Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Me and you both, I want to add. “It’s for the overall good of the patients. People need to know they need to be careful who they allow to perform these sensitive procedures.”
Melissa nods. “And you are the one checking them out. It’s the right thing to do.”
I’m growing impatient.
“You want to kick me to get on with it,” Melissa says with a grin. “Anyway, there was a case where the embryo was placed in the ovaries and the woman miscarried and almost lost her life. And another where the woman had a bad reaction to the anesthesia.”
“Oh no! Did she…?”
“No. They brought her out of it and took her to the ER just to be sure she was OK.”
“And was she?”
“Yeah. Fine.” Melissa brightened. “She had twins a year later.”
None of the stories Melissa tells me are scandalous or uncommon in fertility clinics. They are common mistakes that while emotionally and physically draining, are not permanently damaging. It seems entirely possible that there are no scandals at The Anderson Clinic apart from Ivy’s and that ended happily. Melissa excuses herself to go to the bathroom and I check my phone. Jace has texted.
Jace: Got an email from Adam. You actually turned down the job offer without even knowing what it was. It’s a writing job, Olivia.
Me: I figured as much but, Jace, I’m not looking for a job.
Jace: You will be in a few weeks.
Me: Look I appreciate that you mean well and you want to help but, Jace, I’m okay.
Jace: Are you too proud to accept my help?
I hesitate and then get an idea. Isn’t it better for him to think that I’m too proud to accept his help? It’s a lot better than the truth. It would be funny if the consequences weren’t so devastating. We’ll both be heartbroken after this.
Jace texts back a minute later when he figures I’m not going to reply to his question. I feel horrible. What must he think of me?
Jace: Okay. I don’t understand you but If you change your mind, let me know. I’ll ask him again. He owes me a favor.
Me: Thanks.
Melissa comes back carrying two cocktails and hands me one.
“I thought I was the one buying the drinks to say thank you for the work you did for me.” It didn’t yield much but it’s the thought that counts. More importantly, I’m glad to have Melissa back in my life and she did agree to let me follow her story to the very end and write about it.
We stay for two hours but for the last hour, I’m on water. We hug in the parking lot and promise to stay in touch. I go home and after a shower, I go straight to bed. I feel overwhelmed by everything. I pull up the duvet to my head like a child and bury myself in the bed.
Chapter 27: Jace
Without opening my eyes, I reach out to pull Olivia close to me. Her spot is empty. I remember that she went out with her friend Melissa and then went home to her apartment. It’s the first time in days that we’ve slept apart and it feels lousy to wake up alone in bed.
Worse, things are not okay between us. I can’t believe that she turned down the offer without giving it some thought. I mull over it, turning it over in my head, trying to understand. I accused her of being too proud to accept my help, but that’s not it. Olivia is not a proud woman. She accepted Ivy’s offer to look at her writing and waited nervously for her verdict. When she got it, she’d been so grateful to Ivy. Then there were the clinic brochures. She had gratefully accepted that assignment as well. No, it wasn’t that she was too proud. It had to be something else.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and head to the bathroom. In the shower, a memory comes to me. Marcus, Charlotte, Chris, and I in Olivia’s living room, chatting. Their facial expressions when I talked about Olivia’s writing. They looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. What was that about? Had it sounded like an unachievable dream? Again, no. That doesn’t make sense. They were all high achievers in their respective fields.
I hate things that I don’t understand and this one ranks up there. I don’t get this woman of mine that I love so much. I dress, grab my phone, and turn it on as I head to the kitchen.
I start the coffee machine just as my phone goes crazy with notifications of messages and missed calls. I read a message from Heather from PR. Have you seen this? I click on the link. It takes me to an online article with a screaming headline.