Chapter 127

Lucian’s POV

I checked my watch. It was almost 1:15 pm, so I waited for the seconds to tick by. When the time arrived, I stood from my chair and stepped out of my office and into the hallway. Per my routine, at 1:15, I stretched my legs by walking one round around the main walkway of the Alpha headquarters building.

Typically, the employees were working hard at this time, having been refreshed from their lunch break.

So it was something of a surprise, when I turned a corner and was nearly plowed into by a rushing Jasper.

Jasper stopped at the last minute. He wore a bright, excited smile that didn’t dim as he looked up at me. Usually my presence garnered a more dim expression from the man, as if I consistently sucked all the joy out of a room just by entering it.

Today, however, Jasper appeared in a particularly good mood.

“Sorry about that, cousin. I’m just on my way out,” Jasper said. “Didn’t see you there.”

“You are heading out already?” I asked. “It’s a bit early to call it a way.” It wasn’t even Friday.

“Ah, I have plans that just can’t wait,” Jasper said. “Best news I’ve heard in five years.”

For the past five years, Jasper had proven himself to be a diligent employee and a reputable man. This was not something I would have ever expected from him in the past. He’d been an aloof playboy in his younger days. I had no idea what had changed him, making him want to be a more helpful member of the pack, but I had always thought it a valiant change.

Now, however, he seemed as if he was ready to backslide into old habits.

“We work until five pm here,” I reminded Jasper.

“Sorry, cousin. Not today!” He patted me on the upper arm. “If you knew why, you’d understand!”

“Why?” I asked him, as he started to move around me.

“Can’t say! Not my place to speak of it!” Jasper said. He pressed the button for the elevator, but when the doors didn’t immediately open, he moved to the stairs instead. “You might find out on your own if you are lucky.”

Jasper disappeared into the stairwell. As the door closed behind him, I wondered what that was all about.

Checking my watch, I realized this strange encounter had put my routine two minutes behind schedule. I couldn’t possibly continue my walk now.

Sighing, I turned and returned to my own office.

Aria’s POV

With Cathy watching the sleeping children, I disguised myself as Dr. A and took a cab to the hospital.

Cathy had already informed the Healers and the other hospital staff that I was arriving, so they knew to expect me. Even so, I was nervous as I stepped out of the cab and walked up to the main entrance.

Cathy might have said the Healers weren’t still annoyed with me, but I didn’t fully believe it until I walked into the lobby. There, at once, I was immediately greeted by a pair of Healers that had once been my biggest dissenters.

Now they eagerly shook my hand.

“Welcome back, Dr. A,” one of them said.

“Welcome back!” said the other. “We’ve turned your old office into a private research center just for you. We’ve placed some textbooks there you might find beneficial, as well as copies of all of our notes on the disease.”

“Please make use of any and all of our labs,” added the first Healer, speaking quickly to have his voice heard. “Our interns know to listen to whatever you ask of them.”

“And our researchers!” the second one said. “And us too! We’d all be happy to help, however you need!”

Right now, I just needed to settle in, look over all the facts, and see what I was dealing with.

“Is a copy of Cathy’s chart in my office?” I asked.

“Yes,” said both Healers at once. “We can also send up her attending physician if you’d like to interview him.”

“I’m sure the notes will be enough,” I said. For now.

Though I had not forgotten the way, both Healers eagerly escorted me all the way to my old office.

“Thank you,” I told them at the door, after they had handed over the key. “I think I can manage from here.”

“Of course, Dr. A.”

“Whatever you need, Dr. A.”

So Cathy had been right. The Healers not only didn’t seem mad for our disputes in the past, but they were actively encouraging my success here. Either they all loved Cathy, as they should, or they wanted to be a part of a hospital that could be credited with curing this disease.

Honestly, I didn’t care what their motivations were. If our goal – curing Cathy – was the same, it didn’t matter why we wanted to achieve it.

After saying goodbye, I escaped into the office, closing the door behind me.

The room hadn’t really changed much, though the chairs of the waiting area were stacked up in a corner and the reception desks had been used as something of a storage space, holding boxes that contained the textbooks the Healers had talked about.

The folder containing Cathy’s chart sat among them. Immediately, I went there and picked it up.

Now was not the time for nostalgic musings, no matter how nice it felt to be back in this familiar office.

Saving Cathy was my first and only goal. The sooner I did that, the sooner I could return to Moonglow pack and get on with my life.

Every minute I spent in Nightfall pack lands was a minute that Lucian could find me.

Though my treacherous heart raced at the thought of seeing him again, even for a moment, I knew it was for the best if we did not interact at all this trip.

I wasn’t ready to see him again so soon. I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready.

Combing through Cathy’s chart, I closely read through her symptoms. Then I checked the results of every test her Healer had performed.

Yes, I could see she had the disease earlier than the Healer did, though perhaps he was being cautious, ruling everything out before settling on the worst of the worst.

No one wanted to tell their patient that they had an incurable, fatal disease.

Well, the Healer’s thoroughness helped me now. I could use these results as baselines for the potential cure strands I wanted to research and develop. A note in the folder said they even had some of Cathy’s blood down in the lab for me to work with. Good. I’d need that.

As I started to think of different treatments in my mind, I was so distracted, that I did not immediately hear the door to my office open. Nor did I hear excited footsteps headed my way.

It wasn’t until a pair of strong arms wrapped around me that I startled and realized I wasn’t alone.

“Aria,” came the wistful sigh of Jasper, softly in my ear.

I relaxed at once, realizing the intruder was a friend and not a foe. Setting the folder aside, I turned in Jasper’s arms and returned the friendly hug.

He immediately tightened it.

“I missed you so much.”