Ever since I walked through the doors of Memorial Hospital, I had done everything I could to prove I was going to be a formidable contender in the surgical world, and of course the next best Surgeon in the entire country -- if not the world. I had taken every chance I could to assist top surgeons in major surgeries, ensuring they knew I was dependable and would have their back in any difficult cases or the very worst of scenarios. And that–-I trust–-had made Cole, who was the head of my department, assign me solo cases that someone at my level shouldn’t be handling. And thus it was quite worrying when I ducked each time a nurse called out to me or even approached me. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, I wasn’t overly surprised to see Cole glowering down at me at the cafeteria. “A word, Doctor Roberts?” he said as soon as I bravely raised my eyes to meet him. I nodded in resignation and he took the seat opposite mine. “Hey,” I said with forced bravado. “What’s going on?” he asked, arching his thi
The Friday we were supposed to have the gig came faster than I expected. It was as if the days rushed by just so the universe could have a good laugh at my expense. I had just one surgery for the day and two assists and decided to join Ameera and Ashley with the other interns volunteering at the free clinic east of the building. We had decided to close early and head home to have a short nap before the car Bobby promised to send arrived to pick us up with Anna and Tamika. I recalled there used to be three of them. I wondered what happened to the third girl. As soon as I peered inside Ameera's consultation room she exclaimed, “A-ha! Just the right person we need right now! Bennedith, meet Doctor Roberts. She is one of the best surgeons in New York and could quickly help us with your appendicitis—” She introduced me and I plastered a smile on my face as I proceeded into the room, watching the middle-aged man fidget on the consultation bed. A frown pulled the skin on my forehead as I s
Ashley maintained her bright smile and then realized we were not buying it. She let out a sigh, with her shoulders drooping a bit as if deflated. Her lovely eyes held mine with earnestness. “If we are discovered by anyone in our circle we will never live it down … and my parents will … literally…” she paused and made a slash sign across her throat. I busted out laughing and gave her a playful push on the shoulder.“And I thought I was the only chicken in the group,” I said, flapping my arms. She grinned. “But you are so good. It would be a shame to back out,” Ameera said.“We have our masks, ladies. We just have to remember never to take it off, no matter what,” I said.“Of course!” Ashley said.“We are doctors and we survived Med school. This would be a piece of cake!” I said. But then my treacherous mind began to cook up all the things that could go wrong. “I have a Ruger LCP. It's small and concealable. I’m taking it with me … just in case,” Ameera said. “My God, Ameera, stop s
With all the test results Ameera requested for Bennedith, I already knew where the Appendix was, right at the lower abdomen to the right corner of his stomach. I deftly made an incision about three inches over the area, examining the surrounding area of the appendix, making sure there were no other problems that I needed to deal with. And I thought the patient was quite lucky to have come in at the time he did, the appendix was ready to rapture. I freed the appendix from its mesenteric attachment to the colon, cut out the appendix, and sewed over the hole in the colon. But before I sewed the incision I said, “Irrigation.” and a nurse stepped over to pour gentamicin-saline over the area I had worked on, to clean the area, making sure there were no bubbles and cleaning the debris left by the surgery. The extra precaution was to prevent Intra-abdominal abscesses or any kind of infection after the surgery. When she stepped back I closed the incision. I checked the time on the wall clock
A gentle knock on my door sometime later made me get up to dress up. I stood in front of the vanity mirror in my bathroom, carefully noting how snugly the mask fit against my face and the smoky eyeshadow disguising my regular look. But the problem with the black mask and eyeshadow was that it made the color of my eyes quite prominent, somewhat making it seem striking. A frown wrinkled the skin in between my eyebrows and I thought to wear contact lenses, but another insistent knock made me sigh in resignation. I took off the mask and picked a long fur-trimmed coat on my way out of my room. “Well, we are surely going to turn heads!” Ameera said, giving Ashley a fist bump, then made an explosive sound. I chuckled. Ashley's phone rang and she answered it immediately.“We are on our way… okay,” she said and ended the call. “The ride is here… and Bobby said the host insisted on no phones,” she added. “Wait, what?” Ameera exclaimed.“But why?” I interjected.“Privacy…” Ashley answered with
Ameera, Ashley, and I put on our masks before we exited the helicopter. I could hear the music from the floor below as we found our way down the flight of stairs to the club hall. I have been to a club before but it was of a different caliber, nothing close to this at all. Most of the invitees were men in their middle thirties and early forties. They were nicely dressed and hung about with drinks in hand. The decor and the setting were magnificent and speak of class. “Hello, hello, welcome!” A white male that was about six-foot-tall approached us. He had a kind smile and looked completely different from what I had expected.“Do you know who that is?” Ashley whispered close to my ear. Ameera leaned in so she could hear what she was telling me. “That’s Jacob McKnight, a technological entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the founder of the Canary, the free social networking site!”“I thought he would look… bookish,” I whispered back, studying the man. Aside from his impressive height, he
