𝑻 𝑯 𝑬 𝑵 𝑨 𝑵 𝑵 𝒀 (18+)

fourty-four

D O M I N I C

"You wanted to talk to me?" I knocked on Iona's office door and smiled slightly. She didn't stay at the hospital often but when she did she made it her mission to put everyone on edge. With the present lawsuit and its discreet settlement, she was even more so of a terror, and the last place I wanted to be right now was trapped in her office.

"Yes, come have a seat." She motioned to the chair in front of her. A small white chair that was too short for me to sit comfortably in but I obliged anyway. "I'll make this quick. Dominic you've been an asset at this hospital for years now. You've dedicated your life to this work and your number of successful surgeries is impressive but I hear you're trying to pull back a little bit. Why is that?"

Another strong quality of Iona's? She knew shit about any of us. If she had she wouldn't have asked me why I wanted to lessen my hours at work when I had two young kids at home that couldn't have a nanny watch after them forever. It wasn't fair to them and if this thing with Amara got serious, I wouldn't want her to feel like she was my girlfriend and a part time maid. I made mistakes in my marriage, mistakes that I'd already made peace with. The only way to move forward was to do better and be a better version of myself than I was back then, than I am now.

"I have a seven and four-year-old at home and with the way I work, they'll be out of the house by the end of my next shift. I love what I do and I'm not pulling the plug on it I just feel like I should also be there for my kids."

She looked through some papers half interested, "I thought you were married? Your wife worked at this same hospital no?"

I cleared my throat, "we finalized our divorce a few months ago. It's just me and my kids now."

"Hm, that's unfortunate. I'll see where we can lose you but with so many transfers we might need you even more. This lawsuit has been a pain in my ass and it's put a stain on the hospital. I need doctors like you to help me reestablish that trust."

Like clockwork, the weight of the world was again my responsibility. I had to fix a lone doctor's mistake. I had to help the hospital, I had to sacrifice life and limb so my kids didn't have to. It was lonely and isolating and sometimes I felt like I didn't even have a choice in the matter. The only out was transferring myself and they'd make the process more than painful for me.

"It's a big ask I know, but I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think you were capable. Your performance review is complete. Oh! Don't forget to send me an invitation to that guest speaker event you do for UCSD. I'd love to hear what you have to share."

"Sure thing," I stood up from my chair and shook her hand, "if that's all?

"Yes, yes, get back to work. I have meetings for the rest day but let me know if you need anything, I'll try my best to accommodate."

I smiled and shut her door behind me.

                                         ♥

"I need you to take the kids this weekend," I said to my mother while she washed off strawberries. I loved Dan but there was no way I was leaving him with my kids for three days and I couldn't ask David and Tiff because she was two days away from delivery. Tasking my mother with keeping her grandkids for the weekend meant she was going to ask questions. Questions I didn't want to discuss with my mother at the moment. Questions I knew she'd already tried to ask Amara. She thought asking her to lunch instead of interrogating her in my home would clear her of any suspicion but I knew my mother better than that. If David and Dan were onto me, she was surely ten steps ahead of their suspicions.

"Of course, I can, is everything alright?" She turned her head to show her concern. That or to see if I would lie to her I couldn't really tell.

"Yes, everything is fine. I'm going away for the weekend and I just need someone to watch the boys."