Page 58 of The Love Operation

I’m momentarily heart-melty over my little brother’s declaration. He’s right, and I’m glad he’s said it—even if it’s weird hearing that kind of clarity from someone who once superglued his eyelids shut.

But then I shake my head. “You did hear what I said, right? We’d be lying to the entire hospital. You hate duplicity.”

Everett shrugs. “I know. Normally, I wouldn’t support such behavior, but sometimes policy is stupid, and the only way to fix it is to go around it.”

I narrow my eyes. “So just to be clear . . . you’re telling me I should date Isaac?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

I turn to Maggie.

She glances between me and Everett. Then shrugs. “I agree with Everett.”

My gaze ping-pongs between them as I try to figure this out. “You don’t care if I lose the chief position, if my reputation is ruined?”

Maggie lets out a sigh-growl. “We don’t have ulterior motives here. We don’t want you to fail. But I think a relationship would be good for you. If you have to take a little risk to have something special, then why not do it? You take risks every day.”

She has no idea.

“I agree with Mags,” Everett says. “But I do have an ulterior motive. I’m hoping that once you have a steady boyfriend and regular sex, you might dislodge that stick you have up your ass. Then maybe you’ll stop worrying about stupid shit like Mom and Dad retiring. You need to lay off, Cord. They’re allowed to change, even if it freaks you out.”

Heat creeps up my neck. My throat tightens, like something important is rising, and I don’t know how to contain it.

“They’re not old enough to retire. It feels like they’re just . . . walking away from everything they built. Everything they’ve worked for. And maybe,” I continue, my heart pounding with conviction, “maybe I could understand if they wanted to shift gears, take on a new challenge, start some dream they’ve been putting off. But TikTok?” I slap my palms against the counter. The sound cracks through the silence and echoes up my arms. “You’re seriously okay with this?”

Everett throws his hands in the air. “Yeah, I am. It’s their life. Not ours.” His voice takes on an edge of derision. “And social media makes people happy. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Before I can add that it’s also wrecking people’s self-worth one trend at a time, Maggie crosses her arms and steers us back. “They’ve worked hard. They deserve to enjoy themselves. Slow down. Be present. We’ll get more time with them. They’ll get more time to be grandparents.”

I breathe through the sensation of my ribs caving in. “But they’re not slowing down. They’re stopping. There’s a difference. You know what happens when people lose their sense of purpose? They fade. They shrink. They stop being who they were.”

Everett shakes his head. “Come on, Cord. They’re still the same people. They don’t stop mattering just because they stop being doctors.”

“That’s easy for you to say!” I fire back. I sense this vague alarm going off in my head: Stanch the wound before it bleeds out. But I can’t seem to do it. “Neither of you ever had any interest in carrying on the legacy our family was built on.” I ram my finger into my chest, feeling like strings have come loose and I’m floating. “That’s how I’ve always connected with them. How I make myself belong in this family. And if they’re done with medicine, then I’m not just left behind—I’m irrelevant.”

My body is shaking, but I still go on, as surprised as they seem to be at an outburst that isn’t like me.

“I already feel like the outsider. Now you’ll all settle into your cute little domestic lives, and I’ll be the one who gets FaceTimed once a month because no one realized I wasn’t there.” I had no idea this was so close to the surface and so deep at the same time.

Maggie’s face twists, but it’s more disgust than sympathy. “Gah, Cord, stop being so dramatic. Mom and Dad love us all equally. This is nonsense.”

“Maybe,” I snap. “But it’s not just about love. It’s about connection. It’s about who you matter to and why.” I point at her. “You’ve always had this deep emotional and cultural thing with Mom. You two are twins—same skin tone, same coils, same struggles. No one can touch that. That’s yours. Everett’s the golden retriever. They light up when he walks in the room.” I swallow hard. “But me? What I shared with them—what I thought we shared—was this. Medicine. Purpose. That was our language. And now they’re turning the page without me.”

Silence falls, and we’re left with the harsh echo of my words, words I want to pull back into my mouth and swallow whole. There are too many secrets in my life right now. Hopefully this is the only one that bubbles over so violently, because I didn’t even realize how full I was.

Everett meets my eyes. His tone is quiet. “Maybe the problem isn’t them.”

My stomach knots. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugs. “I think that’s something you’ll have to figure out.”

“Life isn’t just about work and accomplishments, Cord,” Maggie adds gently, like she’s trying to reason with a stubborn child.

Something stills in me, and ice collects under my ribs.

I blink at her. “When did this family start treating ambition like a problem?”

Maggie doesn’t answer. Just shakes her head and looks away.