Destroy (A Standalone Romance Novel) (25 page)

With these thoughts
encumbering my mind, I made my way home to find a message from my mother on the
answering machine. She knew now not to call me on my cell during the day. I
would turn my phone off since it was a no-no to use it during working hours.

“Hello, Heather, just
calling to check-in. I wanted to let you know that your dad is getting better
every day. I am not imagining things. The routine works wonders. He’s just
having troubles remembering people and that kind of stuff. How’s Jeff? Anyway,
call me when you get home, okay? Love you.”

I wondered why she wanted
to know about Jeff. She liked him. But why would she ask after him all of a
sudden? Did he phone her? The thought of him doing so not only irritated me but
scared me.
I hate meddling people with a
passion. But why would he call? I had to find out.

“Hi, Mom. How are you doing?”
I said, a little hesitant.

“Hey, Heather? Doing
fine, dear. I thought you’d like to know how everything is going at home. Your
dad and I have established that wonderful schedule together. We’re even going
bowling with the neighbor every Thursday now. Anyway, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Mom. I’ve just
come home to hear your message. I’m glad the routine is working out so soon.”

“What do you mean so
soon? Isn’t that usually the case?”

“No, not usually, Mom.
Generally, it takes several weeks or even months before the patient starts to
react to the routine and adapt to it. But I always knew Dad was an exceptional
patient.”

“That he is. And that’s
why I wanted to talk to Jeff too. He’s lost his parents after their battle with
Alzheimer’s and I wondered if he had any other tips up his sleeve.”

“I can always ask him,
Mom. I’ll probably see him later this week and I’ll let you know.”

Honestly, I didn’t think
I would be in any mind to talk about my father or dementia patients the next
time I would talk to the man. I didn’t even know if I had a job waiting for me
the next day.

“You do that, Heather,
please. Anything I can do to help him, you know I will.”

“I know, Mom, I know.
What did John and Eliot say about Dad’s progress?”

“They were surprised too,
to tell you the truth. I don’t know if his pacemaker made any difference, but
since he’s back from the hospital, he’s much better. He’s no longer so
aggressive. Remember, I told you he didn’t want to talk to people? Well, that,
too, seemed to have changed. He doesn’t mind when someone speaks to him. I was
very surprised when I went with him to his barber–he needed a haircut really
bad–and the man hesitated at first, but your Dad just went ahead; sat down in
the chair and started babbling about the football game as if he had never been
sick.”

“That’s wonderful, Mom.
And these moments of lucidity will happen quite often. They’re indications of
his brain’s function. It’s great to hear that he’s doing so well.”

“Yes….anyway, I must let
you go. I know you must be tired. Call me when you’ve talked to Dr. Aldridge,
won’t you, dear?”

“I will, Mom. No
worries.”

An hour later, Tiffany
came home. As soon as she burst through the door, she bombarded me with
questions.

“Why didn’t you make it
to the meeting tonight? Dr. Kerry even asked after you? Are you okay? Was there
anything wrong?”

I was warming up some
chicken in the oven, and cooking some snow peas. I didn’t even look at her when
I answered, “I’m fine, Tiff. But I couldn’t make it to the meeting because I had
nothing to contribute.”

“What happened? It’s Jeff
again, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“What is it with this
guy?” Tiffany sounded as irritated as I had been when I first heard the fight
he had with his wife in the locker room. “Can’t he just get off your case?”

“It’s not that, Tiff.” I
looked at her now. “Let’s have a glass of wine after you’ve had your shower,
okay?”

“Alright, I hear you. Besides,
I think I’ve brought home all of the germs roaming the ER this afternoon. We
had a case of influenza–that H1N1 thing–and truly, it was touch and go for a
while for the guy. Anyway, he’s resting comfortably now. But we had to take a
disinfecting shower before going back to the locker room.”

I smiled at her. Once again,
I thought how simple life was for Tiffany. She didn’t have to worry about a boyfriend
or having an affair with a married man–I was the idiot in this equation.

