Chapter 4

Bethany's voice broke as she spoke. "Since when did you become this petty? Seth's my resident. Of course I was going to spend more time teaching him. You're just bitter because you couldn't learn anything from me, so now you're trying to drag us through the mud!"

I was just about to fire back when several people burst through the door.

A middle-aged couple charged at me, grabbed my collar, and swung at me without warning.

"You're the irresponsible doctor, aren't you? My mother's surgery was successful, yet she died from post-op complications! You could've saved her, but you didn't! I'm not letting you get away with it!"

Several security guards rushed in to break things up. That was when I spotted Seth standing behind the crowd, a smug grin plastered across his face.

I laughed bitterly to myself. I'd planned to let things end peacefully between Bethany and me and stay out of each other's lives. But if this was how they wanted to play it, they couldn't blame me for what came next.

Once security restrained the family, I straightened my rumpled collar and said, "I understand what it's like to lose someone you love, but this has nothing to do with me."

"What do you mean that this has nothing to do with you? Dr. Dawson told us everything! You got bitter because Dr. Olsen won't teach you, so you picked a fight with her and refused to come back. If you had, my mom wouldn't be dead!"

I replied evenly, "I was on approved leave. This has nothing to do with me trying to learn from her. Dr. Olsen refused to operate on my mom, and she died in the ICU.

"I know what you're feeling because I just lost my mom, too. I spent the last week arranging her funeral. If you really want to know who's responsible, check the surveillance footage from the operating room. The truth will speak for itself."

The moment my words settled, the color drained from Bethany's and Seth's faces.

While I was in my hometown, a coworker called to tell me about what had happened.

As it turned out, Bethany hadn't performed the surgery herself. She had let Seth take the lead so he could gain experience.

After Seth spent the entire night trying to pin the blame on me, I'd already begun to suspect that something had gone wrong during the surgery.

Bethany hurried to defend him. "Yes, Seth handled the surgery, but I was there the entire time guiding him. He's a quick learner. There's no way he could've made a mistake."

"Did you all hear that? Even now, he's still lying about his mother to save himself." Seth jumped in to stir the pot.

He went on, "Gregory, you don't deserve to be a doctor! You abandoned a patient and let her die. You're the one responsible for this!"

Bethany's expression darkened as she looked at me. "One lie was bad enough. Stop making this worse. I'll help you deal with this, but you need to apologize to the family right now."

At that moment, the chief, Raymond Sinclair, strode toward me.

He pulled a white envelope from his pocket and pressed it into my hand. "Dr. Harrington, I'm deeply sorry for your loss. I was out of town on business at the time. If I'd been here, I never would've let this happen."

The moment he said that, Bethany went completely still. A beat later, she asked, "D-Dr. Sinclair, what are you talking about? Didn't his mother get transferred because her condition wasn't serious?"

One of the doctors who had helped with the resuscitation stepped forward.

"Transferred? I was there with Dr. Harrington the entire time, trying to save her. I watched his mother die with my own eyes."

He added, "Dr. Olsen, you refused to operate on a critically ill patient. If anyone here shouldn't be calling themselves a doctor, it's you."