“He was the only surgeon they could reach,” Shelby said. “They tried everyone else, trust me.”
“He’s not even a surgeon,” Olivia pointed out.
“I mean, technically, he is,” Shelby replied. “He has the knowledge. He’s just a diagnostician. And since no one knows about you and him, no one thought it would be a conflict of interest.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Didn’t you wonder why he got the page to come in?”
Olivia shrugged. “I thought Carmen was being Carmen,” she said with a shrug.
Shelby glanced at her colleague, someone Olivia wasn’t familiar with before looking back at her friend. “Did Connie tell you the circumstances surrounding Owen’s arrival?”
Olivia furrowed her brow and shook her head. “All I know is that it’s a motorcycle accident,” she said. “That’s what she said. That’s what you said. I thought it was typical circs.”
Shelby shook her head. “Apparently, he was drunk,” she said in a voice just above a whisper. “I overheard the police talking to Owen and apparently he kept going on and on about you. They might interview you if they come back. But I guess that depends on whether or not he survives the surgery.”
Olivia made a face. "My name?" she asked. "What the hell was he saying my name for?"
Shelby glanced around, almost as though she didn't want anyone to overhear. "When he came in, everyone could hear him ranting about you," she said. "He lost a lot of blood so everyone wrote him off as being crazy. No one was really taking what he said seriously. But I know better, Liv. And what he said was not right. He wanted to do wicked things to you. He wanted..." She pressed her lips together and shook her head. Olivia noticed how pale she went just remembering it. "When they called Hadley in, Owen was still conscious and still ranting. Hadley did not look pleased."
Olivia swallowed. Her arms were crossed over her chest tightly and her jaw was stiff. "I guess I should just wait, then?" Olivia asked. "Not because of Owen but for Hadley?"
Shelby shrugged. "It's your choice," she said. "If I get a chance, I'll let him know you're here."
Olivia nodded and took a seat in the waiting room. Luckily, she always had her Kindle with her and always bought books, even though she had plenty on the device to read. Now was as good as any so she quickly downloaded a book using the ER's free wifi and started to read.
To say Hadley was furious upon receiving the call from the hospital to perform an emergency surgery on his date with Olivia was an understatement. He had never been good at the whole dating thing. He didn't like it, didn't like spending all this time to try and get to know someone he wasn't sure he'd still care about in a few weeks. But Olivia was different. He cared about Olivia. There was no doubt about that. And he was actually enjoying himself with her on this date. He would never admit it out loud, of course, but he had been slightly worried about how this date was going to turn out. He knew he liked her professionally, he knew he liked her in the bedroom, but he wasn't sure if he could hang out with her without having sex or talking about work.
But he liked her all around.
He especially liked the fact that despite the money she was making with this job, she didn't give a rat's ass about fancy food and sparkling wine. Instead, they got barbecue ribs at a rib place, ditched their reservations, and drank bottomless strawberry lemonade. It was one of the best nights of his life.
Up until he got that call.
He didn't know why he was suddenly responsible for going to the ER for surgery. How many surgeons did the hospital staff have on call? This had be Carmen fucking with him again. He nearly called her after dropping Olivia off at her place, prepared to yell and curse and refuse, but her cell went straight to voicemail.
Damn hypocrite.
When he reached the ER, the head nurse handed him a metal clipboard. "Male motorcycle victim," she began. "Major head trauma. Lost a lot of blood. Brain swelling. Definitely DUI. Drew blood, results pending, but he was ranting about someone when he was brought in. Said some pretty disgusting things."
This peeked Hadley's interest. "What did he say, exactly?" he asked.
"Lots of sexually violent things," the nurse replied, shaking her head. "I can't be sure but I think he was talking about Dr. Goodson."
Mason grabbed the clipboard and glanced down at the name of the patient. Owen Patrick. Mason clenched his jaw. How rich. They called him in to save the life of Olivia's abusive ex-boyfriend.
At that moment, he had two options. On the one hand, he could remove himself from the situation. There was clearly a conflict of interest, considering Mason was dating Owen's ex, and by dating, he was sleeping with her and taking her out on dates. There was something between them, he knew. And he also knew that Owen would not like it when he found out about it. Which meant he would not like it at all. And if Owen didn't like something, he acted out. And the scary thing about Owen was that his temper was unpredictable. There were times he did not care that he was in front of people as he threw his tantrums. He had no idea how the warehouse ended up hiring him but apparently he was good at his job, just not good at self-control.
