Maddie

I've never raced to the hospital so quickly.

My pager went off at three in the morning, and with hardly any traffic with it being so early, I made it here in record time. I just finished putting on my coat, wiping the tiredness from my eyes when I spotted Melinda waiting by the entrance with a clipboard.

The normally stone-cold, merciless woman has a smile on her face.

"It's true, then?" I ask. "Carley's getting a kidney?"

Melinda nods. "I got the call twenty minutes ago. A mercy flight is on its way, and I want you to scrub in with me."

I freeze with my hands in the pockets of my coat, unsure I heard her correctly. I've been treated like the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the surgical chain. The other interns snickered whenever I got placed on babysitting duty for Carley, but I never let it get to me. I meant it when I said bedside manner is just as important as practicing surgery. Without it, I wouldn't be a good doctor, and it seems like finally all of my hard work is paying off.

"You're serious?"

She turns her lips into a frown. "I wouldn't joke about something like this, Holden. Get her prepped and meet me down there."

"Yes. I-I'll do that. Thank you."

When she disappears, I take ten seconds to calm my rapid breathing. I'm going to scrub in for surgery. A fucking transplant! And this kidney is going to the most deserving little girl I know.

All the long nights studying, my all-nighters to pass exams, and the hours volunteering at the pediatrician's office... It all led to this moment, and right now, all the anger I ever felt for Cameron doing what he had to do for me to keep this job fades away. He suffered through being in Katie's miserable presence, and let the rumors of him committing adultery explode throughout the world so I could have this moment.

Despite my tears of happiness threatening to escape, I can't help the quick pinch of disappointment that floods me.

Right now, the world is at my fingertips, but with one quick press of a button from that bitch's hands, it can all be stripped away in seconds.

***

My first surgery went as well as expected. I was nervous out of my mind, especially knowing it was Carley on the table. The girl I had spent numerous days painting her nails, gossiping about celebrities, and listening to her daydream aloud about Tre. She made my days at work so enjoyable, and one mistake...

I watch with blurry vision as Melinda finishes the final stitch on Carley. The surgery was successful! Recovery is an entirely different ball game but for now, we have a healthy kidney and a healthy little girl.

I join Melinda in the washroom, silence falling between the both of us as we scrub off the hours of surgery. She finally twists her head to the side and says, "You want to know why I've plagued you with babysitting duty the past few months?"

Dragging my eyes away from my hands, I gulp before I ask, "Why?"

"Because you're good. You came here with raving recommendations from Arizona. The patients at the clinic you worked at loved you, and that's a challenge in itself when you enter the world of surgery. I tasked you with Carley because she needed someone good to keep her hopes up throughout this process, and the other interns don't have that ability." I'm speechless as she begins to dry her hands off. "You came into this surgery and proved to me you have it all. You're going places."

"Melinda..." Fuck, my vision has been blurry since I left the damn operating room. "I'm...not as well-rounded as I seem. I've made mistakes that most wouldn't come back from, and—"

"And nothing. We're humans who make mistakes, and we're bound to fuck up. It's how we bounce back from it that counts. Now I'm going to go tell Carley's parents that the operation was successful, and I'd like you to join me. You've played an intricate part in this process, Maddie."

I can do nothing but swallow past the lump in my throat and follow her.

***

The beeping of Carley's monitors drove me to sleep. Normally, it's extremely frowned upon to fall asleep on the clock, but I was supposed to be off work after her surgery. I wanted to stay until she woke up to make sure she was okay.

"Maddie." A hand shakes me awake, and I blink my eyes open to see Tre standing over me.

"Oh, shit. Sorry." I jerk upright, my eyes shooting to Carley. She's still asleep, same with her parents in the two plastic chairs beside her. It's been a long day for everyone.

"No, it's fine. I heard the surgery went well, and I..." He rubs the back of his neck, tilting his head for the door. "Can we speak outside for a second?"

With a dip of my chin, I follow him out into the hall where it's just the two of us. Tre leans against the wall and reaches into his pocket, retrieving a slip of paper before he discreetly passes it over to me.

