Page 24

Ha-joon

I didn’t see Ellie the rest of the week. There was so much crazy and people running their mouths about everything. I heard everything from Ellie and Fitz were engaged to she was his first love he couldn’t let go of to she liked to watch all of his conquests.

It made it exceedingly difficult to not punch the asshole for doing this to her. She had every right to break off what they’d had, and he was too full of himself to believe she could leave him, so he torpedoed her life instead.

And things got worse. Apparently, the head of HR was related to the “leader” of the board somehow, Joel Warren.

When he found out she was fired and then about Ellie and Fitz—the bastard called a vote of confidence in her.

I was worried, but Drs. James and Tai weren’t.

That said a lot, and I had a feeling they didn’t have the authority to really do that.

Sure enough, a memo went out that Joel Warren and two other members of the board were no longer associated with the hospital.

I walked up on Dr. Tai screaming at Fitz that she would end him. That the board came for Ellie because he was a selfish asshole and wanted to try and save his pathetic career.

“It’s her own fault for using their breakup as a reason to go after him and start all of this trouble,” someone in the crowd mumbled.

“Have the balls to say that in front of everyone or shut your damn mouth,” I snapped, drawing attention to myself.

“You don’t know the situation or what really happened.

” I moved forward and stared down the group before squaring off with Fitz.

“You don’t care about her. You want her undercut so this mess goes away.

“While stalking and harassing her to have a real relationship now as if that will show you’ve changed and save you.

No one with a brain is fooled. You want this place to be so toxic so better doctors than you won’t come in.

I was warned not to come here and take a step back in my career to high school, but I came anyways because I want to be part of restoring ASH. ”

I glanced around at everyone else and made it clear that there were a lot of us who wanted this change and for people to be professional so to stop blaming one woman.

She couldn’t be the reason the place got so toxic—especially when it was all the board’s rules that she protested—and a bitch for making everyone jump through hoops now.

The first day of my new practice started the same day the new head of HR, Beth Hudson, took over. It was the day the addendums went into effect and people signed or were out.

And almost one whole department refused to sign and didn’t tell anyone that they were going to do it. Four of the five dermatology practices walked right to HR and ripped up the addendums, saying they’d sue if they were put on unpaid leave.

Oh, and how did the hospital plan to survive without four of the dermatology practices?

The head of dermatology was livid . I thought the wolf shifter was going to change forms and maul the people under her who did this without her knowledge.

Apparently, someone did know or Ellie had gotten a heads-up because the new legal counsel that was brought on to handle the situation was ready. She told everyone who was there for the stunt to follow her or they’d be escorted out by security and fired.

I walked right to the head of dermatology with everyone watching and told her that I could take any shifter patients since I’d done a fellowship in dermatology. Plus, my practice just opened and was fully staffed, so we could handle the patient load.

I also called a colleague I’d worked with in Paris and told him that there were changes being made to ASH and he might have a chance at getting into the dermatology department.

He wasn’t quick to jump on the idea until I told him that some of the board had been kicked out and they were cleaning house of the toxic.

But it was hard to do without new doctors to replace them. I knew he had problems with his own hospital and his board wanting to make it more of a medical spa instead of letting him work with burn victims and helping different departments.

To humans, it might seem weird for supes to even have dermatology doctors, but we couldn’t heal from everything. Our bodies needed science and medicine too. Plus, when we were part animal and part person… We had issues.

Or vampires who couldn’t produce their own blood and had to drink it. They could have all kinds of skin conditions and problems. Same with magics who touched weird ingredients for potions and could still have allergies like humans. That meant allergic reactions and skin conditions.

Nothing and no one was perfect or had it easy. Being more than human normally came with more issues too.

I was worried about Ellie though with all of the crazy.

I didn’t want to add to the rumor mill or problems, so I left flowers at her condo with a note that I was rooting for her and hoped she remembered people were on her side.

I wasn’t sure what else I could really do besides everything I could to help the hospital.

