(Amelia)
After that, he was everywhere.
Not in a way I could complain about. He never crossed a line. He came to the reviews he was meant to come to, sat on the panels he had a right to sit on, showed up to the hospital functions any major donor would attend. But the building I'd chosen partly because it kept an ocean between me and my old life now had him in it two or three times a week, and I couldn't turn a corner without half expecting to find him there.
We clashed. That part was almost a relief, because fighting was cleaner than whatever the other thing was. He'd question a budget line and I'd defend it too hard. I'd present a finding and he'd press it and I'd press back. Anyone watching would have seen a donor and a doctor who didn't much like each other. Only the two of us knew w
