Chapter 30
[ 494 words ]
Chapter 30:
“Thank God you’re home,” Brenna whispered, her eyes wide with frantic energy. “Caroline, you have to come back to the hospital. Right now.”
Caroline frowned, pulling her wrist free. “I quit, Brenna. I told Cromwell I’m done.”
“Cromwell is having a nervous breakdown!” Brenna hissed, waving her hands. “He was waiting at the nurses’ station at six a.m., sweating through his suit. He begged me to come to your house. He said if you don’t walk through those doors today, he’s going to have to resign. What the hell did Colonel Romero say to him?”
Caroline’s stomach twisted. Efficiency. Jarrod’s cold word echoed in her mind. He hadn’t just threatened Cromwell; he had completely broken the man to ensure Caroline’s path was clear.
She looked at the floor. She hated the feeling of being protected by his power, but she also knew the reality of her situation. She needed her nursing license. She needed this internship to finish her degree. If she walked away now, years of work would be wasted.
“Give me five minutes to change,” Caroline said quietly.
An hour later, Caroline walked onto the administrative floor of Washington United Medical Center.
The atmosphere was bizarre. The air felt thick. As she walked past the main desk, the Head Nurse—a woman who usually barked at interns for breathing too loudly—looked up and offered Caroline a wide, terrifyingly polite smile.
Caroline reached Dr. Cromwell’s office. Before her knuckles could even touch the wood, the door swung open.
𝗥e𝖺𝖽 𝘧𝗿o𝗆 у𝘰𝘶𝗋 𝗽𝘩оne о𝘯 𝘨𝗮𝗅nо𝘷e𝗅𝘴.сom
Cromwell stood there, looking like he hadn’t slept either. When he saw Caroline, his face lit up with the desperate relief of a man saved from the gallows.
“Miss Thompson! Please, come in, come in!” He practically bowed, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. “Can I get you coffee? Water?”
“I’m fine,” Caroline said, her voice flat. She sat down, keeping her posture rigid. “You wanted to see me about my reinstatement?”
“Yes, absolutely!” Cromwell scrambled behind his desk and pushed a freshly printed contract toward her. “Not just reinstatement. The incident has been expunged from your record, and the board has approved a discretionary bonus for your… ah, for your bravery under pressure. And of course, a fully paid one-week leave of absence, effective whenever you choose to take it.”
Caroline stared at the paper. It was a bribe. A desperate plea for mercy directed not at her, but at the man standing behind her.
Cromwell leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. “Miss Thompson, if I may ask… when Colonel Romero left yesterday, did he seem… appeased?”
A wave of disgust washed over Caroline. She looked at the pathetic, powerful man cowering before her.
“I have no idea,” Caroline said coldly. She picked up the pen, signed the contract, and stood up. “I have rounds to do.”
She walked out of the office and headed straight for the surgical wing.
But she didn’t make it far. As she turned the corner near the break room, a hand shot out and pulled her inside.
.
.
.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.