LYRIC
The aftermath of meeting with Penelope turned out to be torturous. I was restless and couldn’t even eat when I got back to Darkspire.
I kept shuffling between holding the scan and touching the necklace. I needed something to keep me close to them. It was pure torture having this mental knowledge of losing them.
After sometime, when I concluded I needed a distraction to avoid losing my mind, I took the pills. Might not be my smartest move; I know I promised never to take them again.
But I couldn’t help it. I needed something to help me feel better. And only my dreams could help me.
Right after I took it, my dream did come.
Jaris made me love me in the way I liked and always enjoyed it. I screamed so hard as I came, and for a moment, I wished this dream could last forever.
*****
And my week just kept getting worse.
In the morning, I woke up to an email from TCH, telling me I had been summoned by the board by ten a.m.
I knew what it meant. They were about to penalize me.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking the minute I saw the email. All my efforts at TCH, my passion for saving lives…it was all about to go down the drain.
I was crying when the kids came to visit. As soon as I realized they were the ones knocking, I dried my face completely before getting the door.
Their happy mood put me out of my sad one partially. And I was even more glad when I discovered they were there to ask for my opinion on which jewel they were to use on their birthday.
Ugh. Talk about their birthday. My gifts for them were already being shipped and I couldn’t wait for them to see them. The party was in a week’s time.
When I was done making a decision for them, they ran off to get ready for school.
As for me, I got ready to go to TCH.
I was having a hard time keeping my composure on as I got ready in front of the mirror. Real fear gripped me.
It was 09:05 when I took my bag and left the room.
To my surprise, Jaris was out there, just approaching my door. Or, at least I thought he was approaching my door.
But he was.
“Good morning, Alpha Jaris.” I dipped my head as he stopped in front of me.
His masculine cologne hit me in an instant. Cedar Noir and Dark Truffle.
“Lyric. You ready?”
I furrowed my brows. Ready for what?
“I um… I’m going to TCH. I was summoned this morning.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I asked if you were ready.”
Oh. “Y–Yeah, I am.” Ready and utterly terrified.
“Good. Let’s go, then.” He started walking ahead of me.
Wait, what? What was he doing?
“You coming with me?” I hadn’t moved from where I stood.
“Looks like it.”
Seeing the much distance he’d created between us, I had to force my legs to move.
“But why? I mean, you don’t have to.” The words came out
“I know. But I want to.”
Since I was struggling to meet up with his pace.
Successfully unlocked!
His answers were so clipped, making me feel like I was bothering him. But I couldn’t shake off the warmth that spread through my belly.
What had gotten into the stone–hearted Alpha? Why would he want to accompany me to TCH?
117
“Thank you,” I mentioned while sliding next to him in the backseat.
He was busy on his laptop but glanced at me and nodded. No words. He just returned his gaze to his laptop.
The ride to TCH was torturously long. I was both curious to know what my judgement would be and also scared of facing the board.
Either way, I had a feeling today would not be a good day for me.
I clutched my purse tight as myself, Jaris and Kael made our way into her ground floor of TCH. It was impossible not to notice the glares people threw my way.
I could even hear the words they said in their minds:
“Killer.”
“Careless doctor.”
“She’s not fit to be here.”
I imagined them saying even worse. But I didn’t deserve them. There was no way I’d been so careless with my application. The walk to the elevator felt like forever, and when the three of us were finally in, I released a very deep breath.
“It’ll be fine, Lyric. You keep going this way and you might pass out before they even penalize you.”
It was Jaris.
Stone–hearted grumpy Jaris. He was comforting me.
Goodness, the surreality.
I exhaled deeply before nodding at him. “Thank you.”
A couple minutes more and we both entered the board room. Kael remained at the door while Jaris and I proceeded.
The large room, filled with a long table and plenty of chairs, was already filled. I saw the grumpy faces of men I hadn’t seen before. Men who were, no doubt, top superiors.
They stood up and bowed as soon as they saw Jaris. It wasn’t until he took a seat that they did the same.
Normally, Jaris wasn’t supposed to be here. This was a business of the organization, and non–staff weren’t allowed.
But I guessed it didn’t matter when you were someone like Jaris.
The meeting kicked off. I avoided looking at the faces of the doctors I knew as I hated seeing the disappointment in them. Most of them had faith in me. They believed I was good, but now, it looked like I failed them.
Questions were thrown at me, all of which I tried my best to answer without shaking.
It went on for a long time, and next was the President reading the book of rules to me. That was where it got worse for me. Where I knew my doom was close.
“As much as you’ve been an amazing doctor, Dr. Lyric, this particular case cannot be simply overlooked,” The President started his penalty speech. “Four of our patients are dead due to your carelessness. Aside the pain that comes with losing them, this is also a bad name to the hospital. Believe me, TCH wouldn’t have its name and respect if such cases occurred frequently.”
Please, Lyric. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
But I could feel the stupid tears building behind my eyes again. With the way the speech was going, I knew I was going to get fired.
Subscribed