On the other hand, Mason could prep for surgery and attempt to save Owen's life. He was the only surgeon who responded to Carmen's page - although Mason believed she only reached out to him just to spite him. Either that, or she was jealous he wanted nothing to do with her. They hooked up one time while they were in college and he had a feeling she was jealous of his time with Olivia.
Was that a sexist assumption?
He shrugged it off. He didn't particularly care one way or the other about why Carmen was a bitch. She was a bitch and that was the end.
"What did he say about Dr. Goodson?" Hadley said, flicking his gaze at the nurse. She made a face. "Tell me."
When the nurse finished, Hadley clenched his jaw. Ice ran through his veins. He looked over at the nurse, who seemed to be wincing after the information she shared, and he nodded once.
"Prep me for surgery," he said, his voice cold.
After an hour, Olivia was over waiting around. Not that she was waiting on Hadley but because she wanted to know what was going on with Owen. Again, not because she cared but if he was spewing things about her, then -
Then, what?
Owen was a jerk who had no problem talking down to her when she was his actual girlfriend. There was no way he was going to care one way or the other about what he said to her now that she was his ex.
She headed home and took a shower, changing into her pajamas once she was done. She crawled into bed and was just about to doze off when there was pounding on her door. She jumped, her heart seizing. She instantly thought it was Owen and he was out and he was going to find some reason to blame her for what had happened to him.
Then, she heard, "Goodson. It's me."
She nearly leaped out of bed so she could answer the door.
Hadley.
When she reached the door, she threw it open. She hadn't realized it was pouring rain. Hadley stood in front of her, his blue eyes crisp and intense. He was soaking wet, his short brown hair matted to his face. He looked absolutely beautiful. His clothes were soaked to the point where it clung to his body like a lover, like she did when he was inside of her and she wanted him to stay there.
Without warning, he reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her to him so he could crash his lips onto hers. She welcomed him with open arms, clinging to him just like his clothing. She had no idea where this passion was coming from but she could feel his desire for her press against her thigh and she rubbed against it, wanting him to know she feels him and she wants him just as badly as he wants her.
He moaned through the kiss and she felt her core turn to liquid and melt down to her panties, soaking them as badly as he was. He slammed her into the wall of her apartment. The door was left wide open and sprays of water splashed inside but Olivia didn't care. She didn't care if she got sick. She needed his mouth of her, needed to feel his desire. Dating was fu
n but being around him awoke her primal urges and she found she couldn't control herself when she was around him.
He led her into her place and slammed the door behind them. Somehow, he was able to lock the door without breaking the kiss and led her to her bedroom. As they made their way, they started discarding their clothing, leaving a trail of wet clothes to her bedroom, like a makeshift Hansel and Gretel minus the sibling relationship.
When they reached the bed, he tipped her back. Because she had a tight grip on him, however, she pulled him down with her so he was on top of her. He managed to catch his weight so she didn't feel the brunt of him on her but he blocked her with both arms so she couldn't escape.
Not that she wanted to.
It wasn't long before he positioned himself so he was pushing through her lips, stretching her to the brim, and taking what he believed was his.
Somehow, Olivia woke up sore. She was far from a virgin when she met Hadley and they had been doing it enough where she thought she was used to his size but then there would be an angle he would try, a depth he would push for, and hitting a spot she hadn't experienced before.
For someone relatively older than she was, he had amazing stamina.
Olivia walked to her kitchen and began the procedure of making breakfast. She knew under typical circumstances, Hadley did not eat breakfast even if it was the most important meal of the day. However, she figured that this was a special circumstance and the least he could do was indulge her whim.
She still could not believe the two of them were together. It was such an odd thing - an amazing feeling, absolutely, but still not something she expected. However, regardless of the logic, she felt like she was walking on clouds, bathing in the golden glow of sunshine. She was happy. She wanted to dance across her kitchen and fling open her windows so she could shout it so everyone could hear.
She and Hadley were together!
It didn't matter that he found himself in an awkward situation the previous evening, where he was called in to perform surgery on her ex-boyfriend. He didn't even talk about the surgery and Olivia didn't plan on asking him about it. It was none of her business and she didn't particularly care. Maybe that sounded harsh but she couldn't help it. She didn't care what had happened to Owen in that surgery. It was probably because she had spent the two years that she had been with him caring too much for a guy who barely cared about her and she knew that if she was ever going to truly move on, if she was ever going to get over the relationship, if she was ever going to forgive herself for allowing her to be in this position, she needed to stop caring.
