Chapter Two - Landing Up At A Hospital

After a week, Lucas was able to return back to New York. The launch of a new manufacturing unit held him up for a few days more than he had anticipated. Despite being busy, memories of Sienna and the kiss he had shared with her were constantly on his mind. So, the moment he landed in New York, he drove to his office, eager to get an update on Sienna. However, as luck would have it before he could call Stuart, his phone buzzed with an incoming call from his granny, Margaret Donnelly. Lucas groaned knowing that tonight there would be no escape from her. He would have to bear their matchmaking skills right through dinner. She knew that he couldn’t say no to her and that was the sole reason why she called him in the first place. Sighing, he took the call. 

“Yes, granny, I’ll be there for dinner,” he said, giving in already. He was too tired to argue. What was the use anyway? She always won. “But I’ll have to rush immediately. I have an important presentation to make for tomorrow,” he told her. 

“What Lucas? Don’t you have an evening to spare?” asked granny. 

“Please, granny. You know I’m a busy man,” said Lucas impatiently. “So no other plans for tonight, just dinner,” specified Lucas. He wasn’t in the mood to meet prospective brides arranged by his granny and his mom, Claudia Donnelly. 

“It’s just dinner, Lucas. So when are you coming home?” she asked eagerly.

“In half an hour,” said Lucas. A satisfied granny disconnected the call and Lucas punched in Stuart’s number.

“Yes, Mr. Donnelly? Are you back yet?” asked Stuart. 

“Yes, I just arrived. So have you been able to find anything about Sienna?” Asked Lucas impatiently. 

“Yes but not much. Could you meet me tonight?” asked Stuart. Lucas thought for a second. If he rushed with dinner, he could make it back to his apartment by 10:30 in the night. 

“Come over to my apartment at eleven,” he said.

“Sure, I’ll be there,” said Stuart. After disconnecting the call, Lucas collected his stuff and shoved them into his laptop bag, and drove to his granny’s house. After his dad, Jonathan Donnelly died last year of a cardiac arrest, his mom moved in with his granny. In twenty minutes, he reached the beautiful and calm neighborhood and drove in through the gates of his granny’s house. It wasn’t a huge mansion but a big and comfortable house with a huge front yard and an equally sprawling backyard. When their dad was alive they used to play football every time they visited their grandparents. After their grandpa, Joe Donnelly died, eight years ago, their granny lived here all on her own, refusing to move in with them. As he parked his car and walked up to the front door, he could hear the sounds of loud laughter and voices talking. It meant that his brothers were here too! 

Before he could press the doorbell, the door flew open and his brother Marcus, who was three years younger than him, stood there with a wicked smile on his face. “Welcome home, bro. We had been eagerly waiting for you,” said Marcus, giving him a side hug. Lucas looked at him suspiciously. 

“Why? Has granny planned something else for tonight?” he asked. If they would try their matchmaking tonight, he would escape. 

Marcus laughed. “No no, not what you’re thinking but yes there’s a catch,” he shrugged. Lucas sighed. He knew from granny’s tone that there had to be a catch. They walked into the house and to Lucas’s relief, there were no girls present. Nicholas, his youngest brother, who was five years younger to him, waved at him perched on the armrest of the couch where granny sat. He was busy pouring over granny’s shoulder into her mobile phone. Lucas was sure that he was ogling at the pictures of girls, granny’s phone was filled with. Seriously, she should open a matchmaking bureau someday! 

“Bro, come fast. You should see this, “ he yelled. Lucas groaned but went to hug his mom instead. 

“You’ve grown thinner, Luke. Why do you need to work so hard?” asked his mom. 

“I’m not thin, mom, just toned. I exercise hard for it,” said Lucas. Marcus chuckled. 

“Mom, let’s feed Lucas for the next whole week. I’m sure he’ll fatten up,” laughed Marcus. 

“Not at all. Then Vera won’t marry Lucas at all!” said granny in a panicked tone. Lucas’s jaws dropped at her words. Now, who the hell was Vera? 

