what he was going to say.
I frowned "I don’t want to talk about-"
"She’s a business partner." He said it simply. "Lyra Chen. We’ve worked together for two years. There’s nothing else."
I looked at him.
"The things I said." He looked into my eyes. "I did it because I wanted you to react. I wanted to see if you cared."
I looked at him in disbelief.
I an, I was....shocked. The honesty of it was almost worse than a lie would have been. It was wrong. It was childish and manipulative and unfair.
"That’s pathetic," I said.
Sothing moved in his eyes. "I know."
"You saved
from Marcel. You treated my arm. You said things to
that-" I stopped. "And then you walked into a room with another woman and perford for an audience to make
jealous. That’s not how you treat soone you claim to care about, Zade. That’s how you treat a ga."
He was quiet for a mont. Then, he sighed.
"You’re right," he said.
I took in a deep breath "I’m going ho."
This ti he stepped aside.
He didn’t say anything else. He just stood there, hands in his pockets, and watched
walk to my car. I felt his eyes on my back the entire way.
I got in. I pulled out of the parking lot without looking back.
I had driven perhaps four streets when I noticed his car in my rearview mirror
His car.
His car was following .
I shook my head and muttered “Typical Zade”
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