= Amelia =

I arrived two hours early at the hospital. Omar had driven me. I walked up to the reception area, unsure of where I needed to be. I hadn't been given any clearance or directions to the operating rooms.

Before I could talk to the man behind the glass, a lovely female voice behind me said, "Hi, are you Dr. Miller?"

I spun around. "I am."

"My name is Lucette, operation assistant, and I'm here to take you to Bradley's operation room." Lucette was short and she held a white coat that was folded over her arm. She handed it over when she saw me looking.

"Oh, thank you. I told Dr. van Leeuwen I would be here early, but I never heard back from him." I took the coat from her and then reached out to shake her hand.

"No worries, he assigned me to you. We're going that way." She smiled and pointed to double doors in the opposite direction of where the patients were.

I followed her, noticing how well her shrubs fitted her small, curvy frame. Her skin was a beautiful shade of dark umber and two deep dimples showed up on her cheeks when she smiled at me. Her hair was straightened and tied back in a perfect bun with baby hairs adorning her oval face.

The hospital didn't have the latest in technology and the interior was shabby at best, but it made up for those things with its staff. Everyone seemed to know everyone, greeting each other cheerfully in the narrow pistachio-colored hallways.

"Hey, Mr. Brown? How's the back doing today?" Lucette asked a man with a beer belly holding a mop.

"Not too bad," he said. "Been trying to move more. Seems to be helping."

Lucette smiled. "You do that. Take care."

"Everyone's so friendly here," I said as we turned down a corridor.

"We try to look out for each other. Working in this hospital is tough. Whether you're the janitor or the chief of surgery. The people who come through here leave a part of themselves with us and that can be a lot to take in."

We turned down several more corridors and Lucette asked me about my background and why I was brought in to perform Bradley's surgery.

"You must be really smart," she said. "You look young for a surgeon with that kind of qualification." She scanned my face curiously, resting a moment on my gray hair.

"I studied hard. It's all I focused on for years. I didn't have much of a social life. Hence the gray hairs." I chuckled.

"And you do now?"

"Do what?"

"Have a social life?"

I shrugged because a lot had stayed the same after I finished my residency. I didn't have any close friends and Willem was the only man I'd been intimate with. And Hunter to a certain degree.

We continued walking and I reminded myself that I should go out to eat with Xiomara sooner than later.

Lucette was chatty, pointing out the different departments and stopping to introduce me to surgeons and nurses alike.

I blocked her out partially, not because I wasn't interested in what she had to say. But because I was worried about Willem.

Ever since he found out about Bradley, he had withdrawn into himself, only talking to me when I asked him a direct question.

I wanted to tell him I wasn't pregnant since my period decided to grace me with its presence a day ago, but it didn't seem important with everything that had been going on.

Willem and Jan had gotten into a fight and now Willem's jaw was swollen and red. I hadn't been around to see the fight go down, but Bridgette told me it was nasty. His father had thrown the first punch after Willem called him a spineless motherfucker.

I remembered him striding into our room with Bridgette biting on his heels.

"What happened?" I asked, getting up from the couch where I was looking up new research on different approaches to spinal surgery.

Willem sulked as I took his face in my hand. His clear gaze avoided mine but I was grateful that the bruise was confined to his jaw and hadn't seemed to cause any damage to his eyes.

Bridgette sighed and motioned for me to meet her outside in the hall. She looked distraught, her brown eyes wary with pain. Her natural hair was in a state of disarray.

"Jan punched him," she said as soon as the door fell shut behind us.

She explained what happened and I nodded, my jaw hanging open as she didn't allow me to get a word in. I nodded some more, angry at Jan for using Willem as his punching bag.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Bridgette said, "but before I leave, I wanted to give you this." She took her wedding ring off her finger, tears springing in her eyes as she did so. "This belonged to my grandmother. I believed she had a happy marriage, although she never shared the details with me. She and grandpa went through slavery together and they were married for fifty-three years before he died of prostate cancer."