“Who’s Vera? What’s going on, mom? Granny? You know that I can’t marry anyone. Then why do you even try?” Asked Lucas in a frustrated tone. 

“You can’t live alone forever? Alexia is almost five years old. Soon you’ll get custody of her. She needs a mother, Luke,” reasoned his mom. “Kim is remarrying so she would give up custody of Alexia to you. This was what you wanted, isn’t it, Luke?” Asked his mom. Lucas nodded absent-mindedly.

“How did you know about this, mom?” asked Marcus. 

“Sarah called me two days back,” informed their mom. Sarah Fox was Kimberly’s mom and they still maintained cordial relationships with one another. 

Kimberly Fox was their dad’s friend, uncle Steve’s daughter. It was a match his parents and Kim’s parents had always wanted. They were married off at the young age of twenty-one when uncle Steve was diagnosed with cancer. However since they didn’t love one another, their relationship deteriorated as the days passed by. Kimberly was very short-tempered and lazy and they fought like cats and dogs over every possible issue. She didn’t like staying at home and usually spent most of her time at her club with her group of friends. Lucas hated the atmosphere at home and started staying away for long hours at the office. After a year, Kim gave birth to their daughter, Alexia and they fought more since she didn’t want children while he did. Finally one day, she disappeared with Alexia. Lucas was shattered and searched everywhere for her. Her parents had no idea where she was. 

However, after a month, Kimberly contacted him and started blackmailing him for a 50 percent share in his business in return for his daughter. He refused to comply and it led to a bitter fight between him and Kimberly. Five long years passed by and he didn’t even get to see his daughter. Kimberly slapped different fake charges upon him and the court denied him the right to see his daughter. It had been five long years since he had seen his Alexia. Tears pooled in his eyes and he nodded. Of course, he wanted to see his daughter. He had been yearning for her, hoping that she would come back to him one day. He had tried to arrange for lawyers to get custody of his child but somehow Kim always won and retained custody of her. 

Lucas couldn’t wait to hear their plans of getting him to remarry. He was done with marriage! He didn’t believe in marriage anymore. He walked out of the door in a daze, oblivious to his family calling him. Climbing back into his car, he drove home. Memories of a newborn baby Alexia filled his mind and he had no idea where he was going. He would finally get to see his baby daughter! He smiled through his tears. 

Suddenly a truck hurtling down from the opposite direction at a breakneck speed caught his attention. He swerved to avoid a collision but lost control of his car and crashed into a wall on the pavement. Excruciating pain filled his body and he opened the car door but was unable to move out of the mangled car. Trying hard, he looked around helplessly for some aid but there was no one to help him. The pain in his body became unbearable and he soon lost consciousness. 

Hearing the loud crashing sound, people gathered around the site of the accident. They called the traffic police to see the severity of the case. A few minutes later, the cops arrived and they extracted an unconscious Lucas from the car. They carried him to an ambulance and drove him to the nearest hospital. One of them called the emergency number saved on his mobile. Marcus received the call and his whole family hurried to the hospital. 

Bellevue Hospital, New York 

Sienna hurried after her senior nurse, Daisy, as they rushed to the Emergency Department where the new accident case needed their immediate attention. "The patient is critically injured and has just been released from OT,” said nurse Daisy. Sienna nodded. After six months at the Emergency Department, she was used to these scenes and had learned a lot. 

They met Dr. Jeremy Dresden on their way to the room where the new patient was lying unconscious. The doctor updated them on the patient's condition. It seemed that he had broken ribs, a lower lumbar region injury, and a pelvic fracture apart from neck injuries too. 

“He's under observation for the next forty-eight hours. He’s very well-known and important. The hospital will get a bad name if there’s any neglect from our side. So be attentive and carefully monitor him 24/7. Report to me every two hours,” instructed the doctor. 

“Yes, doctor, “ chorused nurse Daisy and Sienna. After the doctor left, they went into the room to check out their celebrity patient.