Chapter 3

Between waiting for permission to see Noah and deleting pictures of Damien from my phone through blurry tears, exhaustion eventually got the better of me.

A light tap on my shoulder woke me up. Jumping to my feet, the words rushed out. “Can I see him now?”

The question died in my throat when I looked up and found a man standing there instead of a nurse. He definitely wasn’t a doctor.

“I’m Alan Reed,” he introduced himself.

The name registered immediately, and the anger I thought had settled came rushing right back. “Wow. I asked you to come and you actually came. You really had the nerve to show your face here.”

He looked at me calmly without interrupting.

“You want the envelope, right?” Grabbing his wrist, I started pulling him toward Noah’s room. “Come on then. Let’s go get your precious envelope.”

He gently pulled his hand away. “I didn’t come for that.”

“Then why are you here?” I snapped. “To fire him in person? My brother is lying in a hospital bed and all you care about is work. I genuinely don’t understand how you rich people think. You’re a horrible human being.”

“I’m sorry. I never wanted your brother ending up in the hospital.”

The apology caught me off guard enough to silence me.

“The envelope contained my grandmother’s medication. Noah was supposed to leave it in my car before going home, but he accidentally took it with him. She needed it tonight.”

Releasing a shaky breath, I lowered myself back into the chair.

Alan took the empty seat beside me, leaving enough space between us. “The doctor already explained Noah’s condition to me. I handled the hospital bills before coming here. I just wanted to apologize.”

“It’s fine. How’s your grandmother now?” I asked.

“She’s okay.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier,” I admitted after a while. “It’s just been a really bad night.”

“I understand.”

A brief silence passed before he glanced toward Noah’s room. “I should get going.”

After he left, a nurse approached me. “You can see your brother now.”

The second I stepped into the room and saw Noah awake, the tightness in my chest eased a little.

He smiled weakly at me as I walked over and smacked his arm lightly. “What is wrong with you? You scared me half to death.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t pull that stunt again.” Pulling the chair closer, I sat beside the bed. “You know you’re all I have left.”

“I’ll take better care of myself,” he promised.

A small silence settled between us before his eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s a lie.”

I looked away from him. “You were right about Damien.”

“What happened?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” My fingers adjusted the blanket covering him. “Right now, you need to rest.”

He sighed. “I hate that I’m stuck in this bed right now because this honestly deserves champagne.”

I let out a weak laugh. “You do realize I’m heartbroken?”

“That man was never good enough for you.”

My eyes burned again. “I really loved him, Noah.”

His face softened. “You’ll be fine. Give it time.”

Then his eyes widened. “Oh shit. My boss. I…”

“Relax,” I cut in. “You are not thinking about work right now.”

“You don’t understand. It’s important.”

“It’s handled.”

Confusion crossed his face. “What do you mean handled?”

“Your boss came here.”

“What?”

“He called earlier. I told him where you were. He came here, apologized, and paid your hospital bills.”

Noah looked genuinely stunned. “That doesn’t even sound like him.”

“You always describe him like some terrifying grumpy old man, but he actually seemed nice.”

“Wait.” Suspicion crossed his face. “Are you sure you met my boss?”

“Yes. Alan Reed.”

Noah grabbed his phone despite my protest and pulled up a picture. I confirmed it was the same man.

Noah looked horrified. “My boss apologized to you?”

Before I could answer, a message notification appeared on his screen.

Color drained from his face after reading it. “Oh my God. I’m fired.”

I grabbed the phone from him and read the message myself.

*Take two months off. Recover properly before returning.*

I frowned at the screen in confusion. “Why are you acting like this is bad?”

“Nora, that man has never given anybody two months leave before. Ever.”

I looked back at the message. “He literally told you to recover.”

“That’s exactly why I’m scared.”

The fear on his face had me dialing Alan’s number on speaker.

“No, Nora!”

The call connected after a few rings.

“Hello?” His deep voice filled the room.

“Hi… it’s Nora. Noah’s sister.”

“How’s Noah doing?”

“He’s awake now,” I answered. “I just wanted to ask about the leave message because my brother somehow thinks you fired him.”

A low sound that suspiciously resembled a chuckle came through the line.

“Tell Noah he has nothing to worry about. The only way he’ll get in trouble is if he shows up to work before those two months are over.”