“Ben, I’m going to have to call you back. Sorry,” my mother said, hanging up with a smile before glaring at me. “Eli Philip Davenport, have you lost your mind?”
“No, but I’m about to. How can she still be employed?”
“Who are you talking about, and stop yelling!” she yelled ironically.
Taking a deep breath, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Hannah. Hannah Sophia Harper. I hope she is not still working at this hospital.”
“Why wouldn't she be?” She calmly placed her hands in the middle of the table. “She’s a good doctor.”
“Mother!” Do not yell. Do not yell. Again, I took a deep breath. “Mother, she can’t work here. She—”
“Why, because she left you? She broke your heart? All of those are personal reasons, Eli. I can’t have her fired for that, and you know it.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. “Mom.”
“Sweetheart, as your mother, every time I see her, I want to wring her skinny little neck ’til her head pops off. But as the chairwoman of this hospital, I can’t get involved with personal matters between doctors. That is the risk you took when you chose to see each other. Dr. Harper is a good doctor, and this hospital employs good doctors.”
“When did she come back?” I whispered.
“A week ago—”
“A week!”
She folded her arms over her chest.
“A week ago I was here, why didn’t I see her?” Not that I wanted to.
“Because she asked to be put on a different floor and a different rotation than you. Why were you on peds anyway?”
“I was called in for a consult by Dr. Handler.” Pinching the bridge of my nose again, I tried not to think that her request meant she didn’t want to see me, either.
“Sweetheart, just avoid her until…until looking at her doesn’t hurt anymore.”
I couldn’t deal with this. Why had I gotten involved with someone I worked with? Never. Again. With nothing left to say, I just moved to the door.
“Eli,” she called.
I had to stop. Not looking back at her, I said, “Yes?”
“Believe me when I say, the moment she slips up in any way, the moment I can say she isn’t good enough to be at this hospital, I will have her out of here as quickly as possible.”
She was trying to comfort me, but it wouldn’t work. I knew Hannah wouldn’t screw up, at least not big enough to get her fired…
Well, I thought I knew her.
“Sorry for bothering you, chairwoman. I’ll come over for dinner later in the week.” I tried to give her a smile before closing the door behind me.
I hated this. I hated how I was torn between never wanting to see her again and hoping to run into her one more time.
Why was I like this?
Guinevere
“You can do this,” I said softly to myself, staring at the five-star restaurant in front of me. I gripped the present in one hand, smoothing down my dress with the other before taking a deep breath and stepping into what I knew would be the mouth of hell itself. Reason told me I should avoid this place at all costs, yet I knew I couldn’t.
You’re going to be fine.
When I walked in, I noticed the place looked like an 18th century palace. Everything was either gold, white, or beige, with the exception of the blue sky painted on the ceiling, where fat angel babies danced on clouds, with harps…yes, the baby angels were playing harps.