Drake Forever (Unrestrained 7)

"Forget it," he said and smiled softly. "Just feeling sorry for myself."

He grabbed some tissues from the bedside table and proceeded to wipe me off, then cleaned himself. I wasn't sure how much to push on the subject, but it hurt me so much to think that's how he felt.

"Drake, please," I said and reached out to touch his face. "Tell me what you mean, you've lost everything except for Sophie and me. What happened?"

He threw the tissues into the trash can beside the bed and lay on his back, an arm behind his head. He turned to face me, his expression serious.

"I didn't want to burden you with it."

I lay on my side and faced him. "You could never burden me with anything. If it matters to you, it matters to me."

"Earlier today, I got the final papers on the shutting down of the foundation. Donations pretty much dried up and we couldn't afford the new projects we planned. I'm covering the funds we need to finish up the projects we already have started. And I'll keep funding the ongoing projects, but Dave is shutting it down."

"Oh, Drake, I'm so sorry... I knew you were going to wind it down but so quickly?" I reached out and ran my fingers through his hair. "That's too bad. But you still have the corporation."

"Not on the board. They want to buy me out and dissociate the business from me completely."

"Oh, God," I said, my stomach clenching. "That's crazy. You being a large stockholder can't mean anything."

"They want me out. I sold my shares. We're a lot richer because of it, but I'm no longer a major shareholder."

I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling. So much fallout.

"And NYU's off," I said, turning to him.

He shook his head slowly. "Not on the agenda this year. Fred Parker said maybe in a year, but the committee did not look on my involvement in BDSM lifestyle to be a benefit to my candidacy."

I bit my bottom lip. On top of that, Drake no longer had privileges at NYP. He had no patients. They'd hired someone else to take over the robotic surgery rotation at Columbia.

"I'm so sorry," I said, my voice breaking. "This is all so unfair."

"It may be, but it's reality."

We lay there and he pulled me over, wrapping his arms around me.

I knew what this all meant, of course. I knew right away what I had to say.

"You have to accept Michael's offer."

He pulled back and met my eyes. "Are you serious?"

I nodded, and ran my fingers over his cheek. "You have to go. We have to go."

"I thought you couldn't leave Ethan."

I sighed. "I don't want to, but I will. You and Sophie are everything to me. I've lived in the same city as my father for my entire life except for Africa and a few months in San Francisco. Besides, I can fly over for a week any time I want, with Sophie. They can fly to Southampton when it gets cold here."

"If you're truly serious, it would mean I could practice medicine again. It's Michael's department and he has full control over hiring and firing. He said he wanted me there to help set up the robotic surgery unit and staff it. I'd be the head. It's an administrative position with surgical privileges. So, I'd be teaching and be involved in the administration of the unit. I'd pick the staff and surgeons. It would be mine, Kate."

I smiled at him. "It sounds so perfect for you. I've been looking at images of Southampton. It looks nice. The weather is good. My father could come and visit whenever he felt like it."

"He could."

"What about Liam?"

Drake lay back. "That's still up in the air. But maybe, if Maureen agrees to joint custody, Liam could live with me during the school year and spend time with Maureen and Chris every holiday and during the summer. I hope she'd be willing to consider it. Besides, Southampton has one of the best children's hospitals in the UK. He'd be in good hands."

He pulled me on top of him, his arms around my waist.