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He glanced at his watch and saw it was noon already. No wonder his stomach was growling.
Walking his patient and his patient’s wife out the door of the exam room, he directed them to reception and told Mia, his nursing assistant, “I’m going to grab some lunch in the cafeteria.”
“Um, Dr. Matthews?” she called nervously after him.
He turned around with raised eyebrows. “Yes?”
Aiden really tried hard not to be impatient with his staff. He knew his reputation around the hospital these days was that he had turned into an asshole since his divorce. While he considered “asshole” to be a bit harsh, he also was self-reflective enough to know it was closer to reality than any bright and cheery words he could come up with.
“You, uh, you have some messages.” She quickly thrust handwritten slips of paper at him. Before he could ask, she added, “I forwarded everything to your email, but these were marked urgent.”
By the way she wouldn’t meet his eye as she held her hand out, he already knew who they were from, but he glanced down for confirmation.
Susan. Just as he suspected.
Aiden let out a frustrated sigh. He’d silenced any calls and notifications from his ex, but she was nothing if not resourceful.
“How many times did she call?”
“Five.”
Fucking hell.
“I’m sorry.”
“Um, if you talk to her, you might want to mention that other people listen to your messages for you.”
He could only imagine what the poor girl had heard. No wonder she couldn’t look him in the eye.
“There’s probably not a way to block her number, huh?”
“Calls are routed through the hospital’s main number, so probably not.”
“I apologize for any dirty laundry you had to listen to. I’m sure you’ve heard the gossip my divorce wasn’t exactly civil.”
“Can I just say, judging by her messages, you’re better off without her. She is a piece of work.”
That was an understatement.
But when Aiden had met Susan, he’d been a nerdy, shy med school student, and she was a beautiful, vivacious interior design major. He’d had no idea why someone so out of his league was interested in him, but she was. He married her during his second year of medical school.
It wasn’t until they were ten years into the marriage did it dawn on him he’d been her golden ticket. She was the poster child for pampered country-club wife, and he’d been happy to provide her with that life. If he was being honest with himself, it’d stroked his ego to have the wife everyone lusted after. Until he realized, men were doing more than just lusting after her, and he was the last to know about it.
Aiden offered a weak smile and waved the messages now in his hand. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?” then turned on his heel and headed to the elevator.
On the ride down to the main floor where the cafeteria was located, he sent out a group text to his girls.
Aiden: Just checking in to make sure you’re both okay.
His oldest answered first.
Kailey: We’re good. Getting ready to go visit Grammy and Grampy for the 4th.
Susan’s parents lived on a lake in Wisconsin, and the girls loved spending time there in the summer.
Aiden: That sounds like fun. Catch lots of fish! Did you pass your driver’s permit test?
Kailey: We will, and aced it. ?
