Not Your Doormat Anymore

"You can curse at me, but she really does love you. Aren't you afraid of breaking her heart by treating her like that?" Even after everything I said, Andrew showed no reaction. His mind was still on Casey.

gave him a thumbs-up. "You're a real bootlicker. Now get lost."

Andrew finally walked off.

"Let's go eat."

When I turned back to Nora, I found her staring at me in shock with her mouth

wide open.

I frowned. "What is it?"

Had I scared her with all that yelling? After all, I had always been kind and composed around both doctors and patients at the hospital.

"No, it's not that. It's just... Dr. Ranford, you were so cool just now!" Nora shook her head excitedly. She looked at me, thrilled. "I used to think you were so kind that even if a woman were to cheat on you, you probably wouldn't do anything. But now, I see that I had a really one-sided understanding of you. Dr. Ranford, you're amazing!"

gave her a small smile at the compliment. "I'm not usually like that. Only when it comes to people like them."

She nodded hard. "Yes, I believe you!"

With no one around to stir up trouble, the meal went quite pleasantly.

Afterward, I dropped Nora off at her place, then turned around and headed back to the apartment since it was getting late.

Kourtney had already gone to bed, but she had left a soft yellow light on in the living room so that it wouldn't be completely dark when I came home. The lamp had been placed near my door on purpose, and seeing it made my heart melt a little.

The rumors about me at the hospital had been cleared, but Dr. Crowell's affair was real. Word was that his wife had been fighting with him and was about to file for divorce. Chances were, he would be too busy with his personal mess to come after me anymore.

That suited me just fine. I stopped paying attention to his situation and focused on finishing up the surgeries for the patients I had.

Samuel had fueled the rumors, but now that Dr. Crowell had his hands full, even Samuel's reputation in the department had taken a hit.

Whenever he saw me, he would quietly slip away, doing his best to avoid crossing paths. That suited me just fine.

I spent the past week performing surgeries, stabilizing the conditions of those patients. As long as they took their medicine on time from now on, there shouldn't be any further issues.noveldrama

Since the patients were all coming back to me, I was busier than ever and barely had time to rest.

Kourtney messaged me on that day, but I didn't see it until hours later.

I replied with a single word "Busy."

However, I didn't expect to run into her at the hospital that very evening.

"Are you feeling unwell? Tell me your symptoms. I'll see what the problem is."

I was surprised to see her, but after a week of non-stop work, I didn't have the mental space to dwell on it.

"No, I'm fine. I just got a little worried since you haven't been home lately." Kourtney shook her head, her clear eyes looking at me with genuine concern. "Dr. Ranford, you've been working way too hard. Please take care of yourself and get some rest."

"Patients and their families are all waiting. Every extra day here costs them more," I said, shaking my head. "I won't let them throw away their money for nothing."

Even for a minor illness, just one day in the hospital could cost around eight hundred dollars. And most of the patients under my care were in critical condition. Their daily bills ran into the thousands, even tens of thousands. They couldn't afford delays.

"But you-"

Before Kourtney could finish, Nora suddenly burst in. "Dr. Ranford, it's bad! The patient in Room 505 just went into shock!"