Page 39 of Medical Malpractice

“He told me he’d tell her,” Alexis whispered underneath her breath to herself. “Of course, the stubborn asshole waited too long.”

“Tell me what?” I blurted, half in terror, half in desperation.

That’s when Alexis abruptly turned, staring straight into my eyes. Hers bled sincerity, whilst mine swam with doubt and insecurity.

Whatever she read there solidified her resolve. She surrendered everything without my having to ask.

“It’s not what you think… Leonardo and I met once, more than a decade ago.” Her words threw me out of sorts. Hearing her say his name in such a familiar way made my chest ache with a particular wrongness.

Still, with that statement released, Alexis had found her courage, and in doing so, poured the rest of her confessions out to me, despite the threat of me drowning beneath the overbearing weight.

“It was one night only. Never more. We didn’t exchange names or identities… To be honest, we were strangers, searching for comfort in one another since we couldn’t have who we truly wanted. But, despite being responsible”—she cringed—“that night resulted in the creation of my eleven-year-old boy, Austin. When I found out I was pregnant, it was too late. I didn’t know who Leo was or how to track him down… Not that it hindered us in any way.”

As we continued to stroll down the path, Alexis stared off into the distance, reliving a history I was not privy to. “My son found a father in my husband, Owen, who adopted him at the age of six. All this to say we moved on with our lives, built a loving family… It was never my intention to blow up yours.”

Her revelations were both shocking and surprisingly welcome. I lapped up every word, bathed in each syllable, searching for the truth of it all, and God help me, I believed her. Though there were still some missing gaps leading to where we were now.

“When did you find out about Leo? Who he was?” I managed to croak.

“At the medical convention… where I met you.”

I was stunned, my mind flashing back to our brief interaction outside that conference room. Now that I had a few seconds to recollect myself, I remembered Alexis. She had affectionately discussed her kids, and I also met her husband in passing. Even then, I clocked their genuine affection for one another.

She sighed and ran a shaky hand through her hair. “Please don’t take my approaching you that day as disingenuous or playing some fucked-up game. I was anxious and had just identified Austin’s biological father after so long. I-I thought he had made me into the other woman—had made me into a cheater. I couldn’t stand the thought of being a part of something like that, even unintentionally.”

In some fucked-up, roundabout way, I could understand that. But that still didn’t mean I had to like it.

“I wanted to gain some insight,” Alexis continued. “To see what I was getting myself into if I chose to tell Leo.”

“You weren’t going to tell him?” For some reason, that had my back up, which she immediately sensed in my tone.

Alexis chuckled, unabashed. “In all honesty, I was on the fence. Austin isn’t a little kid anymore. He is happy, his life fulfilled in all ways. I questioned how beneficial it would be to introduce a stranger into our world. I tried looking you up to get some background, but I couldn’t find anything.”

And she never would. After what happened with Nico, we had sought the help of our close hacker friend, Weeds, to scrap our online identities.

Alexis then raised a fist to rub against the centre of her chest again, as if she was in discomfort. “Since I couldn’t source info that way, I was left with the short conversation we had. And based on that interaction, I at least gathered that you were happy too. To tell Leo… The risk was high, and I was reluctant to take that gamble.”

Chapter 23

GABRIELLA

We came to a halt in front of a simple garden bench, where I unceremoniously slumped down. Alexis eyed the vacant spot for a long second in what looked like reminiscence before shaking her head and sitting next to me.

Nature filled the gaps of our lost speech, giving us both the opportunity to digest everything that had been revealed.

Conflicting emotions continued to war inside me, the cruel slap of betrayal thrumming strong, yet it was refocused elsewhere. I no longer felt any type of anger towards the woman next to me. If anything, I was reluctantly grateful. I was finally given access to the sanctum of secrets that shrouded my husband.

“What made you decide to reach out to him? To tell Leo the truth?” I asked, trying to puzzle the rest of the pieces together.

As if in slow motion, a sincere smile stretched over her face. “In the end, it was my husband who was the deciding factor. Owen is a strong advocate for keeping one’s autonomy, for making your own choices. And we both agreed it was only fair that Leonardo at least be informed about Austin. He had a right to know about his son. Whatever he decided to do with that information was up to him.”

Alexis then went on to explain how she had booked an appointment with Leo to drop the news in his clinic. She also described their first and only meeting with Austin, which was held at Mercy Lake.

Everything clicked into place. Leonardo’s late nights of avoidance. The secrecy with his phone. The random side quest to Acacia Falls. His thorough crash out after.

All was suddenly bare and out in the open, which left me somewhat relieved and a whole lot bitter. My teeth sank hard into my lower lip to stop the crushing sob that threatened to claw out of my chest.

Why didn’t he tell me?