7. "And I hate seeing your face. I wish you had died that night!"
"Done? Impressive. Very impressive." Aiden Knight spoke without a hint of emotion in his voice as he flipped through the endless pages of the file he basically forced me to work on the entire night.
He threw the file on the desk and met my tired eyes. "You look awful, Dr. Aysel." He remarked mockingly.
I sucked in a deep breath. I truly did. I had stayed up the entire night. I had bags under my eyes and was trying to fight back my yawns as I stood before him. I hated paperwork and documentation. I would much rather sacrifice my sleep interacting with patients and taking care of them.
"Can I go now? I have to head to the OPD." I said.
He nodded. "Yes, you can. I have to let you know though that the weekly roster has been changed. You can take a look at it before you go to the OPD."
I frowned slightly. "Why does the change in the roster concern me?"
He smirked. "You can take a look for yourself. But to brief you, you have both morning and night shifts the entire week."
My eyes widened before they narrowed. "What?!"
His smirk only grew. "You can go home to pack some of your stuff and bring it here, once you find some free time."
"Are you out of your mind? How am I going to work 24/7?" I argued.
His gaze hardened, his eyes becoming cold. "Stop forgetting whom you're speaking to. I own this place now. If you have a problem, go write your resignation letter and put it on my desk. I'll gladly sign it."
I stared at him in disbelief. "You're a heartless monster." I uttered hatefully.
He remained unbothered and uncaring. "Tell me something I don't know."
I sucked in a frustrated breath, fisting my hands. "I hate you so much." I uttered through gritted teeth.
Not a sliver of emotion on his face. "You're still here?"
My nostrils flared as I abruptly turned on my heels, rampaging out of his office.
The day flew by fast. There was a lot of patient influx during the day, and I barely had even a few spare minutes in between each patient interaction.
As the patient flow died down by the night, I went to the doctor's room which was empty.
Plopping down on the couch, I held my head in my hands, sighing.
I could not believe that I had to stay at the hospital the entire night.
Not just that night, but the entire week.
Aiden Knight was in dire need of psychiatric help.
He was crazy and ruthless. What even had I done to him?
Why was he going out of his way to emotionally hurt me?
He should have been grateful for all the care I had given him while he was wounded.
The way I put up with his shit. I hated his guts. Stupid, pathetic, thankless man.
My eyelids began to droop, and just as I was about to fall asleep, a loud knock sounded on the door. I sighed frustratedly, looking toward it. The door opened and a colleague's head peeked through.
"Hey..." he opened the door further. "Here's the file for all the documentation of today."
I scrunched my eyebrows together. "What? Why are you giving it to me? Can't someone else do it?"
"I've been told to specifically have you do it." He replied.
I let out another frustrated sigh, nodding. I knew exactly whose order that was. That man was adamant on making my life hell.
I took the file from his hand and watched him leave, before flipping the file open. I inhaled a deep breath as I realised how much work there was.
———
My eyes fluttered open slowly the next day, adjusting to the bright light in the room. The first thing I saw when I completely opened my eyes was a pair of dark brown orbs watching me intently. I blinked in confusion, sitting up straight.
I gasped when I realised that Aiden Knight was standing in front of me, a few feet away, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. I scrambled onto my feet from the couch I had apparently fallen asleep on.
"Sleeping on the job, Dr. Aysel?" Were the first words that cold hearted man spoke.
"I didn't intend to." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.
"Is this your professionalism?" He mocked.
I frowned. "Mr. Knight, it's not like I fell asleep while performing a surgery or while a line of patients waited outside for me. I'm human. Something you clearly aren't."
He raised an eyebrow, amused. "What am I then?"
"I don't know. An alien, a monster, oh wait, I know. The devil." I quipped.
His amusement seemed to pique as a smirk spread on his face. "If that's true, I wouldn't mess with me if I were you."
"But you could never be me. I actually have a conscience and a kind heart." I squabbled.
His smirk stayed. "Go wash your face. Patients are starting to come in, and they'll get a heart attack if they see you like this."
I narrowed my eyes at him, rubbing my forehead. "I also need to eat something." I mumbled to myself.
"You're forbidden to eat anything until you've seen all the patients presenting to the OPD." He commanded.
I gaped at him in shock, my stomach growling before my mouth could protest.
Ridicule swirled in his eyes. "Don't let the patients hear that."
I scowled at him. "They won't if I eat. I didn't even have dinner last night."
"That's not my problem. Go wash your face and sit in the OPD." His tone was harsh and commanding, and with one final cold look at me, he left.
I did as I was told. He was controlling me like a puppet, and I had no choice but to comply.
I felt so exhausted and hungry as I went about my day.
Each second had me cursing Aiden Knight and wishing I could resign.
