01-to find you

Laila Moore

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'Hi, I'm Laila, your father's personal assistant. I am calling you from the hospital to inform you that your father is in critical condition. Please call back as soon as you receive this message, thank you.'

**

I had to assume that my boss' son had lost his phone, or that he was somewhere with poor network coverage. I had left him tons of voice messages and the guy did not seem to respond. Or perhaps I had the wrong phone number.

I let out an exhausted breath and averted my gaze from the screen to the deserted hospital hallway. The silence on the floor was a sign that the nurses had managed to put every patient to sleep. It was probably midnight but I was scared to leave my boss alone.

I pulled myself off the wall I had been leaning on and then walked to the door of the room he was in. The room where he was busy fighting for his life.

Mister Ross was a good man. He was a boss everyone would wish to have. Despite having been his PA for three years, he was also like a father to me.

I opened the door and strode in. The noises I heard in the room were only the machines that were probably supporting his life. I could hear the sound of his rapid inhale and exhale. He was likely unaware of who he was or where he was at that moment.

I walked to a sofa in the room and sank into it. Looking at him brought sick thoughts of what led him to be on the bed unconscious. Mister Ross got into an accident together with his driver, Mike. His driver died in an instant, leaving our boss in a critical situation that threatened his life.

I was supposed to be in the car if it was not for my day off. I always went everywhere with Mister Ross and his driver. Whether it was a business trip, his vacations, or a dinner with clients, I was always with him.

Every week, mister Ross gave me a day off on Tuesdays. That was because I was taking online classes and I could use my Tuesday to catch up with my classes and also have a break.

Mister Ross offered to let me continue with my studies ever since he learned that I never graduated. That's the day he learned how shitty my life was.

So, on Tuesday when I was off he got into a destructive accident.

I was still unable to think that his driver was gone. Every thought of it was killing me. It brought tears to me to think Mike was gone, and Mister Ross was on the verge. The two were my close people, and just like how Mister Ross used to say he had been lonely until he met us, it was the same case for me.

According to what he told me, his wife divorced him five years ago and went to marry a rich man in Las Vegas. Those days, mister Ross was still struggling to make his business grow, which of course managed to grow because he was among the top ten richest men in California.

His wife left with his son, that's what he said and ever since then, he never saw them.

He was a hardworking man, but now he was unable to even lift his finger.

We shared a lot, he also knew about me and my family. He knew that my parents betrayed me. I ran away when I had just started my college classes. I found myself in California where I had to struggle to survive.

What he did not know was that I came from a rich family. But even though my parents were rich, I was poor as fuck.

When we first met, that was in a restaurant where I was working as a cleaner, he happened to have accidentally collided with me where I fell and passed out. I suspected it was from fatigue. He rushed me to the hospital and made sure I was okay. When I woke up, I begged him to offer me a job because I knew him from the news and how rich he was.

He did, and I was lucky enough because my life changed.

The only thing that he requested me to do in case something happened to him was to call his son. He gave me his son's number which I had been calling for hours but he was still off.

He loved his son, but his son hated his existence.

I had rested my head on the sofa's armrest and did not realize I was falling asleep. I was woken up by some heavy movements in the room. The beeping sound of a machine also got my heart racing. Just when I was about to get up, someone grabbed my hand and yanked me up.

"You need to leave the room." It was a nurse.

Four more people were surrounding Mister Ross. Fear and shock sabotaged me as I made hesitant steps toward the door. I could feel my heart beating insanely. Something was happening to Mister Ross, and when the door clicked shut, I slid down against it as tears cascaded down my cheeks.

After I had sobbed and finally realized that it wasn't time to cry. I got up and wiped my tears. I checked my phone hoping to see a call or even a message, but there was nothing.

I needed to do something. I peeked through the small glass on the door but I didn't manage to see because someone grabbed the door and opened it.

The doctor.

I followed him. "How is he? Is everything okay?"

"Where is the family?" He was walking away in a hurry. "You said his son will be here today!".

"He–"

He stopped and whirled to me. "I have been his doctor for ages, and I also know he would wish his son to be here, so, do your work as his assistant and bring him here!" He declared then walked off.

"I'm trying to call him, I don't know another way to reach him."

"Maybe he changed his phone number."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

He halted, let out a heavy breath then turned to me. "Las Vegas. Go to Las Vegas and bring his son, that's the only way you can help here. Now, excuse me as I attend to him."

He disappeared from my sight, and I disappeared in endless thoughts. Every thought persuaded me to book a flight to Las Vegas because that was the only thing I could do to help Mister Ross after all he did to me. And I did, I booked a flight.

Early that morning, I arrived in Las Vegas, and the first place I knew I could go was Robert's corps. Robert was the man who married Mister Ross' ex-wife, and I believed I was to find Mister Ross' son. Oliver Castillo Ross.