Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
MICHAEL
After dinner with my sister, where Alice and Azara exchanged numbers to set up a time where they could grab brunch, we hopped on the Tube and made our way to Amanar while Alice left in the opposite direction to meet her friends from boarding school.
They were grabbing drinks at a local pub before she’d head home to celebrate the rest of her birthday with our parents. They always stayed up until midnight struck and ate her favorite food while watching her favorite movies.
As soon as we arrived, Azara and I split and I dove straight into work. She took charge of the ward while I locked myself away in an office room. We were working an overnight shift, which meant that unless there was an emergency, we wouldn’t be operating.
Which only made my whirling thoughts worse.
I desperately needed to lose myself in the familiar rhythmic cadence that came with being in the operating theater, but instead, I’d been glued to a screen for the past three hours, going through referrals and answering calls from emergency departments across the trust.
My sister had called me, probably to talk about how much she’d loved Azara, but I’d ignored it and told myself I’d call her tomorrow when my thoughts weren’t in such a mess.
I’d tried to push everything to the side and focus on the job because people counted on me. But nothing seemed to work. Diving into a case only distracted me for a few moments, but the minute it was done, the rampant thoughts came flooding back with a debilitating force.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back in my chair. If I thought screaming was in any way therapeutic and I wasn’t in a hospital, I’d certainly do it. Instead, I let out a frustrated groan and pushed myself up from my seat.
I had to occupy my mind in any way before my mind drove me mad. Azara meeting my sister shouldn’t have been this disconcerting, but it had put things into perspective. Things I’d been ignoring for far too long and if I wasn’t careful, I’d be met with irreparable consequences.
After locking my computer, I grabbed my DECT phone from the charging stand, and decided to head for the closet, hoping the space would offer me some of the solace it had provided me in the past.
Or maybe you’re hoping she’s there, my mind suddenly chimed in, unsolicited.
I shook the thought away, but just as I neared the lifts, I caught sight of Azara at the nurse’s station. Despite the whirlwind that had been consuming my mind since dinner earlier, seeing her eased some of the overwhelming weight I’d been carrying—like it always did.
I headed in her direction instead, hoping to bask in the quiet serenity only she’d ever managed to bring me. But as soon as she spotted me, she rushed over like she’d been looking for me.
Except the look on her face wasn’t the one I’d become privy to since things had changed between us. It wasn’t even the scowl she’d constantly worn when we first started working together.
Her face was drained of color and her features were drawn tight with worry. My stomach lurched at the sight and I closed the narrow distance between us, my hands instinctively reaching out to examine her.
“Azara, what’s wrong? Did something happen to you?” I fired each question as my hands roamed over her body for any sign of injury. “Is it your sugar? I have a drawer in my office full of things for you if you forgot like last t?—”
She placed her hands over mine to still them. “I’m fine,” she said, and relief should have washed over me, but the look in her eyes combined with the uncertainty in her voice betrayed her. She hesitated for just a moment, before speaking again.
“Alice is here.”
I frowned, confused. “What about Alice?”
Why would my sister be here this late? She rarely ever visited—she hated the smell of hospitals—and it was almost 11:00 p.m. She should already be home by now.
Besides, Albert was meant to pick her up from the pub, but perhaps he’d had an emergency and he couldn’t. Though, if that were the case, my father would have gone instead even if he hadn’t driven himself anywhere in years.
But my sister did hate inconveniencing our father, and might have come here in the hope that I could take her home or sort something out for her. I could probably easily slip out and have Azara cover for me, while I drove my sister home. It was late at night and I’d be back within the hour.
“Michael, baby,” Azara’s voice cut through my thoughts, firm and commanding.
She’d never called me that. Baby .
But I knew it was only to get my attention. To soften the blow I knew was coming. As I focused on her, I knew her next words would reveal the only real and plausible reason why Alice was here. Why Azara looked so frazzled trying to find me.
But it just couldn’t be.
My little sister couldn’t…
“There’s been an accident. Alice is in Trauma 3.”
“Alice? Trauma 3?” I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper. The air around us felt thick and taking a breath became laborious.
