THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

"After I knew she was your wife... I ... I was already in, too deep to stop although I tried, I sincerely did, Shawn," Steffan confessed.

"When I found out about her relationship with you, my initial plan was to give up."

"I even planned to have a talk with Kathleen to make her open up to you about the children especially when I saw how you were suffering because of her, but she refused."

So when she refused to meet me, I had to use the children to threaten her."

"But then things got out of hand as I found myself falling more deeply each time I saw her."

Shawn ran a hand through his hair, a myriad of emotions flickering across his face. He sighed heavily, trying to process the revelations and the shattered trust between them.

To say he was disheartened is an understatement. Everything he held dear seemed to be slipping off his hands and there was nothing he could do about it.

After Kathleen, the next person closest to his heart was Steffan. He even ranked him above his own mother that gave birth to him in his heart.

"I trusted you, Steffan. I trusted the code of the brotherhood that there was no way we would hurt ourselves."

"I understand if you can’t forgive me. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make things right, but I know I can never erase the hurt I’ve caused." Steffan’s voice was filled with regret as he attempted to convey the depth of his remorse.

Shawn remained silent for a moment, grappling with his emotions. His gaze softened slightly as he met Steffan’s eyes.

With a sigh that seemed to carry with it a piece of his heart, he said, "I don’t know if I can forgive you right now, but I hope someday I’ll find it in me to move past this."

Now he finally understood how Kathleen felt when she was hurt by the person closest to her.

His betrayal of the faith she had in him had left her more wounded than the injury she incurred from the plane crash. Little wonder she found it hard to forgive him.

As they say, the most difficult offense to forgive is the one from the person you love the most.

The fact that you never expected them to do a particular thing to you was the reason it usually hurt the most, he realized unfortunately too late.

As they sat in the ring silently, it was so calm that they could almost hear the silent conversations going on in their hearts.

And one thought they both had in common, was the uncertain future of their friendship.

******

Kathleen, who was oblivious of the catastrophic damage she had wrecked on the relationship of two best friends, tapped twice on Dr Sullivan’s office door.

After hearing a "come in" response, she walked into the office majestically.

A surprised smile adorned Dr Sullivan’s face when he saw who just entered. "Goddess. What a pleasant surprise? Please have a seat." Standing from his seat, he quickly moved over to pull a chair for Kathleen.

"You didn’t need to come, all you would have done was to put a call across and I will come to you, if you needed to see me."

"I am not a stature that people will always have to come to me. I need to move around. Moreover you are always very busy," Kathleen joked.as she took her seat and and her gaze wondered round the office.

"You are just pulling my legs, goddess. If I am considered busy, then what will I say about you?"

Instead of returning to his seat behind the table, dr Sullivan sat on the second seat on the other side of the table across from Kathleen.

"So what can I do for you, Goddess? You know I’m always at your service."

"I came in relation to the surgery that will be taking place in two days time," Kathleen said.

"That’s good to know. I must say we are working in sync as I also intended giving you a call at the close of work today concerning that."

"We had a meeting with other surgeons early last week and one of their concerns is about the age of the lady we will be operating on," Dr Sulivan reported.

Kathleen’s delicate brow arched slightly. "What about her age?"

"They are worried that her age will pose a major risk in the operation but I assured them that there was nothing to worry about."

"I see," Kathleen pursed her lips, while tapping lightly on the table.

"Like you rightly said, there is nothing to worry about. I have reviewed her case thoroughly, and I understand their concerns about the surgery duration. But I also know that there is more than a thirty percent chance that everything will be fine."

She smiled confidently and continued. "I’ve even worked on a case that had just a 2 percent survival rate, not to talk of 30 percent."

"Although I assured them to stay calm, I couldn’t help but wonder at times," Dr Sulivan confessed unashamedly.

"You know, Mrs Reynolds’s age and the complexity of her condition presents significant risks. A twelve-hour surgery might strain her body beyond recovery." Dr Sullivan pointed out every body,s concern.

Kathleen met Dr Sullivan’s worried eyes with an unwavering gaze from hers.

"I acknowledge the risks, Doctor, but I’ve conquered challenges like this before. Remember the case of an eighty year old man sometime last year that made waves in all medical journals."

"I was the one that performed the operation and today he is not only healthier than ever but happily gardening in his country home."

"That’s the 2 percent chance case I was referring to."

Dr. Sullivan’s eyes widened inexplicably. He remembered that case vividly as the article was displayed elaborately on the projector during the last global conference for all top surgeons.

His countenance did a 180 degree flip to that of profound adoration as he associated the feat that shook the medical world to his goddess.