Hi! Someone has pointed out to me that they read chapter 22 but then it has gone off. I haven't taken it off or anything, I think there is a problem with the site as a few stories I read on here have done the same. Thank you to the person who pointed it out to me I hope its back up and running.

This story is coming to an end in the next two chapters I think. I just wanted to say thank you for the support of the people following my stories. I will be taking a break to try and write another story and I'm hoping to be back at the end of this month beginning of December.

Please let me know within the next of any stories you might like to see from me. I think I need a little bit of inspiration from you all. Either leave a review with what you would like to see or feel free to message me!

Thank you for reading!

Tobias

This has been a week straight from hell. The surgery was a cluster that included two follow-up surgeries, and we still didn't get it all, which complicates the child's prospects for recovery. Sometimes it comes down to a choice between getting all the tumor but leaving the patient with no quality of life. I did the very best I could for her, but sometimes my best isn't good enough. At those times, this job can be tough to take.

I met with the new chair of the New York hospital's board of directors, who issued a formal apology for the way I was treated and offered my job back along with a promise that I'll be appointed head of neurosurgery when the current chief retires late next year.

It's a good offer, and I promised to give it careful consideration. I think she expected me to jump at the opportunity to come back. She has no idea that my heart now lives in the Chicago. I miss Tris so much. More than I've ever missed anyone. I think about her all day every day. I dream about her at night, and I marvel at the way she came stampeding into my life and wiped just about every other thought out of my head that doesn't involve her.

If I'm not working, I'm thinking about her. I wanted to reach out to her, to text her, to call her, to let her know I'm thinking of her and missing her and basically dying for her, but I can't do that until I've made some decisions about where I'm going to work and live. More than anything, I want to be fair to her.

When I learned that the Chicago board took my petition for privileges off their agenda last Friday after hearing New York wanted me back, I panicked that Chicago was no longer an option. What did Tris think when she heard that? Does she even know? Of course she does. Marlene knows, so she would've told Tris if Mr Andrews didn't.

And then it occurred to me that I needed to take control of this situation and stop letting others make decisions about my career for me. I reached out to Mr Andrews, told him what I wanted and asked if he could help to make it happen. He said he'd do his best, which is why I'm back in Chicago in an Uber on my way to the hospital to meet with the board.

My driver, a young man named Carlo, has the radio cranked to a light rock station and is singing rather loudly in broken English. What he lacks in talent he more than makes up for in enthusiasm.

The traffic is bad as usual. Thanks to Tris, I know what usual looks like around here, and as we make the slow crawl toward the hospital exit, all I can think about is seeing her again, holding her and hoping she still wants me as much as I want her. And more than anything, I hope the presentation she put together on my behalf will sway the Chicago board and convince them to allow me to join their team so I can live and work in her town—the only place in the world where she can truly be happy.

That's what I want for her—happiness. She deserves it more than anyone I've ever met, and I want to be the one to give that to her for the rest of our lives. Of course, I can't tell her that. Not yet anyway. But that's what I want, and if things go well today, I may be able to offer her the first steps toward forever.

I just hope she still wants me after the turmoil I've brought to her life since we met.

A new song comes on the radio, something familiar, but I can't quite place where I've heard it before. Probably in my mom's minivan back when she was driving my brother and me to school and practices and everywhere else. We used to make such fun of the "dorky light rock" she made us listen to in the car. "My car, my music," she used to say, telling us we could pick the songs when we had our own cars.

The song tells the story about a guy whose girl left him because she thought he'd been untrue to her, how he's haunted by her, would give anything to be with her. I'm riveted as I listen to Carlo sing the chorus, "That's how much I feel." But it's the last verse that really gets to me, the part where we find out the guy is married now, has been for years, but sometimes when he makes love to his wife, he still sees the face of the one who got away.

I'm struck by complete and utter panic, knowing that'll be me if I lose Tris. I'll be haunted by her forever.

No matter what happens today with the board, I have to find a way to work it out with her. After spending this last week without her, I have no doubt that what I feel for her is a forever kind of love.

"Sir?"

I snap out of my thoughts to realize Carlo has been trying to get my attention.

"We're here. Chicago General Hospital."

"Thanks, Carlo."

"My pleasure."

I grab my backpack and get out of the air-conditioned car into the stifling heat that I'll forever associate with Tris and my first week in Chicago. I'm wearing a light-blue dress shirt with a navy tie and khakis. Inside, I find the first men's room and pull the white coat I brought from New York out of my backpack. It has TOBIAS EATON MD embroidered on it. I put it on and check my reflection in the mirror. If I'm going to meet with the board and ask for a job on their neurosurgery team, I'm going to do it looking like the highly qualified physician I am.

I want to go straight to Tris' office to tell her what's going on, but I recall my vow to stay away until I have something definite to report. I take the elevator to the executive offices on the fifth floor and take a right toward the boardroom when everything in me wants to go left to her.

First things first.

With my hand on the boardroom door handle, I take a deep breath and release it before entering the room where Mr Andrews asked me to meet him ahead of the board members joining us.

He shakes my hand. "Good to see you again, Dr Eaton."

"You as well. Thank you for seeing me and arranging the meeting."

"I'll confess to being surprised to hear that you still wanted to meet with our board. I was under the impression that you'd be resuming your duties in New York."