We only used Trauma 3 for critical cases. For when a patient came into the emergency unconscious and required resuscitation.
Someone spoke to me and a familiar hand squeezed mine, but their words were a muffled noise my brain couldn't process, and for a moment everything around me faded to a blur.
But that only lasted for a fleeting second before the world around me sharpened.
I wasn’t standing on the surgical ward anymore. Instead, I stared through a glass door as doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists swarmed my sister’s motionless body.
“Michael, you can’t—” someone called after me, but I’d already slammed the button to open the sliding door and marched inside the room, ignoring everything but the desperate need to reach Alice.
“What happened?” I demanded, my breath ragged in my chest. My throat was closing up as I asked my next question. “What’s her status?”
I was trying to remain composed and use the years of training to keep myself collected, but the sound of machines humming and beeping, their rhythmic noise usually calming, now only sent cold dread down my spine.
The team stayed focused on working on bringing her back, but one of the nurses turned and realized who I was. She walked over to me, gently ushering me out. “Dr. Young, you can’t be here,” she said firmly.
“Like hell I can’t,” I shot back, my voice biting. “That’s my sister. I need to know what’s going on.”
“Family members aren’t allowed in here,” she replied, standing her ground.
Rationally, I knew she was right. I’d said the same thing to patients' family members in the past. But an irrational anger replaced the despair I felt at not being able to get my sister back.
This was all my fault. I should have answered her call earlier, maybe she wouldn’t be in this position if I’d just answered her bloody call. She might have needed me and I was too busy thinking about Azara and myself when my sister was laying somewhere unconscious and not breathing.
I needed to fix it.
I needed to bring her back.
Before I could respond, a hand softly touched my arm and I instinctively jerked it away, whipping around to face who it was, but my vision was blurry with unshed tears. The simmering rage dulled momentarily when her unmistakable voice reached my ears.
“Michael.” She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me out of the room, but I stayed frozen in place. “You need to let them work, I’ll get all the information you need. Just please, come with me.”
My pulse drummed louder in my ears as I struggled to draw in a breath. Fuck.
“I have to do something,” I muttered, my voice barely audible. “I need to help her. I can’t just stand here and?—”
Azara’s hands cupped my cheeks and I inhaled sharply. “And the best way you can help her is by letting them do their job. Just like you always do yours.”
Her words were calm, measured, but, in that moment, nothing about this situation felt like that. I felt as though everything was slipping between my fingers like quick sand and it was all my fault.
I glanced back at the team, still working around Alice, and stood there for what felt like an eternity when someone called out, “Sinus rhythm.”
Then, the room tumbled into a different kind of chaos.
I closed my eyes and hung my head back. It didn’t mean Alice was out of the woods, but I’d never been more relieved to hear those two words.
Azara tugged at my hand again and this time, I followed her out without objecting and the moment we were out of the trauma room, I slumped against the wall and sank to the linoleum floor.
The doctor that had led her code stood above me, but I couldn’t find it in me to stand. So I just gave him a curt nod to give me his report. “Your sister is stable and is expected to make a full recovery, but she did sustain critical injuries that we’ll need to monitor over the next few days.”
He didn’t wait for a response and I watched as they rolled Alice out to bring her to the intensive care unit, the doctor following behind.
I’d find enough strength to go upstairs and stay by her side but I just needed a minute. I rested my head against the cool wall, the weight of everything that just happened pressing down on me.
What the fuck just happened?
How did she even get here?
Before countless questions spiraled in my mind, Azara sat next to me, wrapped her arms around me and pulled my head down until it rested against her chest. I let out a shuddering exhale as I sunk into her.
“Baby,” she whispered softly, her voice laced with a tenderness that nearly broke me. “She’ll be okay. I’m right here.”
The previous tightness that had been suffocating my ribcage, slowly loosened as Azara rubbed circles on my back with one hand as the other brushed my hair back.
I wouldn’t be able to tell you the last time I’d shed a tear, but as we sat there, the woman I was falling in love with holding me in her arms, a stream of quiet tears fell down my cheeks. My sister was everything to me, she was the light in our family, and the mere thought of having almost lost her crashed down over me.
