Chapter 8

“Are you my doctor?” I glared at his prideful demeanor.

He looked around the office and finally answered my question.

“I guess I am.”

Who would’ve thought that he’d be the one assigned for my check-up? Out of all the physicians here in this massive hospital, he was the one. I didn’t know why a lot of occurrences this day had been so coincidental, but this was enough to make me feel unnerved.

“You’re Dr. Sebastian?” I asked, trying to take in the fact that he was the doctor.

He didn't bother to answer my recent question as I expected. The only response that I got was a sneer. A sneer. How nice of him.

The relaxing sensation from earlier immediately switched to discomfit with just the sight of him. Not that I hate the guy. It was just something else that I couldn’t put my finger on.

I continued to watch Giofré, as he ran his fingers through his disheveled hair to make it look neat. The stethoscope that hung around his nape dangled as he sat in his office chair. I tried to keep a stoic face to hide how unsettled I was just by observing him. My alertness was at the peak, even if I wasn’t thinking of anything to make me fazed. It was just his effect on me and I know there shouldn't be any.

“Well, Miss Laurent,” he clasped both of his hands and stared at my bored eyes, “what’s your concern for today?” he asked like a professional doctor and motioned one of his hands to make me sit on the stool in front of his desk.

When this man arrived, he looked like he just finished a meal. Not like a literal meal, but I wasn’t going to jump to conclusion that he was cheating on Valerie. He just seemed like that typical Italian man who liked screwing women. That’s the kind of boys Val would always hook up with. I cared so much for my best friend but that’s just how she liked her boys. I highly doubt that this would be her last. Nevertheless, I would rather trust my gut than this guy.

To be professional, I didn’t mind how complacent he seemed to me so I tried my best to keep myself together. My mind was once again drifting away so I shrugged off the thought and focused on my objective.

“I’m just here for a regular check-up, that’s all,” I answered stoically, with my tone laced with distaste. Most of the time I was friendly with people or even strangers but this must be an exception.

“Are you done with the other tests?” He was reading the form that Dean placed on his desk before he left.

“Yes, I’m just waiting for the laboratory results which will come out later in the afternoon according to the medical technician.“

Giofré stood, leaving his chair softly swiveling from the movement of his massive frame.

“Good. Sit here on the bed,” he commanded.

I followed what he said and accidentally laid down on the examination bed. I instantly realized what type of fool I had just made myself as he raised his brow at me with his overbearing smirk.

“Miss Laurent, you can lay down if you want, but I’d rather have you sit so I can properly examine your heartbeat and respiratory activity.” He kept his devilish smirk as I gritted my teeth in annoyance. What’s up with him and smirking? I would very much want to erase his mouth with a slap but I would let this pass. This was my own stupidity anyway.

“Just get on with it.” I sat down, ignoring what just happened, and didn’t mind my flushed cheeks.

Giofré then plastered his serious expression and pulled the stool I was sitting on earlier towards the examination bed. He sat down and plugged the ear tips of the stethoscope into his ears and started to examine me. At first, he skillfully used the medical instrument at my back and asked me to inhale and exhale like I normally would. He then wrote something on my form which I would assume was the other information that the head nurse was saying.

I finally felt at ease until he leaned towards me and placed the diaphragm of the stethoscope on my chest. It felt like his hand rested on my peaks and that’s what made my heartbeat immediately shot up from the embarrassment. I was sure he heard the unusual pattern at the moment, and the only thing I wished for was that he would pull away from me.

“You have to calm down so I can examine you properly.” His devilish smirk was once again tugged on his face. 

“I’m just not used to other people touching me,” I said, cursing myself inside my head for almost hinting that I’d never been touched by a guy before, which was the plain fact.

Giofré stared at me and waited until I was finally calm. After I felt at ease, which took quite a while, I asked him to finish it quickly. He didn’t utter a word or moved a muscle and went to check my heartbeat once again. I averted my gaze to the snake plant that sat at the corner of the room. In just a jiffy, he proceeded to write again on my medical form. I left the examination bed and stood still waiting for him to finish filling up the necessary information. I didn’t want to sit because my mind was telling me to leave at once.

