“Roman, do you…” Maddie stops dead in her tracks when she sees what I’m looking at.
“What the hell is this, Maddie?” I stand up slowly, afraid of the rush I might get. “You worked on Talia and you didn’t tell me?”
She sucks in a sharp breath. “I can explain, Roman.”
“You better.” I narrow my eyes at her.
Maddie flinches like she’s scared of me. “Can we sit down?”
“I’d rather stand.” I grit my teeth. “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Look, Roman, I…When we first met, I had no clue…”
“Get it out, Maddie. Now.” I hate how harsh I sound, but fury and rage wind through me, gripping my mind and my heart like shackles.
“The day that Talia was attacked was my first day at the hospital.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Bauer was my mentor, and he was pulled into surgery. I was still so new that I couldn’t even be in the operating room, but I waited outside. Bauer asked me to grab some medication about halfway through the surgery.”
“The Warfarin.”
She nods. “We give Warfarin a lot if we’re concerned about clotting, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
“But Talia wasn’t having issues with clots. She was bleeding out.” I can barely get the words out as the vice around my lungs tightens.
“Yes, she was. But I wasn’t in the operating room, so I didn’t know that. I should have double checked or talked to someone else or…” She bites her quivering lip.
“What happened, Madison?”
“I got him the medication, but when I came back, he swore he told me to get something different. Something to clot the blood instead of thin it like she should have had from the beginning. He was angry, acted likeImessed up, so I rushed back to the pharmacy to get the right medication. I never knew what happened to the Warfarin. At least until I found Talia’s file this morning. Bauer gave it to her and she…God, I’m so sorry Roman.”
Heavy tears stream down her cheeks, burying her face in her hands.
I can’t think. I can’t breathe. I can’t even fully comprehend what she just said. All I hear is that Bauer killed Taliaon purpose, and Maddie was involved.
Not just involved, she basically gave him the loaded gun.
I know it’s wrong, and I hate myself for feeling that way, but I just can’t stop it. I’ve been killing myself the last several months, trying to find some kind of justice for Talia now…It’s all for nothing.
“Please say something, Roman.” Maddie sniffles.
I should go to her. I should comfort her. But I can’t. I’m frozen in place as my conflicting emotions hold me hostage. This is Maddie—the woman I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. But she had a hand in killing Talia, the mother of my son, and someone I really cared about, too. My heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my body and I don’t know what to do. So, like usual, I turn to what I’m good at.
“I’m going to find Bauer.”
I step towards the door, but she reaches for my wrist. “I know you’re upset, but do you think that’s a good idea?” she pleads.
I check my arm away from her and recoil. “Now you’re defending him? The prick is a monster! He killed my wife, he terrorized my family, and now he’s finally going to pay.”
“Roman, stop. I’m not defending him, but this isn’t…”
“This isn’t what, Madison?” I bellow, sweeping my arm across the counter and sending the dishes I had laid out shattering to the ground. “This isn’t a good idea? I’m pretty sure that shit went out the window long ago. He killed Talia with drugs that you gave to him. I’ve waited for this day since I buried my wife, and now that I know the truth…” I shake my head, fighting back my own tears. I’m so blinded by anger and confusion and hurt that I can’t make sense of it.
“Please,” Maddie begs, staring at me with the same big brown eyes I fell in love with. The lips that I let kiss every inch of me. The hair that has been sprayed across my pillowcase every morning for the last few months. God, how did this happen?
I’m such a fool. This is what I get for falling in love. For thinking I can have a normal life.
“Go to LA, Maddie. Take the job. I think we’re done here.”
Without another word, I turn and rush out of the house. If I stay in there one more minute, I have no idea what will happen and I can’t take that chance right now.
