9 - JILTED
1209 Words
AFTER seeing the light on the windows, Violet released a deep sigh.
It was almost eleven in the evening. A couple of hours ago, she left the hospital in the nearby town after a long operation.
It was an emergency surgery with the patient that she and Emil has been keeping a close watch. It was the same patient that he wanted Violet to check on when she did a medical mission in St. Vincent.
The patient was scheduled for an operation in three weeks. However, his health worsened. Fortunately, the operation was a success.
Violet closed the door of the car. After locking it, she made a beeline for the front door of the apartment building.
After climbing to the second floor, she headed to the third door.
The fourth door opened before she could knock on the door. She and the man’s eyes met. He bowed his head a little before his closed the door again.
She took another deep sigh before raising her hand. Knocks resonated in the quiet hall.
“Whoever the f*ck are you, make sure that it’s like or death.” The woman on the other side of the door muttered with annoyance.
The tall woman braced for the worst.
The moment the door opened, Mia’s eyes squinted with anger when she recognized the person on her door.
“Let me explain.”
Her hand went to the door before the shorter woman slammed it closed.
“Please.” She plead.
Still glaring at her, Mia opened the door wider.
Violet cleared her throat when the door closed harder than necessary. When she turned to speak with Mia, the detective had her arms crossed in front of her. By the look on her face, she was clearly doubtful.
“I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t explain why you are here.”
“I know.”
“Your two minutes start now, before I kick you out the door.”
“I had an emergency operation. It finished past eight, and I have to drive here from the other town.”
“Is the patient alive?”
“Yes. He’s out of the woods.”
“Great. You owe me dinner.”
“I’m famished.”
“Me, too. You’re driving.”
Grinning, Violet was behind Mia when they went out the door.
They end up in the convenience store since it was the only open store at this time of night that could offer them food.
Each has two hot dog sandwiches and a bottle of water, and they went outside. They settled in one of the two tables out front.
They were the only customers at this time.
They could see where the car was parked as well as the cashier through the glass wall.
“This is cheap for a first date,” Mia spoke after swallowing a huge bite of the sandwich.
The other woman chuckled. “I’m sorry about that. I will bring you to a better one next time. Do you need anything else?”
She was halfway done with the second sandwich, and the water bottle was almost gone, too.
“I’m good.”
She finished the sandwich before she stood up. “I’ll be back in a minute. I saw pasta in the fridge.”
Violet told the cashier what she wanted. While it was in the microwave, she grabbed a pack of peanuts and two more bottles of water.
“Anything else, Alpha?” The young woman on the other side asked before punching the items.
“That would be all. Thank you.”
The cashier was a half-bred. She was part of the nearby pack.
They met when she went here to get a cup of coffee after she had an encounter with the man who tried to assault Mia.
“That smelled good.”
“I know, right?”
She placed the tray between them and opened the two portions of the pasta. She gave one to Mia before she started on hers.
The detective was done with the sandwiches, too.
“What happened today, Violet?” Mia asked while watching her devour the food.
“My shift ended at three today, but I got a call that my patient had turned for the worse, that he has to be taken for immediate surgery.” She started. She drank the rest of the water from the first bottle she bought before she continued. “Since I was keeping watch on him, I was requested to join the operation that lasted for three hours.”
“You stood me up on a date that you scheduled----”
“I’m really sorry.”
“I was cursing you this whole time. All the while you were in the operating room saving a life.” Mia admitted with a laugh. “Is this going to be a normal thing?”
“Probably. It’s hard dating in my profession.”
“You seemed to be experienced in that department, Dr. Woods.”
“Hardly.”
Mia’s brow shot up. Disbelief was clear on her face. Not even offended, the tall woman smiled.
She finished the rest of the pasta. Violet faced the doubtful woman in front of her.
“I never stayed in one place for a long time. I never had a chance to create a root. Much less start a relationship with the locals.”
“Isn’t that an exhausting way to live?”
“It does, but I made peace with it. I made a choice a long time ago. I have to live with the consequences.”
“What do you mean?”
Violet glanced at the other woman. The doubt in her eyes was gone. It turned into curiosity.
She looked away before she spoke again.
“I left my family before I turned eighteen. It surely devastated my parents, especially my mother.” There was melancholy in Violet’s voice.
“What happened?”
“My father had plans for me. It was a destiny meant for the firstborn of generations before me. But I want to lead a different path.” With a sad smile, she continued. “It has been ten years since I saw my parents. My father may not have forgiven me for abandoning my duty.”
“They would forgive you. You have been thriving in the profession you have chosen. Did he want you to become a lawyer?”
A genuine smile appeared on Violet’s lips. In her mind, ‘only if it were that easy.’
“My father is a very headstrong and prideful man. Forgiving his daughter despite her abandoning her birthright and pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor was far from his to-do list, Mia.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“Not in recent years.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. I’m just lucky that someone believed in me, that she funded my education from college down to my medical years.”
“W-what?”
Violet chuckled. “I hate to break it to you, Detective, but contrary to your belief, I’m not a trust fund baby.”
Mia’s cheeks reddened at her statement. She must have remembered what she had told Violet not so long ago.
- Writer
