Chapter 2
Eloise felt her blood begin to boil. “Of all the hospitals in Kingsbury, you just had to choose this one? And you just had to pick me to oversee her prenatal check-ups?”
Despite Eloise’s protests, Sophia showed up at the hospital the next morning anyway. The paparazzi swarmed her the moment she got out of the car, and she wouldn’t have made it into the building had Jacob not escorted her. It helped that the hospital hired a security team in advance for crowd control.
Eloise had delegated the task of overseeing Sophia’s prenatal check-up to another doctor, but Sophia claimed she and Eloise were good friends. As such, the hospital director called Eloise personally and had her take over.
They went through the check-up fairly quickly. Eloise could tell from the reports that Sophia was doing just fine.
“You’re about 10 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Because this is your first prenatal check-up, we’ll need you to register for the maternal health booklet.” Eloise looked away from the computer screen to fix her gaze on Jacob. “The procedure is right behind you. Just follow it.”
Jacob glanced at the procedure on the wall behind him and thought it was a hassle. “Can’t you do it for her? I’ll stay here in case Sophia needs me.”
Eloise lowered her gaze and drawled, “Sorry, but only the patient or family members of the patient can register for the booklet. As a doctor, it’s not within my job description.”
Jacob argued, “Eloise, be reasonable. Can’t you see that Sophia needs me here?”
“Imagine how busy I’d be if I had to play gopher for every patient and their family members,” Eloise countered stoically.
Jacob’s brows furrowed. “You’re—”
“Next patient, please!”
Jacob was about to snap at Eloise when Sophia stopped him. She interjected, “Eloise, please don’t be mad. I won’t put Jacob in a difficult position.”
Eloise eyed Sophia impassively.
The starlet had strung Jacob along as a friend for 15 years and refused all his advances, only to act all needy when he started to pull away from her. She knew he and Eloise were dating, yet she didn’t refuse his affection or sacrifice.
And having done all that to Eloise, she dared to turn around and claim they were good friends.
Eloise asked plainly, “He’s your fiancé, isn’t he? You’re well within your rights to trouble him. What do I have to be angry about?”
Sophia pressed, “Did you two get into a fight because of me?”
“We didn’t fight, and we’ve already broken up,” Eloise replied stonily.
“Please, Eloise, you’ve got it all wrong. He’s only doing this to help me,” Sophia said.
Eloise raised a hand to stop Sophia from talking. “Don’t flatter yourself thinking you had anything to do with our breakup.”
Jacob warned, “Don’t you dare take that tone with Sophia! Apologize to her right now!”
Eloise had been holding back her anger all this time, and it finally erupted. She snapped, “Get out!”
Furious with her foul attitude, Jacob called the director to file a complaint immediately. No sooner had he and Sophia left did Eloise get summoned to the hospital director, Peter Forbe’s, office. “You realize Kingsbury Hospital is under Kilbourne Medical Group, don’t you?”
She was aware, of course, though she kept her mouth shut.
“And you do realize that you were tending to Sophia Whitmore, a celebrity, and Jacob Kilbourne, the second scion of the Kilbourne family?” Peter leveled an icy stare at Eloise, hoping she would understand the gravity of her outburst.
“So what?” Eloise retorted, crossing her arms as she returned Peter’s stare insolently.
Peter slammed his palm against the desk. “Eloise, just answer me this—do you want to keep working here or not?”
“If I’m getting fired because Mr. Kilbourne is upset that I refused to do him an unreasonable and unprofessional favor, I believe I would like the labor department to arbitrate on my behalf,” Eloise pointed out coolly.
“Y-You must be too young and brash to know you are no match for the second scion of the Kilbourne family. You’re just a doctor!” Peter warned.
“I have patients to see. If we’re done here, Mr. Forbes, I’d like to be excused,” Eloise replied.
“How can you be so stubborn?” Peter was incredulous as he shouted for her to stop. “Also, just a heads-up, Ms. Whitmore seems to trust you a lot.
“She won’t be able to come by the hospital for her prenatal checks as scheduled, so as her attending doctor, you’ll have to make house calls anytime she requires it.”
“No,” Eloise bit out.
“This isn’t a request, Eloise!” Peter growled.
Upon returning to her office, Eloise felt her emotions clamoring within her. She couldn’t understand why Jacob was doing this to her when all she had ever done was love him wholeheartedly for the last eight years. Did she deserve to be treated this way just because she was stupid enough to love him?
“Here’s the booklet.” Eloise hadn’t expected Jacob and Eloise to show up again. Neither of them looked ashamed or guilty.
Eloise barked a humorless laugh and dutifully took the booklet. She then keyed in the data into the computer system.
“The booklet has listed things a pregnant woman should look out for, so go through them carefully. I’ve written down the next prenatal check-up appointment. Be sure to show up on the day,” Eloise said as she wrote the date on the booklet.
“Sophia and I are busy people, so we’ll need you to remind us of the appointment. I’ll bring her over as scheduled,” Jacob said.
Eloise stopped writing. “Sorry, but I’m busier than both of you combined, and I hate having to remember other people’s business.”
“Sophia’s business is my business, which makes it yours as well. Is it so hard for you to remind us of the next appointment instead of running your mouth?” Jacob argued.
“Jacob.” Eloise fixed him with a steely look, her tempestuous emotions suddenly vanishing and replaced by indifference. “Let me make myself clear—you and I are over, and I have nothing more to say to you than what is necessary.
“You can go ahead and file a complaint against me, but I’m only following standard consultation procedure when tending to my patients. I treat every patient the same, and no one is above the other.”
Jacob pursed his lips. At that moment, he thought he could see the grim resolve in Eloise’s eyes.
“I’ll keep the date in mind,” Sophia said, breaking the tense silence as she took Jacob’s hand. Much like a martyr, she added meaningfully, “Looks like I’ll be in your hands from now on, Eloise.”
“If you mean the hands of a doctor who’s just trying to do her job, sure.”
“We’ll leave you to your work, then,” Sophia said courteously.
“The door’s right there.”
Sophia and Jacob were about to leave when several fans hurtled through the door.
Extreme as they were, they held up their phones to the couple’s faces and demanded, “Ms. Whitmore, is it true that you and Shawn are just friends? Why were you seen entering and leaving a hotel with him late at night, then?”
“Mr. Kilbourne, did you really propose to Ms. Whitmore, or was it just for show?”
“Are you two really a couple? Ms. Whitmore previously denied any dating rumors and said she was just friends with you.”
The fans couldn’t care less about the limited space and continued shoving forward, jostling against one another as they hurled their questions at Jacob and Sophia.
Jacob wrapped a protective arm around Sophia, but the fans continued pushing against them anyway. The security guards couldn’t get into the room, so Eloise had to leave the safety of her desk and help Jacob shield Sophia from the fans before things got out of hand.
Jacob saw Eloise and hurriedly nudged Sophia toward her. “Keep her safe!” With that, he turned to the fans and reporters, roaring, “All of you, get out!”
Alas, they did not listen to him. They were close to getting an inside scoop on the scandal, and they continued shoving forward. One of the reporters managed to get up close to Sophia, only to be pulled away by someone behind him.
As the two got into a fight, they stumbled and nearly crashed into Sophia.
Eloise quickly stepped in front of Sophia, only to be knocked sideways. A sharp pain shot up her waist as she bumped against the corner of her desk, and she hissed.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jacob came over and pulled Sophia away, only to bump into Eloise again. She hit the corner of the desk a second time in the same spot, and the pain was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
In the heat of the moment, Jacob wrapped an arm around Sophia and dipped his head to kiss her.
