“BEST DRESSED: Z McCartney Mystery Date Wows Crowds in Stunning Dominic Florin Gown!”
~Entertainment Daily~
Chapter Five
Aubrey
Standing at the door to Dr. Bentley’s office, I felt restless. Checking my watch for the umpteenth time, I pushed away from the wall, running a hand through my straight hair, feeling positive I looked like a complete mess. I was wearing one of Zane’s t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants that were double knotted at my waist to keep them from falling off. I wasn’t wearing any makeup since we’d showered together and my eyes were totally red and swollen from crying.
“Aubrey, calm down. Everything is going to work out. I promise.”
Glancing over to where Zane casually leaned against the wall with his arms folded, I wondered how he could possibly seem so relaxed. I felt like my whole world was being turned upside down, and I was scared stiff that I was about to lose my job in a few minutes, once the truth of my behavior came out.
“I want to. I just don’t know how,” I replied honestly.
Dr. Bentley and Dr. Wilson chose that moment to turn the corner, heading in our direction. They were both dressed casually, as they had the weekends off as well, and other staff doctors came in to take care of things. Since they were the doctors in charge of Zane’s care, and my bosses, I’d called them in for an emergency meeting.
“Good morning,” Dr. Bentley said with a smile, pausing to shake both of our hands. If he noticed anything odd about my appearance, he didn’t comment. Neither did Dr. Wilson, who also greeted us warmly.
Removing his keys, Dr. Bentley placed them in the door. “Shall we go inside?”
I glanced at Zane before checking the hallway. “We’re also waiting for some of Zane’s people to arrive.”
“Here they are,” Zane added, moving to greet Penelope and the lawyer, whose name I still couldn’t seem to remember, and another guy I hadn’t met before. I assumed this was his agent, Luke Haywood. He’d told me about him when he’d placed the phone call to him earlier.
After all the greetings and reintroductions—the lawyer's name was Mike—we moved into the office.
“I guess I’ll turn the floor over to you, Aubrey, since you’re the one who called this emergency meeting,” Dr. Bentley said as he sat at his desk.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves as I moved to a place where I could see the faces of everyone seated in the room. My eyes fell on Zane and he flashed me a nod of encouragement. Just knowing I had his support made me feel stronger.
“First of all, I apologize for dragging you all here on your days off, but Zane and I feel this is a time sensitive situation and it couldn’t wait until Monday.”
“Not a problem,” Dr. Wilson spoke up. “We’re always happy to help out.”
“Thank you. I hope you will still feel that way after you hear what I have to say.”
Immediately, puzzled expressions passed over everyone’s faces, and I hurried on.
“I haven’t been totally honest with everyone—”
“And neither have I,” Zane interrupted. Standing, he came to join me, slipping his hand into mine and lacing our fingers together. Several sets of eyes perked up at that action, but he didn’t pause. “I picked this facility because I knew Aubrey worked here.” He glanced between Dr. Wilson and Dr. Bentley. “Aubrey was my girlfriend in high school. She’s the one I’ve been talking to you about in our sessions, Dr. Wilson. You see, I made a terrible mistake when I first moved here. I cheated on Aubrey and was too much of a coward to confess my sins to her. Instead of facing her, I left her behind and never told her why. I’ve been self-medicating and acting out ever since, trying to forget about her. It didn’t work, obviously.” He squeezed my hand, glancing briefly at me and smiled.
“Last night,” I continued on with the story, “was the first time Zane and I really had a chance to sit down and talk since he came here. I’ve been trying to keep him at arm's length, due to that fact that he’s a patient here—and due to the fact that I’ve been hiding a secret from him for ten years.”
He took over again. “Apparently I got Aubrey pregnant before I left Montana. I just found out I have a nine year old son.”
Everyone in the room shifted, glancing around in surprise, looking as if they didn’t know what to say. If Zane noticed, he didn’t care, instead raising my hand to his lips and kissing it, before turning his attention back to everyone else.
“I’ve never stopped loving Aubrey, so though her news is a shock to me, I couldn’t be happier. However, the press was all over her last night and I promise everyone is out there digging around today trying to find out who she is. They’re going to find out she has a son—who happens to look exactly like me. This is going to cause a media frenzy. If they find out she works here, it’s going to lead them right to me.”
“And then there’s the matter of our son,” I added. “Zane wants to meet him, but he’s in rehab right now. How can he continue weeks of care without meeting his son? I don’t think that’s fair to either of them.”
“I can see why you’re worried,” Dr. Bentley said, sighing, a concerned expression on his face. “There’s a lot we need to discuss it appears.”
