Anika’s P.O.V
This evening, I got harassed by my boss and almost got molested; punched my boss in the nuts to escape. Got home to find my fiancé in bed with my roommate and then found out he had been cheating on me for five whole months. And finally, got kicked out of my preferred hospital and ended up on a stupid clinic by the mountain side where the only patients I would be treating would be a few deer’s and grizzlies.
If only I had been fired and thrown out of my house at the same time, it would’ve been the perfect plot for some kind of a CEO romance novel bullshit.
The CEO’s Doctor Sex Slave, or, CEO’s personal Maid. Wouldn’t that just be the perfect title for my messed up life?
The only difference was, the real world didn’t have half as many CEO’s as they did in the romance novels and not every girl that went through a rough day was lucky enough to land on a CEO’s lap, especially one that would be hot and sexy as hell, who would then proceed to fall in love and live happily ever after. The only COS, Chief of Surgery, who could save me from this mess was the one who put me in this position in the first place. Steven Hallow. And there was no way in hell I was going to beg him for forgiveness when it was him who should be doing the begging.
However, the only begging I would be doing right now…would be to my mother, so that I don’t get disowned by tonight.
“Blast it!”
I cursed at the empty streets, knowing I would have to answer my mother’s call eventually. Parking my car on the side of the road, I dared to pick up my phone from the passenger’s seat and found out that I had more missed calls and messages in the last few hours than I probably had in my entire twenty six years of life. Thank God I had put it on silent!
Should I take the risk of reading the messages?
I knew my missed calls were 99% from my mother, so I took a split second decision and went to my inbox. Once again…79 messages from my mother. Wow. That’s got to have broken some kind of a family record.
Ignoring those, I scrolled down past the nosy aunties, assured for once that I wouldn’t be blocking any other car. The Sapphire Mountains were a hiking trail that became popular last year after a TikTok went viral of the pure blue skyline from the mountain top. Per say, it wasn’t a large mountain, and only had a few wood cabins as far as housing went. It did have a gas station with an attached convenience store, a police station unit, in case any hikers went missing and a tiny coffee shop (thank the gods!).
The clinic was recently built as the steep slopes have caused a good few accidents in the last few months since the video going viral. The resident doctor decided to flee last month because he spotted large wolves in the area. I don’t know how much of it was true, but wolves? I highly doubted that. The doctor probably took any excuse he could get.
I was already half-way to the area where the clinic was and I realized too late that I had no idea where I would be staying…
There was no point in contacting the people at the clinic at this hour, was there? Will there be anyone present?
But then I spotted a message from an unknown number and stopped scrolling.
‘Hi,
My name is Tiffany Bradley. I was informed to let you know the direction to the cabin you’ll be staying at. You weren’t picking up the phone, which is understandable, so I’m texting you the address. Follow these instructions and you’ll reach the cabin in no time. I will be waiting for you in the cabin to help you settle in. See you soon!’
The text was followed by an address and a pin of the map, thankfully. It looks like not, all the calls were from my mother after all.
Ring, ring…
Speak of the bloody devil!
I stared at the screen in silence, my breathing uneven as I debated on what to do. Starting the car, I drove forward slowly as it was getting late and I didn’t want Tiffany to be waiting forever just so she could show me around. I needed to get to the cabin before something started chasing me out of the woods. The dense jungle on either side of the road wasn’t very safe looking and the lighting was poor.
Taking a deep breath, I answered the call and placed it to my ear. “Hello.”
“About goddamn time, woman!”
I cringed at her shrill voice, placing the phone away from my ears in the meantime, as she went on to explain how several of my family members, meaning her, my dad and my grandma, now had elevated blood pressure levels and were at a risk of having a heart attack. My grandmother had probably fainted twice already; no, not because she had some health issue, she was one sturdy seventy nine year old; but because she had a flair for drama and fainted at the slightest sign of distress.
When I thought that my mom’s rant about my family melodrama was finally over, I put the phone back on my ear to hear what she was saying now and yes, I had the perfect timing.
“Are you even listening to what I have to say? Anika! You ungrateful brat! Explain yourself!”
“Are you sure I’m the one who needs explaining, mother?” I told her calmly, gripping the phone tighter to stop myself from getting emotional. This was not going to end well for either of us. Not today.
“How dare you talk back to me?” She gasped. “Do you know just how lucky we were that Mr. Verma agreed to this relationship? Do you know how reputed their family is? Do you think they’ll continue the engagement after the stunt you just pulled?”
I saw red.
“Wait just a fucking minute!”