"What is this?" I ask.

His eyes showcase a glint of mischief. "Well, my friend Thomas picked up his training sessions again with Katie, and he may or may not have slipped a laxative or two in her drink." He pauses, a smile forming on his face. "Or three. Maybe four."

"Tre!" I hiss, ensuring to keep my voice down. "What the hell?"

He shrugs. "Katie came into the emergency room this morning around four. You know how the ER is always understaffed, and since I was off the clock, I offered to help out and made a promise to take another nurse's shift so long as she switched patients with me."

My eyes grow wide. "You were Katie's nurse?"

"Well, if she were to have a kidney stone or appendicitis, we had to make sure we ran blood tests. You know, to check her levels and everything." He nods at the paper in my hand and arches a brow. "Who would have thought her cortisol levels and white blood cell count would be so high? The CT scan came back clean, unsurprisingly, and after further testing, the doctor chalked up her stomach pain to overuse of steroids after probing the truth from her. She had no idea she ingested laxatives, so her steroid use could be the only plausible explanation. It's documented on the paper you're holding."

My hand trembles when I open the piece of paper, seeing the truth right there in black and white. Tre printed off the report for me somehow. The report that will be my answer to take this bitch down once and for all.

"Tre..." Fuck, now I'm actually crying. Today has been a long ass day, and my emotions are all over the damn place. "You have no idea how much this means. I...I'll never be able to repay you for this."

"You don't need to. This was my debt to pay to you. For everything I said and did. Truthfully, I don't think even this makes up for it."

"It does. I forgave you a long time ago. It's in the past now."

The smile he gives me is genuine before he replies, "Well, what are you waiting for? She's in bed five."

***

I slip into Katie's room, ever the caring doctor checking in on a patient. Not that she's my patient, but it's fine. I won't be here long.

Katie's eyes snap to mine, and holy hell she looks awful. Her face is pale and slightly green, and her lips are cracked and dry. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She sneers.

"How are you feeling?" I dodge her question and stop at the foot of her bed, loving the way her body tenses beneath my hardening stare.

"How did you—" Her mouth drops open. "You set this up! You did this to me, didn't you? What the fuck did you give me?"

"I did no such thing. I'm simply checking in on the daughter of my husband's former coach. It's a pity, though. I think all of those steroids have you hallucinating. Never knew them to cause that, but everyone is different."

She tries to shoot out of the bed, but her IVs stop her from doing so. "You fucking bitch! If you leak those results I swear I will sue you and this hospital for breaking patient confidentiality!"

"Who said I would leak them?" I counter. "I'm a doctor, Katie. I would never do such a thing. However..." I walk over to her IV and check the fluid level. "Hypothetically speaking, if someone were to be holding blackmail over me, which is classified as extortion in the state of California, just so we're clear, maybe that would tempt me to do such a thing."

She narrows her eyes. Then, between clenched teeth, she replies, "Fine. I'll delete the video I have on you."

I gesture to her phone on the table, making sure to stay silent as she grabs it and I watch her delete the video from not only her phone but from her iCloud drive as well. Then, when I'm sure the video is off of at least this device, I bend down to her ear to whisper, "If this video isn't deleted from every fucking device you have in the next twenty-four hours with proof of video sent to my husband's phone, I might be tempted to release the information I'm sure you wouldn't want to get out to the public."

A wicked smile forms on my face from the large gulp she takes. "Aside from those videos of proof you send, I want you to stay out of our lives for good. Understand? One text, one phone call, one request? Your career will be finished."

"Okay," she bites back. "Understood."

"Glad we've reached an agreement, then. Oh, and Katie?" I stop by the door of her room, rapping my knuckles against the entryway. "I sincerely hope you never underestimate me again."

Then, as I head back up to the pediatric floor, I allow the rush of victory to hit my veins when I call my husband. Finally, after years of this being held over my head, the game is finished. We're free of her.

"Cam? It's me." I blink away my tears and attempt to catch my breath. "We did it. It's over."