Chapter 3
I should've just said no and walked away.
But then Yosef said something that made all my defenses crumble in an instant. "Nina, your sister's illness needs money.
"The latest targeted meds from Ashford are already in Phase III trials, and they're working wonders. I'll figure out a way to get them for you.
"As long as you say yes, I'll handle all your sister's medical bills from now on."
Nancy Foster. My one and only little sister. She was battling bone cancer, and after endless rounds of chemo, her body was barely holding together.
The local treatments had reached their limit. The doctors warned that without some kind of breakthrough, she might not even last another year.
Those targeted meds from Ashford were her only shot. And that was the thing that finally broke me.
Seeing the hesitation on my face, Yosef immediately upped the ante. "Nina, I swear, this is the last time.
"If Ella can make it through this, I promise she won't bother you again.
"We'll never forget what you've done for us."
"Us"? He meant him and Ella.
So, in his mind, he and Ella had always been "us."
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, my heart felt numb and lifeless.
"Fine." My voice came out rough and dry. "I promise."
I took the blame for a medical accident that wasn't mine.
The hospital's disciplinary action came down swiftly.
A public reprimand, a major disciplinary mark, and two years without my license to practice.
In just one day, I went from a star doctor to the butt of everyone's jokes.
The supervisors who once sang my praises now looked at me with nothing but disappointment.
My once-close colleagues now went out of their way to avoid me.
The day I packed up and left the hospital, the weather was perfect.
Sunlight poured through the windows, making the hallway shine with a harsh brightness.
I carried my cardboard box, walking step by step through the place I'd dedicated seven years to.
At the hospital entrance, I spotted Yosef and Ella.
They stood beneath a large evergreen tree.
Ella was in a white dress, her eyes rimmed with tears, looking heartbreakingly vulnerable. She clung to Yosef's sleeve, murmuring something.
Yosef watched her with tender concern, lightly patting her back to comfort her.
They looked like the leads in some sappy TV romance.
As me? I was the wicked side character, the one who made their love story possible.
I didn't walk up to them. I stood there watching from afar, then turned around and called a cab.
When I got home, I shut myself in the room and didn't come out for an entire day.
That night, Yosef came home.
He reeked of booze, carrying a cake box in his hand. "Nina, I know today was hard on you."
He set the cake down on the table. "It's your favorite red velvet."
I looked at him in silence.
He continued, "I've already talked to Ella and told her to keep a low profile at the hospital from now on.
"She's really grateful to you and said she wants to take you out for dinner one of these days to show her appreciation.
"And about Nancy's meds, I've got someone working on it. They should arrive next month."
He recited each update like he was fulfilling a duty, ticking off tasks one by one.
After holding it in for so long, I finally spoke, my voice coming out rough and strained, "Yosef, do you love Ella?"
Yosef froze, his hands stopping mid-motion, a hint of awkwardness flashing across his face. "Nina, what nonsense are you talking?
"We're merely friends and coworkers. You're reading too much into it."
I laughed, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Friends? Would you let your wife take the blame for a so-called friend? Throw away her whole career for someone you claim is a coworker?"
Speechless from my interrogation, Yosef's face flickered between pale and flushed. "Nina, don't be absurd."
Cornered and enraged, he snapped, "It's over and done with. Why do you keep harping on it?
"Come on, it's just a two-year suspension. It's not the end of the world.
"When you come back, you'll still be one of the hospital's top doctors.
"Seriously, do you have to make such a big deal out of something so trivial?"
"Something so trivial?" I echoed, feeling like someone was sawing at my heart with a blunt knife, over and over.
My career, my reputation, and everything I'd gambled and lost meant nothing to him. In his eyes, it was just "something trivial".
That day, we had a blowout. Or rather, it was me spiraling into hysterics, while Yosef kept responding with nothing but cold indifference and impatient, half-hearted replies.
In the end, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
"You're impossible!" I heard him grumble outside the door.
That night, he didn't come home.