“Anika, watch yo-”
“I’m done watching my fucking language mother! Did you not see the picture in the group chat mother? Or have you gone permanently blind? Judging by your ignorance, it definitely seems to be the second option.” I snapped.
“Anika!” Mom used her disciplinary tone on me but I was too damn exhausted to care.
“Anika is done with your bullshit!” I retorted. “Lucky? About what mom? The fact that my fiancé, that you especially picked out for me; the one who I was supposed to marry in a month’s time, was found in bed with my roommate? The roommate who, surprisingly, you told me was one of the best girls in our neighborhood? Who were you matchmaking for, mom? Me or Ashwini?”
“Anika, I know that you are angry-”
“Angry?” I laughed humorlessly, feeling tears sting my eyes. NO! I will not cry! Not now! Not NOW! “I’m not angry, mother. I’m exhausted. I was cheated on! I was humiliated. I was almost molested today by my boss and I thought to go home early. And guess what I find? Ashwini and Rahul, naked in bed? What were they doing in bed naked, mom? Some kind of ritual? Some prayer to the gods?”
“Do not bring god into this!” Came my mother’s outraged voice. “I will accept that you are upset but that doesn’t give you permission to insult the gods and goddesses! Now go to that chat and delete that picture immediately! The Verma’s have been humiliated enough as is. And then I want you to come back tomorrow morning to apologi-”
“Don’t you dare finish that senetence!” I shouted before switching to my mother tongue. “Unse maafi mange meri juti! (My sandals will be the only ones apologizing to them!)”
“Anika!”
“I don’t care what you say; I’m never apologizing to a cheater! They can fuck each other for all I care!” I told her my final decision. “This engagement is off!”
“Have you gone crazy, child!” Mom yelped. “Do you know what it means to cancel the wedding only a month before the date? All the cards have been distributed! Plane tickets have been booked! What are we going to tell all our guests now, huh? How are we going to face our relatives?”
“Are you seriously kidding me right now?” I stepped on the accelerator unconsciously. “My fiancé cheated on me! I was nearly fucking molested! And all you care about is the stupid sentiments of our relatives who pop up only when they need something from us?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Mom snapped, getting impatient with me as well. “So what if he cheated on you? It’s never the boys fault! No matter what you say, everyone will think the fault lies in you! You’ll have a very hard time getting married in the future and your prime age is passing by!”
“I’m fucking twenty six!” I screamed, almost chocking myself. “Marriage is the least of my problems right now! Why on earth do you keep ignoring me telling you that I almost got molested? And you didn’t even ask how I was doing! What about me mom? What about my feelings? For once in your bloody life, think about me!”
“I am thinking about you!” She argued, desperate to prove her point. “That’s why I think it’s best to apolo-“
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Something jumped onto the road then, an animal of some kind and I screamed in fear, slamming on the brakes as hard as I could, my phone dropping from my hand as I used both my hands on the steering to control the car.
The car screeched to a stop at phenomenal speed, but I heard the slam of the body against my car anyways.
Thanks to my seatbelt, I was hauled back against my seat as the car came to a stop, protecting me from slamming my head on the steering. But then my head slammed on the seat and came forward, hitting the steering anyway, but not hard enough to cause bleeding.
And then everything went deadly silent.
Chapter 6:Anika’s P.O.V“Oh My God!”My heart thundered against my chest as I took deep breaths to calm myself.I was afraid to look up. I was afraid I’d see blood splattered all across my window…or worse…organs. It made my stomach churn.The only thing that broke the eerie silence in that moment was my mother’s frantic voice over the phone, which was now lying at my feet.Gulping down my nausea, I picked up my cell from near the brakes as I was already hunched over the steering, my hand trembling so bad that I dropped it several times before successfully bringing it to my ears.“I-I w-ill call y-ou la-ter.”I hate that my voice trembled, as did the rest of my body, because my mother kept asking me continuously if I was okay, even as I hung up. But I wasn’t concerned about myself. Not now.Swallowing past my fear, I jerker my
Anika’s P.O.V“Fucking sack of potatoes!” I cursed for the millionth time as I dragged the man across the driveway and into the house.I had taken out one of the bedcovers from the cupboard in the bedroom and then placed it on the ground before pushing and pulling the man onto the cover and tied it around him to help me pull him along. By the time I had made it to the bedroom with him, more than half an hour had passed and my entire dress was soaked through with sweat.Why was I doing this again you say? I could have easily just left him on the road and pretended I hadn't seen him and gotten away with it too, because apart from the bruising, his two main injuries were the stab wounds. But damn that Hippocratic Oath and my conscience as a doctor! I just couldn’t leave a wounded person behind, no matter what he did or who he was.So, after another few minutes of struggle, I hauled him on top of the bed and discarded
