"Did you talk about it to Khloe?" Carter asked.
"Why do I need to tell Khloe every damn thing in my life?!"
Carter winced at Caitlyn's sharp outburst, he wasn't expecting her to react that way.
"I asked because you and Khloe are tight friends. I thought you might have told her over the weekend and convinced her to support Jasmine. Why are you upset though? Is everything okay?" Carter asked and studied Caitlyn. Caitlyn tried to hide her emotions but it was too late.
"It's nothing actually and Khloe has surgery this morning, she won't be on the board," Caitlyn said.
"Something's wrong..." Carter said. He was trying to coarse Caitlyn into talking.
"Don't even push it, Carter." Caitlyn whispered.
"What did you say?" Carter asked and moved closer to Caitlyn to hear what she said. The door of Caitlyn's office opened and Khloe stepped inside.
"Good morning Carter, can you give Caitlyn and I some minutes to talk?" Khloe asked. Carter nodded in agreement and left the office. Khloe dragged one of the consultation chairs near Caitlyn's desk. She sat and crossed her left leg over her right leg.
"I called you yesterday, you didn't pick my call and didn't bother to call me back. Please, let's forget about what happened. I was just trying to help you," Khloe said and held Caitlyn's hands. At that moment, all the emotions she had built up over the weekend split open. Caitlyn burst into tears and that alarmed Khloe greatly. She stood and wrapped her hands around her friend.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry love. See, look at me. Caitlyn….please look at me…."
Caitlyn raised her head to look at her friend. Khloe wiped Caitlyn's tears with her hands.
"I will never force you to do something you're against again. I made a mistake and I will do anything you ask to amend our broken relationship… Just stop crying and let's talk."
" It's not you…I mean you really didn't do anything bad. You were trying to help me and I..I.." Caitlyn stopped talking and held her head.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Caitlyn said and sighed. Khloe nodded vehemently, she was ready to put everything away to get back her relationship with her friend.
"I really miss you!" Khloe said and hugged Caitlyn tightly.
"Miss me? We just didn't talk over the weekend. Don't exaggerate, I'm not angry anymore," Caitlyn replied and chuckled.
"For real, I miss you. We didn't talk at all during the weekend and I was dying to tell you about my new puppy!" Khloe said and slumped into the chair.
"You've adopted another dog? That's how many you've got in your mother's mansion?" Caitlyn asked and gasped.
"My mansion, I have inherited it and it's my mansion now. Can you just stop calling it my mother's? May her sweet-forbroading soul rest in perfect heaven," Khloe said and smacked her lips together, in her effort to perfect the spread of the orange lipstick on her lips.
Caitlyn, despite her initial sad mood, was happy that she was on good terms with her friend. And to be honest with herself, Caitlyn knew that she had really missed her. Khloe didn't have a good relationship with her mother, whom she believed was a selfish, rich and narcissistic human. Khloe had inherited all her mother's properties after her death, six years ago.
"It was your mother's house and it's your house now," Caitlyn agreed and laughed.
"Yes, back to the question of how many dogs I have in my mansion now. With the new occupant, Will, that's seven," Khloe said and shook her body to an imaginary music. It was obvious that she was pleased with the new addition.
"You've rented a section of the mansion out? Is Will a single or a married man?" Caitlyn asked and suppressed a laugh.
"A dog! Will is my new puppy! Did you just hear what I said?" Khloe shouted. Caitlyn burst into laughter and Khloe realized that she was being played on.
"Damn you, Caitlyn!" Khloe said and joined in the laugh.
"What's Will's breed?"
"German Shepherd. Many visitors I have had at the mansion always express their shock because none of the six dogs are of that breed despite how popular German Shepherds are. So, I decided to get one, Ta-da!" Khloe said and clapped her hands.
"You can come over this evening to check Will out, what do you say to that?"
"Hmmmm..."
"And we will go to a spa, all bills on me,"
"Alright! I'm coming to see Will," Caitlyn said and laughed. The free spa treatment worked its magic on her. Khloe stood and walked to the door.
"Today is the Ochoa and Jasmine case review. From what I heard Carter's really involved in this, I guess your lover boy must have encouraged you to talk in Jasmine's favour," Khloe said.
"He isn't my lover!" Caitlyn said and rolled her eyes. Khloe left the office and Caitlyn had the time to herself to go over the case again.
