Chapter 22 Thora
She desperately rushed toward her child, but Joshua shoved her to the ground. Joshua looked at her coldly, a bloodthirsty sneer on his lips. "Ava, you'll never see the child again."
"No, no, Joshua, don't take the child away. Give my child back to me, give them back..."
"No!" Ava jolted awake, sitting bolt upright, drenched in cold sweat. She clutched her chest and stared blankly at one spot for a long time.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Finn rushed over, lowering his voice. His little face was full of worry as he looked at Ava, who was covered in cold sweat.
Her butterfly-like lashes trembled slightly. Coming back to her senses and seeing Finn beside her, she pulled him into a tight hug.
Thank goodness, it was just a dream.
She quickly forced a smile. "I'm fine. Finn, you're up early."
"Mommy, why did you fall asleep on the sofa? Did you have a nightmare?"
Ava gently tapped Finn's little nose. Not wanting him to worry, she put on a relaxed expression and said with a smile, "Thanks for caring. I forgot to go back to my room last night. Won't happen again." She raised her hand to check her watch. "It's almost seven. Finn, go wake Cleo up. I'll make breakfast for you two."
Finn was worried about Ava and couldn't help furrowing his little brows, but he obediently went to wake Cleo.
Ava sighed. Perhaps she was a bit tired—last night she had dozed off on the sofa in a daze.
Ava freshened up and, as usual, prepared a hearty breakfast. After eating, she took the kids to school, then headed to work herself.
Because of last night's nightmare, Ava hadn't rested well, and it showed on her face.
As soon as she arrived at the office, she ran into Mia and Lyra. Whenever others were around, Mia always put on a kind and gentle appearance. She greeted Ava warmly, "Dr. Davis, good morning."
Ava couldn't be like her—hating someone to death inside while pretending to be good friends on the surface.
Fake and affected.
She couldn't be bothered with them. She had surgery later and needed to focus. No time to deal with their games.
"Ava, Mia greeted you. Didn't you hear?"
Ava calmly organized the files on her desk, not even lifting her head. "I heard."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Dr. Cole, my mouth is my own. It's not your place to tell me what to do, is it?"
"Do you have any manners?"
"You have manners, you're the most polite one here. Then please remember this is a hospital—don't shout." Ava walked past them with her files.
Lyra was left speechless by her retort. She stepped aside and blocked the doorway, cutting off Ava's exit.
Ava's already displeased expression darkened as she looked at the person deliberately blocking her way, feeling annoyed.
She looked up, said nothing, and just stared quietly at Lyra.
Lyra had no intention of letting Ava off easily today. Every time she saw that face, it drove her crazy with jealousy.
"Who do you think you are, Ava? You got into this hospital through connections and now you think you're something special. Explain yourself, or you're not leaving through this door today. Everyone, judge for yourselves—Mia didn't do anything to her, just kindly greeted her, and what does she do? Acts all high and mighty, completely dismissive."
"It's okay, Lyra, let it go. I'm fine."
Mia bit her lip. Though she said that, her tone made it sound like she'd suffered some great injustice.
Seeing this, the surrounding doctors spoke up for Mia.
Mia quickly defended Ava. "Everyone, don't blame Dr. Davis. I'm fine. Dr. Davis and I have some misunderstandings. I know Dr. Davis doesn't like me, but I just think since we're all colleagues working together, we should try to get along."
Lyra immediately added, "Mia, you're just too kind and easy to talk to. I think she's just jealous of you—jealous that your medical skills are better than hers, jealous that you're about to marry Joshua."
Ava let out a cold laugh, somewhat speechless. Just as she was about to speak, Lyra was shoved aside by someone who then brushed off their hands with obvious disgust.
The newcomer was a chubby, short-haired girl. Lyra stumbled back a couple of steps from the push, and once she steadied herself, the short-haired girl spoke again. "What are you doing? Don't you have anything better to do? You work in trauma—why do you keep coming to our cardiothoracic surgery department?"
"Thora White, what's your problem?" Lyra couldn't control her emotions. Having been shoved by Thora, driven by humiliation, she roared furiously.
Thora rolled her eyes. "I suggest you go see a psychiatrist. Do you know how scary your expression is right now?"
More and more people gathered to watch. Mia suppressed her displeasure, held Lyra back, and looked at Ava and Thora helplessly. "Dr. Davis, Dr. White, Lyra didn't mean it, but isn't pushing people too much? Can't we talk things out instead of getting physical?"
"I'd love to talk it out, but would you listen?" Thora put her hands on her hips, raised an eyebrow, and leaned her chubby frame forward toward Mia with an intimidating presence.
Mia was forced to step back several times. Next to Thora, Mia appeared even more delicate and fragile.
Thora especially couldn't stand these two women—all dolled up, acting coy and affected. Were they here to work at a hospital or audition for a show? Such an act.
"Dr. Davis, you go ahead with your work." Thora crossed her arms, using her strong presence to block Lyra and Mia.
Ava nodded at Thora gratefully. "Thanks."
Thora smiled generously. "No problem. Just doing a public service."
Public service?
Ava couldn't help but laugh. This Thora was quite interesting.