Chapter 368: Chapter 368

As he hurried on and with their faint footsteps echoing, the doctor couldn’t help but think back to the sight of the young woman when he had come out. How could he, who had seen his fair share of gruesome injuries and whatnots in the hospital, react to her like that? His steps had faltered as his eyes caught the shimmering pool of unshed tears in the young woman’s eyes.

They were just tears, right? He thought,

’I should be used to women crying. This is a daily occurrence in the hospital!’ the man reasoned, feeling more confused.

However, he still couldn’t shake off the way the tears clung to Shelby’s lashes, brightening her blue eyes, threatening to spill, and the sight, even in his mind’s eye, sent an unexpected pang of distress through him. Her sadness was palpable, nearly infectious, leaving him feeling unsettled in ways he couldn’t fully articulate.

Perhaps it was the knowledge of what had transpired—the husband, currently seated in the hospital room with that female patient, was at the centre of it all. The air was thick with unspoken tension, the weird kind that lingered in hospital corridors, late at night, amplified by sterile silence and the white lights.

The doctor’s gaze shifted uneasily over his shoulders without pausing in his stride to the small-statured ’bodyguard’ a few paces away behind Shelby. The man’s slight frame and unassuming build almost made him appear out of place—until you met his eyes and his dirty copper-coloured hair, close to the colour of some spice he had seen before but could not remember its name.

Those icy, piercing eyes appeared to cut through the sterile atmosphere, emanating a force that sent an involuntary chill down the doctor’s spine, prompting him to look away immediately. The doctor experienced a troubling disconnect. Despite the bodyguard’s seemingly modest physique, his presence was overwhelming, as if danger was trapped within his small frame, poised to strike.

He released a tension that he did not know he was holding when he arrived in front of his door. Clearing his throat, he gestured, hastening to push open the door to his office and gesturing for her to enter. His tone was brisk but polite: "Please, ma’am, this way." Shelby entered in silence, her delicate frame carrying an air of fragility that tugged at his professional instincts.

That same faint scent of antiseptic mingled with the leather-bound professionalism was still in the air in his closed office, unsurprisingly, but that seemed oddly fitting for the situation.

"Please, take a seat," he said, his voice gentle as he reached for a box of tissues on his desk. When he turned back, though, the tissue slipped from his hand, landing soundlessly on the carpet.

Gone was the tearful young woman he had just ushered in, and in her place sat a composed figure, radiating an unshakable confidence that didn’t belong in the realm of the despair he had just witnessed, leading him to question his eyes.

Her posture was noble, her blue gaze piercing, and her lips curved ever so slightly in what could only be described as a knowing smile. The transformation was so sudden, so complete, that it made the doctor’s words catch in his throat.

"I... uh... are you... erm..." he stammered, fumbling to collect himself under her cool, assessing gaze.

"Thank you, doctor," Shelby interrupted as if she was very much aware of the effects of what her change had done to him; her voice was smooth, melodic, and dripping with subtle authority. Shelby leaned back slightly, her calm demeanour almost mocking the anxiety that had so visibly taken hold of him.

Shelby gestured towards the fallen tissue.

The doctor blinked, straightening the front of his white coat as if he was still trying to reconcile the stark difference between the vulnerable woman he had just seen in the corridor and the composed figure now seated in front of him. His intuition told him this wasn’t merely a case of a grieving partner or a wronged woman. This was something much more deliberate, and he trusted that instinct.

Behind Shelby’s poised exterior, all was not as okay as she made it seem. Her mind raced, carefully going through the moments of the evening from when she had heard that Aliya was alive.

Finally, as the doctor nervously adjusted his glasses, she allowed the faintest flicker of satisfaction to cross her features as she reached a consensus with herself.

"Can you tell me how she is? How long has she been here, and what is her health as of today?"

Shelby’s melodic voice almost made the doctor fall into a trance. Shaking the haze from himself, he started,

"Well, since you are the only people who have ever visited her since she was admitted, I might as well give you all the information relating to her. She is quite a pitiful woman. Her records show that she came to us about two years ago and has since been in a coma.

As I had said earlier, we had no idea who she was and only cared for her under a ’Jane Doe’ name. Frankly, there was no hope for her at all, but she started showing signs of life or let me put it this way: she started responding to stimuli a few weeks back, and then finally, she was able to talk to us today.

