Chapter 29: The Bet
1005 Words
Leonard was taken aback by the cold look that Catherine was giving him. "Y-you have t-taken ch-charge of my Grandpa's care," he stammered. "I j-just want to repay you for your kindness. It is what I should do. Don't you think?"
Catherine: "Never mind that. I get paid for what I do, and that's all the recompense that I need. Furthermore, the service I provide your Grandfather has absolutely nothing to do with you!"
Leonard was gobsmacked. Having never encountered a situation like this, he was at a loss for words. After a long moment of silence, Catherine said, "If that will be all, I will take my leave." And she quickly walked past him.
As Leonard watched Cathering go, he considered following after her, but then he remembered that he had business with Ryan Williams. So, once Catherine was off the ward, he went to visit the boy.
Leonard forced himself to smile as he entered Ryan's room. He said, "Hello," and then he took the seat beside the kid's bed.
Ryan gave Leonard a stern look and said, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"
Leonard: "I heard that you're looking for a Stepmother. Maybe I can help!"
Ryan was stunned, but only for a moment. "I don't need your help," he said. "I've already chosen a mate for my father."
Because Leonard knew who Ryan was talking about, this answer made him angry.
Ryan: "If I were older, I would marry her myself."
Leonard was shocked when he realized that his real rival was a nine-year-old boy. "Well, you aren't older," He hissed. "Don't you forget it!"
Ryan: "I am fine with that, so long as my father marries her – which he will! You can count on that! All I want is for her to live with me so that I can be with her."
Leonard smirked and said, "You're living in a fantasy world, kid. Your father doesn't have any more of a chance with Dr. Winston than you do!"
Ryan raised his eyebrows and said, "Wanna bet? How about this: "If my father wins her heart, you will walk away from her and never try to see her again?"
Leonard looked at Ryan, and he chuckled as he stood up. "Dr. Winston is not an object to be bet upon," he said. "She is an independent woman, and if you were a man, you would know that. And if your father were a real man, he would have taught you better."
When Ryan heard that, he was so annoyed that he patted his head. It seemed that Leonard had undone all of his plans with a few simple words. Ryan looked at the phone and scowled as he thought about what he was planning on doing. Finally, he picked the phone up, and for the first time since he'd ben admitted to the hospital, he dialed his father, George's, number.
The second Ryan heard his father's voice, he blurted out what he wanted to say: "Dad, I have a crush on someone."
"But son," George replied, "you are only nine years old."
Ryan: "So what? You can still help me win her heart. Don't you know that age is just a number? If you don't visit me before my surgery, I won't have the surgery!"
George: "How old is she anyway?"
Ryan: Close you your age, actually; maybe three or four years younger."
George: "I see. I'll visit you as soon as I'm free."
Ryan frowned and said, "Don't make me wait!"
George said that he wouldn't, and Ryan frowned as he hung up the phone.
***
Catherine was updating files in her office when someone knocked on her door. She smiled as she looked up, but when she saw Leonard standing in the doorway, her smile turned sour. "Get out of here," she sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not welcome before you finally get it through your thick skull?"
Leonard: "I just came to say goodbye, but I'll be back again. You can't get rid of me that easily."
Catherine wanted to throw something at Leonard, and she began to look for something appropriate. Finally, her eyes landed on her stapler. She picked it up and raised it above her head, but when she looked up, he was gone. "And good riddance!" she muttered.
Catherine turned back to her work, but almost immediately, there was another knock on the door. She looked up angrily, thinking it was Leonard, but it was Zoey. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Zoey: "Shouldn't you be in prep for surgery?"
Catherin looked at the clock on her wall. "Oh, f**k!" she exclaimed. "I'm late! This is all Leonard's fault. She turned to Zoey and said, "Thank you, Zoey. You can tell the attending physicians that I am on my way! And have Ryan's file on hand so that I can go over it once I get out of the O.R."
Zoey: "Okay."
Once Zoey was gone, Catherine closed the file she had been looking at. She closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and imagined how the surgery would go. After a moment, she stood up and began to prepare for the operation.
Catherine made her way to the O.R., and she completed the surgery in less than an hour, which was hours faster than operations typically took.
***
After having not seen Catherine in over an hour, Ryan began to get upset. He used the bell that hung from an IV pole beside his bed to summon a nurse, and when Zoey appeared, he asked, "Where is Dr. Winston?"
"Dr. Winston is just getting out of surgery," Zoey replied. She had met Ryan many times, but every time she saw him, she felt timid. Though he was young, because of who his father was, he was powerful.
Ryan frowned. "But it's so late in the day," he argued. "Doesn't the doctor need to have lunch? Tell the department head to visit me. Now!"
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