“Sorry, I took so long.” Sandra said as she barreled down the stairs. He was still glued to the spot with the takeout in his hand when he turned to face her.“I thought you said Marie didn't make it to your house, Sandra?” He asked.“Yes, I did. She never made it here.”“And the Mexican food made it? How do you explain that, Sandra?”She glared at him for some seconds before throwing her head back in laughter.“Are you crazy, Steven King? You think I did that to her? What did I do? Run her over with my car?”“I'm just trying to make sense of what's happening, Sandra. How come the food made it to your house and my wife didn’t?”“If you must know, Mr King. Zed came over to my house after work today. You can call him and confirm. Did you stop to think of why Marie was bringing me Mexican food? Because I asked her to! And I had already asked Zed to ask well! And shame on you for thinking I would hurt my best friend!” She screamed, waving her hands around her.“Sandra…”“No, Steven. I don'
“Is she going to be alright?” Sandra asked“Of course, Sandra. She’ll be alright. In fact I think she’ll wake up in the morning and ask us why we worried in the first place.”Sandra let out a shaky breath as Steven squeezed her shoulder before heading out. He stopped at a deli to pick up some sandwiches for James before heading back to the hospital.James took one look at him and let out a whistle.“I don't want to hear it, James. I'm tired. Here, have a sandwich and leave me alone, please.”“You're doing that stupid thing again, aren't you City Boy?”Steven's features hardened as he turned away from James. He wasn't ready to have this conversation with him.“You can turn your face away all you want but you know I'm right.”“Uh huh.”“You cannot possibly blame yourself for this, Steven.”“You're the only one that seems to think so, James. Alden blames me. He thinks I messed up and brought this upon her.”“He’s angry, City Boy.”“But that doesn't make any sense. He barely knows Marie.
“You know, I haven’t thought about that. I think I left it at the scene of the accident. I was just so focused on getting Marie here. When the ambulance came, I jumped in and didn’t think about anything else.” Sandra replied.“Okay, but did you see it at all?” Steven asked,“I didn’t. But honestly, that wasn’t at the top of my mind. Why? Do you think there’s something on it that can help us?”“Maybe,” Steven said as he dropped into a chair.“I mean it’s my neighborhood, so I could go look for it. James can come with me if you like?”“There’s no need. I’ll get people on it. I just needed to confirm you hadn’t seen it.”She shook her head sideways and muttered an apology before taking a sip from her Sprite can. Steven cast a longing glance at the bed, but there was no response from his comatose wife. James offered him a watery smile before sitting at the other end of the room. All three took turns napping as they waited for an update on Marie’s condition. In the evening, the doctor appe
“The next time he calls, we’ll be ready to trace it,” James said, as he hovered around Steven. Steven, who suddenly felt exhausted nodded his head and downed the rest of the hot chocolate.“You need to eat something, City Boy,” James said to his friend.“You haven’t eaten either, James. Quit bugging me.” He retorted as he ran his hand over his face.“I’ll see Sarah about fixing something for us to eat. Meanwhile, you should take a nap and then a shower before we head back to the hospital.”“I’m not hungry, but I’ll try to take a nap.” He said as he headed towards the elevator.Steven felt the heaviness in his shoulders with every step. He climbed into his bed and opened his email. He scoured through, searching for the email Mr. Kaito had spoken about but couldn't find it. It was obvious that whoever had sent the email hadn't passed it through his desk. Was this connected to the leaks and his ongoing investigation? Would finding the person in the team who had sent the email to Mr. kait
“Are you okay?”James asked, stroking Sandra's shoulders as she sobbed harder. Steven frowned at them as he watched James try to soothe Sandra. The innocent lady had experienced a scare because of him. Because he had foolishly fallen asleep instead of coming back to the hospital to be with his wife. He was never letting her out of his sight again.“I'm so sorry, Sandra. We need to get someone to look at your bruises.”“I'm fine, really. There are just a few bruises. The important thing is finding out who that man was and making him pay.”“Look, Sandra. This is becoming too dangerous. I can't have you getting caught in the crossfire.”“Don't you dare, Steven King. My best friend is in a freaking coma! If you think I'm going to back down and let this guy win, then you don't know me!”“Sandra, I understand but…”“James, can you let him know I'm not leaving Marie's side ever? This has gotten personal for me too.”James shrugged and Steven let out a terse curse before glancing at his phone.
“I guess you can stay in Marie's room. That way, we are close to her at all times. It's what she'd want anyway.”“Alright, Steven.” She said, walking into Marie's room and shutting the door. Steven got to his room and side-eyed his bed. For now, he was going to treat it like his enemy. Yesterday, he had intended to nap for an hour, but had ended up sleeping till the next morning.He took out a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom. Every step was getting more difficult as the reality of what was happening dawned on him. If Marie didn't wake up before tomorrow, he’d have to move her to the house comatose.The fact that he was spending a small fortune setting up this arrangement didn't bother him as much as the fact that her condition was out of his hands and he didn't know what to do. He was a fixer and had been one for his entire life. If something wasn't working, he fixed it. But now, he had no idea how to fix it. He walked into the bathroom and stared at his reflection in the
Alden!This isn't a joke,I need this leave!” Steven yelled into the phone. He let out a curse and paced as Alden's angry voice rattled on angrily at the other end of the line.“Absolutely not. You think it's alright to shirk your responsibilities at this time? Do you have any idea how much your prolonged absence will hurt the company at the time?”Was his grandfather kidding? He expected Steven to be worried about his darn company when his wife was in a coma and needed him?“I don't freaking care, Alden! I don't care. My wife is in a coma and that's all that matters to me.”“Don't you dare blame this on Marie, Steven. You're asking for an indefinite leave so you can isolate and lick your wounds like you always do when things get tough but I'm not going to let you run my company into the ground!”“Alden!”“Three weeks leave and that's it.”“Maybe I'll quit then. Walk away from it all. I mean I've been thinking about it for a long time.”“Great. Let the scumbags who put your wife in the
“She looks beautiful, doesn't she? Despite the fact that she's bedecked in a hospital gown and her hair hasn't seen a brush for ages.” Sandra mused. It had been five weeks since Marie had been moved from the hospital to the house and though Dr. Terrence and his team were watching her closely, there had been no improvements.“She does.” He managed to say, offering Sandra a weak smile. She smiled warmly at him and squeezed his elbow. The past month had been torturous on so many levels, and Sandra had been there through it all. It was like the flirty, tactless woman had disappeared and left in her stead this loyal, warm and friendly woman. She had even offered to cook the other day when he couldn't sleep and had crashed into the kitchen at midnight. Not that he had taken her up on the offer. A burnt house was the last thing he wanted while Marie was still stuck in a coma. He missed Marie at work as much as he missed her at home. His calendar had gone from organized and efficient to chaot