A Sick Kaia

Once they made it to the parking lot of the main branch of Sabor Sites, Alex pulled out his phone to call Zac. "Zac I need your help getting through the secret entrance," Alex said before hanging up. Alex knew that Zac would be in the building even during odd hours, so he didn't need to worry about bothering Zac.

Alex stepped out of the car and walked over to the passenger side, opening the door. Kaia was fast asleep. Alex looked at her with a small sigh seeing how defenseless she looked while sleeping. He lifted her up in his arms, kicking the door closed with his foot before walking towards the building.

He waited for about three minutes before Zac opened the door. Zac almost froze when he saw Kaia in his arms but he quickly regained his composure and swiftly stepped to the side, holding the door open as Alex stepped in. Zac walked in ahead of him to put in the key for the elevator's top floor. When they arrived, he held the door open for Alex to walk through while carrying the still sleeping Kaia. "What happened, boss?" he asked, as they made it inside Alex's office. Alex looked at him as he walked to the corner of his office setting Kaia down in a huge, almost recliner-like chair. He looked at Zac. "Call one of my family's private doctors and let them know that my wife needs a check-up pronto. Oh, and make sure it's a female doctor." Zac nodded without hesitation before taking his phone out of his pocket and walking outside to make the call.

Alex slipped his jacket off his shoulders and placed it carefully over her Kaia, making sure to tuck her in. He stared at her flushed face and sighed. Initially, he had assumed she was drunk, but he didn't smell any alcohol on her. He knew that she must've overworked herself and the added stress on her body from the night before probably didn't help. He leaned down, gently stroking her hair out of her face. When this whole thing started, he didn't plan on getting attached again. He only thought about getting close to her again. He never knew he would go weak after spending just a few days with her.

Standing straight, Alex walked over to his desk and continued looking through his paperwork as he waited for the doctor to arrive. But for some reason, he couldn't think at the moment. His eyes kept wandering over to Kaia's sleeping form. Unconsciously, he also thought about the secret binder he kept at home and the copy in his desk. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to look at it again despite knowing the contents by heart already, so he pulled out a set of keys and opened his desk drawer. He sifted through some folders and documents on top before reaching the bottom and pulling out the binder. Hearing a knock on the door, he looked up to see Zac with the doctor behind him. Alex quickly shoved the binder into the desk drawer and closed it, forgetting to re-lock the drawer as he shoved the set of keys back inside his pockets. He stood up and walked over to greet his family's private doctor. They both walked over to Kaia before the doctor began a careful examination.

Taking a second glance towards Kaia's face the doctor pressed her lips together. This woman seemed really familiar. It wasn't her job to be nosy, so the doctor immediately started by checking Kaia's blood pressure and lungs. Hmm...an irregular heartbeat, she thought. The doctor looked back at Alex. "What are some of her daily habits?" she asked as she studied Kaia's skin carefully for signs of any abnormalities. Alex placed a hand on his chin thinking. "Well, she eats breakfast and I make sure to send food to her office when she's working…" He stopped for a moment. "She does have a habit of chewing on ice now that I think about it," Alex added. The doctor stopped for a second and looked back at him. "Is she anemic?" she asked, her attention once again returning to Kaia. Alex blinked, his face looked troubled. "Not that I know of. Why?" he asked, his brows furrowing deeper. The doctor studied his worried expression before saying, "Based on my examination of her body and what you've said, I think she has anemia. But I can't be sure without testing her blood and running some other tests," she said. "For now, just make sure she stays hydrated, just in case she is anemic. Also, she's running a slight fever so make sure she doesn't overexert herself in the future. And--"

There was a knock on the door. "One moment please," Alex excused himself and left the doctor's side, going to the door to talk to one of the employees. The doctor continued to examine Kaia before looking at her face. Why does she look so familiar? Before she could clearly recall who Kaia was, Alex came back.

Alex asked her to continue with the diagnosis. "Make sure she stays at home and rests more these next few days until her fever is gone. And remember, she has to drink water and stay hydrated," she said as she got up and put her things away. Alex handed her a check saying, "Thank you, doctor." The doctor smiled and took the check. They shook hands before Zac led the way downstairs.