I stared at the intricate wedding band. It was simple but it had a lot of character. "I can't take your grandmother's ring."

"You must." She thrust the ring in my palm and then she closed my fist around it with her hand. "I don't want to curse it by holding on to it longer than I should. I gave Jan thirty-seven years of marriage and maybe that's enough."

I frowned. "But you're leaving with him. Why? He betrayed you, cheated on you. And what about Willem? He needs you."

"Jan is all I've ever known. He molded me into the woman I am today. I grew up sheltered because my parents were strict. I didn't have a voice of my own. And then Jan came along and swept me off my feet with grand gestures and loving words. I fell hard, submitting my body, soul, and mind to him. It shames me to admit it, but I love the way he takes care of me wholeheartedly. I don't have to worry about anything, not running my household or getting a job, as long as I'm obedient."

"Obedient? Did you just say obedient?" The word alone was abhorrent. I wondered if Willem expected my obedience as well.

Bridgette nodded and bowed her head as if ashamed. "I do regret not raising my sons. I missed them a lot when they were growing up and because of that, I don't know them well. Filo knows Willem in and out. She'll help him get through this. And now he has you as well."

"But you're his mother and you understand better than anyone else how much he's hurting right now."

"I'm leaving with Jan tomorrow because in thirty years he's never hurt me this bad. I'm thinking about giving him a second chance. A new marriage of some sort. Maybe we'll renew our vows and get new rings." She caressed the empty spot on her finger where her wedding band once was.

"Bridgette, please. You don't have to stay with him because you're afraid of being on your own. Willem will support you. I will too. Your husband is a manipulative asshole. He's mean and only cares about himself. He didn't just get Tessa pregnant, he continued to sleep with her for over ten years. That's downright sleazy and you deserve better."

"Maybe I do. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet."

"Stay here with us until you figure it out," I said, my tone pleading. I liked Bridgette and I wanted the best for her.

"I can't. I wouldn't want to impose. Willem has a lot going on. Being married to you, taking care of Bradley, running that company. He told me that he's scared of losing you if you go back to Curaçao."

Her words caused me to pause. It never occurred to me that going back to Curaçao after Bradley's surgery would evoke a sense of loss in Willem, a reminder of the years he couldn't reach me.

"My son is in love with you, Amelia," she continued. "Please guard his heart and don't let your differences keep you apart. I know he's not perfect, but I know he's willing to work hard to keep a smile on your face. And sometimes he's going to disappoint you by not putting you first. Tell him how you feel. Really tell him and then move on. He's going to love you no matter what because he knows you're not perfect either."

Jan and Bridgette had packed their bags yesterday to go back to the Netherlands and Willem still hadn't said anything to me. I didn't even know if he planned on showing up for Bradley today.

And I couldn't believe Jan had just up and left, knowing that his son was about to be operated on.

Before going to the operating room I asked Lucette to take me to Bradley's room. I usually talked to the parents and the child right before operating because I felt like it allowed them to process what was going to happen and it allowed me to get their consent one last time. I also used that time to remind them of the chances of success and if I anticipated any complications beforehand.

When I got to Bradley's room we had thirty-five minutes to go before surgery. Bradley was still in a coma and Tessa was leaning on his bedside, her hand on top of his hair. It looked like she was praying.

I waited a moment until she opened her eyes. She glanced at me briefly before turning her attention back to Bradley without a word.

Her cheeks were puffy, her eyes glassy. She wore a long blue dress with high-heeled sandals. A set of gold rings decorated the hand gently exploring Bradley's hair. I couldn't help comparing his curls to Willem's. They had the same curl pattern, but Bradley's hair was a dark brown where Willem's was a brown blondish color.

"We're going to operate in thirty minutes," I said. "Do you have any questions you'd like me to answer before we go in?"

"No," she said and it sounded like she had indeed been crying.

Was she crying because she was worried about Bradley or because Jan had abandoned her and her son without any care? I guess I would never know.

I explained what the plan was for today and then asked if she had heard from Willem.