But then I kept thinking of how difficult it was to find a job those days.
Hospitals were over-saturated and things weren't so easy for junior doctors. I had rent and bills to pay.
As I dealt with the last patient of the day who had been rolled into the ER, Dr. Bailey said I could go rest for a while before being on night duty in the ER. I was extremely grateful for that.
But as I walked to the doctor's room, I felt my vision becoming blurry. Everything around me began to spin. I tried to remain on my feet, but eventually lost my balance, and then everything went dark.
———
My eyes fluttered open slowly. I blinked a few times to clear my vision, seeing a white ceiling above me. Confused, I looked to my side and was surprised to see an IV on my arm.
"Aysel! Thank God, you're awake!" I recognised Eva's voice, and then she came into my line of sight.
"What happened to me?" I asked her softly, watching someone else approach my bed and stand behind her. It was Andrew.
She caressed my head. "My poor friend. Your blood pressure was low. It took us so many efforts to bring it up. Did you not eat today?"
My lips thinned, Aiden Knight coming to mind, anger consuming me. "No, I didn't."
"Why not, Aysel? How are you going to take care of others if you don't take care of yourself?" Andrew said in a chastising tone.
I sucked in a breath. It wasn't my choice. I tried sitting up, but Eva pushed me back.
"You need to rest, Aysel." She asserted.
"I need to report to the ER." I said weakly.
"I'm covering your shift. You stay here. Rest and eat..." She turned to Andrew. "Did you bring her food?" She asked him.
He nodded. "I'll feed her. You go."
"Great," she turned back to me, giving my hand a squeeze. "Take care, Aysel. Okay?"
I nodded, giving her a small smile. "Thank you, Eva. Don't worry about me."
She gave my hand another squeeze, before leaving.
Andrew manoeuvred the head end of the bed upwards, before sitting next to me with a tray of food in his hands. My mouth watered at the sight. I was starving.
He picked up a piece of fruit and brought it to my mouth.
"I can eat on my own, Andrew." I chuckled softly.
"With that IV? I don't think so." He replied,
"Okay fine." I gave in because I was famished. I opened my mouth and let him feed me.
It had only been a few minutes of him feeding me, when someone cleared their throat in the doorway. Andrew and I looked at the source simultaneously.
Dread washed over me as I saw who it was.
Andrew stumbled on to his feet. "M-Mr. Knight. Hello."
Mr. Knight began walking towards my bed, stopping at the edge. "How are you feeling now, Dr. Aysel?" He asked casually, not an ounce of concern in his emotionless eyes.
I looked at him with despise. "I'm alright." I replied curtly.
"Are you her personal nurse?" He diverted his attention to Andrew.
"I—"
"Go to the ER. Dr. Aysel is clearly fine. However, the patients being brought to the ER are not." He said coldly.
"But Mr. Knight—" His cold glare made Andrew shut up. "Okay then..." Andrew turned to me. "Take care, Aysel."
I nodded at him, forcing a smile.
"I'll come back in an hour to take your cannula out, okay?"
I nodded again, and then he left, leaving me alone with the heartless man.
"Does seeing me like this satisfy your toxic ego, Mr. Knight?" I asked him monotonously.
He didn't reply, just started walking closer to me. I watched as he picked up a piece of toast and brought it to my lips. I gaped at him eyes wide as he did. His face remained impassive, his eyes hooded.
I slapped his hand away, causing the piece of toast to fall to the floor. I watched his face morph from shocked to angry, his eyes blazing with fury as he slammed his hand on the bed.
I shook a little, but swiftly composed myself. My own eyes now ablaze with rage as I stared back at him. "What the hell is your problem?" I exclaimed in his face that was too annoyingly close to mine. "What have I done to you?!"
"What have you done to me?" He asked tauntingly through gritted teeth. "The second worst thing someone has ever done to me."
"What are you talking about?" I raised my voice in frustration.
His eyes only glared daggers at me, spewing hatred and rage. No one had ever looked at me that way. With so much hate and unkindness.
"Why do you hate me so much?" I found myself asking, my voice breaking a little. "I'm just a doctor. What have I done for you to come at me like this? What is my fault? That I took some extra time taking your vitals? Or took a bit longer in taking your stitches out? Is that too big of a crime?"
"Shut up. I hate hearing your voice." He grumbled.
I scowled at him. "And I hate seeing your face. I wish you had died that night!" I stilled in surprise as the words left my mouth. Never had I wished that for anyone before. Never had I even thought of wishing death over someone.
An indecipherable emotion flashed in his dark brown orbs. "Me too." He replied, his voice low and emotionless.
My lips parted as the words left his mouth. He moved away from me, giving me room to breathe again. And before I knew it, he had abandoned the room, leaving me enveloped in a feeling of misery and guilt.