Thanksgiving. My doctor husband told me for the umpteenth time that he'd been called in for emergency surgeries. He couldn't come home with me to see my parents. But then I saw it on his assistant's Instagram. There was Simon, at Jenny's mom's place, carving a massive turkey for her family's neighborhood potluck. The caption read: *Mom says having a surgeon son-in-law is amazing. Look at how perfectly he carves the turkey.* I sneered. I liked the post. I left a comment: *Professional habits die hard.* My phone exploded. My colleagues were gossiping in every group chat, convinced I'd finally lose it on my husband. Simon's call came through immediately. "It's a big day for Jenny's family. I'm just helping out. Why are you being so passive-aggressive?" "There's no men in her household. They needed help with the potluck. I'm just lending a hand. What's there to make a scene about?" "Delete that comment and unlike the post right now. Don't make things difficult for Jenny at the hospital. You hear me?!" "When I get back, we'll pick a date to visit your parents. Okay?" *When I get back.* *We'll pick a date.* Simon only knew how to promise me the moon. I'd had enough. I was done waiting. After Thanksgiving, once the divorce papers were finalized, our seven-year marriage would be officially over. I didn't give Simon any response. For the first time, I hung up on him. He lost it. My phone rang again. I declined the call and blocked his number—doing exactly what Simon always did to me when he was angry. I gave it all right back to him. Mom and Dad looked over, worried. "Paige, sweetie... you and Simon, are you two..." I met their questioning eyes and smiled. I took two bites of dinner like it was nothing. "We can't make it work anymore. We're getting divorced soon." My mom sighed. She patted my dad, who was still frozen in shock, and forced a cheerful tone as she urged everyone to eat. My phone buzzed. Jenny had posted a long "apology" in the hospital work group chat: *Just kidding around with everyone! Thank you to Dr. Simon for being so understanding. If I've caused anyone any discomfort, please forgive me.* But the word "bragging" was written all over her face. Simon replied immediately: *Young people should have some energy. Nothing to apologize for. Anyone who's bothered is just petty.* I wasn't bothered. Getting rid of Simon? That was perfect. The moment the Director spoke, everyone knew which side to take. Replies flooded in: *The hospital is usually so dead. Jenny's just sacrificing herself to liven things up. Thank god for her!* *Who knew the Director was so skilled with a scalpel AND a carving knife? Jenny's so lucky!* *Hahaha, we all know there's only ONE person at this hospital who's that petty.* I scrolled through the endless insults. My chest tightened with a hollow ache. Half of these people—I'd trained them myself. They used to call me "Dr. Paige" with respect, hanging on my every word. Now I was just "that person." All because Simon was the Hospital Director. Because Simon favored Jenny, she became the golden girl. Never mind that this hospital only existed because of my skills and my entire life savings. None of that could compete with Simon's blatant favoritism. I laughed bitterly and turned off my phone. I steeled myself to enjoy this meal with my parents. But then Simon called my mom's phone. She looked at me, helpless. I sighed. I answered. Before I could say a word, Simon's emotionless voice came through: "Is Paige with you? Put her on. I need to talk to her." For a split second, I regretted picking up. He'd called my mom's phone to reach me, but he couldn't even say "Mom." My heart clenched. "What do you want?" Simon's voice turned ice-cold when he heard me. "Jenny's post-op patient is showing signs of infection. Get back to the hospital right now and do a second surgery." His tone was commanding. Absolute. He ordered me around like a dog. Rage flared in my chest. The patient in question needed a complex cardiac septal bridge procedure. Even if I performed it, I couldn't guarantee more than a fifty percent success rate. But Jenny, desperate to get promoted to Department Head, had shamelessly demanded I hand over the surgery to her. I knew her skills were nowhere near adequate. I refused outright. But Simon was obsessed with Jenny. Without a second thought, he transferred the patient to her. I argued. Simon said the "newcomer needed experience" and told me not to be so concerned with "personal gains and losses." A human life. In Simon's eyes, it was just a stepping stone for his mistress. Now that things had gone wrong, he wanted me to clean up Jenny's mess. Did he really think I was that much of a sucker?