When we finally sat down
with the glass of wine while the chicken was doing its thing in the oven and I
told her what had happened, she stared at me aghast.

“That’s an absolutely awful
thing to happen, Hattie. Not only do they lose their son, but now they’re going
through an agonizing separation because they can’t stand the sight of each
other.”

“Yeah, that’s about the
size of it. Except that Elizabeth has thrown me in the middle of it. She knows
that we’re having an affair, obviously. And she’s taking it on him for now. But
I bet you my bottom dollar that she’ll be blaming me for the break-up very
soon.”

“And if she does, what is
she going to do, do you think?”

“If she’s really got it
in for me, she could go to the Board and have me dismissed.”

We sipped in silence for
a minute.

“You know, Hattie, if I
were her, I wouldn’t try to have you fired because the problem existed before
you came in anyway.”

“What do you mean?” I asked
when a light bulb suddenly sprang to life above my head. “You’ve got some news
from your dad, have you? Jeff’s been sued for sexual harassment. Has he?”

“Not really. That’s to
say, he was going to be sued, but the plaintiff withdrew her complaint. Dad thinks
it was settled out of court.”

“But that means he’s been
running after some other skirts than mine, hasn’t he?”

“Yes and no.”

I looked at Tiff with a
raised eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, sometimes girls
sue their boss just to get some money out of him. So it could very well be that
Jeff was sued only for monetary gain on the part of the plaintiff; or, it could
have been a real case. My dad couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to tell you
anymore
than that.”

“Well, that’s enough
ammunition for me to keep watch. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.” I drank a
bit more wine before adding, “Let’s eat. The chicken might be over done by
now.”

With a titter, Tiff
followed me to the kitchen.

Chapter
27

I didn’t know what to
expect when Tiffany and I arrived at the hospital the next morning. I was
frightened. I thought of Elizabeth demonstrating how angry she could be when
she fought with her husband the previous night. Tiffany was doing all she could
to calm me down. But I truly didn’t know how the cookie was going to crumble
that day. When we arrived upstairs and got ready for our morning powwow with
Dr. Kerry, I noticed all eyes were on me.

I felt like crawling
under the table.

“Okay, now that we are
all here,” Dr. Kerry began, “let’s get down to business, shall we?” She looked
at everyone in turn and stopped her roving gaze on me. I lowered my eyes. What
had happened the previous night was none of my doing. Even though I knew
Elizabeth could throw me to the wolves anytime she liked, her marital
disagreement was none of my business.

“So, Dr. Williams, it
seems that you have made an impression on Dr. Elizabeth Aldridge.” I opened my
mouth and closed it.
What is Dr. Kerry
saying?
What sort of “impression” is
she referring to?
“Yes, my dear, don’t look so surprised. You’ve assisted
her in two very delicate surgeries some ten days ago I believe, and she wants
you back.” Everyone turned to me. I felt utterly confused.
What is Elizabeth up to?
I wondered. “So, as soon as we’re done
here, you’ll go down to the operating theater and assist Dr. Aldridge in a
kidney transplant. The organ has come in an hour ago–you’ll have no time to
waste.”

I was still staring
straight ahead of me, totally oblivious of what had been said or discussed,
when Dr. Kerry finished her round of questioning and re-assignments. Tiffany
had to pull on my sleeve to recall me to attention.

“What do you think that
means?” she asked me as we were walking to the elevators.

“How should I know?” I
replied, shrugging. “I’ve no idea what the woman wants from me and truly I
don’t care.” We then shut up since the elevators arrived and we rushed into it.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I said to Tiffany when she reached the ground floor and
exited the lift.

When I arrived in the
dungeon, I ran–literally–to the scrub room and was dressed and washed in mere
minutes.

Elizabeth was waiting for
me by the door of the operating theater.

“Alright, Dr. Williams,
let’s get this done, shall we?” She pushed the doors open.

As we walked to the
table, she added, “Let’s worked side by side this time. I want you to be my
hands while I tell you what to do. You need to obey orders and do exactly what
I say. At no time should you take the lead even if you think my orders are
wrong; understood?”