“You seem physically fit to me, no problems or such.” He nodded while rereading the papers. “You have to go back here once the laboratory results are out so I can sign the form and officially declare you as physically fit,” Giofré added.

“I’ll be back after I get them.” I took the form without asking and turned my back on him. “Thanks, Dr. Sebastian.” I hastily slid out of his office without batting an eye.

~*~

I opened the door to the coffee shop that was just a block away from the hospital as the aroma of coffee that was familiar to me attacked my nostrils. It wasn’t unusual to be in this kind of shop and I could already conclude that this was actually where I would prefer to eat all the time.

Just one step into the shop, one of the servers greeted me and I responded with a sincere smile. It wasn’t that hard socializing with everyone but earlier with Giofré, I didn’t know. There was something odd about him and it made shivers ran down my spine from fright.

I continued strutting towards the counter and ordered a frappe and a cinnamon bread. It wasn’t the most ideal drink that I needed for now, especially that it wasn’t hot outside. Looking back at my stupidity, the heat rushed to my cheeks. Sometimes, my body did things like that to embarrass me. Or maybe I was just dozing off way too much.

After my meal was prepared, I grabbed the tray from the server and went to the open tables. There weren’t many customers because it was past lunchtime but one familiar woman was sitting with her back behind me. One look at her dress I knew it was Valerie. I was guessing she waited for me and she knew that I would be eating at a café like usual.

I sat on the vacant chair at her table and faced her. She wore a smile and I already confirmed that she actually waited for me. What a clingy woman she was.

“Val, since what time were you waiting?” I asked her because I remembered she said she had to go somewhere when we encountered each other at the hospital. Or did she?

“Just now, I came back from the spa. It was superb!” She tee-heed as I sighed at her childishness. 

I was proud that Valerie was able to save up which made her what she was today. She earned from her past salaries since her parents were there to support her. She was fortunate that she had been raised with wealth to provide for all of her needs.

After Valerie sipped on her latte, she suddenly wiped out her cheerfulness and pouted like a kid. 

“You better explain yourself right now because I'm not used to you lying to me,” she said in an obvious sulking tone.

I always knew that Val would see through my lies. And every time she did, I'd tell her the truth immediately. But I wouldn’t afford to tell her about this now because she was very eager to stop me from applying at the Silver Stag. I couldn’t stop now that I knew other people believed that werewolves existed. I knew this was the right thing to do, even if it meant lying to Valerie. I would use every possible means to continue this.

“Okay, I give up.” I dropped my shoulder and plastered a serious face. My act should be convincing and the only problem I had was the rapid beating of my heart.

“Well, what is it?” The skeptical look on her face was intimidating. It felt like she would know that I was lying to her once again.

“Yesterday, when I was out for a jog, I met a guy in the park. We had a little chit chat and we talked about jobs. I told him that I just lost mine so he offered me a helping hand.” After explaining, I munched on my cinnamon bread to lessen my nervousness. And also to stop my mouth from saying anything unnecessary.

“Oh, I knew it was something else. Then that means you're actually not going to chase werewolves?” She stuck her two fingers to quote with a mocking face. Valerie never believed in any of my stories about those but she was a good friend.

Sipping on my frappe, I answered her nonchalantly, “Uh-huh. Like I've always said.”

She squinted her eyes and scanned my actions, as I waited for her to approve what I just said. Both of us became best friends because of our skepticism. But she wasn’t that skeptical with men, I guess that’s the only part where we disagree. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was still suspicious of my story.

“You met a guy?” The corner of one of her brows raised. I cleared my throat and plainly nodded. My voice might croak if I tried to justify further.

I had never felt intimidated by Valerie like this. I would laugh if she was pretending to be serious but her face said it all. She wasn’t here for bullshits. My palms were starting to sweat though it was cold here and I was drinking a frappe.

Valerie slammed her fork on the table. Her stare was getting too long and more intense than I couldn’t respond anymore. She knew me well and I wouldn’t be surprised if she could see through me. Who would even believe that I had been hooking up with a man? I just didn’t understand her being too protective of me joining the Silver Stag.