After Rejection Divorced Luna Becomes A Famous Doctor (Hailey and Dominic) novel Chapter 8

HAPTER EIGHT–1

HAILEY

FOUR YEARS LATER

Rain pelted against the windshield of my car as I swerved into the hospital’s underground parking lot, my

tires screeching slightly from the speed.

My chest was tight, my breath shallow, fingers trembling as they gripped the steering wheel. The call had come less than twenty minutes ago, snapping me out of a moment of peace and quiet.

Liam had just fallen asleep in our neighbor’s house, Mrs. Alvarez, and I was halfway through brushing my

teeth when the emergency call came in.

“He’s dying,” the nurse’s voice crackled through the phone. “We don’t know what to do. He’s… not human.”

That was all it took.

The moment I slammed the car door shut, my sneakers pounded against the concrete as I ran through the

staff entrance, my ID already in hand.

The hospital was lit in its usual harsh white light, but tonight, something was different. The air was thick with unease. The tension was high in the hospital’s hallway, clinging to the walls and people’s faces. It wasn’t new, it was something I’ve had to experience for the past four years of being a doctor.

As I burst through the double doors into the hospital, heads turned. Relief was instant and visible, shoulders relaxed, worried eyes softened, and nurses who had been anxiously pacing stepped aside. But beneath that relief was another layer. One I was used to by now.

Jealousy.

Nurses sneered from behind their masks. Doctors muttered behind clipboards. Some of them didn’t even

try to hide their annoyance anymore.

They hated that I was always the one they called in when things went south. That I was the one who could handle the impossible. That, despite coming from nothing, despite being a single mom who had started at this hospital with trembling hands and heart filled with betrayal and uncertainty, I had made a name for

myself.

“Dr. Anderson,” Dr. Rao said, breathless, walking briskly beside me. “We’ve stabilized him for now, but it’s

bad. We couldn’t, he’s not…”

“Human,” I finished grimly. “I know.”

The white hallway was cold under the hospital lights, and the nauseating scent of antiseptic and blood

stronger than usual.

I moved with practiced urgency, tugging gloves on as I walked, mentally running through protocols, my

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CHAPTER EIGHT O

muscle memory already kicking in. My coat flared behind me like a cape as I entered the trauma unit.

But the second I stepped into the room… I froze.

My heart dropped to the floor and the blood drained from my face.

There, on the surgery table, bloodied, pale, and barely breathing, was Giovanni.

Dominic’s brother.

My ex brother in law.

My stomach flipped violently. My hands, which never shook in the ER, went limp by my sides.

Giovanni.

What the hell was he doing here?

And if Giovanni was here… did that mean Dominic was nearby?

No. No, no. It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.

I hadn’t seen or heard from any of them in five years. Five solid, silent, blessed years. Years where I rebuilt

life from the hole they left me in. I was finally free of that world. Or so I thought.

my

But now here he was.

And he was dying.

“Dr. Anderson?” one of the younger nurses whispered, concern was evident in her eyes.

Snapping out of it, I pulled myself together. My voice came out steadier than I felt. “Let’s go. We don’t have

time.”

I took over immediately. My hands moved with the kind of confidence that only came from experience, cutting, stitching, stabilizing.

But beneath the clinical detachment that came from this profession, my thoughts were a hurricane. Memories surged forward with every breath he took. This has to be the hardest procedure I’ve ever done.

Giovanni had been the only one in that cursed pack who showed me any semblance of kindness. He had never looked at me with disdain, never spoke down to me like Dominic did, even if he was cold and

guarded in his own way.

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CHAPTERFIGHT 2

CHAPTER EIGHT–2

I remembered the rare times he defended me, stepping in when things got too cruel. He was the quiet

shadow in the background, loyal to his brother, yes, but not blind to his faults.

He had once brought me soup when I was sick, back when I was Luna. I hadn’t forgotten that. No matter

how much I tried.

Blood pooled under the table, slick and dark. My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin. His injuries weren’t human. Something had attacked him. Something brutal and unforgiving. Bite marks, claw marks,

bruises that hinted at something savage.

I worked for hours. Time blurred. When I finally made the last stitch, when the machines began to stabilize

and his breathing leveled out, I stepped back, peeling off my gloves slowly.

He would live.

And I needed to leave.

Before he opened those eyes and brought back a flood I wasn’t ready to drown in.

The drive home was quiet except for the thrum of tires on wet asphalt. My hands were tight on the wheel, knuckles white, and my jaw ached from clenching it so hard. My pulse hadn’t settled since I left the

hospital.

I kept seeing his face.

Not Dominic’s. Giovanni’s.

But of course, one brought the memory of the other.

I had built a life away from them. Block by block. Day by day. I had clawed my way out of that suffocating pack life. Left the title, the territory, the mate bond. I had chosen myself. Chosen Liam.

And now, just the sight of a familiar face from my past made it all feel like it was crashing down again.

What was Giovanni doing in the city? This country? The United Kingdom and United States had no business with each other. How had he ended up in my hospital of all places? Was it a coincidence?

Or was it a warning?

Had Dominic followed him?

Had he found me?

I shook my head violently and blinked away the panic building in my throat. No. I couldn’t think like that. Not until I had facts. Right now, I needed to get home. I needed to see my son.

I pulled into the quiet neighborhood we lived in, a modest area with little townhouses and trimmed hedges, the kind of place where people waved from porches and kids rode bikes down the street in the

evening. It wasn’t fancy, but it was safe. It was ours.

CHAPTER FIGHT 2

Mrs. Alvarez opened the door before I even knocked. “Rough night?” she asked gently.

I nodded, forcing a smile. “You have no idea.”

Liam ran out from behind her, arms open wide, pajamas rumpled and feet bare. “Mommy!”

I dropped to my knees and hugged him tightly, inhaling the scent of baby lotion and vanilla. My body

sagged with relief. My boy. My light.

“Thank you so much,” I said, taking Liam from her arms.

She waved it off. “He’s always welcome here. The boys love playing with him.”

I carried Liam home, his small body curled against mine, warm and soft and alive. My anchor.

The moment we stepped into our apartment, I shut the door, locked it twice, and sagged against it.

Giovanni.

The past.

Dominic.

They weren’t supposed to follow me here.

I laid Liam down in bed and crawled in beside him. He shifted in his sleep, his arm draping over my

shoulder like he knew I needed it.

My heart ached.

I stared at the ceiling, my fingers gently running through his curls. I hadn’t realized until now that I’d been holding my breath since I left the hospital. The tightness in my chest finally released, but it left a hole

behind.

It had been five years.

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