Chapter 77
[ 481 words ]
Chapter 77:
She turned on her heel and walked away, her strides long and powerful. She didn’t look back.
Melanie sat on the cold linoleum. Her throat throbbed. She stared at Caroline’s retreating back, the fear in her chest slowly mutating into a dark, obsessive, and completely unhinged hatred.
Melanie grabbed the handrail on the wall and dragged herself up from the floor. Her knees were shaking. She aggressively swatted Tammy’s hands away, smoothing down her wrinkled scrubs to hide her humiliation.
Before she could even catch her breath, the steady, authoritative click of expensive dress shoes echoed from around the corner.
Dr. Julian Croft walked into the corridor. He was holding a stack of patient files, his white coat pristine, his face set in a handsome, focused expression.
In𝘁𝖾𝗻s𝗲 𝗋o𝗆𝖺𝗇𝘤е 𝗼𝗻 𝗀𝘢𝘭𝗇𝗈𝘷𝖾l𝘴.co𝗆
Melanie’s eyes lit up. A desperate, pathetic hope flared in her chest.
She immediately pushed her shoulders back, forcing a look of fragile, tearful victimhood onto her face. She took two steps toward the center of the hallway, directly into Julian’s path.
“Dr. Croft,” Melanie whimpered, her voice trembling perfectly. She reached up and delicately touched her red neck. “Thank god you’re here. Caroline just completely lost her mind. She attacked me.”
Julian didn’t even break his stride.
His eyes flicked to Melanie for a fraction of a second. The look he gave her was so cold, so entirely devoid of human empathy, it felt like a physical slap. He knew exactly what she had tried to do with that potassium chloride.
Julian looked away, staring straight ahead, and walked right past her.
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t acknowledge her existence. He treated her like a piece of contaminated medical waste blocking his path.
Melanie’s fake tears instantly dried up. Her mouth hung open. Her outstretched hand froze in mid-air. The sheer, public dismissal burned hotter than Caroline’s physical assault.
Tammy cringed, physically shrinking against the wall.
Melanie ground her teeth together so hard her jaw popped. She turned her head, her eyes burning with a toxic, jealous fire as she watched Julian walk toward the main nurses’ station.
Caroline was sitting behind the high counter, staring blankly at a computer screen, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion.
Julian walked right up to the desk. The freezing aura around him completely vanished, replaced by a warm, incredibly soft energy.
He set his files down, and from his other hand, placed a steaming paper cup directly next to Caroline’s keyboard.
The soft thud of the cup made Caroline jump.
She looked up. Julian was leaning against the counter, smiling down at her.
“Caramel macchiato,” Julian murmured, his voice low and rich. “Extra shot of espresso. You look like you need it.”
Caroline stared at the coffee, then up at his face. “Julian, you didn’t have to.”
“How did the cleanup go?” he interrupted softly, leaning a few inches closer.
Caroline glanced down the hall. She saw Melanie glaring at them. Caroline let out a short, tired breath. “The trash has been taken out.”
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