Dr. Morgenstern has a tight grip on my arm and he drags me through the hallway.

"Where are we going?" My voice sounds like the terrified squeak of a mouse. I try to follow him as fast as possible, without stumbling over my own feet.

He doesn't answer my question. I'm not even sure if he heard me, he doesn't slow down or looks at me. In fact, he fastens his pace. We're heading to an unknown destination.

"Am I in trouble?" I guess my question is obsolete. Of course, I'm in trouble. Why else would he hold on to my arm like I'm an unruly toddler?

I see people staring at us and keep my eyes focused on a point at the end of the hallway. I can't face them and hear them talk behind my back again. Everyone must have heard what happened.

"Elise!" Tyler looks confused as he sees me behind the stoic doctor. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." I hate how thin my voice sounds.

Dr. Morgenstern halts in front of me and I almost crash into him.

"Look, resident, if you know what's good for your career you stay out of this."

For a second I think he and Tyler are going to stare each other down, but Tyler takes a few steps back, averting his gaze.

"I thought so," Dr. Morgenstern says when Tyler keeps quiet and doesn't seem to take any other action.

And he pulls me through the hallway again until we're at his office. He unlocks the door and he pushes me inside.

My uncertainty starts to make a place for anger. Today is really not my day. First those journalists and now this treatment by Dr. Morgenstern. Who does he think he is? Why is he such a douchebag all the time?

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" I fold my arms in front of my chest.

He sits down behind his desk and doesn't bat an eye. Not a word comes out of his mouth. The silence is destroyed by the scratching of his pen on paper. I pace through his room, it's better than nervously chewing on my lips. I want to go home, tell Dan what happened with the journalists, and take a long hot shower, wash my worries away.

"Sit down, miss Morgan." The tone of his voice makes it clear he doesn't accept any disobedience.

I let myself fall into the chair. I want to sigh, but the cold stare he gives me chills me to the bone. He continues scribbling and I can't do anything else than wait until he's finished. When he's finally done whatever he was doing, he puts his pen in front of him.

"You're suspended." His cold eyes rest on me. I think a bomb would have less impact on me than the words he just said. For a couple of seconds, I don't know what to say and then the meaning of his words hit me.

"What? Why?" I'm still too astonished to say anything else.

"Because you're a liability. You endanger the recovery of our patients." He places the tops of his fingers against each other.

It feels as if my intestines are made of ice. "I think I don't understand you."

There's this small smile on his lips that I want to punch from his face. "As you might know we highly valuate our patients. Their lives are in our hands, we do everything possible to relieve their pain and we certainly don't put them in danger. At the moment your presence is a danger to our patients."

"I never put anyone in danger." As far as I know, I followed all the protocols, washed my hands every single time it was needed, I made sure I used clean needles. The residents kept a close eye on my performance and I made sure I logged everything, you know the drill.

"Miss Morgan, are you aware that you made certain decisions in your personal life, that put our patients in danger? Or how do you want to call it what happened today?"

My heart sinks. He blames the appearance of those paparazzi on me. What do you do in such a situation? Tell him that he has to talk to my lawyer? Deny everything? But there's nothing to deny.

"It will never happen again, sir," I say. My cheeks start to burn. "I will talk with my boyfriend and his management and they will work something out with the journalists."

He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, miss Morgan. To me, it's clear you are a target for certain... media. It is absolutely not beneficial for the recovery of our patients to be confronted with those journalists and the easiest way to prevent this will ever happen again, is put you on suspension. There might be further consequences, but that's not for me to decide. It's a case for the board now."

He's lying, he isn't sorry at all. This could mean the end of my internship here, maybe even the end of my career. My career hasn't even started yet. There's this satisfied smile on his face. I know he hated me the moment I walked into this hospital and this is his chance to get rid of me.

"You're free to go now. You will hear from us in a couple of weeks." And he's scribbling on his paper again. As if he didn't shake up my life only seconds ago.

"A couple of weeks?" This is a disaster. I will get behind on schedule, miss important training, maybe I will even miss tests.

"Yes, Miss Morgan, a couple of weeks. Now if you would be so kind as to leave the room, I have some things to sort out. Goodbye." The ease of his dismissal makes my blood boil.

I rise to my feet. "This isn't over yet."

"I beg to differ, Miss Morgan. Please close the door on your way out." He doesn't look at me and simply continues what he's doing.

I make my way out of the room, closing the door a bit too loudly. My eyes sting, but one curious look of a resident stops me from flooding the hallway with my tears. I walk through the building, not really looking where I'm going until I can't hold back my tears any longer and dive into a stockroom for medical supplies.

A shivery sigh leaves my mouth, while tears leave a wet trail on my cheeks.

"Elise?" The sound of a male voice startles me.

Is there no place in this hospital where you can be alone for a minute?

It's dark in here; I didn't care to put on a light. When I pinch my eyes I can make out the silhouette of a man in a white coat. His voice sounds familiar.

"Hello?" I say. My hands search for a switch, and when I find it the fluorescent light starts to flicker after a couple of seconds.

The first thing I see is Tyler, and then I notice there's someone standing behind him, obviously trying to hide from my gaze.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler says while he tries to straighten his shirt.

And before I know it, tears start to roll from my eyes again. "I got suspended."

"What? Why? Who made that decision?" Tyler's face is twisted in anger.

"Morgenstern just informed me I was no longer wanted as I was a liability." The words leave my mouth, interrupted now and then by sobs.

Tyler puts his arms around me, pulls me against his body and I cry against his shoulder. I tell him about the paparazzi, showing up in the hospital, scaring a patient. I tell him about how Morgenstern has treated me since he first saw me. I tell him everything that has been bothering me lately and in the end, I feel slightly better.

"That man is delusional. He can't decide something like that all by himself. I'm going to inform the board." Tyler pats my back.

"Don't bother," I say, "Morgenstern already informed them. In a couple of weeks, they will make a decision about the whole situation."

Finally, Tyler releases me. Then I see the other person who's still trying to hide his identity for me, but I already recognized him. It's one of the nurses, Jason. He's a nice guy, maybe a bit vain, but he's always trying to help you out. His hair looks a bit disheveled, which is strange, as he normally looks immaculate, with every single strand of hair styled into perfection.

"What were you two doing here, if I may ask?" I say while I wipe the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.

Tyler and Jason exchange glances and move their heads as if they have a telepathic conversation. After a couple of seconds, Jason says: "I ran out of disinfectant, and we were just checking if we could find it here."

I frown. "In the dark?

Jason and Tyler are looking at each other again

"Okay, this is a little awkward," Tyler says. "I think I need to tell you something, but this is not the right place. Do you mind if I'll walk you home?"

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AN: Thanks for reading! If you liked the chapter, please vote for it by pressing the little star :)