Eugene exhaled in resignation. âFine. Iâll stay here until your surgery is done.â Hearing his affirmative answer, Azalea smiled.
âReally? Thank you, Eugene.â He said, âIf it werenât because of me, none of this would have happened.â
Hayes stood up to take his leave. âAlright. You guys go ahead. Iâll look into this. My men have started the investigations. You can take a break if you want, Eugene. You donât have to stay here all the time.â
âSure,â Eugene responded. Silence filled the room as soon as Hayes made his way out of the ward. Azalea asked, âWill your girlfriend take this the wrong way?â
Sheâs going to take it the wrong way if she sees us together without knowing whatâs going on. Hayes should have told me about this. He said, âIâll explain to her when I get home.â
She gave him an apologetic look. âWhy donât I call her?â
âThereâs no need for that,â he answered curtly. Thatâll just make the misunderstanding worse. Sheâs going to read into this too much.
âAlright, Iâm sorry,â she said sheepishly.
However, her apology only made him feel even more frustrated. âWhy are you apologizing? I should be the one doing that. I got you the cab. Thatâs why you got in danger. If something were to happen to you, Iâm not sure I could live with this guilt.â Iâm glad it didnât come to that.
Azalea responded, âNo, this is not your fault. Who would have known the cab driver would be a potential sex offender?â âJust rest. I need a smoke.â
âOkay, but donât smoke too much. Itâs bad for your health.â Eugene left without saying a word. A circle of fence surrounded the hospital, and he leaned on it as he burned through his cigarettes. Why did she go back all of a sudden? Is she mad?
What am I saying? Of course, she is. I promised to go back with her, but I stood her up. Itâs not surprising that sheâs mad. She could at least tell me, though. She promised sheâd wait. But why did she change plans? Did something happen back home?
He looked at the time. Itâs midnight back home. I shouldnât call North. Donât wanna disturb his sleep, after all. Iâll call Brian, then.
The incessant calls jolted Brian awake. He rummaged around for his phone, but when he noticed it was from his brother, he eased up. What the f*ck he wants? He took the call and grumbled, âWhat is it this time? This is the third phone call. I need to sleep.â
Eugene ignored his complaints. He asked, âDid something happen back home?â Annoyance crawled all over Brianâs face.
âNothing. Aside from your disappearance, itâs been uneventful. You just had to go missing.. You just had to call me a hundred times. Do you think this is a romance drama?â
His complaints were once again ignored. Eugene hung up. If everything is fine at home, why did Olivia go back? No matter how he thought about it, he had a feeling that he was at fault. If he could leave, he would have flown back home. No. I need to tell Brian about this. So, once again, he raised his phone and called his brother.
Brian had just fallen asleep once more when Eugeneâs call pulled him away from his slumber. The sight of his brotherâs name drove him mad. He wanted to smash things and kick Eugeneâs butt.