When we entered the club room, some of the men started hooting loudly and a few clapped. I could see that our host was seated at the center of the room with six chairs framing him to the right and left. One of the chairs was empty but the rest was fully occupied. I relaxed a little, understanding we were to pick who to dance for. Tamika and Anna went for the host, and the rest of us fan out to entertain the rest of the men. I picked the last one to the left and simply reenacted what we practiced. The man appeared a bit drunk and kept calling me baby and urging me to sit on his lap. I knew it would be a great put-off to make a scene so I did my best to manage the situation. He brought out his wallet at a point and slipped wads of cash into my cleavage when I danced close to him. “You're really beautiful, I would like to see you after this,” he said, emptying his wallet to put more money inside my cleavage. I looked to my right and saw Sam hovering. It was as if he could read my mind
“Hey,” he said, with his eyes pinning me to the spot. I swallowed and my chest quivered. “I’m sorry I missed your dance, and would very much like a private one with you… if you don’t mind,” he said, still holding my gaze as if he were trying to confirm a suspicion. I shook my head without speaking and then he added, “If it’s about payment, trust me, I can afford it.”“I’m sorry, sir, she doesn’t give private dances,” Ameera responded. I guessed my friends must have noticed how stunned I was by this new stranger. He spared her a glance and flashed that arresting but rear smile of his at her before returning his intense gaze to meet mine. “Thank you, but, I would love her to say that to me herself,” he said. My heart skipped a bit with the conviction that he may already know it was me. And with lack of what to say I said, “I’m sorry,” in an almost inaudible tone. I saw his eyes flickered with emotions and I couldn't bear to stay there, pretending any longer. I gave Ameera and Ashley
“I do not want to hear about your sexual escapades, Evan Sterling!” she said through gritted teeth, still glowering at me. I made her widen her legs for me as I fit myself in between her legs. The dress she wore had ridden up, giving me the chance to place my hands over her naked thighs. “After you, I didn’t want anybody else. I was obsessed with making sure you stayed mine,” I said, stroking her naked thighs. Her eyes softened. I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I had had time to think about my reactions, and now, I know when Edward showed me that video, I accepted it to be true as a result of my experience, but I walked to the chalet to get confirmation from you. But of course, you weren’t there, and I didn’t come after you because I was scared to confirm it. So, deep inside me when I accepted that you had fucked my father for money. I didn’t believe it. Otherwise, I would never have had sex with you when I saw you at Jacob’s bachelor’s party. For me to believe it, I
I felt Estera's hand slowly slip into mine as we drove through the Sterling Estate gate. I opened my hand wide, giving her room to interlace her fingers with mine. She leaned across from the passenger seat to rest her head against my shoulder and I stopped the car so I could reach for her. Cupping the side of her face, I made her lift and crane her neck to receive my kiss. I pressed my lips against her forehead then her lips. Kissing her slowly as if we have all the time in the world. She let out a shaky breath when I let her go, gazing lovingly into my eyes. "Don't be scared. Nothing or no one here can hurt you ever again. I need us both to put this to rest. We had an amazing time here, on this ground and I want us to take that back. Separate it from the nightmare that came after. I hate this place…." "Evan…" she whispered, raising her hand to cup my chin. I let out a soft chuckle. "I need to let him stay buried and not continue to hurt us…to hurt me. Please," I said. She nodde
Evan had prepared a special table for my aunt, his mother, and Mary Antoinette Dallas. My aunt—I could see–-had rescued Ashley and Ameera and had taken charge of our boys and when we approached the table I saw four men in black suits, hovering close to my aunt Sophia and the boys. I gave Evan a side glance but his eyes were held forward. Lowering my gaze, I saw how the men monitored the boys' every move and let out a sigh. Evan was quite serious about our children’s safety and with the look of it, it seemed he couldn’t even take a risk when they were with family. Mary Antoinette Dallas beamed at me. I gave her a warm smile, pretty glad the other woman was much better despite the ravaging chemo after her surgery. I had thought she might resent me a little when she found out about Evan’s duplicity in regards to his marriage to her but the woman took it in her stride. With Charlotte Sterling's help, she went back home to pay her last respite to her mother and bury the tortured soul. I h
