Dear Ex Wife Please take me back (Athena and Alex) novel Chapter 178

ATHENA

“Vitals are stable.” The nurse announces as the beeping of the monitors grow even louder in the pounding of my ears.

My gloved fingers tremble slightly as I grip the scalpel, my eyes locked on the exposed part of the patient's abdomen.

I’ve done this kind of procedure more times than I can count, but today, it feels foreign.

Like I’m watching myself from the outside.

“Dr. Dawson?” The nurse softly nudges me, and I mumble a low,

“Thanks.”

But it’s automatic.

My thoughts aren’t aligned.

So many questions are picking inside my brain, and I can't seem to push it back.

Zayan is the one who holds the answer to the biggest question, but he hasn’t answered my calls in hours.

Which is very odd.

Steadying my breathing by taking a deep breath, I make an incision along the artery to clamp it, but the moment I do, a sharp rush of blood splashes across my gloves.

“Pressure’s dropping!” a nurse shouts.

My eyes widen.

Shit. Shit.

“I need suction, now!” I try to steady my breathing, trying to see where I went wrong.

As I move my fingers, I notice that I missed a damn artery and cut it.

The beeping machines start getting louder and louder as waves of Alex lying in a hospital bed flash in my mind.

Has the formula worked?

What if he dies?

Who else knows his secret?

I'm suddenly frozen in place when I hear an angry voice,

“Move!” Ian commands as he pushes in beside me.

He steps in and takes over, his hands ready to fix the mess I just made.

“Ian, I’ve got this,” I try to push my way through, but he doesn’t even look up as he responds coldly,

“You don’t have anything!”

“I said I can fix it, just give me a minute!”

Finally, his head snaps up. His expression is made of stone.

“Get out of the way, Athena,” he says coldly.

I don’t move.

I won’t.

“You’re not taking over just because I made one mi-”

“You will not kill my patient just to prove a damn point!” he snaps, his voice booming over the beeping machines.

The entire OR stills. Even the nurses stop moving.

Ian’s eyes are locked on mine, full of fire and disappointment. Ian has always been the soft and kindest out of them. Seeing him look at me with so much anger is new and unsettling for me.

“Go out,” he says coldly, “or stand back. Just stay the hell out of my way.”

The words hit harder than any slap.

I step back, my feet stiff and my eyes weak. The shame sinks deep into my skin like acid. I retreat to the corner of the room, watching as Ian works fast and clean, stabilizing the bleed within seconds.

Everyone in the room pretends not to look at me.

But I can feel their judgment pressing down like a weight.

You failed.

You've never been good enough!

You should have stuck to something simple!

You'll never be as good as your parents.

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