Chapter 64 Chapter 64
Chapter 64 Chapter 64
Katherine felt the familiar, dull throb of a tension headache beginning to bloom behind her temples. It was an involuntary physiological response, a localized protest of her nervous system against being caught in the gravitational pull of both AJ and Lyle at once. Trying to navigate the turbulent waters of AJ’s resurfacing intensity while simultaneously attempting not to crush Lyle’s fragile, misplaced hopes was an exhausting feat of emotional gymnastics.
As AJ turned to leave, Katherine reached out, her fingers hooking firmly into his hand. She pulled him back toward her, closing the distance to plant a firm, lingering kiss on his lips—a silent declaration that the night they had shared wasn't a fluke. “It’s your bone marrow, AJ,” she whispered, her voice fierce with conviction. “It belongs to your sister, not a committee. It doesn’t matter if you were trying to give it to a crazy guy down the street; we have medical autonomy. If they keep stalling, we’ll simply discharge her and take her to a different hospital where they prioritize lives over liability.”
AJ looked at her, his dark eyes softening with an expression that made her knees feel like water. “Where would I be without you, Katherine?”
“Djibouti,” Lyle interjected, his voice dripping with a sarcasm so sharp it could have been surgical steel.
Katherine ignored him, focusing solely on the man she had finally reclaimed. “I’ll see you later?” She nodded, pointedly trying to ignore the absolute "evil eye" AJ shot over her shoulder at Lyle—a look of such lethal territorialism it was a wonder Lyle didn't spontaneously combust.
Once AJ’s powerful frame had disappeared down the hall, Katherine felt the air in the corridor change. During AJ’s long absence, she had convinced herself she’d formed a civil, perhaps even functional, friendship with Lyle. She had never accepted a date, never whispered a single romantic promise, but she’d thought the jagged hostility of their past had been smoothed over by the daily grind of the hospital. Watching AJ walk away—noting the rhythmic play of his back muscles and the way his scrubs hung perfectly off him—had a grounding, calming effect on her.
“I see you jumped right back into bed with him the second his flight touched the tarmac,” Lyle snipped, his voice trembling with a mixture of wounded pride and suppressed rage.
“And it was the best night of my life,” Katherine spat back, her words hitting him with the force of a physical blow. She saw him wince, the color draining from his face, and for a fleeting second, a prickle of regret touched her. She didn't want to be cruel, but she needed to excise his delusions once and for all. “Listen, Lyle, I don’t understand why you’re acting so personally affronted. AJ and I—”
“You are not together!” Lyle’s voice rose, bordering on a frantic, manic pitch. Katherine’s eyes widened; she was seeing him in an entirely new, unstable light. He looked less like a colleague and more like someone teetering on the edge of a breakdown. “He left you, Katherine! He packed up his life and moved to a different continent just to put an ocean between the two of you!”
“No! The Chief explained the logistics to me,” she countered, her voice rising to match his. “He had already committed to the mission before things got complicated with us. And AJ... AJ always keeps his word, no matter the personal cost.”
“Then why didn't he ask you to go with him?”
The question hit a bruised nerve. It was the one question she hadn't dared to ask AJ yet—the one that had haunted her lonely nights. Why hadn't he told her the moment the mission was offered? Even if they weren't "dating" in the traditional sense then, it was common courtesy between two people who shared a bed and a heart.
“He didn't even have the decency to let you know he was leaving,” Lyle pushed, sensing her hesitation.
“He couldn't reach me!” Katherine snapped, finding it much easier to defend AJ than to admit to Lyle that her own mother had acted as a high-society firewall. “Look, what I do with my private life—and who I spend my nights with—is absolutely none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have rounds.”
“Don’t leave yet,” Lyle said, his tone suddenly shifting back to a chillingly professional flatline. “I actually came to tell you that your father is here in the ER. He thinks he’s had a heart attack. We’re running the cardiac panel on him right now.”
The shock hit her like an ice-water bath, quickly followed by a searing, white-hot anger. The blood rushed through her veins, the thumping of her pulse echoing in her ears like a drum. Through clenched teeth, she snarled, “You waited through this entire conversation to tell me my father might be dying?”
“I just—”
“You just what? You were more interested in what was happening between my legs than what was happening to my father’s heart!” Katherine didn't care who heard her. Her professional veneer had vanished.
