Invasion. An unwelcome intrusion into another's domain. That was the definition, according to most of the dictionaries. One synonym they all seemed to have left out was Bella Ledford. A doctor. A neurosurgeon. More specifically, the new Head of Neur...
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Dr Nicole Herman turned out to be an incredibly difficult patient to work with. The truth of this failed to phase Bella Ledford. If anything, the neurosurgeon expected to be dealing with bumps and humps in the road, some bigger than others, some to do with the tumour, though most to do with the patient. Just from the moment they first met, Ledford knew this would be the case.
After all, it is pretty common knowledge that doctors make the worst patients.
It was without a doubt an understatement to say Herman's resistance to Bella's plan felt draining. The itch carving itself into her palm to slap the woman across the face and bring some sense into her, began to grow and worsen with each appointment. After the last MRI, Bella could conclude that the tumour did not grow therefore it did not reach the optic nerve as of yet. However, in order to keep it from expanding, Herman had to attend the localised radiation treatments Bella came up with.
"No, no, no, no," Herman insisted. "I tried that. Hated it."
"It's not a matter of what you want. It's a matter of what you—the tumour needs," Bella told her as they walked out of the room and down the hall. "The last time I checked, I was the doctor and you were the patient."
"Precisely why I can withdraw consent at any damn moment I like," Nicole stood her ground stubbornly.
"You do that and I won't be able to resect the tumour according to plan. That means it will outlive you and you wasted my precious time and efforts," although Bella never would've normally spoken to a patient like this, she needed to grab Herman's throat while she could. This was Bella's surgery. This was her territory. She knew what needed to be done, and she wasn't about to take orders from the patient. "Now, as I was saying, this is the best chance to shrink part of the tumour on your optic chiasm, so I'll be seeing you later."
The conversation with Herman replayed in Bella's head while she prepped her presentation for the masterclass later on that day. Jackson seemed to have find her, even as she hid away in her office, and proceeded to put some extra pressure on her.
She sat in her chair and he was across from her. Catching a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye, Bella saw as he leaned all the way back in the chair, propped his right leg over the left so his ankle rested on his opposite knee. He wore his coat and his navy scrubs.
"You're cultivating quite a bit of buzz, you know?" he spoke up after they had been sitting in silence for a moment or two. The only noise in the office was the sound of Bella's fingers smashing into the keyboard as she updated the slides she had written out.
"Hmm—really?" she mumbled, not looking up at him.
"Oh, yeah," Jackson replied excitedly. She heard his grin through the words he spoke. "Two hospitals reached out, wanting us to record your talk."
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