Page 45 of Dr. Scandal Claus

Nick approached slowly, pulling his cap down. He looked tired—sunken eyes, drooping shoulders, slow gait. There was so much grief and pain in his eyes that tears welled up in mine. No one had told me how long surgery would last. Each tiny update I got was that it was still going and Ethan was still stable. But this look on his face was terrifying. Each step closer was like a bad dream.

I pictured the worst, my son, pale and lifeless, lying on a table. My legs felt weak, but Nellie steadied me. Tears dripped from my jaw and I didn't stop them. I thought I'd throw up again, but it wouldn't come. And then Nick was standing right in front of me.

"Scarlett…" he breathed, and I hiccupped out a sob. I couldn't speak. I'd never been more grateful for a good friend than right now. Nellie was holding me together.

"How is he?" she asked timidly and Nick frowned.

"He's in recovery," he said, and I felt the air in my lungs escape, and Nellie's arms encircled me. "He did okay with the surgery. We had a tough time getting his heart restarted." Nick paused and it worried me. I clung to Nellie as he went on. "We had to use the paddles to get him started and we put a temporary pacemaker in to make sure his heart beats at a normal rhythm. When we are sure he's stable with that, Dr. Chandler will come take it out."

"What about you?" I asked, suddenly feeling a loss of control. Nick was Ethan's doctor, not some strange person.

"Can we talk?" he asked, and I frowned.

I hadn't really spoken to Nick about anything since I saw Fiona kissing him. I knew the woman was pure evil, and I'd seen that kiss. She did it, not him. But my heart was still so stressed. I felt like if Nellie let go of me I might collapse.

"I want to see Ethan," I told him, and he shook his head.

"We have to let him wake up a bit. He'll be in ICU for a few days, but for the next few hours he's resting. It will be touch and go for a short time. That's enough time for us to talk." Nick eyed Nellie and she glanced at me.

"I'll just be outside, okay?" She gave me a squeeze and turned to Nick and said, "I'm really sorry…For everything. I know what I said to that reporter wasn't fair to you." She frowned but all Nick did was nod at her, and then she walked away, collecting her coat and purse and walking out the door.

Nick took my hand and turned. He led me past the gawking people to an empty exam room, where he pulled the curtains around and took the coffee out of my hand. We both sat on the edge of the bed and he cradled both of my hands in his.

"Scarlett, I?—"

I threw my arms around him and clung to him. The tears came faster now, but relief swirled in my chest. "I'm so sorry for saying all those hurtful things. Ethan just collapsed, and with the medicine thing and then Fiona was so nasty to me?—"

"Shh," he purred, and his hand smoothed down the back of my head and across my shoulders. "I understand and I'm not mad at you. I know you don't think those things." He pulled away and cupped my face, drawing his thumb across my cheekbone to wipe away some tears. "Let me tell you something okay?"

I nodded at him and he handed me his scrub cap. So I wiped my face with it and then scooted up farther on the bed. One foot dangled and the other leg was curled up. I felt so small andpowerless, but in Nick's presence I felt safe. My emotions had been all mixed up because of the fear.

"Remember on Labor Day weekend when we had that break-in? And before that when I thought someone had been in the office…?" His eyebrows tented and I nodded. "We had cameras installed that first time, and when Labor Day rolled around and someone broke in, they saw what appeared to be a woman entering. My nurse found a flash drive plugged into the back of one of her computers…

"Scarlett, someone else sent that prescription order in to the pharmacy, and someone removed Ethan's paternity results. My gut tells me it was Fiona. She's been throwing herself at me for weeks. She wants what she can't have, and unfortunately she's just sadistic enough to risk a child's life and try to erase you both from my life to cripple me because I won't go back to her."

I shuddered as I listened to what he was saying. If he was right, that meant Fiona had broken several laws and put Ethan in a very dangerous position, even if she didn't realize. Then it dawned on me that he was probably right.

"Nick, she said you were a horrible doctor, that you struck again." I thought about it aloud as I spoke, mentally processing as I was talking. "She knew something was going on. Why was she here? I thought you were together when you got the call about Ethan, and I?—"

"Woah, slow down," he said, clasping my hands again. "I would never be with her, Scarlett. My heart is yours. I'm committed. You're my everything. And her father works here, so it's maybe just a coincidence but?—"

"No, Nick. I don't think so. She knew something was wrong. Why else would she say it was you? If she knew Ethan was on the wrong meds, she was probably hanging out here hoping he'd get brought in. Which meant she was trying to make me doubt your ability on purpose. She was going to start another scandal,and she was using me and Ethan to do it." My blood was boiling. "I could kill her…" I stood and started for the door, but Nick snagged my hand and pulled me back into his arms.

"Shh, let's not do anything hasty, okay? I've already called Marjorie."

"What?" I hissed, pushing away from him.

"Wait." His expression was stern. He lowered his head, and then looked me in the eye. "If anyone can get this story out with what we suspect and get everyone who needs to be involved in this, it's her. I know I got her attention too. I left a brief voicemail with a few tidbits and asked her to spread the word to the hospital board. Now when they came into the OR and watched me doing the surgery I was a bit nervous, but I know they are the ones who need to be notified, and the authorities."

Nick was so confident, and I knew he was right. We had to handle all of this the right way.

"And I might be in trouble." He sighed and loosened his grip on me. "Legally, I wasn't supposed to do that surgery, but I did, to save Ethan's life. I might be in trouble, Scarlett."

I felt worry creeping back in and I buried my face in his chest. "We'll do it together. And if something goes horribly wrong, we'll just move away." I didn't want it to come to that, but the past year had left little confidence in my mind that we'd ever have a normal life.

The most important thing was that Ethan was safe, and Nick was with me. Why I had ever doubted him was beyond me. Now we had to put Fiona Bradshaw in her place, and if it meant making friends with our enemy—Marjorie Whitman—then so be it. I was going to fight for my family tooth and nail, and I refused to lose.

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