"They've offered me my old job back and promised a promotion to department head when the current chief retires at the end of next year."

"That's a pretty sweet offer. Our department head is around your age, so I'm afraid she's probably here to stay for a while."

"I understand."

"You have the chance to be the department head next year in New York."

"Yes."

"And you still want to meet with our board?"

"Yes, sir. Very much so." I suppose he'll find out soon enough why I want so badly to work here.

He gives me a curious look before nodding. "All right then. Have a seat. The board will be joining us in thirty minutes."

"And the presentation Ms Prior put together?"

He points to the spot above us where a camera is trained on the screen at the other end of the long table. "It's set to go."

"Thank you again."

"My pleasure. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back shortly."

While I wait, I pace the length of the long room, thinking about what I want to say to the board and wondering if I'll have something to report to Tris as soon as today. I sure as hell hope so. I can't wait another day to see her.

I stand at the window, looking out at the driveway where I first laid eyes on her, and think about the conversation I had with my mom last night. I told her about Tris, caught her up on the goings-on in New York and told her of my plan to ask the Chicago board to consider hiring me after all.

"You're making an awfully big decision based on a woman you've known a very short time. After what happened with Lauren, I just hope you know what you're doing."

I smile, recalling her concern and how I set her mind at ease. "Tris is nothing like Lauren," I told her. "You're going to love her. This feels right to me, Mom. Nothing has ever felt as right as being with her does. That's all I can tell you." I can't wait to introduce the two most important women in my life to each other.

The minutes go by slowly, as if the clock is moving in the opposite direction. Twenty-five minutes after Mr Andrews left the room, the door opens and Marlene comes in carrying a tray of cookies and other snacks for the meeting. She lets out a gasp when she sees me there.

"Debby in the cafeteria was right! The meeting is about you!"

I'm not sure how I feel about being the source of cafeteria gossip, but after withstanding the New York tabloids, that's nothing. "It's good to see you, Marlene. Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Don't tell Tris I'm here. I want to surprise her."

"Of course. My lips are sealed." She leans in to whisper. "Good luck, Doc. I hope you get whatever it is you want."

"Thank you."

A short time later, Mr Andrews returns, and the board members begin filing into the room, a mix of races, genders and ages. I've done my research and know that half of them are physicians, the other half prominent members of the community.

The board chair, a black woman named Dr. Felicia Rider, calls the meeting to order after everyone is seated. "Dr Eaton, welcome."

"Thank you, Dr. Rider. I appreciate the opportunity to meet with you all."

"You asked for this meeting, so the floor is yours."

Well, here goes nothing. Or everything . . . "Just over two weeks ago, I arrived at Chicago general after leaving behind a bit of a mess in New York. You know the details of what happened there. Since that time, the other party involved has reached out to the boards here and in New York and provided updated information about what transpired, so I won't belabor the point. Upon my arrival at Chicago general, I was told the board wanted some time to consider my application for privileges. Mr Andrews assigned the supremely competent new director of public relations, Tris Prior, to assist in helping me to acclimate to the local community and to make a case for my employment at your hospital. What follows is the presentation Ms Prior prepared for that meeting."

Mr Andrews signals the person in the AV room. The lights go dark and the screen comes to life with the presentation, which now includes music to accompany the photographs, testimonials, NBC 6 footage and details about my research project.

Then, in a part I haven't seen before, Tris' voice is recorded to accompany the next few slides. "The American Board of Neurological Surgery defines neurological surgery as constituting 'a medical discipline and surgical specialty that provides care for adult and pediatric patients in the treatment of pain or pathological processes that may modify the function or activity of the central nervous system.'

"Certification requirements by the ABNS include eighty-four months of neurosurgical residency, two years as chief resident, as well as training in a wide variety of disciplines, such as neuropathology, neuroradiology, endovascular or pediatric neurosurgery, to name a few. Neurosurgeons undergo months of training in general patient care areas including trauma surgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology and plastic surgery. To achieve board certification, a neurosurgeon undergoes written and oral exams. In preparation for the oral exam, a neurosurgeon has to log one hundred and twenty-five cases and, after successfully completing the exam, must embark on a quest for lifelong learning and continuous certification.

"Dr Tobias Eaton became board-certified two years after completing his residency and is considered one of the nation's foremost experts in the area of pediatric medulloblastoma, overseeing cutting-edge research into the cause and treatment to combat these common pediatric tumors."

The presentation ends with a photo of me smiling at the group of men at the dominoes table in Little Amity, the picture taking me right back to that wonderful day with Tris. As the lights come back on, I hold my breath, waiting to hear what their reaction will be.

"Thank you for that outstanding presentation, Mr Andrews, and pass along our compliments to Ms Prior," Dr. Rider says. "Dr Eaton, I have one remaining question for you, one that I'm sure must be on the minds of my fellow board members. With an offer on the table to return to your previous position, why is it that you're still interested in working here?"

I anticipated this question and thought about how I might reply on the two-hour-and-twenty-minute flight from New York to Chicago. I go with the answer that occurred to me then. "My reasons for wanting to live and work in Chicago are personal."

"Fair enough. We appreciate the information as well as your interest in joining the team at Chicago general. We'll discuss your application in executive session. Mr Andrews will notify you of our decision. Thank you, Dr Eaton."

"Thank you all for your time today."

With Tris' incredible help, I've done what I can. It's out of my hands now.