Chapter 115: Pick An Option

Emma

She made it. The female doctor from Mrs. Anderson had stepped out after the male doctor, and she had given us a soft nod with a small smile on her face.

My legs had given up on me, leaving me almost falling if not Liam wasn’t fast enough to catch me. I could now feel my heart slowly beating down, and then my shoulders, which slumped immediately.

“Come sit,” Liam advised, but I shook my head, taking in a deep breath and forcing myself to stand independently. The shame slowly crawled back in, but I was more grateful than ashamed. I turned to thank the one person who made it happen, but she was already walking away, swinging her hips gracefully, with her heels echoing through the hallway.

“I’ll speak with her,” Liam muttered, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, but I shook my head.

“That’s my place. Don’t worry, I’m not going to run away,  but I must thank her.”

“Trust me, she doesn’t equate saving a life to the issues between us.”

“Perhaps,” I mumbled and looked back to the emergency room.

“You can’t visit her right now; she would need a few hours of extensive rest. After twenty-four hours, you can return to pay your visit.” The doctor informed, we all nodded, and it was only as the doctor began walking away that I realized I had missed a day of work. I wasn’t even aware where my phone was. I didn’t view their response in the morning because I believed I would respond before the day ended, but it was midnight now, and I had made no such action.

“My phone!” I panicked. I could feel everyone staring at me; perhaps they were confused at my sudden sense of urgency.

“It’s right here,” Liam pulled it out of his pocket, which did fascinate me. How did he get hold of my phone, and how long has he been with it? Either way, I made my way out of the hospital. A cold breeze was hitting my skin as I unlocked my phone. My boss's response was the first to pop up the minute my phone was unlocked. And his message simply read “Call me, now.”

I shivered, imagining the coldness in his face while he typed angrily into his phone keyboard. I inhaled and exhaled, trying not to let this stress me out. Then I dialed the number from his profile, and the call went through immediately. However, there was loud music in the background, and it was impossible to tell if he was speaking or not.

“Uh, Sir?” I took the initiative to begin. The song was fading down, but I still couldn’t tell if he was trying to speak until a few seconds later.

“Ms. Taylor!” He called, voice lively as usual. His voice was always lively, but his immediate switch proving that his previous expression was a fake was what always left me shocked and ignited some sort of fear within me.

“Missed you at work today, so what’s the issue? Is someone dying?”

My lips parted, but I couldn’t process any words to say till after some seconds.

“Yes, a family member of mine was sick, and we had to get her an urgent surgery.”

“Whoa, that must have been a lot. Are you okay?” He asked softly, too soft for someone who had his worker beaten up till he was bleeding was over.

I swallowed and nodded like he was before me. “She’s okay now–”

“So you will be at work today.”

See, the switch was what I was talking about. His voice didn’t turn cold, but the care he laced through his tone was gone like it was never there. I sucked in a breath and responded.

“Yes, I will.” Besides, I wasn’t allowed to greet Grandma for twenty-four hours. Perhaps I could ask for an early leave. But he had hung up the phone before I could say what I wanted, and I didn’t have the guts to call back.

“Who was that?”

My heart jumped, but my body remained still. I turned to Liam, who had walked up to me, tracing his gaze from the phone in my hands to me.

“Work”

He nodded. “You’re taking another day off.” I shook my head in response.

“I’ll return before Granny wakes up, though.”

Liam frowned. Obviously displeased with my response.

“How is that an option in this situation? Did you not inform him about Granny’s health?”

My tongue felt heavy to say the truth; I half felt ashamed. Liam wouldn’t have done that. I’m not saying this as his girlfriend, he wouldn’t have asked someone else who was in my situation to resume work the next day, but then the company I was working for was not the usual kind. It had no name to begin with.

“Are you even hearing yourself? Are you actually going to leave? Do you know how far it is to travel to and fro? Okay, what if she wakes up before you return?” My heart tore at the thought of not being there when Grandma awakens.

I couldn’t respond to Liam’s question. Because he was already right.

“You are not going. So call them back and tell them that.”

I hesitated, my head ducked with Liam boring his eyes at me from the side.

“Emma, is there something I need to know? Do they have something against you?”

I quickly turned to him, shaking my head. “No, I just can’t miss my daily pay.” That wasn’t supposed to slip out.

“Daily pay, a secretary. Speaking of which, why do I not know about the company, no name, no address? It’s almost as if you are working in a ghost company or something.”

“I just can’t miss a day off,” I tried to walk past him and not go further with this conversation, but I forgot that when Liam was in this mood, he never gave up until he got what he wanted.

“Fine then, I’ll take you to work.”

“No, you can’t.”

He gripped my wrist, stopping me from walking away and forcing me to keep my gaze on him.

“Choose to stay here till Granny wakes, or I’ll go with you to that place you call a company.”

Would it be crazy if Liam saw my workplace? What would he do? Above all would my boss let him live after he got an insight into what we do there? Because Liam is sharper and non-ignorant, unlike me.