Chapter 1 Incompetent Eden

Eden’s Point of View

“Doctor!” The parents of the boy I operated on rushed forward the moment I left the trauma bay. Worry lined their faces, especially the mother, whose eyes were swollen with tears. “How was the surgery?! My son?”

“He is fine, the surgery was a success,” I answered confidently.

“Oh, God.” A sigh of relief escaped her as she slid to the ground, her husband trying to get her up. “Thank you so much, doctor.”

My patients' gratitude and well-being are all that I needed as a doctor; it filled me with a sense of fulfilment.

“You did great in there, Doctor Eden.” My assistant, Dr. Farha, and Lisa, the scrub nurse, pulled me into a group hug. They noticed just how tensed and worried I had been during the surgery.

“Thanks to you both, my lifesaver.” I smiled. “I owe you dinner.”

“Don’t mention.” Lisa grinned also.

“Doctor Eden!” Anna, secretary to the director, called, holding some files close to her chest, and I paled. “You are summoned to the office of the director.”

The director of Montclair Medicals, who was also coincidentally my father, needed me to be in his office.

“Why did you do it?” Father snapped, and I flinched because I didn’t plan to be met with such a level of hostility.

“It was a success,” I answered defensively.

“It was a delicate case; that was a bloody child, and you are not even qualified for the surgery!” He bellowed. “What would you have done if he died?”

“The boy would have died if I had just stood there, without doing anything, we were the second hospital he was referred to,” I explained, my voice calm. “I just couldn’t turn them away when I knew I could save him.”

I wasn’t certain, but I just wanted to do anything in my power to save him.

“That’s all the more reason you should have turned them away! We don’t even have funds for the chopper if things had gotten critical.” He yelled at me.

“He won’t even last that long.” I retorted. “He would have died before we even got him on any bloody chopper.”

“The hospital is in its last days, and I don’t want to ruin the image my mother suffered so hard to build. I made it clear; don’t take extreme cases you would be unable to handle. And the reports—”

He slammed the files on the table, and my eyes narrowed.

“You punctured the vena cava during surgery?” I fell silent. “You are not a bloody intern anymore, Eden. You have been doing surgeries for 2 years. You shouldn’t be at the stage where you puncture anything, especially in such a delicate case.”

I bit down on my lips, unable to say another word.

“I can’t wait for Evangeline to be done with med school; she seems to have better potential than you.”  

Ever since I was a little girl, he had always compared my little sister to me, and now, even though Evangeline wasn’t a professional surgeon, he still compared us.

“The fact remains the surgery was a success despite the complications, and that just added to our good image.”

He stared at me in disappointment and leaned back in his chair.

“You are suspended, Eden.” He told with a stern look. “Let Doctor Logan take over from you.”

“What?” I asked in surprise. “You can't do that.”

“Don’t make this bigger than it already is, hang over to Logan at the end of the day.”

I stood there for a while, trying to make a hole in my father’s head with my glare, but all my attempt was all futile. In anger, I yanked the stethoscope from my neck and slammed it on his table before storming out of his office.

“I hate my father so much.” I texted Uriel, my fiancé, “I think I might quit, I can’t stand him anymore!”

I texted again, but there was no reply.

Fuck. This won’t do; I am going to find him.

I pulled out of the driveway in my Toyota Mirai, realizing that I was a terrible fiancée. Due to my heavy schedule, I barely responded to any of his texts during the week.

Maybe I needed this suspension.

I could use the opportunity to bond with Uriel, and then we can plan our wedding with a clearer head.

Throwing the keys in my pocket, pausing slightly when I noticed the door was open, he wasn’t usually this careless.

Hesitantly, I pushed the door open, my eyes darting around suspiciously. The living room was empty, and my eyes fell on the half-filled champagne glasses on the table.

Did Uriel have a visitor?

I wondered as I made my way up the stairs. I heard a sound, and my heart tightened, cold sweat popping from my forehead, and I followed the sound to the bedroom door.

“Argh! Um… Yeah, harder!” I stood frozen in front of the door, my eyes glossy with tears from the disbelief. The moan was accompanied by wet smacking sounds, the sounds of bodies slapping together, creating a twisted rhythm that made my head spin.

Not only because I just found out that Uriel was cheating on me, but because the voice of the woman he was with sounded so familiar.

“Fuck, you are so tight.” I heard him groan. “Your stupid sister won’t even let me touch her. She is always too busy.”

“You shouldn’t even compare us.” Her high-pitched squeals echoed again. “Ugh! Yeah… Oh, God, yes!”

I stood there as I tried to catch the pieces of myself, wondering if I should leave or go inside. I decided on the latter, and I stormed in.

Uriel and Evangeline, my half-sister, were naked. I was soon overwhelmed with the intense feeling of disgust and rage.

“What the hell are you two doing?!” I screamed.