“Katherine, there's no need to be vulgar,” Lyle muttered, looking shamed.
“Just show me where he is. Now!”
She followed Lyle down the hallways, her vision tunneling. She walked with such blind, frantic speed that she didn't realize Lyle had stopped until he called her name. She burst into the treatment room and staggered at the sight of her family—a group she hadn't faced in nearly two years.
The room felt overcrowded with history. Her mother was hovering over her father, looking every bit the concerned, fragile matriarch. Duke was pacing in the corner, a high-priced lawyer even in a crisis, his phone seemingly fused to his ear. Yvonne sat nearby, a hand protectively over her swollen belly, while Christopher sat at the foot of the bed, looking bored and detached. Only Christian was absent.
“Why are you here?” Her mother’s glare was like a physical wall of ice.
“I get that you’re pissed at Mom, Kat, but why did you have to shut Duke and me out too?” Christopher asked, pouting as he stepped forward for a quick hug.
“I’m sorry, Toffer. I... I just needed space. How are you?” She let out a small, startled giggle when he lifted her off the ground in a brief bear hug. She waited for Duke to acknowledge her, but he remained locked in his telephonic world. She gave a polite wave to her sister-in-law and walked toward the bed where Lyle was already standing. Lyle handed her the chart, and as her eyes scanned the data, a small, relieved smile crept onto her lips.
“Trust you to find your own father’s heart attack amusing,” her mother’s voice slashed through the room, dripping with venom.
“It’s nice to see you too, Mother,” Katherine replied, her voice regaining its surgical edge. “I’m going to go out on a limb here—were you the one who diagnosed this 'massive' heart attack?”
Caroline had a historical penchant for turning molehills into alpine ranges. When her mother shrugged with a look of injured innocence, Katherine couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. She stepped to the side of the bed, and chancing a rejection she wasn't sure she could handle, she leaned down and kissed her father’s cheek. “How are you really feeling, Daddy?”
“According to your mother, I’m at death’s door,” Harold grumbled, but he reached out and squeezed her hand, his eyes softening. “But I’ve missed you, Katherine. Truly.”
“Well, the good news is you aren't dying. You didn't have a heart attack, Dad—you have a severe case of indigestion. That 'crushing' chest pain was actually just a very aggressive case of heartburn. We’ll get you some antacids and have you out of here in an hour.”
“I knew it,” Harold grumbled, though he looked visibly relieved. “Promise me you’ll come for dinner tomorrow. It’s Sunday. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“And you can bring your doctor friend,” Caroline added, gesturing toward Lyle.
“A minute ago you were mourning your husband, and now you’re playing matchmaker? You're incredible, Mother,” Katherine snorted. “I’ll be there, Daddy. But I’m coming alone.”
“But I’m inviting Dr. Lyle here,” Caroline persisted.
“Don’t give him any ideas. I’m already seeing someone,” Katherine said, enjoying the look of pure shock on her mother’s face.
“Oh? Who could possibly be left?”
“The same man you tried to run off eighteen months ago. You see, Mother, despite your best efforts, I’m apparently worth fighting for.” Katherine gave her father a final kiss and turned to leave when Duke finally looked up from his phone.
“Good God, Duke, it’s a miracle! The phone actually detaches from your head,” she teased.
“Very funny, Kat. Listen, while you’re here... would you mind giving Yvonne a quick ultrasound? Just to check the positioning?”
“No!” Yvonne’s voice was sharp, almost panicked.
“I don’t mind at all,” Katherine said, her brow furrowing as they both spoke at once. “I have a few minutes. It’s no trouble, Yvonne.”
“I’m just... I’m not wearing the right outfit for a scan today,” Yvonne stammered, pulling her sweater tighter around her.
“Okay.” Katherine didn't have the patience to decipher Yvonne’s erratic behavior. The woman had always been an enigma—Duke’s supposed one-night stand who had appeared out of nowhere with a pregnancy. Nothing about the timeline or her behavior ever quite lined up, but since the DNA test had satisfied Harold, Katherine had stayed out of it. If Yvonne didn't want the scan, it was one less thing on Katherine's plate. “I’ll see you all tomorrow then.”
As she walked out of the room, she felt Lyle’s heavy gaze on her back, but she didn't look back. She had a sister-in-law to save, a father to medicate, and a dinner to survive. But mostly, she just wanted to find AJ.