His request

Alora

The air left my lungs as the phone slipped from my hand and dropped onto my thigh. I had thought I trusted Nathan, leaving the company’s documents in his care instead of Mr. Lawson.

I never trusted Mr. Lawson for reasons known to me.

How could Nathan do this to me? After everything?

I fought back every nerve screaming in my head as I turned to James and instructed him to drive off, ignoring the growing unease and the knock from Lucas outside the car.

Soon we arrived at the hospital, and I moved abruptly toward his office. I shouldn’t be storming in unannounced, but right now, he was the only person I needed around me.

I ignored the receptionist at the stand and continued, my heels clicking against the marbled floor. With my hands clutching the handle of his dark metal door, I sniffed and turned it open.

Stanley’s eyes widened with unease as soon as he saw me at the door.

“I’ll call you back,” he said to whoever was on the phone, dropped it on his large mahogany table, and walked up to me.

Without a word, he pulled me into an embrace, stroking and patting my back gently against his broad shoulders.

It could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours in that position; it felt as though the world stood still, and my thousand worries slowly melted away.

But the moment I pulled out of his embrace, the burden clung to my shoulders once again.

“What happened?” Stanley inquired, leading me to sit on one of the leather seats. He crouched low, holding my gaze and placing one arm gently on my thigh.

I exhaled sharply, holding his gaze for a brief while before retrieving my phone and stretching it toward him.

He took the phone, glanced between me and the screen. As he scanned through the email I’d just received from Nathan, his jaw tensed, and his lips twitched. After a few seconds, he looked up. Thousands of unspoken words in his eyes.

“Is that why you’re so stressed out?”

I raised a brow. “Shouldn’t I be? What the…”

“Shh…” He stopped me with his fingers pressed against my lips, and warmth spread through my body in that instant.

“There’s nothing here. Rest assured, I’ll take care of it,” he said, flipping through the email. I watched him forward it to his contact before handing the phone back to me.

“Now, I want you to go to sleep and watch me act,” he whispered, tapping the area of my exposed thighs where my office gown had ridden slightly above my knees.

I opened my mouth to speak but only managed a muffled response. My eyes remained on him, unwavering. No doubt, Stanley had stood by me, helping me pull through all this while, and I was so grateful. But what more could he do that I didn’t already know, aside from being a dedicated doctor?

How was he going to handle this?

I wanted to ask how, but didn’t, when he leaned closer. The air threatened to leave my lungs as his breath fanned my face, sending tremors I’d long buried down my spine.

He drew too close, our breaths mingling with unease, his sharp camellia scent overwhelming me. At that point, I wanted to pull away but couldn’t, my body betrayed me.

I felt his soft kiss on my chin, and every nerve in me screamed, longing to be soothed after all this time. Ignoring the turmoil and grief.

“Let me do this,” he whispered into my ear, then withdrew and took a seat across from me.

I sat back down, lips slightly parted, trying to compose my longing heart as I glanced in his direction. A faint smile tugged at his lips. I didn’t know how to feel, but the rest of the moment passed with our conversation, him easing my mind and reminding me the stress wasn’t worth it, not for my health.

I remained in his company, absent from the countless missed calls on my phone until I was already back home. My hand was on the door handle when a beep sounded.

“Who’s been disturbing your line?” Stanley’s voice pulled me back. I retrieved my phone to see twenty missed calls and twelve messages, all from an unknown contact.

“Tap it,” Stanley urged after I hesitated.

I had managed to quiet my troubled heart and didn’t want to ruin the peace. I feared the message might be from Nathan, and whatever he had to say, I wasn’t ready for any of his bullshits or new revelations.

I tapped the screen after Stanley’s urging and frowned at the first message, which had arrived a while earlier.

“Still waiting by outside, and I’m not stepping out anytime soon.”

“Who’s that?” Stanley asked, but I shoved the phone into my purse and turned back to the door.

“No one important,” I replied, pushing it open.

There, seated on his wheelchair, was Dad, and Annabel on the couch with a pile of newspapers in her arms.

Dad never backed out of the news, even after his illness. He still made sure to stay updated with current updates, and Annabel was doing a pretty good job keeping him informed.

But that wasn’t why my heart suddenly leaped. As I looked at them, Annabel’s eyes brightened with delight as she met my gaze. “Welcome back, ma’am,” she greeted, and Dad turned toward me.

I walked up to him and hugged him, staying in his arms as I fought the urge to cry.

Have I failed him? If he ever learned what was happening in the family company right now, I doubt he would…

I sniffed as he tapped gently, stroking my back.

“How did it go today with the stakeholders?” Dad asked, and I forced a smile.

“Everything went fine. And how about I introduce you to someone I’ve been meaning to?” I quickly changed the topic, and he grinned when I introduced Stanley as my friend and partner the second time.

The first was the day, when I had arrived.

I didn’t want to feed him the details of how I met Stanley, fearing he’d discover the brain cancer diagnosis and blame me for not telling him sooner.

The rest of the afternoon was lighthearted. We sat by the dining table having lunch, and I couldn’t miss the fact that Dad already liked Stanley, something he’d never done with Lucas.

He felt at ease with Stanley, even after lunch, that I had to excuse myself to freshen up in my room. The exhaustion pressed over me like a weight.

I had just stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around my waist, when the door creaked open, and standing there was none other than Stanley.

I flinched, crossing my arms over the towel. “How did you…”

“You don’t have to,” he interrupted softly. “I could leave if you want.” He turned to go, but I spoke.

“You can come in… if you want to.”

He turned, his gaze lingering on me, running down my half-exposed body, and a sharp jolt ran through me.

I turned toward the wardrobe, ignoring whatever was stirring in my heart, but I couldn’t stop the sudden racing of my pulse as I felt him coming closer.

I turned sharply, my back hitting the wardrobe. He was standing so close now, his eyes searching mine with something I couldn’t name.

“Tell me to stop,” he murmured.

But my lips parted, and no words came.