Dakota POV.."Okay, kindly tell me what the h*ll happened?!" I was shaking like a leaf, my feet rushed to the emergency room, but Amy Leah stopped me before I could enter."Kota! We can't get in. They're treating him. Don't worry, Martin is a hard-headed, strong-willed man. He'll get through with this!" she was trying to comfort me but to no avail.Desmond stood up from the hospital bench and ambled towards his wife. He placed his hand on her shoulder and stared at me."He'll be fine, Kota. He has reasons to live. You!" that sounded comforting, but not enough."You guys didn't answer my question yet!" I told them, my voice came out a bit harsh. My hands were on my waist, my lips quivered, and my eyes blinked, restraining some tears from falling."They had a shoot-out with another gang!" Desmond answered in a whisper after glancing around. Amy Leah held my trembling hands while staring sternly at me, checking my reactions."And, what happened next?" I asked, and it seemed their answe
A gasp escaped from me as that far-fetched memory splashed into my mind, drowning me in the edge of disbelief. It couldn't be, I thought. I shook my head while my eyes were shut. When was the last time I talked to her? Maybe a week ago?! After that slapping incident at my bar, she never contacted me again. Although I had updates with her activities every single day, hearing her voice and laughs was different.I knew that she went out with that Harry Volkov twice. They had dinner on the first night and went to an amusement park the next day. They're both happy, and my girl was giggling like she just went back to her teenage years."Dakota Weasly!" I mumbled her name, like a bitter-sweet medicine stuck in my throat.I had to find my way out here. I had to clear things up. I needed some updates on what happened after the shoot-out. But how? I was like inside of an invisible loop of time, I couldn't escape at all."Focalizzare, Martin (Focus)!" I told myself as I glanced around. Dark wrap
The automatic door split open as I stepped out and it closed giving me a farewell sign. I glanced at the ICU one last time and rushed outside of the hospital, bumping into someone I didn't expect to see. "Ops! My bad!" the doctor wearing a white lab gown who seemed to have just finished operating someone uttered. The smell of ethanol and blood was assaulting my nostrils. My head hurt at the impact of colliding on his firm shoulder. "I'm sorry!" I replied, my head was looking down the floor. As I looked up to see who was the unfortunate guy, I felt I had seen a shelter to shield me from this horrible storm. He, too, was surprised to see me. "Kota!" "Paul!" We both uttered in unison and smiled. I had never seen Paul for two weeks although there was a time that he sent me a message, telling me he went to South Africa as one of the medical volunteers there. "Hey! It's nice to see you again!" he chuckled as he lifted me from the floor and twirled me around. "Paul, put me dow
After Five Days . . At Martin's private ward... My looks were as bright as the morning sun. My simple knitted baby blue sweater and tight jeans made me move freely inside of his room. My white knee-length boots made a click-clacking sound while my vision rummaged through the empty room. "Where is he?" I mumbled, talking to air. It was eight in the morning, too early for him to leave and stroll outside. Too cold, too. Winter was approaching, he needed to get out of here before the freezing weather came. I put my home-cooked meal; cream mushroom soup, egg mayo sandwich, and fresh brewed coffee on the side table. "Martin, babe, are you in the bathroom? You should have waited for me. You must not move a lot yet!" I strode to the bathroom just next to the entrance door, but he was not there. Where could he be? Till I heard some footsteps coming, which I thought were just the medical staff doing their morning routine. My thoughts scolded me wrong when the door to his ward slid open,
Inside Paul's office, he took the medical kit from the medicine cabinet while I was sitting on the patient's bed. I was just staring at him, admiring how fast and flawless his hands were in preparing for the cream and ointments. "All right. You've already washed your hands with lukewarm water. Let's apply some ointments now!" he then glanced at me with a smile. I almost lost myself there. Did he just notice me ogling at him? "You've been staring at me for quite a while!" d*mn, he just answered my question. Could he read minds, too? "Oh well! You can't blame a woman. My personal doctor is gorgeous!" I jeered and he just chuckled while applying the ointment at the back of my palm. I hissed in pain for quite a bit, however, once the ointment took effect, I felt a cool sensation running from the scalded skin. "Whew! That's quite good!" I uttered, and he just nodded. "Hmm! I bought this from China when I visited my friend there!" he told me as he lifted his head and met my gaze. "He'
Paul POV . . Her sweet and soft lips were still on my lips. A smile crept on my face while I was walking in the corridor, nodding and greeting the nurses, passing by. "Good evening, Dr. Castillo!" one of the nurses from the gyne department greeted with a light bow. "Good evening!" I greeted back. "Dr. Castillo, you're looking radiantly handsome tonight!" Marvin, my classmate at the medical university and colleague here at my hospital teased me while patting my shoulder. "Tell me, bro. Who's the unlucky girl!" he jeered. "Sh*t up, bro!" I jeered back. "Don't you have surgery tonight?" I jeered back, shaking his hand on my shoulder. "Ops! You're not only looking deadly handsome. You have a mark on your lips, too!" he chuckled. I stopped and touched my lips where I kissed Kota. A serious gaze was shifted to Marvin, who was obviously enjoying my flabbergasted look. "F*ck off, dude. I'm not telling you who she is!" I pushed him away. "Ahu?! But you can describe her
Dakota POV . . It has been almost a week since I passed my curriculum vitae and drawing samples to the HR of SF Galore, yet not even a single email of rejection was sent to me. I'd rather choose to be quickly rejected than wait like this, hoping that they would give my as* and my designs a chance to shine. I had been jobless for years now. What I meant was that I had a part-time job, but the income wasn't good enough to pay for my bills. Who was I kidding? Would I even consider force-designing for my bestie's and her family's clothes a job? Yeah! Right?! I was their personal designer, from her husband's custom-made suits to Amy Leah's dresses and gowns. "But all of my designs and creations for them always come with great packages!" I convinced myself, thinking of Areesh's wardrobe that has my tag. Every single shirt and pair of pants, and they were all free. I always gave that little bundle of joy free clothes and other gifts not just because he was cute but because he wa
Her head assistant, Mr. Armani shot daggers with his gaze as he strode towards me. "How dare you disrespect Madam Florence!" he roared, pushing my shoulder. He might be gay, but he was strong, and I was pushed back with his harsh poking. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to~" I was stammering, my head was looking down the shiny marbled floor. "You didn't mean to?!" he cut me off, I flinched at the loudness of his voice. I lifted my head a bit to see his raging expression. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Mr. Armani kept on cross-examining me like I just murdered somebody in the building. "What are these? What kind of rubbish are these things?" he then stared at my designs with disgust. The tips of his fingers were shaking like my clothes were trash. "Janitor, hey! Throw these pieces of trash out!" okay, that's too much. I raised both of my hands, spreading them on each side, trying to protect my designs. "Mr. Armani, I didn't mean to disrespect anyone here, especially Mad