Alex walked back to his desk and started preparing his papers for the early meeting he had. A few of his workers came in and out of his office leaving surprised by the fact that there was a woman sleeping in there. Alex wasn't one who tolerated gossip, so every time any of his workers went in he gave them a cold stare. He was practically telling them not to talk about it with his gaze. After getting everything ready for the meeting he walked over to Kaia and tucked her into the throw blanket that he had exchanged for his jacket earlier again. She had been moaning about being cold despite her rising fever. She shifted over slightly with a groan, mumbling Annie's name.

Alex grabbed his phone, calling Devin and telling him to tell Annie about Kaia. At the mention of Kaia being sick, Annie rushed out the door. Alex hung up the phone. He didn't expect Kaia to wake up for a while so he closed his office door as quietly as possible and dimmed the lights so she wouldn't be scared if she did wake up.

Sure enough, about half an hour later, Kaia woke up. She struggled into a sitting position. Her head was pounding and sweat was dripping from her temples. Oh god, why now? She knew her symptoms suggested that something was wrong. She had dealt with this quite a few times as a child. She thought it had finally gone away, and she was finally better. She even took some preventative measures by staying hydrated as much as she could and getting rest. But the signs that had slowly occurred over the past few months were proof that it had returned.

She frowned as she surveyed the office she was in. Where am I? A rising panic started to form in her stomach. She stood up, somewhat disoriented and shaky as she walked over to the desk. She then recalled something that has happened earlier although everything was still fuzzy. This must be Alex's office… she thought. This would be a perfect time to dig around for some info.

Kaia moved to the backside of the desk. Looking over the desk she found a little note next to a bottle of water telling her to stay hydrated. Kaia took the bottle and drank some water before pulling some of the drawers to see if they opened. She methodically sifted through unimportant documents in the first few drawers that she could open. When she got to the bottom drawer, she noticed something different. It was one of the drawers with a keyhole on it. All the others had been locked tight but for some reason when she pulled on it, it slid open soundlessly. She immediately noticed a binder that seemed to have been shoved inside the drawer in a hurry. She pulled it out, crouching on the floor as she flipped it open. As soon as it opened, she froze, her eyes widened with shock. She couldn't believe her eyes! The folder contained many different pictures of her over the years along with data about her. She turned over a few things, lifting a particularly fine cream-colored paper in her hands. The paper was a contract for the takeover of Crestfall Industries. She skimmed through the contract with disbelief. The contract seemed to give him full rights to most of Crestfall Industries' subsidiaries, including a major part of the main branch. He was going to steal her business!

She quickly stuffed the binder back the way she found it and slammed the drawer shut. She felt a wave of rising anger within her but at the same time, she also felt a sharp pain in her heart. She didn't know why but finding this out truly pained her. She stood up, wobbling slightly as she walked back to the sofa. She searched for her phone, about to make a call to Annie. Right as she was about to call Annie, the door flung open and her sister stood by the doorway. Letting out a breath of relief. "Annie...get me out of here…" she said. She was beginning to sway as she tried to stand upright, the pain continuing to stab her heart as she felt a lump in her throat. Annie walked over, grabbing Kaia's arm, helping her steady herself. Kaia turned off her phone, denying all contact, or a way to trace her.

Annie insisted on taking her to the hospital since she also knew of the signs and symptoms. At the hospital, Kaia tried to relax in the hospital bed. She knew the examination and tests were going to take a while. It wasn't just a cold or fever that she was having. It was actually Aplastic Anemia also called Bone Marrow Aplasia, which was a rare condition in which her body stopped producing enough new blood cells. They diagnosed Kaia when she was little. Her doctors thought they had thoroughly controlled her condition with the blood transfusions and other things that she couldn't even remember going through. It had been years. One of her doctors warned her that the Aplastic Anemia could reattack her body without warning so she needed to come see them as soon as any signs began to show. Since Kaia had been busy fighting for her position as CEO, she had forgotten all about it.