Fitz was being blocked from everything. He was still technically in the trauma department, but no one wanted to work with him after how he’d behaved. Dr. Carpenter had too much pull and was too powerful.

And he wasn’t listening about staying away from Ellie. Apparently, he thought just not being as obvious about it was enough.

“How would Dr. Carpenter feel if I told him I found you stalking her by her car?” I asked him one night as I finished up… And found him waiting by Ellie’s vehicle.

He turned to blast me, and that was what I needed to take a better picture of him. He was even leaning against her car, but to see his face I would have needed to go past him, but now he looked directly at me and I got the shot I wanted.

My death was in his eyes as he pushed off the vehicle and stormed over to me.

“Please, try it, git,” I chuckled as I tucked my phone away and stared him down with a smirk. “I’d bloody end you without breaking a sweat and we both know it.”

“Stop putting poison in Ellie’s mind to—”

“You have the wrong idea about us,” I finally admitted just so he could stop fixating.

I nodded when he frowned. “I don’t even have her number.

My mum wanted me to have a condo in that building because of the security given I’m a target because my da’s Alpha.

I had no clue. I don’t care if she’s rich or poor.

You do which is all the poison against you she needed. ”

I walked away as he cussed me out and threw out more threats. When he said I couldn’t stop him from seeing Ellie though, I snapped and walked back, getting in his face.

“Where is your car? You’re getting into it right now and driving home.

She’s got enough of your mess to deal with, and you’re not exploding all of this bile on her when she’s so stressed.

If you were a remotely decent person, you would stop being so selfish and realize you have nothing to offer her.

You bring nothing but shite to her life and never treated her right.

“She wised up! She realized how bad you were and wants no part of you. Your ego can’t see it’s you, not everyone else.

Yeah, it’s all of us and you’re perfect.

I heard you outside that day yelling and gaslighting her, ranting that she was blowing it all up and being childish.

You did this. You did. You thought you were tearing her down to be at your level, but she had—”

It took everything I had not to break his arm when he took a swing at me. I grabbed his arm and shoved him away from me instead.

Seriously, this fool was on my last nerve.

“And yeah, I’m reporting that to HR in the morning,” I said firmly before pointing at the camera in the parking garage that would have caught it all.

“Do that and I’ll report her slapping me,” he threatened.

I couldn’t hide my disgust. “You abusive asshole.”

“I’m abusive? She hits me and you dare to call me abusive?”

“Yeah, because you’re using it as ammo, not really upset.

If you were, you wouldn’t go near her and just want it done.

But you want to use it against her to trap her.

That makes you the problem. Seriously.” I growled in his face when he argued.

“Seriously, go to therapy, you fucking narcissist. Go get a clue that you’re the problem.

I don’t care, just get in your car and leave. ”

He finally saw he’d pushed me too far and stormed off. I checked that he really did get in a vehicle and leave. He could come back or just try to stalk her at our condo building. I knew that.

But I was done just watching this mess.

I texted Dr. James and Dr. Carpenter that Fitz had been waiting for Ellie and took a swing at me and what his threat was. This needed to come to an end.

How was this clown still employed? For real?

I didn’t care if he was the best trauma surgeon in the world. He wasn’t worth this.

I felt like I spent the whole week blocking Fitz from Ellie or watching someone flirt with her.

She was insanely popular now that people found out she was so loaded.

It wasn’t just our condo building that she owned.

People looked it up and got the name of the company that was listed as the owner…

And pulled what else that company owned.

Four posh condo buildings and two massive apartment complexes.

Where apparently a chunk of the staff lived.

That was surprising, and some people changed their attitude about her.

I heard several people defending her in the cafeteria that she didn’t jack up rent every year and the management team where they lived was actually great.

So if she was in charge of that then she actually did care about people.

So running a hospital wasn’t enough for those fools?

What was wrong with people?

Well, at least they were speaking up for something good.