The only name she could give us was Ian Thronston. It’s a relief that your husband is quite popular on the island, so we reached out immediately."

The doctor paused after this, and Shelby remained quiet, assimilating what she had heard.

’What next?’ She asked herself, and then,

"Thank you for the hard work."

For the next half hour afterwards, the doctor patiently answered all of Shelby’s questions regarding Aliya and the way forward recommended for her health. Currey did not move an inch and appeared not to be listening in on the conversation but took in every statement that was said. He also recognized that this doctor was the same person, who had called in earlier.

’I wonder what Madam Geneva and Chairman Alex would think of this new development?’ Currey thought, then shut his mind’s eye, for he did not want to be there when that happened. Thankfully, he had not been left behind.

’Let Murray handle that!’

In the hospital room, Ian stared helplessly as Shelby walked out of the room. He knew that she was unsettled but-

"I’ll make it up to her, later." He muttered to himself.

In the quiet room, only the rhythmic swish swash of the humidifier and a slight humming noise from a singular monitoring machine were heard; his words clearly met Aliya’s ears. However, her face never showed that she did. Her eyes were glued to Ian as if he would disappear if she blinked.

This was the old Aliya that Ian was used to, and in the past, his heart would have bled, and he would have been distressed over that. Ian would have showered her with lots of doting, even when there had been another man in the picture, but at this time, Ian felt as if his heart was hollow!

Ian still focused on her and gripped the frame as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.

She was alive? ... After all these years.

’How could this be? I mourned her for years, and just when I let go, she appears?! Life has a way of throwing a lot of irony on me!’

Aliya’s mixed emotions were clearly drawn on her face! replaced by a confusing mix of —relief, pain, disbelief... and many others.

"It’s...really.... you," Aliya whispered, her voice hoarse and weak yet unmistakable.

Despite his emotions, Ian was still shocked to see Aliya in the flesh,

"I... didn’t think..." he finally managed, his voice quite steady though. "I thought you were gone. All this time..."

Aliya’s gaze softened briefly at this statement before her eyes flicked downward, catching the glint of a wedding ring on his finger. The brief warmth in her expression was extinguished, replaced by a cold, distant look, which Shelby would have somewhat recognized, had she been there. IT quickly vanished just as suddenly as it had manifested, but Ian caught it.

She swallowed hard, her voice slightly sharper and accusatory now. "You moved on?"

Ian stilled and examined her face, trying to understand what those words meant. At this moment, he really tried to understand his past self.

’What was wrong with me? She clearly had a fiancé, so why was I so stuck up on her?’ The thought came out of nowhere and even startled Ian, especially after Aliya’s last question. He had not expected her to ask that at all.

The accusation she had made unexpectedly lingered in the air, more cutting than any physical strike.

Ian winced. "I—" he started but faltered, running a hand through his hair. He started explaining himself even before he realized,

"I thought you were gone, forever. It wasn’t... easy."

’What am I saying? Wake up Ian!’ He frowned, confused and wondered, what was wrong with him.

Aliya laughed bitterly and weakly as if she had used up all her strength already.

The sound made Ian flinch unconsciously.

"Easy?" Her fingers trembled and fidgeted with the edge of the blanket, her movements jerky.

"I woke up to this—" she gestured at herself, the tubes, the machines. "And you. Married?"

Ian paused, stabilizing himself briefly, then looked directly at Aliya. He did not want to go down this lane of conversation. All Ian had wanted was to check on her and find out what had happened.

In fact, he had not even thought it through. He had not talked to his parents- not that he needed their permission, but what pained him the most was Shelby. He had promised and then relegated that promise. Ian knew that Shelby was insecure in their relationship, but what did he do the minute he found out that Aliya was alive? He up and went to her!

’What a fool I have been! But-’ He stopped the train of his thoughts and then looked down at her,

"...but you also had a committed relationship, Aliya. You had a fiancé."

Ian did not shout. His words were just a statement of fact, but the words felt like he had roared at the top of a mountain to the whole island.

For the first time in a long time, Ian saw a shocked surprise coating Aliya’s face, making it paler than it already was.

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