“Yes, Doctor,” I replied,
moving beside her while the nursing staff moved to the other side of the table
and the anesthesiologist took his seat at the patient’s head. I was not used
(or prepared) to follow orders. If she ordered me to do something wrong and the
patient died as a result, my career would be over in the blink of an eye. On
the other hand, if I didn’t follow her orders, and the patient died, might as
well give up and go into some other profession. Any way you looked at this,
Elizabeth had me cornered. If this was a trap, it was a good one.

Soon after we started,
she began ordering me to do one thing at a time–slowly at first–then she
pressed down on the accelerator. She didn’t give me time to think. When you’re
operating on someone and you don’t really keep up with what’s happening, you’re
endangering the patient’s life.

If you act as an
automaton in the operating theater and your reflexes become the masters of your
thoughts, you need to take a breather, shake your head, and resume the
procedure only when you’ve woken up from your temporary torpor.

That’s exactly what I
did. I put down the instrument I had in my hand and took a step back.

“Where are you going?”
Elizabeth practically hollered at me, surprising the nurses. “You’ve got to
finish what you started.”

“I will,” I flared, “but
only when you stop rushing this train through my tunnel.” I inhaled a big gulp
of air. “I am new at this and if you want speed, I can only say that I’m not
ready for it yet.”

“Okay, okay,” she
growled. “Come back here and finish this. We don’t have much time left on this
clock.”

The
woman hates to lose; she hates to back down. And that’s probably why she won’t
sign the divorce papers.

An hour later, the
operating nurse finished suturing the incisions and Elizabeth and I walked out
of the theater with a slight smile of satisfaction. The patient was on his way
to a new life.

“Well done, Dr. Williams.
Under the circumstances, I cannot fault you. You have the detachment necessary
to be an excellent doctor and a great surgeon. Well done, as I said!”

You could have slapped me
senseless at that moment; I wouldn’t have felt it. I was numb with surprise.
Here was a woman who had lost a son, who was losing her husband to a colleague
physician and she still had enough equanimity to congratulate the person who
was probably due to become her worst enemy. I had to admire her. No question,
Elizabeth Aldridge was a wonderful woman and an excellent physician.

It’s only when I exited
the scrub room and met Corey, Gerald, and Tiffany in the corridor leading to
the elevator that I noticed their presence. The entire group of interns had
been watching me from the observatory. Dr. Kerry had been there too,
apparently.

“Well done, Dr.
Williams,” Gerald said, meaning it too. “The way you told her off for putting
the pedal to the metal was perfect. Kudos to you.”

I was mute. I had no
words to say. My colleagues, my friends were around me, discussing my work, and
all I was thinking about was Elizabeth and her husband. I shook myself out of
these unwelcome thoughts.

“Thanks, guys,” I said,
my smile returning at a gallop. “And Dr. Kerry watched the whole thing?”

“Well, yes,” Tiffany
said, “Didn’t you see us up there?”

“Honestly, I didn’t pay
attention to anything. Dr. Aldridge kept me absolutely focused and I couldn’t
think of anything.”

“Why did you step back
then?” Corey asked.

“Well, if you heard what
I said, you’d know. I had to stop because I was acting like a robot. I was not
registering what I was doing. She didn’t like it, but I had no choice. It was
either her slowing down or me walking out.”

“I guess she gave you
some leeway, didn’t she?”

I nodded to Corey’s
remark.

In the next few hours, I
managed to make notes about the operation and visited our patient in ICU. The
best news of the day was when we heard that they had found a liver for Lydia, the
little girl whose sister had received their uncle’s liver the previous week. I
was overjoyed.

I went to spend some time
with the twins in the children’s ward when I brought them the news. Elizabeth
wanted
me
to bring the news to the family.
I found it strange. Why sending me? She was the primary surgeon. I was only an
intern for goodness’ sake. I would learn why she did in a day or so.