“Wait. There’s more,” I said, feeling terrible about dumping so much on them. “Zane and I also rekindled our relationship last night.” I faltered for a moment. “I mean we slept together.”
“We definitely have a lot to talk about then,” Dr. Bentley said, seeming alarmed. “This could have legal ramifications if it ever got out. We can’t allow the institute to get a bad name because one of our nurses is sleeping with her patient.”
Hearing him say it like that made it sound so sordid and sleazy. I hated it.
“Just to be clear, I want you to know that Aubrey was against all this from the beginning. From the first moment she found out I was her patient, she said she was having my care transferred to a different nurse because it was unethical.”
Dr. Bentley opened the chart on the desk in front of him, flipping through a few pages of Zane’s file. “I don’t see that a request was ever made.”
“It wasn’t,” I said, weakly. “I changed my mind.”
“But only because I begged her not to. Even then she hardly spoke to me, except when she was doing her routine rounds. There was never any inappropriate contact while she was at work.”
“She was working last night when she went with you to the event,” Mike reminded.
“Yes, but I’m the one who was paying those wages, so she still wasn’t technically working for Sunnybrook. She’d been employed by me to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
“And how did that go?” Dr. Wilson asked.
“He did very well,” I replied.
“No I didn’t,” Zane spoke up. “When I first found out she’d been keeping my son from me for all these years I was angry. I opened my fridge and reached for a beer. Of course there weren’t any in there, since Penelope had poured them all down the sink before I was admitted. Still, I reached for it all the same. It was the first thing I turned to for help.
“That’s also why Aubrey was afraid to tell me about our son. She didn’t want to jeopardize my treatment.” Fixing a stare in Dr. Bentley’s direction, he sighed, shaking his head. “Please don’t fire her. I swear I pressed her hard—practically coerced her into everything—even the sex. She kept telling me we needed to talk and there were lines that couldn’t be crossed. I refused to listen. I was determined to do whatever necessary to get her back into my life. I’ve missed her for so long.” He glanced at me again. “I love her with all my heart and I have a lot of making up to do.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered back. His words making me feel so happy that it helped to greatly relieve some of my anxiety.
“You two come take a seat so we can sort this all out,” Dr. Bentley said, gesturing to the chairs and Zane led me over to sit. “First off, I guess I need to ask if there is anything your people need to take care of with this revelation?”
Zane glanced over at his team and raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
“I say we sit on this for as long as we possibly can and see if the press sniffs out the story,” Penelope suggested. “We don’t need to volunteer any information. As long as they’re out hunting, it gives us more time to work with. I’ll also start working on an official press release for when the story breaks.” Penelope glanced at me apologetically before looking back at Zane. “Are you sure this child is yours?”
“That’s my question, too,” Mike spoke up. “We need to get a paternity test done to verify the claims.”
“There will be no paternity test,” Zane said firmly. “I trust Aubrey’s word. She was a virgin when I slept with her, I can personally attest to that. Besides, the kid looks exactly like me.” Turning to me, he added. “Show them the picture.”
I did as he asked and apparently it was enough to satisfy everyone for the moment, because no one else pressed the matter any further.
“So what do you want the press release to say?” Penelope asked Zane.
“Tell them I’m happy to announce that I’ve recently reconnected with the love of my life and am thrilled to find out we share a son together. I ask that everyone please respect our privacy and allow us the time to become acquainted as a family.”
“I’m on it,” Penelope said, quickly jotting down notes into her phone. “What are you thinking about things, Mike? Any concerns?”
“If he’s wanting to acknowledge his son I see no problem with that,” Mike replied. “We’ll just need to get together and discuss some future financial decisions with the management team—like will Dustin be added to the will, or is there going to be a trust set up for him, but those are all things we can address down the road.”
“And the answer to that is, yes, by the way,” Zane spoke up. “So start looking into getting the paperwork going on that, right away.”
As I listened to them rattle things off, it amazed me how many people were involved in running Zane’s life. He honestly had a team of people at his beck and call. It was hard for me to wrap my head around it. Listening to the way he ordered people about made me realize that despite how long he’d struggled with addiction, his people still respected him and his decisions. He was still in charge of the show when it boiled down to everything. Without him, they had nothing—no product to sell. I changed my mind. He wasn’t in charge of the show—he was the show. It was kind of incredible to watch. I’d never really had anyone step forward to fight my battles before, like he was doing. It was hard for me to not think of him as that white knight on the charger—the one I’d always hoped would come find me. Hope bloomed in my chest.
