The Fiancée Who Reported Me for Taking a Patient Gift

Chapter 4 The Return

I went back to work on a Monday. The hospital had issued a statement clearing my name. Grant Halloran had been fired. Elena had been charged with filing a false complaint, a misdemeanor that carried a fine and community service. She'd also been named in a civil suit filed by the hospital, which was seeking damages for the cost of the investigation.

I didn't feel good about any of it. I felt like I'd won a fight I hadn't wanted to be in.

The first day back was strange. People looked at me differently. Some were sympathetic. Some were curious. Some were wary, like they thought I might be the kind of person who'd take money from a patient's family and then lie about it.

I did my rounds. I checked on the Barnes boy, who was recovering well. His mother saw me in the hallway and started crying.

"Dr. Mercer," she said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't know she would do this."

"It's not your fault."

"I gave you that envelope because I was grateful. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"I know."

"I should have just written you a card."

I smiled. It was the first time I'd smiled in weeks.

"A card would have been fine," I said. "But so would nothing at all. Your son is alive. That's the only thank-you I need."

She hugged me. I let her.

The rest of the day was a blur. Three surgeries, two consults, one family meeting. By the time I got home, it was nine o'clock and I was so tired I could barely see straight.

The house was empty. Elena had moved out two weeks earlier. She'd taken her things, her furniture, her half of the books. The porch was still there. The kitchen was still there. But the house wasn't ours anymore.

I sat on the couch and stared at the wall. My phone buzzed.

Priya: How was your first day back?

I typed: Long.

Priya: You okay?

I typed: I don't know.

Priya: You want to get a drink?

I typed: Not tonight.

Priya: Okay. Tomorrow?

I typed: Maybe.

She sent a thumbs-up. I put the phone down.

The next day, I got a call from Diane. Elena wanted to meet.

"She wants to apologize," Diane said. "She says she wants to explain."

"I don't want to hear it."

"I told her that. But she's persistent. She says she has something to tell you. Something about Grant."

"What about him?"

"She wouldn't say. She said she'd only tell you in person."

I thought about it. I thought about all the reasons I shouldn't go. I thought about all the reasons I should.

"Fine," I said. "Set it up."

We met at a coffee shop on the edge of town. It was the kind of place where no one knew me, which was probably why she picked it. She was already there when I arrived, sitting in the corner with a cup of tea and a notebook.

She looked different. Thinner. Tired. The gray dress was gone, replaced by jeans and a sweater I'd bought her two Christmases ago.

"Cole," she said.

"Elena."

I sat down across from her. I didn't order anything. I didn't plan to stay long.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I know that doesn't mean anything. But I am."

"Why did you do it?"

She looked at her tea. She didn't answer for a long time.

"Grant told me you were going to leave me," she said. "He said he'd heard you talking to someone. He said you were planning to break off the engagement."

"That's not true."

"I know that now. But at the time, I believed him. I was scared. I was tired of waiting. I was tired of feeling like I wasn't enough."

"So you filed a complaint that you knew was false."

"I didn't know it was false. I thought... I thought maybe it was true. I thought maybe you'd taken the money and I just hadn't seen it."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"I know." She looked up at me. Her eyes were red. "I know it doesn't make sense. But I wasn't thinking clearly. Grant told me what to do and I did it."

"Why?"

"Because he made me feel like I mattered. Because he paid attention to me. Because he said he'd help me leave you if that's what I wanted."

"Did you want to leave me?"

"I don't know. I think I wanted you to fight for me. I think I wanted you to prove that you loved me."

I stared at her.

"You wanted me to fight for you," I said. "So you tried to destroy my career."

"I didn't think it would go that far."

"You didn't think a formal complaint would go that far?"

"I didn't think you'd get suspended. I didn't think they'd investigate. I didn't think..."

She stopped. She wiped her eyes.

"I was wrong," she said. "I was so wrong. And I'm sorry."

I sat there for a long time. I thought about all the nights I'd come home late. All the dinners I'd missed. All the times I'd put the hospital before her. I thought about the way she'd waited up for me. The way she'd held my hand. The way she'd said yes when I proposed.

And I thought about the emails. The parking garage. The lie.

"I'm not going to forgive you," I said.

"I know."

"I'm not going to say it's okay."

"It's not."

"I'm going to move on. I'm going to go back to work. I'm going to live my life. And I'm not going to think about you."

She nodded. Tears were running down her face.

"That's fair," she said.

I stood up.

"Goodbye, Elena."

"Cole."

I stopped.

"Grant didn't act alone," she said. "There's someone else. Someone at the hospital. Someone who wanted you gone."

I turned around.

"Who?"

"I don't know his name. But Grant mentioned him. He said there was someone higher up who wanted you out."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me."

I looked at her for a long moment. Then I walked out.