Chapter Sixteen

Jacel moved restlessly. Every now and then her eyes glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand next to her bed. One o'clock in the morning. She took a deep breath and straightened her body again. It felt like her body wasn't working according to her brain's commands. She knew full well that she wanted to sleep soon, but her body had other plans. The same thing happened when the incident happened this afternoon – in Kevin's room.

Arrgh! Jacel rubbed her face in frustration.

The incident was completely beyond her expectations. Oh, even she never thought that Kevin would kiss her. Especially when her brain commands and her body's work don't work in sync.

When Kevin kisses her, she wants to push the boy and maybe slap him, then goes to her room and won't come out even if Kevin begs to forgive her. However, what happened was the opposite. She didn't move to resist Kevin's kiss and she didn't actually return the kiss either. Well, she just stood stiff and enjoyed the soft touch of Kevin's lips.

Jacel suddenly touched her lips. "Oh, shit!"

Then she pulled the blanket up to cover her entire body. Tonight, she will not be able to sleep and she must prepare a good excuse if Kevin asks about her dark circles.

*****

Jacel occasionally glanced at Kevin who was finishing his cereal. Well, Kevin is not used to having breakfast with rice, so she has to provide Kevin with bread or cereal. It was very quiet that morning. Kevin just said good morning and after that no one spoke between them.

She looked at her rice bowl and took a deep breath. She didn't like the atmosphere at the dinner table. Too quiet.

"Mom just called me."

Jacel suddenly looked at Kevin. "And? Then?"

Kevin still didn't look at her. His gaze was fixed only on the cereal bowl, which was almost empty. "They will arrive in Manila tonight. Around nine o'clock at night. You want to pick them up at the airport?"

"Eh?"

"Or I can go alone. Besides, none of us already have a driver's license, do we?" said Kevin again.

Jacel blinked a few times. "I will go. We can call Uncle. He used to work with us, but…" Jacel's words trailed off, causing Kevin to glance at her slightly. "I'll call Uncle. Let's go after dinner, okay?"

Kevin took a deep breath and nodded. And for the first time this morning, Jacel smiled.

*****

"Hey! You have to go to the hospital, Blaze Schift!" Jae orders.

However, the man ignored him. Always ignoring him, to be precise. Even Benice did not succeed in persuading her brother to go to the hospital just to have the wound on his arm checked.

Jae hissed in annoyance when Blaze ignored him and preferred to take care of Lowells Group's documents. "Hey, Blaze Schift!! You have to go to the hospital or I will…"

Blaze suddenly raised his head and glared at Jae. "Or what will you do? Jae Legarda."

"Or I'll call Hans to bring the medical equipment here to check on your wound. eh?! Which one do you choose?" said Jae.

Blaze re-read the document in front of him. "Neither. And I'm not afraid of all your threats, Jae Legarda."

Jae pressed the back of the neck. Oh, it feels like facing Blaze's stubbornness is more difficult than solving a divorce case by fighting over child custody. He is often angered by the behavior of his co-workers.

"Hey, you can't see that hand of yours, eh? Look at the bandages!! Your wound must be huge. You've even changed the bandage three times today, haven't you?! Come on, Blaze, don't be stubborn," Jae grumbled.

"No, Jae. Go back to your own room and finish the cases you're working on."

Well, it seems that he has to do a last resort to make the man obey. The man took out his cell phone and looked for a contact number. Blaze glanced at him slightly. "Jae, what are you doing? Who are you calling?"

Jae smirked. "Just watch, Lawyer Schift."

"Oh, Lawyer Reyes. Sorry to bother you. But I'm having a little trouble."

Blaze hissed in annoyance when Jae mentioned Lawyer Reyes's name.

"Actually, Blaze had a bit of an accident. His hand was injured and the blood continued to flow. But he was very stubborn about going to the hospital. So can you persuade him?" said Jae while looking at him.

Blaze threw his pen in disgust. Jae is really sneaky.

"You want to talk to him? Oh, wait a minute." Then Jae handed him his cellphone with a triumphant smile.

"You're going to die, Jae Legarda," Blaze hissed as he took the phone.

Blaze touched his right temple while listening to Lawyer Reyes's long words telling him to go to the hospital. Hell, it doesn't feel very comfortable. He has always been treated like that by Lawyer Reyes so he sometimes feels bad for other fellow lawyers.

Jae still continues to pay attention to Blaze who seems to nod obediently to Lawyer Reyes's every word. After a few minutes, the man returned the phone to its owner. "So…?"

"You have to accompany me to the hospital. Worse, we have to meet Hans Reyes," Blaze said.

Jae just rounded his mouth. Maybe he shouldn't have called Lawyer Reyes, otherwise they would have gone to see Hans in the end.

*****

Hans smiled faintly when he saw Blaze with Jae in the hospital lobby. However, he quickly removed the smile and walked over to the two of them. He took a deep breath and put on a serious expression when he looked directly at Blaze. "Is there anything I can help you with? Dad just said you would come, Blaze."

Blaze glanced at Jae with disgust. "Treat my wound," he said, showing his bandaged arm.

Hans was quite surprised to see the bandage wrapped around Blaze's arm. He could tell that the wound was quite serious. If not, how would the lawyer go to the hospital – specially to meet him in person like this. "Alright, looks like we have to go to the ER. Jae, if you don't mind, you just wait here."

"Huh? Wait here? But…" Jae glanced at Blaze briefly.

Blaze sighed. "Just wait here, Jae. I will be right back."

Hans then showed the way to ER. Jae now only looked at Blaze who followed Hans's steps. He then sat on one of the empty chairs. He took a deep breath and looked around the hospital lobby.

"Hahh… He already has an established job in Germany, why should he go back to Manila and start over? Moreover, he came home together with the end of Hailey and Blaze's relationship. Everything happened suddenly," Jae muttered to himself.

While in ER, Hans is now opening Blaze's bandage. Very carefully, he removed the bandage and noticed the wound on Blaze's left hand. He glanced at the man. "Well, I know you're a strong man, but I didn't expect you to be able to endure this pain."

"Not as painful as people think," said Blaze.

"Is that true?"

Then Hans took a cotton swab and started cleaning the Lawyer's wound. Every now and then Blaze flinched because the antiseptic medicine felt sore in his wound. Hans smirked. "Not as painful as people think, huh?"

Blaze snorted. "Do not talk too much. Just get it done quickly. I still have to get back to the office."

"Very well, Lawyer Schift."

Hans continued to treat Blaze's wound. After the wound was clean, he gave medicine to prevent the wound from getting worse. He tried not to hurt the man too much. Oh hell, doesn't hurt too much how? he could clearly see his expression which was holding back the pain when he applied the medicine.

"Sorry," Hans mumbled quietly.

Blaze, of course, was surprised to see the doctor's attitude. It seems, Hans is not the type of person who will say "sorry". He even predicted that Hans would make fun of him by saying that as a man, he couldn't stand the pain. This made him now pay attention to Hans, who was busy wrapping his wound with a new bandage.

"I don't think there's a need for stitches, but you should change the bandage often. Maybe once every two days you have to come to the hospital. Just in case it's not as bad as I thought. Understand?"

Hans then raised his face. Suddenly, he could see Blaze's face very clearly at once close to his face. For a moment, Hans felt that his breathing had stopped. But he soon came to his senses and took a step back.

"I understand. And thank you, Hans," Blaze said with a slight smile.

Hans nodded. Blaze then left ER – leaving the doctor, who was now sitting limp on the bed. His hand touched his chest. He took a deep breath. Oh God.

*****