CHAPTER THREE—COMPLIMENT OR TROUBLE
1165 Words
Annabel walked behind Dr. Cullum into his office, attempting to hide her anxiety.
The room was plain, with bookcases filled with clinical books, a desktop computer on a large desk, and a pair of seats across from him. A picture frame showing a younger Enzo sat next to several trophies.
The doctor motioned toward the seat placed across from his desk.
“Sit.”
She took a seat.
He scanned the paperwork before raising his head.
“Tell me why you intervened.”
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to get in the way of the doctor. The patient was scared, and she failed to process his words. I believed that giving her a brief pause could assist.”
“Did you make any promises about the procedure?”
“No, Doctor.”
“Did you attempt to give her medical advice beyond your level of training?”
“No. I'm sorry.”
“Did you ask the attending doctor before speaking to her?”
Annabel paused.
“No.”
His face gave away nothing. “I see.”
She swallowed hard.
“I am sorry. I ought to have checked first.”
“Yes, you should have.”
The tone was not mean, yet it felt heavy. Annabel gazed down at her fingers. She had messed up during her initial morning.
“I will be more careful.”
Dr. Callum shut the folder.
“Still, you saw that the patient was upset and changed tactics. That was smart. Patients are not just files in a folder, Miss Robinson. They are human beings, and occasionally they require us to keep that in mind.”
Annabel raised her gaze.
He continued, "Your instinct was good. Your judgment about when to act needs work. Both things can be true."
She had anticipated a scolding or maybe a stern caution. Instead, he did not tie her error to her actual competence.
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Don't thank me. Learn from it."
She answered, "Yes, Doctor."
She got up to leave, however,
"One more thing.”
She spun around.
"You apologized three times in the last five minutes."
Annabel blinked. " Did? I'm sorry.”
The very second those words slipped out, she regretted saying them.
A tiny twitch appeared at the edge of his lips. “That's four.”
Her face turned red with embarrassment.
"I'll try to stop."
"Don't stop apologizing when you've made a mistake. Just stop apologizing for existing in the room."
She looked right at him in shock.
He spoke so easily, as if he were talking about the weather outside. Yet his comment struck a deep nerve inside her.
She had spent most of her years trying to shrink herself in order to occupy minimal space. She kept her voice soft whenever her mother was angry and held back her questions whenever Reed seemed annoyed. She had grown so practiced at asking for nothing that she occasionally lost track of the fact that her needs were valid too.
That man picked up on it in under an hour.
“Got it?” he asked.
Annabel made herself look him right in the eye. “Got it.”
“Great. Be at the ward round at ten and have your notes with you.”
She walked out of the office feeling as if she had just survived a test; she had no idea what the questions were.
The morning round was tough.
Dr. Callum walked from patient to patient confidently, asking questions that needed real thought instead of just memorized facts. He wanted the team to truly know each case, think about the choices, and explain their logic.
When he looked at Anabel, he did not cut her any slack. “What would you check before suggesting the next move?”
She gave a careful answer. He pushed back on her thinking. She had to rethink it. He threw another question at her.
When the round finally finished, her brain was completely drained, yet she felt more awake and involved than she had in weeks.
Dr. Callum was definitely tough. But he was not trying to make her look foolish. He just wanted her to use her brain.
Temi walked up to her by the nurses’ station during a quick break.
“How did it go?”
“I think I made it through.”
“That is step one.”
Anabel cracked a smile. Temi moved a bit closer.
“Do not let his grumpy look get to you. He has that face even when someone hands him amazing coffee.”
“I am glad it’s not me then.”
“Did he give you any good advice?”
Annabel remembered what they talked about in his office.
“Yeah.”
She kept her explanation to that. There were a few thoughts she was not yet prepared to talk about, even with a friendly person.
During the break, Annabel sat by herself in the hospital cafeteria and looked over her paperwork. Her mobile phone buzzed.
A text from an unlisted sender popped up on the display.
Unknown: I hope you're enjoying your new beginning.
Her brow furrowed. Another text came right after.
Unknown: Some people forget who was there for them when they had nothing.
Her stomach felt heavy.
She instantly recognized the sender.
She had already blocked Reed, but he managed to find a different path to reach out.
She started writing a response, then erased it. Wrote a different one, and erased that one as well.
In the end, she simply blocked the new number without sending anything back. She put the phone away and tried to focus once more on her reading.
Yet those sentences stayed stuck in her head.
Some people forget.
She asked herself how Reed was still able to make her feel bad when he was the one who had wronged her.
On the other side of the room, a pair of doctors chatted near the coffee station. Dr. Callum was one of them.
He briefly glanced toward her, then turned away as someone else started talking to him.
Annabel directed her gaze back down to her papers. She refused to bring her private drama into her workplace.
She was determined not to let Reed ruin this for her. That was not going to happen today.
The man waiting by the cafeteria entrance went completely unnoticed by her.
Reed had not shown up just to have a chat. His goal was to verify a specific detail.
His face grew stern upon spotting her by herself, working on her books like her life had not just completely derailed.
Pulling out his phone, he dialed a contact he had stored away the night before.
“Hello,” he spoke once the call connected, “This is Reed. I was wondering if you might assist me with a matter.”
Through the glass partition, he kept his eyes on Annabel.
“It concerns an employee at your medical center.”
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