Chapter 28 The Audacity Of Shaun
Moriah was spooked upon opening her eyes as she was greeted by a pair of blue eyes staring at her.
"Hi," Ethan said in his raspy morning voice. Moriah blinked, unable to say anything to him.
Ethan had been sitting at the bedside, waiting for her to wake up.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him as she didn't realize that she was in their bedroom. All she knew was she was still in Cindy's apartment.
Before he could formulate an answer to her question, she spoke again, "Where is Cindy, why did she allow you here?" The displeasure in Moriah's voice made Ethan kill the urge to caress her face.
"I took you home last night as you have a fever," Moriah looked at her surroundings and realized that he indeed took her home.
Home? Is she really home? Could she call this place home? What is home? Where is her home?
She got up abruptly and everything around her was spinning. Ethan quickly pulled her in his arms when Moriah shut her eyes and clasped her hands on either side of her head.
"Easy, you still have a fever," he felt Moriah 's body stiffened like a board when he stroked her back.
Hot tears streamed down her face while the news about him and Hazel came across her mind. The emotional pain she felt was more excruciating than a sword piercing a heart. The realization that she loves him made the betrayal unbearable.
"About the news," he broke the silence, "I took her with me on the business trip as she's my secretary," Moriah freed herself from his hold and glanced at him.
Moriah said nothing for the longest time, and when she spoke her words almost sent him to his knees in misery.
"Let's get divorced, I know you don't love me and I don't love you either," Somehow her words sounded hollow and untrue, ringing with bravado and not much conviction.
She rested her back on the headboard and shut her eyes, afraid of the truth he might discover in her gaze.
He trained his brooding eyes on Moriah's pale face.
"Your father made me promise that I won't divorce you, so as long as he's alive, never mention it," he said in a controlled voice, his face dark with tightly leashed anger. He stood up and left their bedroom.
Moriah sobbed as soon as the door closed.
Why did he hate her so much and make her life a hell? What did she do to him that made him loathe her that much? What did she owe him that he was unwilling to give her freedom back?
Her agony worsened her fever and by the time Ethan came back to their bedroom, Moriah was shivering and speaking incoherently because she was hallucinating.
He called George through the intercom, "Get the car ready!" He barked his order.
He carried Moriah in his arms and hurriedly went down the stairs.
On their way to the hospital, Ethan didn't stop whispering in her ears as if he was chanting a prayer. Not a person knew what he said those times, even the person he intended those words to didn't know it since she was unconscious. Only he knew about it.
"We're here, sir," the chauffeur announced when he realized that Ethan didn't notice that they had already arrived at the hospital as he was engrossed whispering into Moriah.
Ethan's presence carrying his wife in his arms attracted many eyes. In an instant the nurses responded as soon as they saw Ethan with a woman in his arms.
They wheeled Moriah into the emergency room. The doctor and nurses gave a knowing look when they saw that it was Moriah, who had been rushed to the hospital.
Ethan didn't know how long he had been pacing the hallway. He didn't mind the eyes that were watching him as his mind focused on his wife inside the emergency room.
After some time, Moriah was taken to her private suite.
"How is she, doctor?" Ethan asked once the nurses left the room.
"Ms Chen..." Ethan eyed the doctor ferociously. "Er... Mrs Miller might have a psy - psychogenic fever" beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of the doctor, "There's no sign of infection, but we did a blood test to make sure that she has no infection," he said as he wiped his sweat.
He can't afford to offend Ethan knowing that he is one of the shareholders of the hospital.
"If she is indeed clear from infection, her fever was triggered by stress," the doctor paused for a while, studying Ethan's reaction before continuing, "Please excuse me so I could check on other patients."
Ethan sat on the bed beside Moriah, he reached out to caress her face, but halted midway as he heard a knock on the door.
Considering that Moriah needed rest, instead of bellowing for the person to come in, he opened the door.
The three piece suit in George's hand, made Ethan suddenly realize that he was in sweat pants and gray t-shirts. It dawned on him that he was panic stricken that he didn't realize what he was wearing.
"Come in, George," he said in a soft voice, careful not to wake Moriah.
George gestured for the other servants to come in. They brought his shoes and toiletries, Moriah's things and food for lunch.
Ethan lips twitched at George's initiative.
He likes it when his servants take initiative to meet his needs without him demanding.
"Thank you, George," Ethan patted George back.
"You're welcome, sir," George said and looked at the pale looking Moriah on the bed. "How is she?"
"She's stressed, she must have been through a lot of things lately...," he left the other half to himself.
"She must be..." George gave Ethan a knowing look.
He was aware of the news making rounds on the internet for the past few days.
His heart ached for Moriah, she must have been so humiliated. Only a few days after she was known to be Ethan's wife, Ethan was seen with another woman. And the photos were clear as day that he had an affair.
She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, until she dazedly heard someone whispering but didn't understand the words. Opening her eyes, she met the familiar white paint of the room and the smell of antiseptic told her that she's currently in the hospital. She had no memory of why she's in the hospital.
"You're awake," Ethan's voice waltzed into her ear like a melody.
She frowned, why she still liked to hear his voice. She should go back to the old Moriah, who hated everything about Ethan.
"You must be hungry," Ethan was about to help her up, but she motioned for him to stop.
She sat up on the edge of the bed and her bare feet dangling.
"Do you need to go to the bathroom?" He asked while he crouched down and put the flip flops on her feet.
Moriah looked away as heat crept into her face at the touch of her husband.
Stepping onto the floor, her knees trembled, Ethan held her arm before she would fall.
"Let me help you," she allowed him to wrap his arm around her waist and didn't refuse his help this time, for she knew how weak she was and afraid to embarrass herself by falling face down.
"Call me if you are done," Ethan left her. After seeing her state several hours ago, he knew better than to agitate her.
A few minutes later he knocked on the door and asked, "Are you done?"
He opened the door and came in when he heard a faint 'yes' from the other side of the door.
"You have to eat so you can regain your strength," he said when he finally settled her on the bed, propping her with pillows.
Ethan was about to feed her, "No need to feed me. My hands are still capable," Her voice quavered as she struggled to keep her emotion in check.
After she ate, Ethan offered her a glass of water as he took away the plate from her.
Moriah spilled some water in her gown when her hand trembled while drinking.
Ethan dabbed a table napkin to seep out the water from her hospital gown.
"Are you okay? Do you want to change your gown?"
All of the sudden the door flung open and Shaun barged into the room, but he froze in his spot when he saw Ethan's hand on Moriah's chest.
"No, I'm fine," Moriah held his wrist to prevent him from dabbing the napkin on her chest.
The room frizzled with tension as the hostility escalated while Ethan and Shaun were having an eye duel.
"Who gave you the right to come here?" Ethan managed to speak despite the tightness of his throat.
"You know that I still have the claim over her heart and that gave me the right to be here," Shaun boldly said as if he was really certain of what he was saying.
He was taking his chance with Moriah now that Ethan had been in the news. And this his chance to reclaim Moriah from him.
Moriah's eyes went wide at the audacity of Shaun. She wondered where he got the courage to say such a thing.