Free Twist of Love by Paige Powers Page A

you, Blake!! Damn you!!”
    “Doc. Doc!!” The nurse's stern voice woke Josie up from her trance. She looked around and saw the familiar blue green walls of the operating room.
    “Doc, the patient's vitals are starting to destabilize! You've been daydreaming over and over again! We can't afford to have you thinking about something else at the moment; we could lose the patient! Focus, Doctor Steele!”
    The nurse was right. What the hell was she doing? She was in the middle of an operation that could determine the patient's life and she was letting herself get distracted by Blake? They hadn't even seen each other in a week. They hadn't tried contacting each other either. But it seemed that Josie was the one suffering from their sudden separation. Ever since their painful argument, Josie has been plagued by a series of horrifying daydreams. And to make things worse, these daydreams would often happen at the worst times, like right now.
    “R-right... let's wait until the patient's signs stabilize again.”
    After 5 long, grueling hours, Josie and her team just barely managed to finish the operation. She went to the female restroom and threw her cellphone inside the sink. She started crying.
    “Doctor Steele... is there something wrong..?” Milla's familiar voice greeted Josie's ears. She wanted to be left alone right now, but she couldn't muster the strength to tell that to Milla.
    “M-milla... I... hey...” Josie said, quickly wiping off her tears.
    “Is there something wrong..? You can tell me, Doctor... the nurses have also told me that... they say you haven't been yourself lately...” Milla was trying to comfort the pained doctor.
    “Yeah, I bet that's what they say... they don't know my life, they don't know what's going on...”
    Milla wrapped her thin arms around Josie and hugged her tightly. Milla's sudden embrace made Josie feel a little better. But just a little.
    “Doctor Steele... you can tell me anything. Anything at all...”
    “No, Milla... it's okay... thank you. I really appreciate your kindness, but this is something I need to fix on my own...” Josie told Milla.
    Milla smiled and nodded. She knew that Josie was going through a hard time, but believed in her enough to know that somehow she would pull through. The Iron Lady was as tough as her nickname. But she would soon have to earn that nickname all over again.
    The ring of Josie's cellphone cut off their exchange.
    “Excuse me.” Josie said.
    “Of course,” Milla said.
    “Miss Steele, please come up to my office right now.”
    It was the cold voice of the hospital owner on the other end of the phone. He did not sound very pleased. Josie swallowed hard. Whatever this was, it was probably not good.

 
    22. Time for a Break?
    “Sir, you wanted to see me..?” Josie said in a nervous voice. Her superior, the owner of Lenora hospital, had just called her into his office for a brief meeting.
    “Yes, Ms. Steele. Please, take a seat.”
    Josie nervously pulled a chair and sat in front of Jarvey Huang, the owner of Lenora Hospital. He had developed a fierce reputation and everyone knew that he expected excellence from every one of those who worked for him. The reputation and credibility of his hospital was on the line, so he couldn't afford to be soft on his employees, even if most of them were professionals.
    “I hear another patient has filed a case against you. That's the third case this week, alone. You're damaging-” Jarvey was suddenly cut off by Josie.
    “Mr. Huang, please hear me out. I just haven't been myself lately. I've been really stressed-” then Jarvey cut off Josie just as she’d done to him.
    “And so? You work here to heal people, not to kill them. If you think you've got a problem with your personal life, then go take a break. Come back when you know you're ready. Just make sure when you do, you had better be ready.”
    “Sir, with all due respect, there were no fatalities in my cases...”
    “Yes, but these cases can