Magnificent Magnus Mace

I Just Really Care

Smack!

Kennedy swung her hand with sudden, explosive force. Her palm connected flush against Steven's jaw. The sharp sound echoed like a gunshot through the sterile operating room.

Steven staggered backward, clutching his reddened cheek in absolute shock.

"Councilwoman," Steven gasped, his eyes wide with fear.

"You parasitic worm," Kennedy snarled, stepping forward to close the distance between them. "Do you truly believe I am blind?"

Steven pressed his back against the cold tile wall. He raised his hands defensively, dropping his clipboard onto the floor.

"I was only trying to protect you from a rogue employee," Steven stammered, his professional facade crumbling into pieces.

"You were trying to protect your own pathetic career," Kennedy shouted, her voice trembling with raw fury. "I stood right outside that glass window. I watched you block the surgical doors while my mother was flatlining on the table."

"There are hospital protocols," Steven pleaded, looking around for anyone to help him.

"I heard every single word you said in the hallway," Kennedy stepped even closer, radiating political and financial power. "I heard you tell this man he would take the legal fall when my mother died. You wanted her to die just so you could blame him."

Roberts tried to quietly step backward out of the room, hoping to escape the wrath of the city councilwoman.

"Do not move a muscle, Roberts," Kennedy snapped without even looking at him.

Roberts froze instantly, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I watched Magnus fight both of you just to reach my mother," Kennedy continued, turning her blazing eyes back to the head doctor. "He put his own career on the line while you two cowards whispered about liability. If it were not for his genuine care for sick people, my mother would be lying in a morgue right now."

Steven swallowed hard, unable to formulate a single excuse.

Kennedy let out a heavy sigh, releasing some of the tension in her shoulders. She turned her back on the disgraced hospital administrators and faced Magnus. Her entire demeanor changed in an instant. The fierce, political predator vanished, replaced by a woman humbled by true competence.

"I am deeply sorry," Kennedy said softly, looking at Magnus with profound respect. "You should never have to endure this kind of toxic politics just to save a life."

"Hospital politics are the same everywhere," Magnus replied calmly, wiping his hands on a clean towel. "The administrators worry about the budget. The doctors worry about the prestige. The patients are usually just an afterthought."

"It does not have to be that way for you," Kennedy shook her head slowly. "You possess a medical talent I have never seen in my entire life. You saved a woman who was technically dead."

"I did what was necessary," Magnus stated.

"You are wasting your life in this miserable public building," Kennedy gestured around the cramped operating room. "I sit on the board of directors for the Apex Medical Pavilion in the commercial district. It is a high tier private facility. The equipment is state of the art, and the patients are exclusively elite."

Magnus listened quietly, his face betraying no emotion.

"I am offering you a position as the chief of trauma," Kennedy offered, her voice filled with earnest conviction. "You will have a private corner office, a dedicated surgical team, and an administration that answers directly to you. No one will ever disrespect you or send you to a basement again."

Steven and Roberts stood by the door, turning green with envy. The Apex Medical Pavilion was the holy grail for local surgeons. It was a place where doctors became millionaires overnight.

"That is a very generous offer, Councilwoman," Magnus said, folding the towel and setting it aside. "But I must decline."

Kennedy blinked in surprise, clearly unaccustomed to hearing the word no.

"May I ask why?" Kennedy asked, tilting her head slightly. "Are you holding out for a better title?"

"I do not care about titles," Magnus laughed softly. "I work in a public hospital for a very specific reason. The people who come to this building cannot afford the Apex Medical Pavilion."

"You are highly skilled," Kennedy argued gently. "You deserve to be compensated for that skill."

"Wealthy patients have endless options," Magnus explained, his voice carrying a quiet authority. "If a billionaire gets sick, he can fly a specialist in from Europe. He can buy experimental drugs. The poor people in this city do not have those options. They count their coins just to pay for bus fare."

Kennedy remained silent, captivated by his absolute sincerity.

"If I leave this public hospital," Magnus continued, looking directly into her eyes, "the people who need me the most will be left in the hands of men like Steven and Roberts. The poor will die because they cannot afford elite care. I stay here because this is the battleground where real medicine matters."

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Steven looked down at his shoes, feeling a sudden, strange sense of shame pierce through his greed. He had spent his entire career chasing wealthy donors, completely forgetting the oath he took in medical school.

Kennedy stared at Magnus, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She had spent decades in the cutthroat world of politics and corporate finance. She was surrounded by men who would sell their own families for a fraction of the power she just offered him. Yet, this humble doctor wearing a stained white coat had just rejected a fortune to stay in the trenches.

"You are a very rare man, Magnus Mace," Kennedy whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"I am just a doctor," Magnus replied simply.

"Earlier, you told me I could not give you a personal check," Kennedy recalled, glancing over her shoulder at Steven. "He claimed the hospital rules prohibit personal gifts."

"That is correct," Magnus nodded slowly, playing along with the situation.

"Then I will make a donation to the hospital," Kennedy declared, pulling her leather checkbook back out of her designer handbag. "But we are going to do it on your terms."

