135 Parental Pressure (2)

The elevator ride took forever, and Iris couldn't help feeling awkward. Levi just stood there like everything was normal, yet there was nothing normal about this situation. Not once had she entered such a place, and now she was going to the top floor…

When they finished the ride, she almost ran out of the miniature space. The moment she did though, dozens of eyes bore into her. Everyone on the floor looked up at her in surprise. Most soon returned to their work, but a few remained staring, then leaned over to whisper something to their colleagues.

Levi led her through the many isles into an office. It was closed off from the main area, but had glass walls, so everything inside could be seen.

"This is Mr. Hemming's office. Please wait here until he comes back."

She bobbed her head in agreement, feeling like this was a horrible, horrible idea. The man soon left, and she was left all alone under the scrutiny of the whole floor. The people's glances were surreptitious, trying to remain unnoticed, but when everyone was doing this, there was no way she wouldn't become aware of it.

With a sharp turn of her head, she looked away. It wasn't good for her heart to see them watching her, judging. Weren't they supposed to be working? Couldn't they at least pretend more convincingly?

Her hands around the phone tightened until they were white, but she didn't turn around. This was for an important reason. After this, she wasn't going to come around here ever again. Thus, it didn't matter what these people thought of her.

At this moment, the door was thrown open, and she saw Kyro barging in. He looked mightily pissed, smoke almost coming out of his ears.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, or more like demanded in a growl-like voice, the instant he closed the door.

His extreme reaction threw her off. She had expected him to be in a hurry, to grab the phone from her, but this… What was this situation?

While her mind tried to get over the quandary, Kyro came crowding over her. "What got you thinking you could come here?"

She bunched up, feeling the pressure triple. Finding it hard to even say a word, she raised the phone in her hands.

That took Kyro aback for a moment. He didn't instantly reach for it, but his expression eased a bit. "You came to bring it to me?"

"Your mom called," she finally said, locating back her courage. This was Kyro, the guy she knew well. Even though he sometimes acted cold and uncaring, he had a heart; otherwise, how could she not have been thrown out on the street for this long? "Your father collapsed."

"What?" Kyro's face paled and he swept the phone from her hands. Not a moment later, he was already holding it to his ear. "Mom?" he asked when she answered on the first ring.

"Kyro! You finally answer! Are you okay? Is everything fine? I was so worried, so worried."

"Yes, just got my phone. Where are you?"

"In the Open Hands Private Hospital, outside the third operation table on the fourth floor. Are you coming? Can you? I know you work, but… but… I'm so worried. It happened so suddenly! We were talking, then I went to let Queen into the room from outside, and when I returned he was already on the floor, dead-like! I was away just for half a minute, no more! How could it have happened?"

Kyro listened to the never-ending stream of words for a few minutes, not showing anything on his face, then said, "Stay there, I'll be there as soon as I can. Call me if anything changes."

"Be safe, don't speed. Please, I wouldn't be able to survive losing both of you," his mother said, her voice choking on the last words as she started crying.

"You're not gonna lose anyone," Kyro said firmly, already walking to the door. "I'll be safe, and dad will make through. He's a fighter, you know that."

"Yes," she agreed with a sob, and they ended the call.

The next moment Kyro flew out the door, and Iris had to almost run to keep up with him. In the elevator, he didn't say a word. All his attention was focused on glaring a hole in the lower corner of the box.

They went straight to the underground garage, and Iris took the passenger's seat in his car. She wasn't certain he wanted her around at such a moment, but she didn't really wish to be left behind. And he wasn't saying anything.

When they reached the hospital, he jumped out like there was a fire in the car, and this time she had to really run after him. It was pointless, though. In the end, she was forced to ask a passing nurse for directions.

Once she came close, she saw Kyro holding his mom, who was crying and speaking to him in a shaky voice. Her voice wasn't loud, but since they were the only ones in this corridor, it reached far and Iris could hear almost all of it.

She stopped a good distance away, not wishing to intrude upon the family moment. They had more important things at the moment when dealing with her, and so she stayed as far as she could without losing Kyro from her sights.

When his father was rolled out of the operating room and sent to a private ward, she ghosted after everyone. There was nothing happening and in time her legs started to ache, so she found a bench to sit down. At one point a nurse came over to ask what she was doing, and she was forced to explain with more than a little embarrassment that she came with that man over there, just wasn't a close family member. After that, no one came to bother her anymore.

Some time later, she heard a noise by her side. Opening her sleepy eyes, she saw Kyro looking at her while sitting next to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked, yawning. "You should be over… " Her head bobbed in the general direction of the ward.

"The visiting time is over, we should go back home."

"Mhm…" Her eyes closed for a moment, wishing to go back to sleep. "Right…"

"Get up, you sleepy head," he said with a faint smile, standing up himself and pulling her up. Her coordination wasn't yet awake, and she almost fell down, but he caught her, holding her still until she got her bearings back.

Iris' cheeks heated up, and she pushed him away. "I'm fine," she muttered, shaking the last remnants of sleep from her head. Apparently getting embarrassed was a quick way to push the brain into motion, skipping over all the various states of I'm-awake-but-not-really.

Kyro didn't hold onto her, and she breathed an internal sigh of relief, but then he leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, and thank you." His voice was low and velvety, and a shiver ran down her neck. Her breath caught, and she turned to him, wide-eyed.