Chapter 1

Kimberly was walking through the hallway of the hospital, heading for the director's office when she heard someone call her name.

“Dr. Wright, Dr. Wright !” Kimberly turned around and saw a nurse running towards her.

“I’m so sorry to bother you.” The nurse said, panting heavily making Kimberly wonder how long she had been running.

“Hold on, take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.” Kimberly said to the nurse, who nodded and did as she was told before speaking up once more.

“I only wanted to give you the medical report of the patient in room 406, you asked me to prepare.”

“Oh that, thanks.” Kimberly replied when the nurse was done with her explanation. The nurse handed her the medical report before Kimberly resumed on her way to the director’s office.

She arrived her destination, which was the director’s office, but stood at the door staring blankly at the name tag on the door. She internally hoped her request be granted.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and reached for the door knob, when she heard a muffled 'come in'.

“Dr. Wright, what brings you here?” Dr. Cullen, the hospital's director asked as he was surprised by her presence in his office.

“I’m sorry I came to your office unannounced. Your secretary wasn’t at her desk, hope I’m not a bother.” Kimberly quietly asked.

“You know you’re never a bother to me. Have a seat.” Dr. Cullen said, gesturing for Kimberly to sit down on one of the chairs across his desk.

She gave a polite smile and did as she was told.

Kimberly knew Dr. Cullen gave her such special attention because she was one of the best neurosurgeon they heard, even though she was young.

She felt terrible for what she was about to ask as she saw the way Dr. Cullen looked interested in what she wanted to say.

Kimberly knew Dr. Cullen thought she was here because she had suggestions to give regarding the hospital like she always did. But, that isn’t the case, because today she came for personal reasons.

Saving lives was her priority as a doctor, but being with her fiancé was also important to her, considering the fact that she rarely get to spend time with him due to his nature of work. This was her only chance to close to him this year.

“Dr. Wright, are you okay?” Dr. Cullen said bringing Kimberly back to reality.

She didn’t even know she had been lost in her thoughts.

“Um.. I’m sorry, I- I was wondering if can get a leave of absence for a period of two weeks?” she nervously asked, her palms already sweaty.

The reason Kimberly was this nervous asking was because, Dr. Cullen can be friendly sometimes but was a very strict and dedicated doctor especially when it comes to work and he expected the same with the other doctors.

She hoped he wasn’t already disappointed with her because of her request as he was dead silent. The only thing she could hear in the room was the pounding of her heart beat.

God! she hated the way he was staring intensely at her, like she was some kind of puzzle he wanted to solve. It made her feel so small.

“Is alright at home? Because I know you. You’ve never asked for this sort of favor before.” He suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

This brought a wave of relief to Kimberly who thought he wasn’t going to say a word to her.

“Yeah, everything is fine” she replied with a nervous chuckle

“So, why then would you want a leave of absence? You know you can talk to me.”

Kimberly could see the concern in his blue eyes as he was honestly worried about her.

Should she open up and tell him the reason why she needed the leave of absence?

That would be so embarrassing. Just the thought of telling him made blush rise to her cheeks.

“If you’re stressed out from working for almost a year without one, then..”

“No, no. That’s not it. I know I requested for it to be that way and I don’t regret it, it’s just… My fiancé is returning tomorrow and we barely have time for each other due to the nature of our jobs.” She said letting out a heavy sigh before she continued to speak.

“He’s in the Navy and spends almost the year round at sea but only gets to spend two weeks at home… This year unfortunately didn’t correspond with the time I usually get my leave, so I was wondering if you could excuse me just this once.. please?” She pleaded in a small voice.

“Hmmn..” Dr. Cullen sighed while Kimberly waited, eager to know his reply.

“It’s alright, you have my permission. You’ll receive you letter of leave in the morning.”

“Thank you so much sir.” She said with so much excitement as she stood from her seat and walked towards Dr. Cullen, giving him a hug to his surprise.

Her action made him chuckle as he returned the hug.

“But don’t get too excited, Dr. Wright cos you might get a call when there’s an emergency that requires your presence.” He said to Kimberly after the hug.

“That won’t be a problem. Thank you once again.” She said as she exited his office.