Page 4 of Fourteen of a Kind

“What?” he shouted. “You can’t do that!”

“I’m the Chief of Staff of this hospital. I can do whatever the fuck I want. I can hire and fire who I want, and you’re out.”

“This will ruin my career, Dr. Kind!”

“It's not my problem.” I shrugged. “Maybe you should have thought about that before cheating on my niece.”

“I’ll sue you for this!” He stood up and pointed at me.

“Stop acting like a child, Landon,” Shaun said. “You fuck with a Kind. You pay the consequences. You don’t stand a chance with a lawsuit. We’ll drag your name through the mud and ensure you never practice medicine again. The fact is you broke hospital policy, we found out, and now you’re fired.”

“This is bullshit!”

I stood from my desk, walked over, and pressed my finger into his chest.

“What’s bullshit is you. You are an arrogant son-of-a bitch. None of us ever liked you. You better hope you never run into Nathan.”

“Or better yet, you better hope you never run into Simon. You cheat on one of us; you cheat on us all,” Shaun said. “Good riddance, Dr. Piazza.”

“You cannot do this! I am a damn good doctor!” Landon shouted.

“In order to be a good doctor, you have to be a decent human being, which you are not. Get out of my office, collect your things, and turn in your badge. Security will escort you out.”

He turned and stormed out.

“Dr. Kind, Penelope is on her way up,” Marcy said.

“Thank you, Marcy.” I sighed, sitting behind my desk.

“Man, I hate that guy.” Shaun shook his head.

“You wanted to see me, Dr. Kind?” Penelope nervously walked into my office.

“Have a seat, Penelope. It has been brought to my attention that you and Dr. Piazza were engaging in sex in the on-call room.”

She looked down. “I’m so sorry, Dr. Kind.”

“You know he was in a relationship with Dr. Kind, right?” Shaun asked.

“It just hap?—”

I put my hand up. “No excuses. It is against hospital policy, and I’m afraid I’ll have to let you go.”

“But, Dr.—”

“There are no buts, Penelope. What you did was wrong. Actions have consequences. Let me ask you something. How long have you and Dr. Piazza been carrying on?”

She stared at me, unwilling to answer.

“You can tell us,” Shaun said. “Dr. Piazza has already been fired.”

“It happened a few times.” She looked down.

“A few times, eh? Behind Ella’s back? Weren’t you and she friends? Don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter. Security will escort you to collect your things and out of the hospital. It’s a shame because you’re a great nurse. But as I said, consequences have actions. You may leave,” I said.

She slowly stood from her chair and began to walk out of my office.

“Penelope?”