Kennedy clicked her gold pen and began writing across the paper. She tore the check free and handed it directly to Magnus.

Magnus looked at the paper. The check was written out to City General Hospital for the amount of five hundred thousand dollars.

"I am giving this donation to you, Magnus," Kennedy instructed firmly. "You will deposit it into the hospital administration account. I want your personal guarantee that you will oversee every single dollar."

"I will make sure the funds reach the patients," Magnus promised, slipping the check into his coat pocket.

"If Steven tries to divert a single penny of that money toward his administrative bonuses," Kennedy raised her voice, ensuring the head doctor heard every syllable, "I want you to call me immediately. I will freeze the hospital funding from the city council."

"Understood," Magnus smiled a genuine, dangerous smile.

"We have solved the issue of the public hospital," Kennedy clicked her pen shut. "But I still have a problem regarding my own family."

Magnus raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I cannot trust the doctors in this city anymore," Kennedy confessed, looking at her sleeping mother. "They are too concerned with textbooks and protocols. They do not know how to adapt when things go wrong."

"Modern medicine has limitations," Magnus agreed.

"I need someone who can see past those limitations," Kennedy took a step closer to him. "I want to hire you as the exclusive family doctor for the Wade household."

"A family doctor," Magnus repeated the words thoughtfully.

"You would retain your current position here at City General," Kennedy explained quickly, sensing he might refuse again. "You can continue saving the people who need you. I will only require your services when a member of my immediate family falls ill."

"That is a significant commitment," Magnus noted.

"I am prepared to compensate you for your time," Kennedy stated, shifting back into her confident business persona. "I will pay you a signing bonus of one million dollars today. Your annual salary will be ten million dollars, paid directly into any account you choose."

A loud, strangled choking sound came from the doorway.

Roberts leaned against the wall, clutching his chest. His eyes bulged out of his head. Ten million dollars a year. It was a sum of money that dwarfed the combined salaries of the entire surgical department.

Steven looked like he was going to faint. He had spent his entire morning trying to humiliate Magnus and throw him into the basement. Now, the basement doctor was securing a contract that made him wealthier than the hospital board members.

"Ten million dollars," Magnus said the number aloud, testing the weight of it.

He did not need the money. His offshore accounts held billions, and the Mace family wealth was limitless. However, accepting this offer provided him with something far more valuable than cash. It provided him with an unbreakable alliance. Kennedy Wade was a political juggernaut in the city. Having her in his corner would make his eventual war against his ex wife and the local elites much easier.

"Do we have a deal?" Kennedy asked, holding her hand out.

"We have a deal, Councilwoman," Magnus reached out and shook her hand firmly.

Steven watched the handshake with bitter, blinding jealousy. He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw popped. He had lost his VIP patient, he had lost his political leverage, and he had been violently humiliated in his own operating room.

"Excellent," Kennedy smiled brightly, the relief evident on her face. "My legal team will draft the contract this afternoon. I will have the signing bonus wired to you before sunset."

"There is no rush," Magnus replied smoothly.

"I prefer to handle my business efficiently," Kennedy checked the gold watch on her wrist. "In fact, I would like to finalize the details right now. Please follow me to my private office downtown. We can sign the preliminary paperwork and get you set up in our system."

"I need to finish my shift here," Magnus pointed out.

"Consider your shift finished," Kennedy threw a lethal glare at the head doctor. "I am sure Dr. Steven can find someone else to cover the basement duties today. Is that correct, Steven?"

Steven forced a painful, trembling smile onto his face.

"Of course, Councilwoman," Steven choked the words out. "Take all the time you need, Magnus. We have everything covered here."

"I thought so," Kennedy scoffed in disgust.

She turned back to the nurses standing quietly near the operating table.

"Monitor my mother closely," Kennedy ordered them. "I will send a private transport team to transfer her to a secure recovery suite within the hour. No one touches her except the nursing staff. If a doctor tries to administer medication, call security."

"Yes, Councilwoman," the lead nurse nodded quickly.

"Let us go, Magnus," Kennedy gestured toward the hallway.

Magnus grabbed his worn leather medical bag from the counter. He walked past Steven and Roberts without sparing them a single glance. They were insignificant insects beneath his boots now. He had secured his first major piece on the chessboard.

Magnus followed Kennedy down the long, sterile corridor. They bypassed the busy reception desk and walked out through the sliding glass doors of the main entrance.

The afternoon sun beat down on the cracked concrete sidewalk. A massive, armored black luxury SUV sat idling at the curb. Two men wearing dark suits and earpieces stood guard near the vehicle.

One of the security men quickly pulled the heavy rear door open as Kennedy approached.

"After you, doctor," Kennedy offered, gesturing toward the plush leather interior.

Magnus climbed into the back seat of the vehicle, settling into the comfortable leather. Kennedy slid in right beside him, and the guard closed the door with a solid, echoing thud. The thick tinted windows completely blocked out the hospital building and the miserable people left inside it.

"To the main office, ma'am?" The driver asked, looking through the rearview mirror.

"Yes," Kennedy answered, buckling her seatbelt. "Take the expressway. We have a lot to discuss."