Page 101 of The Exception

He walked away, still marching like an army of one until his footsteps faded into silence.

Sonya hugged the charts she was holding tight to her chest like a compress to stop the hurt from bleeding out of her. Her eyes squeezed shut to stop the tears that welled in the corners of her eyes and she tried to focus on her breathing as one phrase played on repeat in her mind.

I will not break down. I will not break down. I will not—

“Sonya? Are you alright?”

She quickly wiped one hand across her face and turned around to see Abi standing in the doorway to her office.

She smiled weakly. “I’m fine, Abi.”

Abi’s eyes narrowed. “Come into my office for a minute, will you?”

“Of course.”

Sonya followed Abi into her office and slumped into the chair facing her desk. Abi sat with her hands folded on the rich mahogany, her dark eyes cool and appraising over the rim of her glasses. When she finally spoke, Sonya’s world tilted a second time.

“There was more to your relationship with Intern Travis than student and preceptor,” Abi said quietly.

It wasn’t a question, just a simple statement of fact that caused Sonya’s anxiety to shift into overdrive.

She sat up straighter in her chair. “Abi—”

“I thought so that day in my office, but after witnessing the cold war between you two in the hallway just now, I’m certain of it.”

Sonya shifted uncomfortably in the chair. There was no point in denying that assertion. The tension in the hallway had been too much for anyone to ignore, especially Abi with her background in psychology.

She sighed. “There was, but it’s over.”

“Because of what happened with Frank and the fallout?”

Sonya nodded. “I know that engaging in a personal relationship with an intern was unprofessional, and if you need to write me a reprimand, I understand.”

Abi’s expression softened and she sighed. “Did I ever tell you that my husband Paul was the attending physician on the first floor I ever worked on as a nurse.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was frowned upon then too, but we started seeing each other. After a few… heated… differences of opinion on patient care, we promised that as long as we were together, work would stay in the hospital. Thirty years later, that pact still holds.”

Sonya’s eyes burned again. She would give anything for the opportunity to make a similar pact with Trav but after their non-conversation in the hallway, she was sure that it wasn’t in the cards.

“I hope I get the chance to take your advice one day.”

Abi nodded and her expression changed back to stern. “Back to the issue at hand. I know you, Sonya. You wouldn’t have given Intern Travis high evaluations if he didn’t deserve them. That’s why your failure to defend him that day is even more concerning to me.”

Sonya stared at her hands in her lap. This was the question she’d been asking herself for weeks. She should know the answer by now but all she could do was shrug.

“I—I couldn’t.”

Abi’s head cocked to one side. “Why not? Walk me through your thought process.”

“If I’d been a better preceptor, he wouldn’t have made such a bad decision. I was too personally invested in a patient and he followed my example. Defending him would’ve meant defending myself and I couldn’t do that.”

Sonya paused to clear the emotion clogging her throat. “Trav—Intern Travis wanted to be in ED from the beginning, and when you named that as his punishment, I thought he’d be better off finishing his rotation down there with a preceptor who would show him the right things to do instead of the wrong ones. I failed him. And you.”

“In your professional opinion, did Intern Travis help or hurt Frank’s recovery by going to see him?”

Sonya thought back on all of Frank’s progress since he’d been back. “Frank is finally committed to the process and he’s made immense strides in his recovery. He’s engaging with his wife and daughters, and all indications state that he will be allowed to go home for good at the end of his treatment plan. None of that would’ve happened if not for the visit.”

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