“You’re okay,” Azara said quietly as she pulled my face toward her, cupping it between her hands. She kissed each side of my temples before making me meet her gaze. “She’s stable. She’ll make a full recovery,” she repeated the doctor’s words and for some reason, coming from her, I believed them.
She wouldn’t lie to me.
Not like I was.
But I didn’t have enough time to relish in her earnestness when a voice shouting echoed down the corridor. I instantly stiffened and my stomach lurched at the unmistakable voice of my father.
“Where is my daughter?” he shouted. “If you don’t let me pass, I will have all of your jobs before you can even blink. Now, show me where my daughter is.”
The sound of his oxfords grew louder with each passing second, and I moved to put some distance between Azara and I, but it was already too late.
I watched him round the corner, his cold gaze catching sight of me, and his expression darkened as he approached us. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, bracing myself from impact, before getting to my feet.
“Seungwon.” His voice was a low growl, each syllable laced with authority. The same tone he always adopted just before berating me for how much I’d disappointed him. “Where is your sister? These incompetents keep telling me I can’t come back here when I am her father . Tell me what happened.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I was so emotionally spent from the past few minutes that my mind struggled to keep up with all these conflicting jarring emotions.
Now is not the time to lose your words, I reprimanded myself. And the worst part was that, beyond what the doctor had relayed, I had no bloody idea what actually fucking happened.
“Your daughter was involved in a pedestrian traffic collision. A young woman witnessed the accident and immediately called the paramedics. The police are still searching for the perpetrator, but your daughter is stable and has just been transferred to the intensive care unit for monitoring,” Azara explained, and my father aimed his ire on her.
“And who are you?” His tone was biting, and it took every ounce of willpower not to punch my father for talking to her that way. I would come to her defense, but I knew Azara could handle it herself. I’d deal with my father privately afterward.
“I’m Dr. Ziani,” she said, unflinching. “I was in the emergency room for a consult when your daughter was brought in.”
If my father had connected the dots on who she was, there was no flicker of recognition that flashed in his expression. “Seungwon, a word?” he said in Korean, pointedly disregarding Azara.
If I thought he was angry before, him dismissing Azara so callously made it clear I’d only seen a fraction of his fury.
Picking up on the unspoken cue, Azara subtly brushed her little finger against mine in a quiet gesture of support, before stepping way, leaving us alone.
I steeled myself, placing my hands behind my back as I faced my father squarely. I’d already shown him too much vulnerability by being found sitting on the floor and comforted by Azara. If I gave him any more ammunition, I’d never get out of this conversation alive.
For what felt like the longest thirty seconds, my father simply stared at me, the look in his eyes hardening with each passing second. I wasn’t sure which topic he’d settled on first, but I steeled myself mentally, determined not to stumble over my words again.
Once had been more than enough.
“How did this happen?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, keeping my voice steady. It wasn’t the response I wanted to give, nor the one he wanted to hear, but there was one thing my father valued more than our oath, it was honesty. “But I’ll handle it.”
I’d find the coward who put my sister in the hospital and deal with him myself. I’d never been very fond of violence, but whoever came for people I love would have to answer for their crimes.
“And Seungwon,” my father started, casually shoving his hands in his pockets, but there was nothing casual or warm about his tone.
My dad had slipped on his role as an Elder. It was clear I was no longer speaking to the man who’d raised me outside of the House, but his next words sent a glacial current through my veins.
“You know better than to embarrass me or our family name. You know the rules, and I’d prefer not to have to implement the consequences if you fail. Don’t forget what’s at stake and,” he paused, glancing over his shoulder to where Azara stood with other doctors. “Get rid of it before it becomes a distraction that’ll make you meet your end.”
My father had never explicitly threatened me before. Never even talked about the House so publicly and after weeks of my loyalty shifting to a differing priority, I knew that I’d fooled myself for too long.
That if I didn't do exactly as I was told, the consequences would be even worse than I could begin to imagine. So I was left with only one answer.
“Understood.”