She nodded.
“Then let’s go home.”
Maya blinked. “You sure? We can go somewhere. Do anything you want, today’s for you.”
He smiled softly, that older-than-his-years kind of smile. “How about we grab ice cream at that place I like… then head home?”
“Home?” she repeated, surprised.
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “It’s hot out. And I kinda just want to stay in and read. Plus…” – he looked away, pretending to be nonchalant – “if I’m gonna apply to that mentorship Mr. Blackwood mentioned, I gotta get smarter, right?”
Maya felt her heart tug. She knew Jamie well enough to read between the lines.
She hugged him, soft and tight.
He wasn’t tired.
He knew she was.
She blinked fast, her throat suddenly tight. “Okay,” she whispered. “Ice cream and then home.”
Jamie slipped his hand into hers as they started walking.
And somehow… that only made her heart ache harder.
Not from fear.
But from the part of her that wished – just once that someone else would carry it for her.
Even if that someone was dangerous.
Even if that someone made her body burn.
Beckett was summoned just before 7 p.m.
The hospital’s fluorescent lights buzzed faintly as the late afternoon faded toward evening. Dr. Beckett’s office, cluttered with half-empty coffee cups and stacks of patient charts, felt more like a throne room where he ruled with a sneer and a touch of cruelty.
He’d barely finished dictating a note when the message came through – “Dr. Holloway wants to see you. Urgently.” No warning. No explanation.
The office door was already open when he arrived.
The director didn’t look up right away. He was sitting behind his desk, flipping through a manila folder with a hard, unreadable expression.
Beckett leaned against the doorway, posture casual. Arrogant.
“You rang?”
Dr. Holloway didn’t return the smirk. “Sit down.”
That tone. It scraped across Beckett’s nerves, but he obeyed, lounging into the chair like he owned the place.
“This better be quick. I have a dinner reservation.”
“You won’t make it.”
Beckett raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
The director closed the folder. “You’re being reassigned.”
Beckett blinked. “Reassigned?”
“A medical outreach program,” Holloway continued, calm and cold. “Rural region. Underserved communities. You’ll fly out by sunrise.”
Beckett laughed-loud and sharp. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“You expect me to just pack up and what? play field medic in the jungle for PR?”
The director’s voice didn’t waver. “You’re not being asked. You’re being sent.”
There was a pause.
A silence heavy with unspoken warning.
Beckett narrowed his eyes. “Why me?”
Dr. Holloway didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned back, arms folded. “Every year, we send someone. This year, it’s you. Consider it… character building.”
“Character building,” Beckett repeated flatly.
“I’m told the local clinics are short-staffed. No AC. No luxuries. Just real medicine. Raw and honest. It might humble you.”
Beckett scoffed. “I’m a senior specialist.”
“You’re also a liability.”
Beckett stiffened. “Excuse me?”
Dr. Holloway stood slowly. The folder was still in his hands, but he didn’t open it again.
“You offended someone,” he said carefully. “Someone important. I don’t know the full details, and frankly, I don’t want to. What I do know is this… whoever it is, they want you gone.”
The words landed like a slap.
“They’re watching. And they’ve made it clear: they want you out before sunrise.”
Beckett’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Dr. Holloway leaned in slightly, voice dropping.
“If you want to live longer, Beckett… take the transfer and leave quietly.”
For a full second, Beckett couldn’t breathe. The air felt tight, pressing against his chest like a vice.
He stood abruptly. “This is insane.”
The director didn’t flinch. “No, Doctor. What’s insane is you thinking you’re untouchable.”
Beckett stormed out of the office, heart pounding, rage boiling just beneath his skin.
Who? Who the hell did he offend?
It wasn’t unusual for him to push boundaries. Hell, he thrived on it. Nurses, med techs, even desperate family members- he knew what they needed. And he knew what they were willing to give for it.
A promotion. A shift preference. A discount on a prescription. Even a whispered promise to “talk to billing” if things went well.
He’d had his pick of the ward.
Some nurses practically begged for it – dressed for it. And the ones who didn’t? Well, he had a way of persuading them. Most people didn’t say no when their kid’s meds were on the line.
And they never talked.
They couldn’t afford to.
But whoever pulled these strings… could.
His mind spun.
It couldn’t be those women. They had too much to lose. They were nothing – grateful, disposable playthings in his world.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.