Not Your Toy Anymore Chapter 03
The year we were both up for the same coveted residency spot, Zoe swapped out the surgical protocol I’d spent twelve months developing. I failed the review because of her version, not mine.
I reported her for plagiarism. Rafael backed her story under oath.
I kept appealing to the review board. They retaliated with complaints against me — academic misconduct, questions about my “personal conduct.” Anything to bury the real story.
The board caved. They revoked my candidacy and called it a final decision.
I confronted Zoe. Rafael stepped between us, looking down at me like I was the problem.
“Zoe lost her files and borrowed yours for reference. That’s all it was. Stop blowing this up.”
“You’re talented enough — you’ll get another shot. But Zoe won’t. This is her one chance, and I’m not going to let you take it from her.”
If my record hadn’t been spotless — grades, research, everything — they wouldn’t have stopped at revoking my candidacy. They might have blacklisted me from the medical field entirely.
None of that had crossed Rafael’s mind. Not once.
By then, I’d already stopped expecting anything from him. Even during the years I’d wasted on Rafael, I never let my work slip. That’s what got me accepted into the best surgical program in the country.
Everyone assumed I’d run away in disgrace. Nobody knew I’d left for the opportunity of a lifetime.
Year by year, I’d earned my way to the top on skill alone. And now, in the span of one accident, all of it was gone.
Tears seeped through the gauze over my eyes, blooming into spots of red.
I felt my mouth twist into something that wasn’t quite a smile. Rafael was watching me. Something in his face changed — just for a second — before he locked it down.
Before he could say a word, I turned toward Zoe’s voice. When I spoke, every syllable cut.
“I’m the surgeon the Don brought in. Did you know that?”
“I came back to operate on—”
Zoe cut me off with a laugh sharp enough to echo off the walls. She actually doubled over.
“I don’t know where you heard about the family hiring a private surgeon, but do you have any idea who that person actually is?”
She looked me up and down, disgust radiating off her like heat.
“That surgeon wasn’t pulled from some hospital directory. She made her name in field hospitals — Syria, Afghanistan. Soldiers, civilians, people who’ll never show up in any official record.”
“Every private hospital in L.A. wants her on staff. People in the military owe her their lives. When she picks up a scalpel, the patient on that table has a chance. That’s just a fact.”
She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. “And you think you can just claim to be her? You?”
A few of the nurses exchanged glances, stifling laughter. They thought I’d lost it.
Rafael stared down at me, his face blank, unreadable. I could see what he was thinking — that the blindness had broken something in me, that I was grasping at delusions to keep from falling apart.
I let them laugh. Then I spoke, and my voice could have frozen glass.
“It doesn’t matter if you believe me. What matters is that you did this to my eyes, and the Draven family is going to answer for it.”
Something flickered across Zoe’s expression. She buried it fast, but I’d heard the pause.
“It was an accident. Don’t try to pin this on me just because you got hurt.”
“There are cameras at that waterfront.” I kept my voice level. “Whether this was negligence isn’t for either of us to decide.”
“And if the patient can’t get his surgery on schedule because of what you did to me, every consequence — medical, financial, and whatever blood the Dravens demand — falls on you.”
Zoe went quiet for half a beat. Then she laughed — too loud, too fast.
“God, you really don’t quit, do you?”
I was already reaching for the nightstand. My fingers found my phone, and I dialed the consigliere.
The smirk slid off Zoe’s face like water.
She turned to Rafael, eyes already welling up on cue. “She’s doing this on purpose, Rafael. She knows I’m up for promotion. This is payback.”
Rafael crossed the room in two strides and ripped the phone out of my hand.
“Enough, Seraphina. It was an accident. How far are you planning to take this?”
“Zoe’s about to be named Head of General Surgery. Don’t you dare drag her name into this.”
“Look at yourself. Your eyes are done. Calling the consigliere won’t change that.” His voice dropped. “You really think he’d take your side over family?”