From Humiliated Son-In-Law to The World’s Greatest Doctor

8 - Eavesdropping

“Oh! Doctor Richmond?!”

Aubree stopped walking and turned toward the voice calling her. Right at the intersection, a familiar figure could be seen walking quickly toward her from the hallway beside her.

“Doctor Richmond! Good evening!” The young woman in a nurse’s uniform greeted her with a bright smile.

“Hey, Tina! Oh my God, it’s been so long since I last saw you! How have you been?”

“Yeah, I’ve been really good. I haven’t had a chance to go back to Riverbrook since I moved here. So I’m really happy to see you again here, Doctor.”

“Are you enjoying working in this city? Is everything going well?”

“Of course. I really love living here. Everything is easy and quick to get to because it’s a small town. My husband and child are enjoying it here too. Honestly, the air is even much cleaner than in Riverbrook.”

They both laughed.

“By the way, what are you doing here this late at night, Doctor? Don’t tell me you moved here?!”

Aubree smiled. “My residency isn’t over yet, Tina. But… yeah, I might move here afterward.”

“That’s… quite a surprise, and such great news at the same time! I can’t wait to work with you again, Doctor!”

“Well… I missed you when you moved away, you know. I still haven’t found another nurse who’s as quick and skilled as you are.”

Tina laughed shyly at the compliment.

Evander, who happened to be coming back from the pharmacy to pick up Margo’s medication, accidentally saw the two of them shortly before they went their separate ways.

He remembered that Aubree was the person who had helped Margo earlier.

Then, once Aubree was completely out of sight, several other nurses quickly came over and gathered around, then started whispering about something that caught Evander’s attention.

So he stopped and pretended to sit in a patient chair near the group of four or five nurses so he could listen in.

“Was that really Aubree Richmond just now?!”

“You’re so lucky to know her, Tina! I’m jealous!!”

The nurse called Tina chuckled proudly.

“Well, what can I say? I used to work with her for quite a long time at Kings in Riverbrook. She really liked me and relied on me, you know.”

Tina couldn’t resist bragging even more.

“But is that rumor really true?”

“What rumor?”

“A lot of people are saying she’s in a relationship with Doctor Maynard.”

“Hey… no way! Doctor Maynard is already old, and he’s a widower too, while Doctor Richmond is still so young. Besides, he’s the sole heir to Kings Hospital. There’s no way she’d want to be with him!”

“Watch your mouth, Katie! What’s wrong with Doctor Maynard?! He’s still very handsome and fit for a man his age. Not to mention he’s filthy rich, famous, and incredibly charismatic. Even if he were a hundred years old and had ten wives, I might still be willing to become his eleventh wife.”

“You crazy woman!”

“Most importantly, he’s also a highly skilled surgeon. That’s his most unbeatable quality. And that’s what makes me crazy about him… Aww…”

“Aww… me too…”

“Me too…!”

Evander frowned as he listened to the nurses expressing their feelings for Derek like teenagers giggling and blushing while talking about their crush.

“You girls are getting way off topic. My question hasn’t been answered yet, Tina.”

Tina cleared her throat. “Listen, okay? I don’t think there’s anything wrong if the two of them really are in a relationship. The Chairman of Kings Group wouldn’t lose anything by having someone like Doctor Maynard as his son-in-law.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“I agree too.”

“Wicked! Look what Doctor Maynard has done!” One of them suddenly showed something on her phone to the other nurses.

“Is that really him? Damn! That’s so freaking cool!”

“He’s so hot and so damn sexy!!! If that’s the case, it makes perfect sense that Doctor Richmond likes Doctor Maynard! No sane, normal woman could possibly not fall for a man this attractive!”

Evander frowned, growing even more curious about what the nurses were looking at.

“Look at how he took that guy down! Wow, that’s so freaking cool, like watching a superhero movie!”

“Ah… I get it. So all that commotion in the ER, with even the police showing up, was because the victims from this incident were brought here?”

“Doctor Richmond even stitched the woman’s wound herself. I happened to see her when I stopped by there a little while ago.”

“Why did she stitch it herself?”

“How would I know? Maybe everyone else was busy treating other patients.”

“So the two of them were together earlier, and then they just happened to get caught up in this incident? See? I told you! They must really be dating, right?”

“Exactly. Why would they go out together if they weren’t in a relationship?”

“Maybe Doctor Richmond just happened to be visiting the town, so they went out together…?”

“What’s wrong with you, Katie? You really don’t like Doctor Maynard that much, do you?!”

“If she was only visiting, she could have asked one of her other acquaintances or the director of this hospital to join her. Director Greg is her own cousin, after all. But she went with Doctor Maynard instead. To me, that makes it pretty obvious.”

“You girls really shouldn’t be gossiping. Are you done with your work? Come on, break it up, break it up.” Tina dispersed the group.

“Wait! You haven’t heard the biggest rumor yet! Ernie, the nurse from the hemodialysis unit, once said he accidentally overheard Director Greg talking on the phone about how the two of them were already engaged and were going to get married! But it seems Director Greg wasn’t very happy about it because he looked annoyed at the time.”

“Is that true?!”

“Ernie himself told you that?”

“You’re not making this up, are you?”

Evander also left after the group of nurses broke up, then headed to the ER to take Margo home.

He still hadn’t gotten over his shock after seeing Derek show up and help Margo and the middle-aged woman on the street earlier. He had thought Derek was just acting like a know-it-all and playing the hero, before hearing people say that he was actually a real doctor.

Now, after hearing the truth about Derek and how much people admired, praised, and envied him, he felt even more irritated.

When he arrived at the ER and approached Margo, who was sitting back against the patient bed, Evander immediately let out the pent-up feelings weighing on his chest.

“Damn Derek!”

He slammed the bag of medicine he was holding onto Margo’s lap, making her jolt in surprise.

“That useless bastard suddenly showed up here and caused such a commotion! Those people must be blind too, praising him like he’s some kind of hero!”

Evander then glanced at Margo.

“Do you know why he’s in this town?! Did you already know he was here?!”

Margo looked at Evander while swallowing hard.