Chapter 186 Military Spouse
Matilda froze for a moment.
Honestly, when he'd been fighting through that first checkpoint, she'd blamed him. She'd felt angry and hopeless in that moment. No matter how understanding a woman might be, watching her husband risk his life for another woman was a special kind of torture.
But she also understood why he'd made that choice.
"So what if I blame you?" she asked.
He held her tighter. "Mom keeps saying I owe Juliana a debt. Every time you hear that, it bothers you and we end up fighting. I didn't want to carry that burden anymore, and I didn't want you feeling like you came in second place. So I went to save her first. That way, I don't owe her, you don't owe her, and we don't owe my mother anything either."
Just thinking about that day made her chest tighten with lingering fear.
"Wentworth, let's not talk about that day anymore. I don't want to hear it."
He immediately stopped.
They held each other for a while, both drifting off without realizing it.
Matilda had another nightmare. She dreamed Konbu had found her—threatening her, beating her. Her whole body jerked awake.
Wentworth hadn't woken up yet. The medication he'd been taking had sedative effects - he spent most of his time sleeping. But somehow he still sensed her fear. His hand found hers and instinctively pressed it against his chest before he went back to sleep.
Seeing him there, her emotions finally settled. It was just a dream.
She'd heard they'd only caught half of Konbu's crew - the other half had escaped by boat. If they made it out successfully, would they come to Phoenix City and come after Wentworth again?
Her mind couldn't rest. She started seriously considering the military spouse option. At least if she followed him, she'd be close by. If something dangerous happened, they wouldn't be unable to reach each other. And Amelia wouldn't be able to swoop in first.
...
Amelia returned home today too, along with Juliana and Nason.
Amelia really couldn't understand young people these days. Just a few days ago, Juliana had been pining over Wentworth. Now she was laughing and chatting with Nason on the plane like they were best friends, treating Amelia like she was invisible.
She couldn't really stop it. Juliana was her goddaughter, not her actual daughter. You couldn't manage goddaughters the same way - get too involved and you'd damage the relationship. It was actually worse than dealing with a daughter-in-law. A daughter-in-law might resent you, but she'd still call you Mom to your face. A goddaughter who felt criticized would just go running back to her real mother.
Amelia sighed. Why had she even taken on a goddaughter in the first place? Wasn't that just asking for trouble? She couldn't even manage her two sons.
She found Nason pretty annoying too. Ever since the rescue, he wouldn't shut up about it - constantly reminding everyone that he'd saved Wentworth, saved Matilda, saved Juliana.
Irritated, Amelia leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Up front, Nason and Juliana kept up their casual conversation.
"What kind of coffee do you like? The more bitter the better?" Nason asked.
"I'm pretty neutral about it - can take it or leave it. What about you?"
"I'm more of a whiskey guy. You know whiskey?"
"It's just alcohol, isn't it? What's the difference?"
"Of course there's a difference. Wine has expensive and cheap varieties - whiskey's the same way..."
"I guess I know a little. Want to teach me how to tell them apart?"
"Easy. I'll show you."
Their conversation was so mundane and superficial that Amelia, listening from the back row, felt even more annoyed.
...
After seriously considering the military spouse question, Matilda made a trip back to the Harmony Health Center.
She gave Dr. Cox a rough overview of what she'd been through lately. Dr. Cox was horrified.
Surprisingly, Dr. Cox was very supportive of her following the military. She even encouraged her. "You know, you don't necessarily need to work at a hospital to have a career. You're already an associate chief physician with excellent skills. If you can't get into the military hospital there, you could open your own small clinic and get some basic equipment..."
Matilda looked at Dr. Cox with confusion. Dr. Cox wasn't usually this generous. Someone like Matilda, who'd attended multiple training programs and brought solid performance numbers to the department, shouldn't be let go so easily.
"Well... let me go home and think about it more. Once I've decided, I'll come back and submit my resignation," Matilda said.
"That's fine. Just make sure you write out your reasons clearly," Dr. Cox said. "I'll talk to the director about this too. I'm sure they'll be understanding."
As Matilda left the Harmony Health Center, she could hardly believe it. How had that gone so smoothly?
...
Lunchtime at the Harmony Health Center cafeteria.
The director and deputy director came to eat. To stay connected with their staff, the leadership often ate in the cafeteria at noon.
Dr. Cox sat down with them.
"Dr. Stewart, Dr. Parker, you remember Matilda from our department, right? Turns out that boyfriend she used to bring around is actually in the military," Dr. Cox said.
Dr. Parker had heard rumors. At some recent high-level functions, he'd run into people from the Gonzaga Group. Someone had mentioned that one of their hospital's female doctors had married the second son of the Gonzaga family - the one in the military.
No surprise, that had to be Matilda.
"What about Dr. Spencer?" Dr. Parker asked.
"She's talking about becoming a military spouse."
"Military spouse? That must be tough." That was Dr. Parker's instinctive reaction.
Dr. Cox stuffed a piece of broccoli in her mouth, looking worried. "The hardship is one thing. What concerns me is the trouble it could bring to our hospital."
Then Dr. Cox laid out Matilda's situation - how her husband was special forces, how even going abroad for treatment meant getting hunted down.
"What if those criminals track her to our hospital with guns and just mow down a whole bunch of us? That's how they always do it in TV shows and movies - kill a whole crowd of innocent people."
That was Dr. Cox's real concern, which explained why she'd been so quick to agree and even encourage Matilda.
After hearing all this, Dr. Stewart and Dr. Parker felt it was genuinely risky. Anyone who came into contact with Matilda could be in danger. Better safe than sorry - let Matilda go.
"I'll talk to Dr. Spencer about the resignation tomorrow," Dr. Parker said. "I'll write her a letter of recommendation. If she needs to find work, she can use it to apply at a new hospital."
Either way, they were definitely letting Matilda go.
The "dangerous person" in question had no idea what the leadership was actually thinking. When she got back to the hospital, she told Wentworth, "My supervisors are all really supportive."
Wentworth smiled and asked, "So have you decided?"