The end of the day didn’t
arrive too soon. I was tired. A wreck. And Jeff was waiting for me at the hospital’s
door–across the street actually.

God,
please, the man is like a canker; he won’t let go, will he?

“Hi,” he said, taking my
hand. I took it away. “How was your day?”

“For heaven’s sakes,
man,” I practically hollered at him, “Is that all you’ve got to say?” He bowed
his head. “Jeff, listen to me,” I said more quietly. “You know I heard your
conversation with your wife last night, don’t you?”

He nodded.

“Well, you need to sort
this out with Elizabeth first. You need to get out for both your sakes.”

“I know, Heather, but I
can’t get you out of my head. Do you realize that?”

“Yes, I realize that,
Jeff. And believe me when I say that I feel the same way.” I took in a breath.
Then I pointed to a nearby bench in the little park. It was cool but not unbearably
cold. We sat down. “If we ever want to be together, Jeff, we can’t have it both
ways. You have to break away from your wife. She knows we’re having an affair.
She admires honesty. And I believe she blew up at you last night not because
you’re having an affair but because you’re not honest about it.”

“How do you know this?”
he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Because I’m the same,
Jeff. If you ever were to walk away from our relationship, I would demand the
truth. Nothing less would do. It would hurt much less that way, believe me.”

“What about the divorce;
what do you think she’ll do now?”

“Elizabeth was right when
she said that she, too, has suffered since your son died. She was a mother,
Jeff. I don’t know if you can comprehend how much it hurts a mother to lose a
child. Nevertheless, now, the best way to close the wound is to move on.”

“Why wouldn’t she do it
before?”

“I would say that she
always hoped you would get over your grieving and return to her arms.” I
paused. “And I have to blame myself for appearing on the scene when I did.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Oh yes, I did, Jeff. You
would not have gone so far astray if I had not been in the way of your
recovery. I provided you with an outlet for your grief and for your unrequited
love.”

He smiled. “You should
have chosen a career in psychology; you know that?”

“Maybe. It’s never too
late to switch. And since I don’t know what the Board is going to decide as far
as my future in this hospital is concerned—”

“What are you talking
about?” he cut in. “You’re the talk of the town right now…”

“That may be, Jeff, but
I’m also the woman who brought the word ‘scandal’ to its list of epithets.”

Jeff got up. “Don’t be
silly. Marriages do break up, whether you’re working in a hospital or in an
office or in a pit mine. So, don’t fool yourself into thinking anything like an
affair is bound to destroy your career. This is the twenty-first century after
all.”

I got to my feet, too.
“By the way, I talk to Mom last night.”

“Oh? And how is the dear
lady?”

“She is fine, thanks, and
she asked after you.”

“After me? What did I do
now?”

I had to giggle. He
sounded like a little boy about to be scolded. “Nothing. She only wanted to
thank you for all the suggestions you gave her regarding my dad’s treatment.”

“How is he?”

“Actually, he’s doing so
well, Mom can’t even believe it. So, she was asking if you had any other tips
up your sleeve.” I looked up at him as he took me in a warm embrace.

“Tell her to be happy,
especially when she’s around him. Sadness and anger are totally
counter-indicated for dementia patients. They believe they’ve done something
wrong if you look angry. And since they can’t remember what they’ve done in the
last ten minutes, they fly into a rage of frustration.”

“That’s why he didn’t
want to talk to people–he probably thought they were going to berate him for
something he had done.”

“Exactly. But now that
you’re
mother is happy around him, he is more comfortable
in his own skin and he’s progressing properly.”

Chapter
28

That evening, when I
finally got home, I felt as if someone was slamming a hammer against my
temples. I am generally not given to migraines or headaches, but I had been
under such stress that I wasn’t surprised. I needed sleep more than anything.
When Jeff had asked me to have dinner with him, I had to tell him that I had a
headache. He broke out in hearty laughter then.

“Are you going to give me
that old excuse already? Really?”

“No, I would never do
that. We’ve just talked about being honest with each other. Well, there you
have it. I have a headache. I can’t have dinner with you. I need to go home.
Are you okay with that?”