I refused immediately: "I can't come back. Let whoever screwed up deal with it themselves. If you can't stand watching, YOU do the surgery. After all, you're her guarantor." "I'm eating dinner with my parents. They made a huge spread because they thought you were coming. If we don't finish it, it'll go to waste. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." I was about to end the call when Simon exploded: "TRY hanging up on me! Paige, have I been giving you too much leeway lately?!" His voice was so loud it hurt my eardrum. Even my mom, who was hard of hearing, flinched and turned to me with worry on her face. I forced down my anger. I walked outside with the phone pressed to my ear and hissed back: "What the hell are you yelling at me for?" Silence on the other end. Then Simon's voice came through, just as furious: "I know you're pissed because I bailed on you. But I promised I'd make time to visit your parents with you. What more do you want?!" "You're doing Jenny's surgery whether you like it or not. Otherwise, we're done." Perfect. I didn't want to be with him anymore either. I was about to tell Simon we were getting divorced when I heard Jenny's voice in the background: "Simon! The food's ready. Mom's calling you to eat." I heard Simon cover the phone. His voice turned gentle—sickeningly so. "I'm just handling some hospital business. I'll be right there. Tell Mom I'm coming." I laughed. "Director Simon has a new mom now, huh? You've been on the phone with me this long—aren't you worried about keeping your 'mom' waiting?" "Oh, right. After all... I'm the petty one." Jenny must not have walked far. Simon hissed at me in a low, furious voice: "Jenny's village is small and gossip spreads fast. I'm her boss. What's wrong with helping her save face? Do you have to be so sarcastic?" "I'm telling you, Paige—you have three days to do that surgery. Otherwise, get the hell out of MY hospital!" He hung up. I stood outside my childhood home. The wind blew cold against my face, but inside, I felt hollow. I'd just decided I wouldn't be anyone's scapegoat ever again. Then my phone rang. It was the Chief of Medicine. Someone had filed a complaint. They claimed I'd performed surgery while intoxicated and caused a medical malpractice incident. He told me to get back immediately to deal with it. In that moment, I thought I was losing my mind. I could barely breathe. "Chief, you've got it wrong. That patient had congenital ventricular hypertrophy. He was already critical when he came in." But the Chief sent me a copy of the complaint. My head was ringing. I didn't even finish dinner. I rushed back to the hospital in a panic. The Chief looked at me with reproach. I demanded to confront my accuser. He didn't respond. He just brought in a witness to testify against me. The witness was the anesthesiologist from that surgery. She was Jenny's best friend. It all clicked.
Fury surged through me. "Chief, she's one of Jenny's people! Jenny and I have bad blood. This could easily be a setup!" I had no proof. My defense was weak and pathetic. A sharp, angry voice cut me off: "ENOUGH!" Simon stormed into the room. He looked at me with pure disgust. "What 'bad blood'? You're the one who hates her! Who's been trying to sabotage her!" "Dr. Paige! I thought you were just petty, but at least professional in surgery. I never imagined you'd be this shameless!" "Do you have any idea how serious a false accusation like this is?! I never thought you'd gamble with a patient's LIFE! Someone like you doesn't deserve to be a doctor! You don't deserve to be my wife!" I froze. My throat felt like a thousand needles had pierced it. After a long silence, I managed to speak: "Simon... in your heart, do you really think I'm the kind of person who would kill a patient out of jealousy?" Simon's chest heaved. His eyes were dark and unreadable. "What else am I supposed to think?" "I saw the evidence. The fridge at home is full of empty beer bottles." One sentence. It sealed everything. The Chief issued my termination letter on the spot. My colleagues spat insults at me. I gathered my belongings in a daze and headed for the door. But before I could leave, the patient's family members burst in and kicked me to the ground. "You deserve to die! Why did you kill my son?! Who told you to drink?!" The woman kicked me over and over. She slapped me across the face. My vision blurred. Someone dragged her away. I crouched on the floor, picking up my scattered belongings. Then I heard Jenny's voice behind me. "Dr. Paige, you got exactly what you deserved!" I turned around. Jenny stood there with that hateful face of hers, smirking like a victor. She feigned shock as she looked at the cardboard box in my hands. "Oh my! Did you cause a malpractice incident? Are you resigning to take responsibility?" She was the one behind all of this. And now she was playing innocent. I sneered. "Sorry to disappoint you. I just realized working with people like you is beneath me. So I quit." Jenny's smile widened. She raised her voice, pointing at me with a condescending air: "Dr. Paige, you're a doctor who just caused a malpractice incident. You resigned. You ran away. But when the patient's family comes back to cause trouble, it's the HOSPITAL'S reputation that suffers." "I think you should get on your knees and apologize to everyone here. Otherwise, why should WE have to deal with the consequences YOU caused?" She looked around, waiting for others to chime in. I felt nothing but bitter amusement. I turned to leave. But Jenny wasn't done. She rushed forward to block me. I tried to step around her. In that split second, she threw herself to the ground. Simon's voice rang out immediately: "Jenny! Are you okay?!"
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