It was 11am and Carter was already back at Caitlyn's office. Caitlyn picked up a notebook she had jotted some necessary points and they both walked out of the office. They got into an elevator and Caitlyn pressed the elevator button. The elevator closed and they were soon headed to the highest floor.
"Thank you," Carter said and looked at Caitlyn. His blue eyes locked into her eyes and they locked their gaze. The elevator suddenly became hot for Caitlyn. Caitlyn's heartbeat raced, she wasn't sure what was happening at that moment but all she knew was that something had changed between them. It was like a slight shift, a small push that created an unbalanced feeling. The elevator chimed to indicate their arrival at the floor. The sound broke whatever tension was between them and the sudden push into reality made both of them uncomfortable.
Caitlyn hurriedly walked out of the elevator and couldn't wait to get into the boardroom. She longed for the safety of people and didn't want to be left alone with Carter in an enclosed place.
"Cate, please wait!" Carter called out and rushed to her.
"I just wanted to say thank you for agreeing to do this,'' He said. Caitlyn nodded and walked into the boardroom. She took a seat near a woman.
"Good morning, Doctor Onofua. How are you doing today?" Caitlyn asked and smiled at the head of the neurosurgery department. Doctor Onofua smiled back and shook hands with Caitlyn.
"Good morning Doctor Heinsburg, I'm doing good today. I believe you're good too?"
"Of course, I am."
"The meeting should start in five minutes," Doctor Onofua said and looked at her wrist watch.
The meeting started in five minutes as predicted by Doctor Onofua. There were 30 senior doctors at the meeting (including the MD and directors), with Carter and Jasmine Jonas. The meeting began with Doctor Ochoa stating his side of the story.
"...she is incapable of being a cardiac surgeon under my watch... I don't hate her and everyone should know I don't detest her…..and definitely not looking down on her because of her disability,"
"That's pure lies and you're just trying to manipulate respected doctors here to give in to your biased ways. Jasmine has Spatic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy. It's a form of cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that usually appears in infancy and early childhood, and permanently affects muscle control and coordination," Carter said as he interrupted Ochoa.
"Can you allow Doctor Ochoa to finish his statement? You will be allowed to speak as soon as he is done," The managing director of the hospital said.
"I'm sorry," Carter said as all eyes looked at him. Caitlyn shook her head and sighed. Doctor Ochoa continued his statement on why he didn't want Jasmine Jonas on his team. He finished talking and Carter was allowed to speak. He talked about how brilliant Jasmine was and how unfair it would be to send her to another hospital. Jasmine was also allowed to talk.
"Any decisions made by the hospital are acceptable by me," She said. Carter gasped and couldn't believe what he heard. He had already planned with her to talk on how Doctor Ochoa made life difficult for her. Carter looked at Caitlyn, she looked away and shrugged.
"Jasmine had already agreed to be transferred to another hospital for the completion of her housemanship program before Carter Michael interfered and claimed that I'm wicked. Carter is also a junior doctor and he is here for his housemanship program. What I want every brilliant doctor here to know is that I have been working here for almost 17 years. I have done many surgeries and I worked hard to be where I am today. I am experienced enough to know what and who I want on my team and to know my area of expertise and where I'm not good at. The doctor I planned to transfer Jasmine to has a lot of experience with training junior doctors living with disabilities. I have never had someone like Jasmine under my team and I want to make sure she gets the best training, hence, my decision to transfer her to the hospital. Carter then questioned my decision and claimed that I am biased! That is absolutely ridiculous!" Doctor Ochoa said and sat. He stood during his final speech. There were murmurs among the doctors and Caitlyn shut her eyes.
She knew that there was no point in adding to the discussion. She knew that even if Doctor Ochoa didn't mean well for Jasmine, the way he put his words would definitely convince the board to transfer Jasmine.
"He is a liar! I swear, that wasn't how he said it to Jasmine. He just wants her out of his team," Carter shouted and stood. He pointed an accusatory finger at Doctor Ochoa, who adjusted his tie and ignored him.
"That's enough Doctor Carter! This is an organized setting and you have to talk with respect! The meeting is adjourned, the directors will make a decision in the next twenty minutes. Can everyone else leave? Please return in the next twenty minutes," The managing director said.
They all left the boardroom while leaving behind the hospital directors to make a decision.