CHAPTER 3

CAMILLA

“Dr. Camilla, there is a package for you,” one of my nurses said and dropped a beautifully wrapped box on my desk.

 I thanked her as she left and took the package, thinking that as usual, Raymond, my fiance, had sent a present. We got engaged last night, it was the best night of my life.

I quickly unwrapped the package and found a document in it which got me disappointed but I quickly waved off the feeling, becoming curious.

“Has Raymond already bought the house he talked about last night?” I asked, recalling that Raymond had mentioned about purchasing a house for me.

I became excited as I took the document and quickly flipped it open to find its first page captioned with “Congratulations Dr. Camilla, you are now one of us and we will be looking forward to working with you over here in California.”

“What!” I exclaimed.

“California?” my mind registered. I quickly went through the document and found out that I had been transferred from London to California upon my promotion, the hell of a place I never wanted to go back to.

Although I had applied for a promotion which required being transferred to a bigger hospital, I never had it in mind that I would be transferred to another country and not just any country but California. There were better hospitals in London, so why was I sent to California?

I had to find out, so I quickly took the document, heading to Mr Mark’s office, he was the doctor in charge of our hospital.

“Good morning,” I respectively said as I walked into his office after a knock.

“Dr Camilla, I guess you have gotten the welcome package from your new hospital in California,” he said with a smile which I found rather annoying instead of pleasing. He already knew about it.

 “Why California of all places?” I questioned, taking him by surprise. I dropped the document on his desk.

“The accident victim you saved happened to be one of our founder's sons and he decided to reward you by transferring you to California. Ain’t you excited about being transferred there? You finally got the promotion you wanted and will be working as one of their surgeons,” he said.

“No, Dr. Mark, I will go to any place in the world but not California. I know I have been expecting a promotion but I never had in mind to be sent out of the country,” I let out and saw the excitement he had on his face disappear.

“You mean you ain't happy about being sent to California?” he asked.

“Yes, can I appeal to be transferred to another place?” I asked, hoping for positive feedback.

“That would be impossible, you have to work for at least six months in California before you can request an appeal if you don't like the hospital,” he dropped the bombshell.

“Gosh, what am I going to do?” I questioned myself and slumped on the sofa in his office.

I had never dreamt of stepping foot in California and don't have it in mind, I would take my babies anywhere else but California. Not the California that held a lot of painful memories.

Not the California I left five years ago, vowing never to go back there. “Are you okay, Dr Camilla,” he asked me with concern.

“Yes, I am,” I forced a smile and stood up on my feet.

 “Why ain't you excited about being transferred to California, it's a great place that would be loved by your children.” He spoke up, there was a questioning look in his eyes.

“For personal reasons, Dr Mark.” I replied, sluggishly.

“Are you aware that you ain't just going as any doctor, but as their top surgeon? This is a great chance for you, and you should be happy.” he implied, picking up the document I had dropped on his desk.

“I know Dr.Mark but I don't want to have anything to do with California,” I argued.

“Do you know how many doctors apply to be transferred to California every year? I also applied in the past before I became the head of the doctors here. California has the best branch of our hospital, you should feel blessed for being sent there,” he encouraged, making me feel powerless.

It wasn't like I didn't know how much of a great opportunity it was for me but I had my reasons, personal reasons to go back there.

One of my fears about going back there is meeting Lawrence and him finding out that I never aborted the babies. “What if he asks for them to be killed?”

“What if he harms the compassionate pack doctor who failed to carry out his order? What if our paths get entwined again? What if he tries to come back into my life after causing me so much pain?

I didn't want any of that to happen, I wanted to save myself from a lot of things that would occur as a result of meeting with him again but I couldn't do anything to stop what had already happened.

I just had to accept it and prepare for the worst.

 “Thank you, Dr Mark,” I murmured as I walked out of his office feeling very gloomy.

I would be getting separated from Raymond, my fiance who practices his profession here as one of the best lawyers in the country. I was scared my separation from him might affect our wedding which we planned to carry out in three months.

What if Lawrence comes in between us, I couldn't imagine not ending up with Raymond, after all he had done for me.

I was torn as I thought about all of this.

I had to call Raymond to tell him about the transfer even as I wasn't feeling good about it.

“Hey honey,” he called out sweetly over the phone on picking up. “Hey,” I called in a weak tone which I knew he would notice.

“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

“Is everything okay?” He continued, his tone etched in uneasiness. “I got promoted,” I broke the news after a few seconds of silence. “Finally,” he squeaked over the phone in excitement.

“But,” I cut him off, which I knew would make his excitement die down. “But what?” He raised a question.

“I got transferred back to California,” I dropped the bombshell.