He was still grinning
when he said, “Yes, Dr. Williams, I’m okay with that.” He wrapped his arms
around me and kissed my forehead. “Go then. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” I
nodded and left him standing in the middle of the pathway.

Tiffany wasn’t home yet.
But that didn’t matter. We had agreed that the first one home would do the
cooking. I guess it was my turn. I looked in the freezer. We had a couple of
chicken legs left from the day before.
That
will do just fine,
I thought. I was steaming some asparagus with nugget
potatoes as a side dish when Tiffany came in.

“Wow, that smells great,”
she said, “Let me get in the shower; I’ll be right back,” and disappeared in
her room.
 

A few minutes later, she
was back, wrapped in her pink bathrobe, bunny slippers on her feet, brushing
her hair. She sat down on the sofa and looked up at me. “So, anymore news from
either Aldridge?”

“I hope you don’t dress
like that with your boyfriend,” I said, bringing two plates of chicken and
veggies to the coffee table.

“What boyfriend?” She
grabbed one of the plates and put it down. “Did you ever see me flirting with
anyone?”

“No, but that doesn’t
mean you don’t have a boyfriend, does it?”

I fetch the cutlery,
napkins and glasses of wine from the kitchen counter and came to sit beside
her.

“No it doesn’t.”

“But it doesn’t answer my
question either.”

“No, I don’t have a
boyfriend, Heather.” She began eating. “Honestly, I don’t think I want to spare
the time it takes to have a relationship with anyone.”

I nodded. Tiffany was
right; it takes time to maintain a good relationship with anyone. You have to
nurture the friendship, otherwise boredom sets in and you could destroy what
could have been a very good thing. This made me think of our friendship. Jeff
and I; were we friends, or just lovers? Was there a budding friendship between
us or was it all sex? I had to admit when I thought about Jeff; the most
prominent thought was having sex with him. We never had time to become friends.
We had been thrown together by circumstances and we were battling our way out
of one situation after another for a chance meeting or two. This was no way to
build a friendship.

After I finished eating
my drumstick, I said, “But to answer your question, Tiff, Jeff was waiting for
me outside of the hospital again tonight.”

“And what did he have to
say for himself?” Tiffany questioned, licking her fingers.

“Nothing much. He wanted
us to have dinner together.”

“Obviously you said no
since you’re eating our leftovers,” Tiffany commented.

“Right. I told him I had
a headache…”

Tiffany burst out
laughing.
What is it with people? Can’t a
girl have a headache without someone laughing at her pain?

“You didn’t really say
that, did you?”

“Oh yeah. I did. What’s
more, it was true. I had a splitting headache and all I wanted was to get home
and relax.”

“What did he say when you
told him?”

“He laughed like you did.
But you know, even if I didn’t have a headache, I wouldn’t have gone out with
him tonight.”

“You wouldn’t?” Tiffany
sounded surprised.

“No, I wouldn’t. He takes
the fight he had with his wife last night far too lightly, it seems. He’s
trying to escape reality. I was his escape. But now I don’t know. Should I
throw myself off the deep-end, or should I back off?”

“I’m the wrong person to
answer that question, Hattie. For me, the guy is a jerk. He is an egotistical
SOB. He’s lost a son. So what? People lose dear ones all the time. Why should
we treat him any differently? Okay, he’s hurt; he’s trying to escape the
reality of it all, as you said, but that’s no excuse for playing hooky with
you.”

“Are you saying he’s
using me?”

Tiffany turned her head
to me. “What do you think he’s been doing since you’ve come to D.C.?
 
You just appeared at the right time at the
right place.”

“I served myself on a
silver platter, you mean?”

“Precisely. You have been
his release valve ever since you showed up. He’s making all the right moves to
seduce you, but his heart isn’t into it. Maybe now that he’s been scolded and
had his nose rubbed in it, will he realize that you’re not his puppet and he’s
not going to pull the strings
anymore.
”