“What about you, Luke? Anything you need to add?” Penelope asked, moving on.
“I guess my biggest concern is what any of this means for your recovery and if anything is changing revolving around your stay here? Will you be moved to a different facility now that your relationship is known? I need to let the studio know of any changes that may affect their time schedule. They’ve been antsy.”
“There will definitely need to be some disciplinary action taken against Aubrey,” Dr. Bentley said, and my heart crashed as he turned his full attention to me. “The rules here are very plain and they were broken, no matter how unintentional or blindsided you might have been.”
“I understand.” I wasn’t going to beg or plead. “I’ll take whatever punishment you deem worthy without complaint.”
“Again, I’d like to ask you for some leniency on her behalf,” Zane said. “Her constant worry was about keeping the name of Sunnybrook Haven protected. I’d also like to request that I be allowed to take the rest of the weekend off. I want to meet my son and have some time to spend with him.”
“I do think that is crucial to his recovery and we should grant that request,” Dr. Wilson spoke up, having silently observed most of the proceedings thus far. “I know nothing has gone according to plan with this case. It’s uncommon for patients to be released in their first ten days, let alone start new relationships, or ask for weekends out of recovery. Since Zane has been doing well, perhaps we could move him from inpatient status to outpatient status. This would allow him to go home every night and be with his family. The point of this facility is to treat the whole person, not just the addiction. As everyone has different factors in their care, I say we consider implementing time with his family as part of his care plan.”
Well, I liked that idea.
“Depending on his hours needed for treatment, he might even be able to work part-time, too,” Dr. Bentley added.
“I think that would greatly please the studio,” Luke said. “They could start production sooner if he had work release.”
“We could easily place him in a half day program with weekends off, as long as Zane feels he can safely deal with that,” Dr. Wilson said. “Then he could work afternoons and weekends if needed and still see his family. I’m assuming his next picture is local?”
“The majority of it is, except for a stint in Paris,” Luke said. “They can work the schedule around him here and shoot on away locations after he’s released.”
“If they’d be willing to work with him that way, I think we’re in agreement,” Dr. Bentley said. “Does that work for you, Zane?”
“I think it sounds great. I’m totally on board.” His thumb rubbed lazy relaxing circles on the back of my hand. “If I feel I’m struggling, I’ll let someone know immediately.” Pausing, he cast a soft smile at me. “I have a lot to live for. I want to get this right.” He turned his attention back to the doctors. “But what happens to Aubrey?”
Love infused my heart, knowing that my verdict was still forefront in his mind. It made me feel good that he wanted to protect me—even if I didn’t need protecting.
Dr. Bentley stared at Dr. Wilson. “What do you think?”
“As much as I hate to say it, I think we need to take serious action against her, both for her protection and ours. If this relationship ever leaked out, we’d need to be able to prove that she was disciplined and it wasn’t ignored.”
Dr. Bentley sighed heavily. “I agree.” Locking gazes with me, he shook his head sadly. “Aubrey, as of this moment you are officially suspended without pay for the duration of Mr. McCartney’s treatment here. We can’t have rumors of a relationship happening. I think by doing this, we will protect everyone involved. I don’t think we need to release any of this information to anyone, except to inform the staff that you felt you shouldn’t treat him since you knew him from the past. It will allow the two of you to explore your relationship as you see fit, away from this campus and any prying eyes. And hopefully will keep the press from making the connection that Zane is being treated here as well.”
“Okay.” I nodded, attempting to keep my tears at bay, but it was difficult. I couldn’t swallow past the knot in my throat. “Again, I’m sorry I didn’t come forward sooner.”
“Aubrey, you’re a good nurse—one of our best—and we’d hate to lose you. We aren’t so cold hearted that we don’t see the awkward situation you were placed in. There’s so much more going on here than just patient care. There are many lives involved and we want what’s best for everyone, including you.”
“Thank you. I’ve loved this job. It’s been such a good living and has helped me provide adequately for my son. Thank you for not firing me.”
“You’re welcome. And Zane?”
“Yes?”
“Please remember, if you need to come back for any help or treatments after Ms. Hart is reinstated that you’ll need to check in and let staffing know she is to be sent home. We don’t want you both here at the same time unless it’s for a therapy session that you’re doing together, or with your son. She should never be on the clock working while you’re being seen as a patient here.”
“I understand.”
“Good. So unless anyone else has anything to add, you’re all free to go—including you, Zane. As of this moment, you’re on outpatient status.”
Zane smiled widely and glanced at me. “Let’s get my things. I don’t want to wait another minute to meet my son!”