"The last time I spoke to him was on the beach." She turned to look at me. "I tried calling him today and he didn't pick up. Oh, don't look at me like that. I was only calling because of Bradley. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to that."

I nodded once but was acutely aware of Lucette's presence in the doorway. I said nothing and busied myself by looking through Bradley's file for the hundredth time.

"I'm guessing you haven't heard from him either?" It was more a statement than a question. "Sounds like trouble in paradise. Did you ask Jessie? Maybe he went to find solace in her arms."

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something hurtful. She was trying to rile me up and I was motivated not to let her win.

"You and Will are allowed to join us in the operating room until we put him under," I said instead, forcing myself to keep my tone professional. "A couple of nurses will come by soon to prep him for surgery."

Tessa blinked and obviously couldn't be bothered to say anything else. I turned to leave and bumped into a body and a pair of hands reaching out to avoid a total collision.

His scent reached me first, stirring something delicious in my stomach.

"I'm so sorry," I mumbled, looking up at his face. He'd gotten a haircut. His curls were shorter and swept to the side, emphasizing the chiseled structure of his handsome face. Now I knew why Omar had to drive me to the hospital.

"Hey, it's okay, schatje," he said. "I should have been more careful instead of walking in here like the place was on fire." He looked behind me at Bradley and it was difficult for him to mask the pain in his eyes. "Tessa," he said in greeting when his gaze landed on her, an afterthought really, and I smiled on the inside.

Tessa didn't reply. She looked at us shrewdly before going back to touching Bradley's head.

"I'm glad you came," I said softly.

He shrugged, but then his following words contradicted what he was trying to portray. "I had to be here. He still means the world to me."

"Right." I looked at Bradley and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Willem touched my graying hair, his fingers sure as they caressed the baby hairs at my hairline. "You look good in a white coat, Dr. Miller."

The rush of heat beneath my cheeks was instant. "Thank you."

There was a pause where we stopped to stare at one another. The bruise on his jaw was fading and the swelling had gone down significantly.

I eventually looked away to stare at Lucette who was watching our interaction with vivid curiosity. "I have to get ready to operate," I told Willem.

He nodded and just as I was about to walk away, he pulled me to him, his hand settling firmly behind my neck until my body was pressed close to his. I flattened my palm on his sturdy chest and looked up at his eyes. His full lips. The light shadow of stubbles along his jaw. Back to his eyes and the long curve of his eyelashes sweeping upwards.

He bent his head and blood rushed to my head. My lips parted without hesitation, tingling in anticipation as I drowned in the galaxy of grey swirling in the depth of his heated gaze.

My eyes fluttered shut and he kissed me softly, honey dripping from his lips. His hand at the back of my neck sent heat and thrills down my spine. I inhaled and the kiss was over before it began.

"You got this," he said.

"I got this," I repeated, wetting my lips. "Can we talk later?"

He smiled. "Of course."

Although he was smiling, I was worried about him. I changed into green shrubs in the women's locker room and I picked out white, size seven clogs from the rack. I went to the restroom so I wouldn't have to go during the surgery which I expected to last about four hours.

Lucette appeared next to me as I was washing my hand at the sink. "Who is the tall Greek god with the blond curls and look into the soul-of-my-vagina-eyes?"

I laughed at her description of Willem. "That was my husband." The words fell out of my lips and they felt strangely familiar. And right.

Calling Willem my husband felt right.

Holy shit.

"Sorry, but I have to say it. He is scrumptious," Lucette said with too much enthusiasm.

"That he is," I said as I followed her to OR 4.

Our short conversation in the locker room reminded me of the conversations I used to have with nurse Brimmer back at home. I never understood why she chose to stay with her abusive, cigarette smoking husband when I had done the same thing with Willem all those years.

Stayed. Waited. Until I lost a part of me I would never get back.

The doors to OR 4 swung open after Lucette raised her hand in front of a sensor and I blocked out everything not related to Bradley's surgery as soon as I saw the overly bright lights above the operation field.

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