At first, that was more difficult said than actually done but it was too important to her to just quit. And once she made up her mind, once it finally sunk in that this was what she wanted, she was done.
It was over.
No looking back.
And despite him trying to barge his way into her present, despite him throwing tantrums and making scenes as a way to get her attention, she refused to allow him back into her life. She did not care. She couldn't care, even if she wanted to.
Which she definitely did not.
She cracked some eggs and stirred them up, deciding to make cheese and vegetable omelets for them. Hadley would probably find some reason to give her a hard time but she hoped he appreciated the effort she put into making him breakfast.
It was nice, this peaceful in the morning. It was Saturday and neither of them was scheduled to go to the hospital. Granted, they were always on call but she reveled in this moment of solitude.
Partners.
They were partners.
Did that make them serious? She didn't know. Maybe right now it didn't particularly matter. She could just enjoy the way they were without attempting to figure out what that was.
At that moment, her phone rang. Olivia furrowed her brow, trying to figure out who was calling her this early in the morning. She turned down the temperature on her stove before checked the called id. Shelby’s face popped up. Olivia’s brow furrowed even further. Wasn’t Shelby still at the hospital? Why would she be calling Olivia now?
Olivia answered it on the third ring.
“Oh, thank God,” Shelby said after Olivia murmured a hello. “I thought you weren’t going to answer.”
Olivia’s body immediately tensed. There was something in Shelby’s voice that was clipped. It didn’t actually sound like her friend. “What is it?” Olivia asked. “What’s wrong?”
Shelby didn’t hesitate. “Owen didn’t survive the surgery,” she replied. “He was pronounced dead at 4:23 this morning.”
“Oh.” Olivia wasn’t sure how to feel about that, exactly. In fact, if she was being honest, she didn’t feel much of anything. She wasn’t sad. Maybe a little bit shocked. But she didn’t feel empty, like a loss had occurred. She didn’t feel upset or disappointed. She just was.
“Yeah,” Shelby said. “Didn’t Hadley tell you? I’m assuming he’s at your place or you’re at his or whatever.”
“Well, he is at my place,” Olivia said, her cheeks fluttering with a light red shade. “But he never volunteered any information about the surgery and I never asked. We were focused on other things, if you know what I mean.”
“You didn’t have to add the last part, Liv,” Shelby said, her voice flat. “I always know what you mean.”
Olivia cleared her throat. “Why are you calling me, though?” she asked, crossing her arm over her chest while still hold onto the phone. “Owen didn’t survive surgery. That sucks. But at the same time, he shouldn’t be driving his stupid motorcycle while he’s drunk, either.”
“Hadley could have saved him.” Shelby was whispering. Olivia didn’t understand why she felt she needed to whisper until the impact of her words sunk in.
“What?” she asked. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Hadley emerge from her bedroom in just his boxers. God, he looked good. “What do you mean?”
“He’s saved people with worse head injuries before,” Shelby said, her voice fast. “I think he purposefully let Owen die on the table.”
“Shelby, you can’t possibly be –“
“We should talk,” Hadley interrupted, his clear blue eyes serious.
“Shelby, I have to go,” Olivia said. “I’ll call you back.”
Before Shelby could respond, Olivia hung up the phone. “Okay,” she said, swallowing. “Let’s talk.”
“Was that Shelby?” he asked. Olivia nodded. “Did she tell you that Owen died on the table?” Olivia nodded again. “And she thinks I did it on purpose?”
Olivia hesitated but nodded once more. “Is it true?” she asked.
Hadley pressed his lips together. “Does it matter?” he asked.
She thought for a moment. And she knew.
“No,” she replied, her lips curling up into a small smile. “It doesn’t.”
Acknowledgments
This book was a surprise. I knew I wanted to do a medical book in the Dark & Deadly series but I didn’t have tons of time, so I opted to write a novella and filled it with sex. Because, why not?
But I had to think of a twist that worked, that fit with the series. And I think I found one that worked.
This book is a love letter to those who love dark romance and this series. It would be nothing without you.
Thank you to Suzanna Lynn of Funky Book Designs for my wonderful beautiful wickedly dark cover! (So seductive!)
Thank you to Josh, Jacob, and Kylee for pushing me to be a better parent and motivating myself to take myself seriously as an author.
Finally, to Frank, as always you’re my reason for everything. Thank you for inspiring me and being every hero I’ve ever written.
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A Diagnosis Dark & Deadly: A Dark & Deadly Novella (A Dark & Deadly Series Book 4) Page 10
