2 She was his cure

"Bloody hell!"

A startled Caroline staggered back.

'Might be some reflection in his eyes.'

Giving a rational explanation to herself she stepped toward him, pursing a short breath, watching him blankly staring at the ceiling, only this time his eyes looked plain amber.

"Are you feeling any pain, sir? Any trouble while breathing?" She asked inching closer.

He turned his restless eyes towards her. His brows knitted and his fists clenched as if he was in some deep shock. Of course! He had an accident. Why else? She thought to herself but hearing a beep her vigil eyes switched to the vital screen.

Temperature - 39.1 degrees Celsius

"Damn…"

Caroline cursed as she skipped to his bed, fearing he might enter hyperthermia. She lifted his wrist with one hand while picking up the syringe with the other when something unusual happened. His temperature lowered immediately by almost one degree, to the point she thought the machine was faulty.

But even though his temperature had lowered, she could see his eyes turning red as he restlessly scanned the room. For a moment she thought of pausing and explaining everything to the patient, but she was more concerned about his temperature.

Distraught, Caroline let go of his hand and approached the vital screen only to blink mid-way. The temperature began to rise up again!

Pa! Pa!

Caroline tapped the screen, thinking something was wrong but everything seemed alright. His temperature should be correct!

"Where am I...?" His deep voice echoed in the room.

"Sir, you are at the Seattle High hospital, and I am your attending doctor. It looks like you have some internal infection," she said calmly, finding it as the only probable cause, and held his wrist again; the syringe with medication still between her fingers.

"Seattle? As in earth?"

"Erm… yeah!" she replied calmly holding his wrist, even though his question baffled her. I mean Seattle? As in Washington? Now that's a valid question. But who asks about the earth? The moment her fingers touched his skin, he closed his eyes, his face portraying a strange relief and the machine stopped beeping.

Weird!

But weirdness was something that she was habituated with, dealing on a daily basis.

She quickly dashed towards the drug trolley, wanting to switch the medication but the machine started to beep again, showing a temperature spike. Biting her lower lip, she stood between him and the trolley and deliberated whether to give him the dosage or not. 

"Are you done experimenting with me?" he asked casually with his brows knitted.

She heard his voice, but ignored him and his gaze, as her mind was busy thinking about a logical explanation for this. Lowering her body, she leaned over him. Her long hair swung across both her shoulders, which she had forgotten to tie up in a rush, and it grazed lightly over his chest as she tried to check his central line. But everything seemed right except for the reading on the monitor, which showed his temperature back to normal.

A gentle frown spread on her face, for this, was something unexpected.

"It's not the medicine. It's you!" His voice interrupted her puzzled thoughts. That insanely deep voice almost sent a buzz through her spine. And those slightly hooded eyes. He was looking at her as if he wanted to reach her very soul. But she instantly felt like flicking his forehead, as this was not the first time that she was hearing a cheesy comment from a patient.

Keeping her calm, she pinched the space between her brows and asked, "Uhmm, Sir? Can you tell me what's going on with your body? Do you feel less feverish now?"

And saying that she placed her hand on his arm and then removed it after two seconds and pointed at the vital screen.

'No beep'

'Beep'

'No beep'

'Beep'

"See?" She asked.

"I see the pattern doctor, but nothing is wrong with me… You can, you can just stop," and he shifted his gaze to the wall in front of him, before stealing a glance at her.

"Sir!" she said and took a dramatic pause, "the vitals speak otherwise!"

"I don't know then. Maybe you can tell me what is wrong with me because I don't even know how I got here."

"Sir, you were brought in here with an open wound. Do you want me to call in anybody for you?"

"Open wound?" he exclaimed.

"Well, that's what the chart said. But I didn't find any injury on your body. So please let me know if you are facing any congestion in your chest because we couldn't find a proper pulse earlier."

He tilted his head a bit. "Then maybe you should check it again as I feel much better now."

"Of course, I would. I am the doctor here!" Caroline's mouth twisted briefly into a cheeky smile as she took her right palm and placed it on his chest, her eyes looking expectantly at the vital monitor. But before the monitor screen could show his pulse, she could feel his heart pounding inside his chest.

Ba-Dum!

Ba-Dum!

'No way!'

Immediately pulling her stethoscope, she placed it on his chest and could hear a distinctive rhythmic beat. Her eyes were split wide open in surprise.

"I told you, I am fine. There is nothing wrong with me. I do not need all these medications." And saying that, he removed the C-line and IV from his body and propped himself to sit upright on the bed.

"How can the machine give a right reading, when I am close to you?" she muttered and gently tried to push him back on the bed, but she couldn't budge him an inch. "You Sir! You have to stop moving. We are not done till I figure this out. Let me call for some assistance."

Giving him a stern look, she walked towards the door when he reached out, catching her hand.

"Wait!... Don't go."

He had grasped her elbow from behind, his fingers sinking softly into the soft supple skin of hers. Perplexed, she turned, and when she looked at him, she couldn't help but feel bad, seeing him look down with sadness. Even his voice sounded wronged and pained.

"It might be too much to ask but please just forget what happened. I am really fine. I will leave now, and we will never see each other again. Can you please keep this a secret?"

Caroline frowned that instant upon listening to the 'never' part, not knowing why. She was about to reply, but the door was slammed open as Erica entered the room dragging the ECHO machine, her back facing them both.

He immediately released her hand, and she crossed it behind her back in a hurry, ignoring the ghost of his touch that still lingered on her skin.

Taking two steps inside, Erica announced while dragging that machine, "Carol, Dr. Van is available. His patient is stable now. He asked if you need some cover."

She wanted to say yes, but the look in his eyes forced her to deliberate her words.

"Erm… I think I can handle this by myself."

"You sure! You will be running two days straight without sleep!"

"Uh…Huh!" Caroline replied absent-mindedly as she found the expression on his face change upon seeing the ECHO machine. It was clear that there was something wrong with his body, which he was hell-bent on hiding from others.

"Erm… Erica, can you place the ECHO machine back where it was! We don't need it right now. Let's schedule it for later. He needs a bit of rest now." 

Surprised, Erica turned back and found the patient, lying comfortably on the bed.

"Right! Nothing can go wrong with your healing hands Carol," she spoke with a smile on her face, happy to see that the man had recovered and dragged the ECHO machine out.

The moment Erica shut the door behind her, Caroline turned towards him, her hand gripping the footboard of the bed. "I'm a doctor, and there is only so much I can do for you. I can't let you go just like that, especially with such symptoms. If not others, at least let me treat you. What is there that you are trying to hide? Are you part of some secret medication trial? Any NDA you have signed? Whatever it is, you can let me know. We have an amazing legal team which will help you ..."

"Please," he cut her off. "Just think as if I never arrived here. And it would be better if you stay away from me. Away from all this."

This?

Really This?

"As much as I feel for you sir, I can't do that. Let me just run some basic tests and once I am assured that you are completely fine, you can go. Your reports will be absolutely confidential. Just stay here at least for a day and let me monitor you."

He stayed silent for a moment, his eyes looking at her face reverently. Then he just nodded his head.

"Great! Then I will ask my resident to shift you to the general ward."

And he nodded again.

"Don't move then, I will be right back!" She said and walked towards the door but the sound of the howling wind halted her pace. Skeptical, she turned and watched the window panes rattle. Her fingers clenched the fabric of her pajamas as she saw his sheet lying unattended on the floor; his bed empty.

The gushing wind blasted on her face, spilling a faint earthy smell of the rain.

He was gone!

Definitely gone!