AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You have?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”
Drake shook his head. “It’s like my family already knew what took me ten years to figure out.”
“What?”
“You’re my better half. You belong in this family.” He gripped her hand and wove their fingers together. “Thank you for being there for my brother all those years ago, and my mother. Thank you for being here for me and for you.”
Emotions caught in his throat, but before either of them could react, his mom and dad walked back out into the lobby. His mom had a beautiful kelly-green scarf covering her head, since her hair started to fall out after her latest round of chemo. Her cheeks were thinner, and both their parents’ eyes were bleary and damp.
Ian had stopped in his tracks, and Margo and Drake stood, but then his mom took a few steps toward Ian. He thought she was going to hug him, but instead she grabbed the rope that hung in the huge pink bell and swung it several times.
Margo cheered, and Ian picked their mom up off her feet to twirl her around. Drake finally reacted and walked over toward his dad and hugged him, before they all joined Ian and his mom in a big family hug, along with Margo.
She beat cancer.
*
After only a few days of hiding their relationship at work, Drake was over it. Before his shift started, he went to see the director of emergency. His mom was improving from her round of chemo, but he’d spoken to his boss in LA about the possibility of him making a permanent move. They didn’t love it, but technically his contract was almost up and due to be renewed in the new year, so he wouldn’t be in breach. And they understood his desire to want to be close to his family after his mother’s cancer scare. Now he just needed to convince Mercy to hire him for a position in the ER.
“Director Kelly, I’d like to discuss a contract for an attending position at Mercy.”
“Dr. Maguire, good morning. I didn’t expect you to come to a decision so soon.”
She brushed off the crumbs from the coffee cake she was eating at her desk and shuffled her computer mouse.
“To be honest, I didn’t either. But I want to stay in Virginia, and Mercy makes the most sense. I just need to talk to you about the position the board offered.”
“Yes, yes. As you know, Mercy’s plastic surgery department would be ecstatic to bring you on as an attending. As I mentioned, that offer was just a preliminary starting point for an offer.”
Drake sighed and sat down across from the man’s messy desk.
“No, I mean in the ER. I’m done with plastics.”
The director sat back slowly. “Not in the plastics department?”
“Nope.”
“Does Dr. Monroe know this? She didn’t mention you were leaning toward a change in which medicine to practice.”
Drake hesitated. He didn’t want to get Margo in any trouble, and he’d only mentioned it a few days ago to her.
“Not officially, but I have been enthusiastic about the work in the ER. Is that a problem?”
“It’s just that Dr. Monroe is being considered for a promotion, and the board was counting on her convincing you to stay at Mercy, in the plastic surgery department. They might think she did too good of a job if she convinced you to love the ER.”
“Margo, or Dr. Monroe, was tasked with recruiting me?”
The director looked surprised by the question.
“Well, anytime we have a nationally recognized elite physician entertaining the idea of working here, it’s sort of all hands on deck. But as your supervisor, yes, Dr. Monroe was expected to do the brunt of the work. She’s after a new position to manage the residents and recruit the best talent, so your accepting an offer will be an added demonstration of her talents.”
An avalanche of disappointment rolled over Drake. If Margo was tasked to recruit him, why didn’t she say that? Maybe it was because a promotion she no doubt deserved was hinging on it. But hiding it meant she didn’t trust him. They had been spending every free minute together.
“Either way, if you’re sure we can’t get you to stay in plastics, I’ll have to take your counter proposal to work in the ER to the board. I assume they’ll still give Dr. Monroe some credit for getting you to at least stay at Mercy,” Director Kelly said.
“Great. I think it would be fair to include some continued trial period if the board feels I need more seasoning in the ER in the contract.”
