Chapter 3 RUINED PLANS

POV: Gary

I was sitting in a plastic chair that was doing its best to destroy my spine, watching the woman I'd just saved sleep off her near-death experience, and wondering what the hell I was doing there.

I should've left. Since I'd called an ambulance, I should have walked away like a normal person.

But I wanted her guardian to arrive, so we can be sure she would not make a mother attempt. And I was curious as well. Why would she want to throw her life away? Was she sick too? Had she lost a loved one?

She stirred and her eyes fluttered open. I noticed that she had brown eyes, just like Claire's, the kind of brown that was almost gold in certain light. Those pairs of eyes immediately narrowed when they landed on me.

"You," she said spitefully.

"Me," I agreed and smiled. "You have a weird way of saying thank you."

A nurse walked in to ask for her guardian information. 

She nodded in the negative, and I looked at her in surprise. She has no guardian? 

“I'll just fill in my details then.” I collected the form from the nurse.

She sat up too fast, winced, and glared at me like her pain was personally my fault. "What the hell were you thinking, jumping in like that?"

"You were drowning!"

"Yes, but I wanted to drown. You ruined my plans."

"Well, your plan sucks."

Her mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"

"If you're going to kill yourself, pick something with a higher success rate. The ocean's unpredictable, it might have just washed you back to shore."

She stared at me. "Are you seriously giving me suicide tips right now?"

"No. I'm telling you yours was poorly planned. Didn't it occur to you that you could be spotted?" The irritation in my voice was obvious. I hated poor planning, even if it was for a suicide attempt.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time I'll consult a professional."

I locked eyes with her. "Next time, don't do it at all. I don't like having my efforts go to waste."

She shot daggers at me with her eyes. I knew I was being an asshole. But something about her indignation was entertaining.

"I wasn't—" She stopped, took a breath that sounded painful. "I didn't ask you to save me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't ask for terminal cancer, but here we are." The words came out before I could stop them.

She blinked. "What?"

I wanted to take it back. Shove it back down where I'd been keeping it since I'd heard the words in Reeves' office. But it was out now.

"You want to die?" A bitter smile crossed my lips. "I would gladly trade with you, if I could."

She stared at me. Really stared, like she was seeing me for the first time.

"How long?"

"Hundred days, give or take. So forgive me if I'm not sympathetic to your little ocean drama."

"That's—" she started, but I cut her off.

"Tragic? Yeah, I know."

"I was going to say it's your cup of tea, not mine." She said it with a straight face. Was lppshe even human? How could she not feel sorry for me?

"My cup of tea?"

"Yeah. You want more time? Great. Go live your extra hundred days. As for me, I'm done serving my time."

"Who gave you the verdict?"

"None of your damned business!" Her voice was rising now, frustration bleeding through. "I had a plan. It was a good plan. And then you—"

"Saved your life?"

"RUINED IT!"

"Ma'am?" A nurse appeared at the curtain, looking annoyed and exhausted. "I need you to keep your voice down or take this outside."

Something about the way she said it grated on my nerves. I was just done with people telling me what to do.

"How much do you make?" I asked the nurse.

She blinked. "What?"

"Your annual salary. Sixty thousand? Seventy? Because I can call your supervisor right now and have you unemployed in under five minutes. Or… " I pulled out my phone. "... I can contact the hospital board. I'm sure they'd love to hear about your bedside manner to patients."

Her face went white.

"Actually, forget that. How much to buy the entire hospital?" I asked, my voice deadly calm. "I'll get full acquisition and do staff restructuring. You'd be first on the list."

"Sir, I apologize."

"One more word and I'm making a call."

The nurse practically ran.

The woman I'd saved was staring at me like I'd sprouted horns.

"What?" I said.

"You just threatened to buy a hospital so you could fire a nurse."

"I'm having a bad day, and she got on my nerves."

"How?"

Before I could respond, an older nurse appeared. Matron, based on the uniform and the expression that said she'd dealt with exactly this kind of bullshit before.

"Sir. Is there a problem?"

I took a breath and forced the anger down. "No. I think I just need a private ward."

"We have a waiting list for that."

I pulled out my black card. "I'll take a VIP room then."

Her expression changed. "I'll see what we can arrange."