Chapter 50

Amber’s POV

When I woke up the next morning, I had a splitting headache and no real recollection of the afternoon and evening from the day before. Anna had stayed the night, helping with Alice while I slept away most of my alcohol-induced state.

As I walked into the living room, she said, “How are you feeling?”

I groaned.

She laughed.

As much as I would have loved to stay in bed all day and sleep away my troubles, I couldn’t be so lucky. Responsibilities were still waiting for me at work, and my patients couldn’t wait for me to try to get my act together. Part of being a Healer was always being prepared, ready to heal anyone who needed it.

A day of absence could mean the difference between life or death.

I had to go, even if I really didn’t want to.

When I arrived, the crowds of reporters were still lingering outside of the hospital, but today they were joined by a slew of protesters. The security guards weren’t messing around this time. They waited near the parking lot. When they spotted me, they hurried to give me personal protection to weave through the crowd.

At first I was confused. Did they do the same thing for every Healer and hospital employee? But then I understood when we drew closer to the crowd.

The signs the protesters held were about me.

Fire Amber!

Oust the Killer!

Elder Jeffers Deserved Better!

The things they shouted were even worse, comments and words about me and my person that I was glad my daughter wasn’t around to hear.

At the same time as the protesters were verbally berating me, the reporters were trying to push through to get a statement.

“How do you feel about –”

“People are saying you –”

“Did you really neglect –”

The roar of the crowd was too loud that I couldn’t even hear most of what was being said. Instead, it was like a loud rumble piercing through my thoughts and leaving me unnerved.

Too many people were shouting for me to understand, but the looks on their faces couldn’t be misconstrued.

They were furious, their gazes filled with hatred. Their mouths opened, teeth barred.

These people believed the things I was being accused of, angry in ways that I didn’t fully understand. All I did was treat Elder Jeffers to the best of my ability, and then respect his wishes as he sought the arms of the goddess. He had been surrounded by family. It had been handled in a respectful, by the book sort of way.

Still, one sharp accusation stuck out from among the rest, so jarring and so shocking that I froze.

“You killed him!”

The security guards had to urge me forward, helping me push through the rest of the crowd before we made it to the stairs and then up into the actual building. The doors closed behind us, muffling the crowd but not silencing it.

Yet, before I could relax, I heard a voice through a bullhorn.

“Healer Amber cannot get away with what she has done!”

It was Ken, standing at the top of the stairs outside the entrance to the hospital. Beside him, Olivia stood. She glanced back at the hospital and looked at me straight through the window.

Holding my gaze, she smirked.

“I tried to stop him, but he’s always been too impulsive,” Roger, Elder Jeffers oldest child, said from behind me. Turning, I saw him approaching me from the nurses’ station. “I was waiting for you to arrive, Healer Amber.”

From outside, Ken blared, “She killed my father! He could have been saved!”

None of that was true.

“I’m sorry about him,” Roger said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Roger was a stoic man, ever professional. I believed he was a top-tier businessman. He’d taken the money his father had given him when he branched out on his own and quadrupled it.

I wanted to say it was fine, but it wasn’t. “I’ve been accused of many things over the years, but never of murder,” I said. “I know he is grieving but that could cause true trouble for my reputation and my practice.”

If I didn’t need the money so desperately, maybe I could have found it in my heart to forgive him. Even needing the money, I didn’t hate him. But if he didn’t stop this pursuit, I would need to take legal action to protect myself. Though that sounded expensive too.

I hated this. Even though I agonized over my decision about how to treat Elder Jeffers, ultimately the choice was placed on the elder himself and he had been the one to make it.

If only Ken could understand that on his own…

But grief was a terrible thing that made people act in strange ways.

What troubled me the most however was Olivia standing beside Ken outside. I had seen her interview and knew she was working against me. But to use Ken for that purpose? A vulnerable man who was grieving his father?

It was just so cruel.

“She’s encouraging him,” Roger said.

I nodded.

Roger sighed. “I hate that it came to this, but…” Roger opened his suitcase and pulled out a single piece of paper. “My father kept meticulous notes. It was in his nature, as a member of the Elder council. He always took great pride in everything.”

Roger held the paper out for me. “I don’t like going against my brother, but you have done a great service to my father and to my family. It’s not fair for Ken to accuse you of such things.”

I read through the paper. “Is this…?”

“Yes,” Roger said. “Shall we go and confront my brother?”

With a nod, he and I went outside. At the same time, Julian was pushing his way through the crowd. His glare was vicious.

My heart jumped into my throat for a moment, as I entertained a wild fantasy of him wielding his power to protect me. But then, in the next instance, I realized that I shouldn’t want that at all.

Nor did I need it.

With this document in my hand, I could take care of myself.

When Ken and Olivia spotted Roger and me stepping outside, Ken frowned while Olivia smirked.

“Roger? What are you doing?” Ken asked.

I held up the document toward the crowd.

The crowd quieted, as if sensing that new information was about to be revealed.

“What is that?” asked a reporter, inching closer.

“It’s the elder’s will, signed and notarized by a lawyer,” Roger said, speaking loudly. “It expresses my father’s dying wishes, and what should be done in a medically dire situation.”

“He wanted to return to the goddess,” I said. “It’s in his own hand, witnessed and notarized by an attorney.”

“No…” Ken said, frowning.

“It’s fake!” Olivia snapped.

Julian took the stairs two at a time to hurry up to me. He glanced at the document, scanning it.

“It’s legitimate!” he shouted.

The crowd seemed confused after that, and Ken hesitated speaking into the microphone. Instead, tears welled in his eyes.

Olivia looked at him and then scoffed. She reached for the megaphone, yet before she could take it, Julian was there and grabbed it instead.

Olivia immediately pouted, then placed her hand on his arm.

Despite their obvious difference in opinion here, Julian did not move away from her. Instead, he whispered something to her that I couldn’t hear.

My stomach sank.

Even though Julian was here defending me, he was still clearly with Olivia.

Julian’s POV

“You disobeyed me,” I growled at Olivia. “You went behind my back and continued to stir the pot. This is an act of disrespect, and I won’t forget it.”