Obsession With My EX-wife

Chapter 25 Possible Substitutions

Mrs. Brown sighed and put a loving arm around Catherine's shoulders. "I understand that you are busy with work," she said, "but you should make sure to eat all of your meals. Otherwise, your health will suffer."

Catherine smiled. "You're probably right," she admitted. They stood at the window for a while, silently watching the flow of traffic. Eventually, Mrs. Brown suggested that they go to the dining room. Catherine was agreeable to that, and they left together.

Although she had eaten while she was in the hospital, Mrs. Brown persuaded her to eat again. Thus, when she was done eating, she felt slightly over-full, and she decided to go for a walk. And while she was walking, she thought about Ryan's treatment plan. Ryan would need another surgery, but due to his physical condition, it couldn't be done safely until he'd taken in enough nutrition to sustain him.

Catherine pulled out her phone, opened her NotePad App, and began to make a list of nutritious meals that would help the nurses oversee Ryan's diet.

***

When Leonard returned to Castle Campbell, Grandpa Campbell saw the expression on his face, and he understood what had happened. "Were you rejected again?" he asked.

When Leonard didn't answer, Grandpa Campbell said, "You deserve to be rejected. You know that, don't you? You were such a jerk!"

Leonard looked at his Grandfather and said, "Grandpa, can we set that aside for a moment? I have a question that I need to ask you."

Grandpa Campbell glared at Leonard. "Ask away," he said sarcastically. "It's still a free country!"

Leonard knew that his Grandpa was very upset about him divorcing Catherine, but he didn't want to live his life to please the old man. This is about me! - he told himself. "What if I don't want to get married?" he asked.

"What did you say?!" Grampa Campbell roared.

"I don't want anyone but Cathy," Leonard said quietly. "I would rather be alone than with anyone else, but my parents are pushing me to get married, and as much as I would like to ignore them, they will not be ignored."

Grampa Campbell glared at his Grandson. It was quite the conundrum Leonard had gotten himself into, he realized. Catherine was also the only girl that he wanted for his Grandson. But if you want her as much as you say you do – he thought – why did you mistreat her when you had her? He sighed and said, "I like Catherine too, but you f****d everything up. There's nothing I can do."

"I feared as much," Leonard said, and then he went upstairs.

***

The next day, when Catherine arrived at the hospital, the first thing she did was talk with Ryan about his new diet. Once she had laid it out for him, he smirked and said, "Shouldn't you take the time to talk to me about my preferences before making these choices?" This was close to the longest sentence that she had heard him say, and she was secretly pleased.

Catherine blinked. "Of the things I listed," she said, "tell me what you don't like. Then we can talk about possible substitutions."

Ryan listed off more than a dozen of the dishes that had been on the list, and Catherine was flabbergasted. "Why are you so picky?" she asked. "You're too young to be this picky!"

"That's silly," Ryan chuckled. "Kids are way pickier than adults."

"I suppose you're right," Catherine admitted. "I am your attending physician, though, which means that I am responsible for you. I'll only change one or two of these meals. You won't be spoiled while you're under my care!"

"Nobody will marry you if you act like this," Ryan said.

As they talked, neither of them noticed that the Children's Ward's department head, Dr. Shelton was standing in the doorway, eavesdropping on their conversation. Ryan had been at the hospital for a long time, and Shelton had been told that there had been no progress at all, which was why he had come to see Ryan. When he saw the way that Catherine was interacting with the boy, he frowned, and after a while, he left in a huff. And when he reached the Nurses Station, he told the receptionist to send Catherine to his office when she was done.

Once Catherine had reached an agreement with Ryan about his diet, she left his room. This small success had put her in a good mood, and she was whistling. She turned to leave the Children's ward, but as she passed the Nurses Station, the receptionist stopped her. "Dr. Winston," she said, "Dr. Shelton would like to see you in his office." The nurse had a good relationship with Catherine, so she added: "Be careful. He seemed very angry when I saw him."

"Thanks for the tip," Catherine said. She smiled, and then she left in the direction of Dr. Shelton's office. On the way, Catherine thought carefully about her recent behavior, and she could not think of anything that might have earned her a reprimand.

When she arrived at Shelton's office, the door was open, and he was working at his computer. Catherine knocked on the door to get his attention and said, "You wanted to see me?"

The department head looked up at Catherine. "Come in. sit down." His tone was cold and void of any emotion. Catherine took a seat, and Shelton said, "There's no point in beating around the bush; Dr. Carl will take over the care of Ryan Williams."