I Confirmed the Deployment That Broke Him Chapter 02

I Confirmed the Deployment That Broke Him Chapter 02

Back in the on-call room, the computer screen was still on. There were three hours left in the withdrawal window.

I pulled up the latest field briefings from the frontline medical stations. Last week, an ambulance had been ambushed. Two medics hadn’t made it back.

One station was rationing supplies so tightly the staff had to decide who got treated and who didn’t.

But that same station was running the most advanced trauma protocols in the field, staffed by rotating teams of surgeons from around the world.

Two years out, and I’d have the experience to apply for a senior surgeon position anywhere I wanted. There were worse ways this could end.

I’d turned down three high-risk deployment offers over the years to fit around Leo’s plans. That wasn’t my problem anymore.

A message from my friend Hannah Miller popped up just as I was shutting down the computer.

[Stella Lane! Leo and Chloe were at the med school reunion tonight — they were glued to each other through all the party games!]

The attached video was grainy, the lighting low — Leo in the middle of a circle of people, Chloe right next to him.

Someone called out, “Truth or dare, Dr. Vance? Dare? Then I dare you to hug the person closest to you for thirty seconds!”

Through the laughter, Leo turned and pulled Chloe into a hug without missing a beat, and the room erupted.

Something clenched, sharp and sudden, in my chest, and then it was gone.

[Message received.] I closed the app.

I started putting together everything I’d need for deployment. I had a month, and there was a lot to do.

Two weeks later, Leo’s assistant delivered an invitation.

“Dr. Vance is hosting a closing banquet at the Medical Conference Center tomorrow night. He specifically asked that you be there.”

“I’m busy.”

The assistant blinked. “But — you put a lot into this project.”

“I have plans.”

The assistant kept smiling. “You’re welcome to bring someone. Dr. Vance was very insistent.”

A few colleagues nearby glanced our way, and I took the invitation.

The night of the banquet, Chloe was standing at the ballroom entrance in a pink dress, her Outstanding Young Researcher certificate held in front of her like a stage prop.

Her face lit up the moment she spotted me, and she made a beeline for me.

“Stella, you made it! I’m officially off probation today too — I asked Dr. Vance if we could celebrate together, double the celebration.”

I nodded. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Dr. Lane.” She beamed. “We saved you a seat at the main table.”

I found myself a corner table instead.

Leo tracked me down, his suit immaculate, perfectly tailored. “Stella, why are you sitting all the way over here? The head table’s been waiting.”

“It’s quiet here.”

Leo took a deep breath. “I’ve let you ice me out for two weeks. Are you done yet?”

“You’ve never missed one of my events before. Is this really how it is now, all because of the whole deployment thing?

Colleagues at the nearby tables were watching. A professor I recognized leaned over. “Dr. Lane, please come join us — we’ve been saving your seat all evening.”

I let myself be steered toward the main table, where the empty seat beside Leo was still waiting.

Chloe appeared moments later and slipped into the seat on his other side. “Dr. Vance, we were just talking about next month’s Global Health Summit. You said you’d bring me along now that I’m officially on staff — so I could see the experts in action.”

She turned to me, her expression the picture of innocence. “Dr. Lane, why don’t you come with us? We can make it a group trip.”

I picked up my water glass.

The night I got back from Northern Kaldor last year, Leo had promised we’d go to the next summit together.

“Make sure you get photos with the big names,” he’d said, straightening my lapel. “Let everyone who thinks you’re riding my coattails see what you are really made of.”

That flutter in my chest back then had been real. So was this ache.

“You two should go. I’ve been buried in work lately.”