Defending Hayden (Second Chances #7)(54)
I nodded. “Goldilocks. She’s back home and doing better. I called Mrs. Bradshaw and checked on her this morning.” Then I realized what he was getting at. “Wait a second, are you saying there was cross-contamination?”
His jaw clenched. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. The virus only spread to your patients. I had them switched to the isolation kennel today after you left. Jeremiah has been treating them, but I don’t know if they’re going to make it.”
I slapped a hand over my mouth. “How can this be? I never would’ve put my other patients at risk. There has to be another explanation. I always made sure my hands and everything else were cleaned before I left Goldilocks.”
Wilford shrugged and blew out a breath. “I don’t know how your patients were contaminated or if it was even your fault. One of the girls could’ve mistakenly transferred the virus. Either way, they’re your patients and it doesn’t look good on you. I’ve had several people request to be taken off your schedule.” My eyes burned and my heart felt like it was going to rip apart. I thought the knife couldn’t get wedged any deeper, but Wilford wasn’t done. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but over the past few weeks you’ve been preoccupied. Maybe all this time in the spotlight with your new boyfriend is clouding your judgment. I’m starting to wonder if you even take this job seriously anymore.”
My head snapped up and I could feel the anger welling inside me. “I take my job very seriously, as a matter of fact. And my relationship with Derek has nothing to do with my responsibilities here. Just because I don’t work till all hours of the night anymore doesn’t mean that I’m slacking. No one else puts in half the amount of work I do. It hurts that you would even suggest that I’ve been careless. I love animals, and I want to take care of my patients. Their getting sick was not my doing.”
“Either way, this has to be done. Those animals were your responsibility, and now I have to go to their owners and tell them what happened. As of now, I think it’s best if you take some time off until everything cools down.”
“What if it doesn’t?” I asked. All I wanted to do was scream out my anger. This job was my life, and he was taking it away from me over something I hadn’t done.
He closed his eyes and lowered his head. “Then the leave of absence will be permanent. I can’t let the reputation I’ve established here be tarnished, Hayden. For now, I won’t be handing the practice over to anyone. I’m sorry.”
Getting to my feet, I wiped away the tears. “Fine, I’ll go, but I didn’t do anything wrong, Wilford. This job means everything to me.”
He nodded. “I know. That’s what makes this so difficult.”
Knowing there was nothing I could do, I walked out of his office and went straight to mine. I didn’t want everyone to see what a mess I was. I had a feeling it was going to be the last time I ever set foot in my office. Luckily, the only personal things were framed pictures of me and my parents and me and Michael. How was I going to call them and tell them what happened?
A soft knock sounded on the door and it opened. I didn’t even want to look at who it was. “Hayden?” Jeremiah walked up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders to turn me around. When he looked at me, his jaw clenched and he frowned. “He actually went through with it, didn’t he?”
“You mean fired me?” I snapped. He nodded, but I shook my head. “Not exactly, but he might as well have.”
“It’s so stupid. I told him there was no way in hell you’d ever put any of the animals at risk. It had to be Jessica or Amanda.”
“It doesn’t matter. I was responsible for those animals, and now they’re sick.” Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He squeezed my shoulders. “Well, it matters to me. I’ll find a way to bring you back. You belong here. One way or another, we’ll figure out what happened. You can’t take the blame for this.”
“Thanks, Jeremiah, but I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Thank you for taking care of my patients. I’m sorry the extra work was added to your plate.”
“I’m not worried about it, Hayden. Just take this time off, and I’m sure you’ll be back here before you know it.”
I grabbed my pictures and started for the door. I wasn’t going to go out without a fight. If Wilford wanted to fire me, it was going to be over something for which I took full blame. One way or another, I was going to prove my innocence, I just didn’t know how.
Chapter 24
Derek
Hayden had scared the f*ck out of me last night. I’d tried calling her from the wedding rehearsal, and when she never answered, I got worried. When I showed up at her house, she was sitting on her front porch swing, crying. I thought someone had died. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened, but I gave her no choice. I wasn’t expecting what came out of her mouth.
I didn’t know what to say to her, but I knew she was a damn fine veterinarian. I saw it that day she rescued Bear from the side of the road. After a night of my holding her and telling her it would be okay, she woke up a new person. I had no clue what was going on in her mind, but I could tell the wheels were turning. She sat in the passenger seat of my truck, gazing out the window with a far-off look on her face. Even though she was preoccupied, she was still beautiful as hell, dressed in a light pink sundress with her chocolate-colored hair in waves down her back.