Axton’s P.O.V “Gus…You need to stop. It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill Lily!” “I know.” … “You’ve always been privileged, my dear litter brother. That’s why you never noticed how much I’ve suffered all my life.” “Gus…what are you talking about?” I managed to stutter out. … “You’re a pathetic weakling that got everything served on a silver platter.” “You don’t deserve to be Alpha.” “Gus…” “I know, you weakling. I know.” … “Because I killed her.” * * I jerked up in bed, my hands and legs trembling and my whole body covered in perspiration. I closed my eyes momentarily, fisting my hands to stop the trembling. It was all just a nightmare, right? Lily couldn’t possibly be dead, right? And Gustav? My older half-bro
Anika’s P.O.VI felt my eyes twitch at the corners as I gave my patient a forced smile.“So, let me get this straight?” I told him through my forced smile. “You remember that you’re a size XXL; hate the colors pink and orange; have to eat meat every single day and cannot stand the scent of lavender. But in all of this, you don’t remember your name or any of your personal information?”He raised his head from his bowl of ‘my’ noodles temporarily, to give me a nod, before going back to devouring the bowl like I was an irrelevant fly that he couldn’t even give two shits about.I was getting ripped off, wasn’t I?I was certain that this man was a conman in disguise and that he had probably faked his injuries to catch any person who came down that road. And now that he had his victim, he was going to leech me dry until I was bankrupt and on the streets, before he moved on
Anika’s P.O.V“Razz.”“No, R-A-A-Z, not R-A-Z-Z!” I corrected him for the millionth time. “It’s not spelt like Jazz!”“Ra-az?” He tilted his head to the side, trying to pronounce it with the accent I was using.“Okay, you’re nearly there.” I told him with a smile. “It’s fine, really. It’s just a temporary name anyway. Once you have your memories, you’ll be all set.”Raaz seemed like he was thinking about it before he nodded. “Okay.” He gave me a smile. “So? How much did you spend on the clothes?”“Huh?” I looked up from my bowl of yogurt and cereal mix. “Why are you asking?”“Because I want to pay you back…when I retrieve my memory.” He said firmly. “I know I’m being a hindrance and if I had somewhere to go, I would. But right now, yo
Anika’s P.O.V“We haven’t seen you here before, Dr. Mehta,” Officer Emilio asked, writing stuff down on his notepad. “When did you arrive at the Sapphire Mountains?”“Last night, around 11 PM,” I told him, shifting from foot to foot out of impatience. “I met Tiffany at my cabin, you can ask her to confirm.”“We will,” Damien gave a tight smile. “And did you find anything unusual while you were coming to the cabin?”“Unusual?” I frowned, my mind going temporarily to Raaz, before I shook my head. “I don’t quite follow.”“Like…did you find any wild animals on the road or something that might seem out of place?”What the fuck?“Look, Officers,” I told them politely, knowing that arguing with the police will only make us lose precious time. “I’m sorry to interrupt you,
Anika’s P.O.VAfter forty minutes of stitching up the nerves and blood vessels, Fin and I were finally able to get the patient into a stable enough condition where he could be transferred back to New York City where further operations can be performed on him.“Why don’t you go shower and change?” Fin suggested as she saw my form. “The patient’s father is here, so I’ll go meet with him and discuss the insurance and bills. Leave the rest to me. You should go clean up.”“Thanks Fin.” Grateful for her help, I immediately rushed to the small bathroom attached to my chamber and got rid of my dirty scrubs before jumping into the shower.The water was freezing cold and there was hardly any fragrant soap to wash away the scent of blood with, but I had to make do with the antiseptic soap bar and managed to clean myself spotless. Seeing the blood flow out the drain reminded me of the way we had to
Anika’s P.O.V“Whoa! Back off, Raaz! What the hell has gotten into you?” I pushed at his chest to move him away from me, but he didn’t budge an inch.“Raaz!” I looked up into his eyes to give him an earful about respecting personal space, but the second I saw his expression, I stopped. “What? What is it?”His green eyes were wide and there appeared to be gold specks in them that hadn't been there before. His jaw was clenched tight and I could hear his teeth grinding together. Was it just me or did he appear more than a little afraid?“Raaz?” I touched his shoulders lightly, feeling the tense muscles bunched up and ready to snap.But my touch seemed to snap him out of his trance…but not in a good way.Raaz pushed on my shoulders and my back hit the counter, trapping me in between. And before I know it, his fingers were around my neck. But just whe