“Don’t you have to look after patients?”
I tugged at her chin when she bit her bottom lip.
“I can do both.”
I shook my head. “You might be the only one in this relationship with a job after this meeting. Better that you try to keep it.”
It was meant to bring out a laugh, but Grace’s lips turned downward. “Don’t joke like that.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead. “Whatever happens, it’ll be fine.”
She looked reluctant to let me walk away and that damn feeling in my chest started again. I kissed her forehead once more, and headed in the direction of the elevators that would carry me to the executive suites of the hospital.
Buttoning the black jacket of the suit I’d worn for the occasion, I stepped off the elevator and stopped short when the first person I laid eyes on was Nurse Greene. I narrowed my gaze on her, unfazed by the redness that outlined her eyes, as if she’d been crying.
Her face morphed into a scowl when she saw me. “I hope you’re happy now,” she cried.
I frowned but didn’t give her the satisfaction of a response as I strode past her. I couldn’t give a shit what she was upset about or even if she walked directly off a cliff. I was restraining my anger only because I was there to save my career. The last thing I needed was for another blow up at that woman, causing me to be fired on the spot. And yes, I could easily find a new position in another hospital, or hell, start my own practice, but I wanted to make that choice for myself, not have it made for me.
“Dr. Reynolds,” one of the male attorneys in the conference room I just entered greeted. “Please, come in and have a seat.”
My eyes darted to the lone chair across from the four people sitting on the opposite side. Two of whom I knew as attorneys for the hospital, and the other two were representatives from the human resources department.
I nodded and entered, undoing the button of my suit jacket to take a seat.
“Dr. Reynolds, first we’d like to take the time to ask how your hand is healing?”
I looked down at my hand and flexed it as much as I could in the cast. “Dr. Jeffries says it’s healing well. I’ll be starting PT as soon as I can make the appointment and he believes I can be back in the OR within another couple of weeks.”
The quartet look between one another and nodded, pleased.
I lifted an eyebrow. “But we’re not here to talk about my hand.”
The male lawyer, Arturo, as he’d introduced on our prior meeting, cleared his throat. “No, we’re not. Unfortunately, you have been the subject of an investigation brought on by the accusations of Nurse Greene. It has been brought to our attention that Nurse Greene initially did not give us the full story of what took place in your office, on that day.”
I inhaled deeply, ready for him to ask me to explain my side of the story. I’d worked out what I would say in such an event. Even though I’d told the story to Dr. Kearns, I wasn’t ready to share it with anyone else. Hell, I’d even given Grace the simplest overview of what happened. It wasn’t exactly what happened with that woman in my office, that got to me, so much. It was what retelling it brought up. A past that I still was working on getting comfortable with.
“We have been made aware that Nurse Greene assaulted you, causing you to defend yourself in the process. That is what Dr. Lyons and her patient walked in on. We have confirmed this with Nurse Greene, who has been dismissed as an employee of Memorial Hospital, effective immediately.”
I blinked and then looked between the four people sitting across from me. They all nodded their heads in agreement with what Arturo had just said.
I cocked my head to the side. “What does that mean for my job?”
“Well,” the woman, Sharon, I think her name was, from HR began, “it means that your leave can end as soon as your physician clears you, and we at Memorial Hospital would love it if you would come back to work.”
I narrowed my gaze on Sharon. “Just like that?” I was suspicious.
For weeks, in the back of my head, I wondered if I’d have a job to come back to. I even debated just turning in my resignation because the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a panel and explain to them why I’d gone off on Suzanne Greene the way I had. I didn’t care if they saw me as the psycho doctor who couldn’t control his temper, so long as I didn’t have to reveal my darkest secrets to a panel of strangers.
“Some things regarding Nurse Greene were brought to our attention. Specifically, regarding her behavior toward you,” Arturo answered.
“And she just volunteered that information?” I was being sarcastic because of course she hadn’t.
“In a manner of speaking.”
I looked to the other woman from the HR department.
“Dr. Reynolds,” she began, leaning forward. “We want to make it clear that Memorial Hospital acted on the information that was presented to us at the time. It is always our intention to protect our patients and hospital staff at all times. Given what eyewitnesses saw and the story Nurse Greene gave us, we thought it best to place you on suspension directly after.”