I have indeed come a long way to be wearing a 30 million dollar diamond embellished bridal gown, and an equally sparkling tiara that contained about 2,000 tiny cut diamonds. I was almost afraid to move. But the very sight of the tall, broad-shouldered, handsome man, waiting with the bluest intense eyes in the front of the room drew me forward. Evan -- was breathtaking! He wore the traditional black tuxedo with a white undershirt but with a custom-made hand-printed silk scarf, knotted with two loops in the form of a bow tie around his collar. However, there was nothing traditional about the price tag. He went all out for this wedding anniversary slash renewal of wedding vows. My heart skipped a beat at the knowledge that this beautiful man was all mine and he loved me with all his heart and soul. The lighting of the cathedral was dimmed and as I moved the light shined off the diamonds, creating a wonderful sparkle. I let out a shaky breath and my aunt Sophia looped an arm to mine, l
I doubt anyone was as happy as I was to know Cole Foster was doing fine. Now I can breathe easily. Being without Estera and my boys these past few days has not been easy for me. I was constantly checking my phone and seemed impatient in my dealings.Edward's funeral was a private one. I had figured only my mother and I would be present with the minister, of course, and a few chosen staff, but then Estera's aunt had shown up. An act that got my mother pretty emotional.I never did pay much attention to the relationship between the two women in the past. I knew now they were closer than just an employer and employee and I was glad someone was there for my mother other than me. I figured Mary Antoinette would like to be present for her mother's funeral and had Antony buried immediately. I heard no one showed not even his employees. That showed the kind of man the fucker was. Aside from handling all the burial arrangements, I was also keeping taps on Gaius’ case. Estera’s parents’ lawyers
“I’m sorry … I should have known better and gotten help--” “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. I am just glad you weren’t taken from us—” “Please, tell me Doctor Benjamin and Doctor Rasheed got off unhurt,” he said. “They are fine — traumatized, but fine,” I replied. “Thank God. What happened to Edward Sterling?” “He died … the police killed him when they discovered their men weren’t responding to their radio call anymore.” “Shit. I tried to help them. He didn’t let me.” “You could have bled to death too if Evan hadn’t risked speaking with Edward to make him let you, Ashley and Ameera go.” “He must feel like hell … I know I would. Having a man like that as a father must be tough.” “He is happy you are alright—” I said. He sighed. “Where is he now?” “In Charlestown … helping his mother take care of Edward, Antony, and Anastasia Dallas’ burial arrangements--” “Shit! She didn’t make it?” “No…” “Her daughter?” “Mary Antoinette is responding to treatment, although she is
I stood back from the grave unable to contain the anguish filling me up inside. It was pretty intense and it felt like I was drowning in it. My eyes stayed glued to the name on the headstone although unseeing. I was completely blinded by tears.“Estera Roberts, I am so sorry for your loss…” a familiar voice said from my right and I raised my eyes to meet the older woman’s gaze. Mrs. Pincushion, my homeroom teacher, peered down at me with sorrow-filled eyes. A deep frown furrowed my eyebrows. Something doesn’t feel right. Why the hell would the petite woman be at this funeral? Wait… whose funeral is this?!”“Roberts?” Cole's familiar husky tone called me. I jerked my gaze away from Mrs. Pincushion and my eyes opened and I found myself in a dim-lit room. The beep--beep sound of the heart monitor reminded me I was in the hospital room, lying next to Cole on the bed. I sat up, rubbing my hands over my face.“Shit!” I muttered, realizing it was a mere dream. I let out a sigh. It was a no-b
The gunshot sounds weren’t coming from down the building but up, that was how I knew it must be from Edward’s ward. My heart pounded, hoping he hadn’t done something stupid to worsen his case. I had no idea where my mother was, but I knew she was in the building. I put a call through to her and her phone rang and rang but she didn’t answer. I clenched my jaw, finding my way up the flight of stairs. On getting to the floor before the one my father was on, I saw men in black trousers and white shirts with gun holsters around their waists gingerly going up the stairs. I assumed they were part of the men sent to watch Edward. “What’s going on up there?” I asked one. He threw me a hurried gaze and his eyes settled on my bandaged arm and shoulder. “You shouldn’t be here. This place is sealed we have a hostage situation—”“Is the aggressor Edward Sterling?” I asked. He stopped to give me his full attention. “I didn’t catch your name, sir?”“Evan … Evan Sterling,” I said. A deep frown fur
One of the kitchen staff brought them to my office shortly after. I thanked her and gave her a tip. Closing the door, I placed the food on the coffee table and went to make coffee for Evan, placing the mug beside his plate, I went to press a kiss to the side of his lips, placing a hand over his forehead to be certain he wasn't running a temperature. “Baby?” I called. “Mmm … love you waking me with a kiss,” he muttered. I giggled. “Get up, sleepy head, and come eat, so you can take your antibiotics.”“Yes, ma’am,” he said and got up, towering over me. Without heels, I was quite aware I must look like some midget beside him. He first went to plant kisses on the twins' forehead and cheeks, causing them to laugh before straightening his spine to gaze down at them with loving eyes. I reached for his good arm, urged him to the sofa, made him sit down and gestured to him to serve himself and eat. “Where did you get all these so early?” he asked.“Hospital food … but for the doctors,”