Chapter 4

As a prominent figure at the hospital, Lucas was the subject of no shortage of gossip.

One of them was about how he brought Kimberly some nourishing soup every single day without fail to accelerate her recovery. Another one was about the two of them working together to publish a paper in a prestigious journal, thereby earning them recognition from the hospital director.

Whenever my colleagues asked me about them, I would simply shake my head and say that I didn't know anything.

One afternoon, Kimberly suddenly intercepted me, her hand reaching out to grab my sleeve as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Anna, are you really going to ignore me, your best friend, as well, even though it's Lucas you're upset with? Seriously, you two. You're both stubborn as a mule. I'll help you smooth things over, so could you just give in this once?"

Staring at this woman who had been my best friend for so many years, I suddenly found her to be as cold and unfamiliar as a stranger.

We had known each other for most of our lives, and I had clearly never done anything wrong, yet she was always siding with Lucas. Just why was that?

"Dr. Wendell, I'm quite busy and have many things to do. If there's nothing else, you should hurry up and leave."

Immediately, all the color drained from Kimberly's face.

"Kimberly, come over here."

Lucas stood a short distance away, gazing at me like one would a stranger.

That was all well and good too.

Gently extricating my sleeve from Kimberly's grip, I strode off.

Unexpectedly, the three of us ended up meeting again a short while later, this time in the operating room.

A colleague had taken the day off, so I had to take her place.

The patient scheduled for surgery that day had a rare and complex condition, making the case a high priority for the hospital. As a result, Lucas would serve as the primary surgeon, with Kimberly assisting him.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I changed into scrubs and carefully checked over all the sterile equipment.

Even when we were halfway through the surgery, I was still strung as tight as a bowstring, constantly reminding myself to be careful.

Kimberly and Lucas were equally stern as they worked on the patient.

"Hemostat."

I passed Kimberly the hemostatic forceps as requested, but then her hand suddenly trembled.

The hemostatic forceps dropped to the floor with a clatter.

Before I could lean over to pick it up, Lucas' frosty voice rang out.

"Switch. Amanda, step in."

When I exited the operating room, I realized that a layer of cold sweat had already drenched my back.

Fortunately, it was just a minor mishap, and the rest of the surgery proceeded smoothly.

When it was time to get off work, Kimberly left, seemingly very distracted.

A shadow loomed over me as Lucas came to stand behind me. When I turned, I saw that he looked utterly exhausted, but when he spoke, his voice was filled with disappointment.

"How could you make such a basic mistake? And you call yourself a nurse?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "You clearly saw what happened earlier! It wasn't even my fault!"

"Are you trying to say that it's Kimberly's fault, then?" His eyes instantly turned to chips of ice. "Annabelle Siden, since when did you learn how to shirk responsibility?"

It suddenly dawned on me what was happening—for Kimberly's sake, he was determined to make me take the blame.

Subconsciously, my hand moved to clutch at my chest. Even though there was no wound there, I was in so much agony that I thought I was about to die.

…

I had no idea what Lucas said to the head nurse, but the next day, I was publicly berated, and the patient's family just so happened to hear it.

Before long, the rumor had spread throughout the hospital.

"That nurse, Annabelle Siden, can't even hold a hemostat steady, yet she still dares to step into the operating room. Who knows whether she'll cause our deaths one day!"

To quell the growing outrage, the hospital had no choice but to suspend me for a week.

The head nurse sighed. "The higher-ups are putting quite a bit of pressure on us, so I've expedited your resignation. Just pack up all your things and leave today."

At 3:00 pm, I changed out of my scrubs and gathered all my belongings into a cardboard box.

Lucas happened to run into me, and he instantly frowned when he spotted the box.

"The hospital is firing you over such a trivial matter?"

I shook my head. "They're suspending me."

He visibly relaxed when he heard that, then reached out to pat me on the head.

"Then you should think of it as a vacation and rest up. I'll take you out next week."

I answered with a noncommittal hum, then continued making my way out of the hospital.

Little did he know, I had no intention of ever coming back.