Chapter 73
I woke up from Hana’s alarm going off. I had a slight headache and didn’t feel my best. Not that I would confess it to Hana, or to anyone else. I knew I had overdone it yesterday. But all my feelings about turning Simon in had piled up into a ball of anxiety, and I had always dealt with things like that by working. I admitted it wasn’t the best coping mechanism, especially if you had just got over blood loss and an infection.
“Good morning,” Hana said, as she sat up in bed.
“Morning,” 1 grumbled. She looked down at me and gave me a smile full of compassion. She bent down over me and placed a kiss on my forehead.
“You can stay in bed for another hour or two,” she told me as she got up.
“I should get up and set up my computer in the dining room,” I said.
“Oh no, you won’t. You still have a fever. You are going to stay in bed for at least an hour, Jason is coming by later to take you to the doctor. Maybe I should call in sick so I can go with you? I have a call with Mr Smith today, but this is more important,” she said, hesitating by the bed. My mind was a little slow and I tried to sort what she told me.
“You have called Jason?” I asked as it had been the first question to pop into my mind.
“I texted him yesterday. He agreed to take you to the doctor for me. But now I’m thinking I should go as well,” she said.
“Why do you have a meeting with Tom?” I then asked.
“Tom? Ols Mr Smith? I don’t know. My manager told me yesterday he had asked for a meeting with me,” she told me. I had been distracted for a day and it seemed her life was full of new things. It made me panic. What if I couldn’t stop myself from working all hours of the day? I would end up neglecting Hana, making her as distant as Simon had become. I would lose her as well. Hans seemed to notice my change in mood, she walked around to my side of the bed and sat down next to me. “Why do you look like you have lost something important?” she asked. “Is it Simon?” I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, Hana. I shouldn’t have worked as much as I did yesterday.” I told her.
“No, you shouldn’t,” she agreed.
“I promise I will try to be better. I won’t neglect you like that again if I can help it. I’m just scared it has become a habit that I won’t be able to break,” I confessed, She put her hand on my cheek.
“Hunter, you haven’t neglected me. I can handle you being away from me for over eight hours. I’m upset that you pushed yourself to the point of harming yoursel I would like to think that our relationship is stronger than that,” she told me.
“But I missed so much,” 1 insisted.
“You didn’t know about one meeting. One. And you missed me thanking you again for my new stand mixer. light kiss.
It w
was amazing to use. Thank you,” she said, giving me a
“You don’t need to thank me. I’m happy you liked it. But I wanted to talk to you about what your plans are now that you have y you know about what we did yesterday. I lost all of that because I needed to work out my anxiety. And I still feel terrible,” I told her.
your money back, and I wanted to let
“We can talk about all those things today. I have done some thinking and I’m curious about yesterday. But you have lost nothing. Hunter. I’m still here, and I won’t go away because you worked late or time. But I would appreciate it if you could limit it to once in a while. At least while you are recovering. And if you use work as a way to get rid of anxiety, I have better ways of doing that,” Hana let me know and I gut what she meant by the fire that ignited in her sky–blue eyes. And she was right. I had new ways of releasing stress and anxiety. I had Hana, and not only for marathon sessions in bed. I always felt better by talking to her. I didn’t need to work all hours of the day to forget about my problems. I could come home, eat a home cooked meal and talk to her.
“You are right. I will remember that next time,” I told her.
“You do that. Now, I’m going to call my manager and tell her I c
I can’t come to work und then I’m making you breakfast.”
“No. It’s okay, Hana, Jason will take me to the doctor. I won’t even argue with you on that. It’s just a slight fever, nothing major. I will be back before you know it. You don’t have to take the day off. I will be good and rest for today and we can talk when you get off work. I’ll tell you about yesterday and about what the doctor said. You can tell me about your plans for the future and what Tom wanted,” I said, She looked at me for a long time before nodding.
“Okay. But I’m still making you breakfast in bed. So just stay put,” she said before going into the bathroom to get ready and then she disappeared downstairs. I book up my phone.
Me: I hear you are taking me to the doctor’s today.
Chapter 73
It took Jason less than two minutes to respond.
plam.
Told
you you were overdoing it. Idiot.
Me: Yeah, yeah. So how likely is it we can go out for a burger and then come back?
1: Not going to happen. Would you be okay with lying to Hana?
I sighed. No, I wouldn’t.
Me: Forget I asked. When are you going to be here?
1: In about two hours. Listen to your girlfriend until then. And if you upset her, I’m going to kick your ass and I hate beating up crippleds.
Me: Fuck you. I’ll be ready. Send a text and I’ll come down.
Hana walked into the room with a tray. Where did she keep finding these things and who had bought them for me? I wondered as she placed it next to me in bed. There was a bowl of something I didn’t recognise, coffee and toast,
“Juk,” she said.
“Sorry?” I asked. She laughed.
“In the bowl. It’s juk, rice porridge. I made it with chicken. It’s good for you when you don’t feel good,” she told me a the feeling.
“Thank you. But I’m really doing much better.” I insisted. She nodded, but she didn’t look like she believed me.
and ran her fingers through my hair. I enjoyed
“Eat and rest for a while. I will be downstairs if you need me,” she said. She kissed my forehead, “I love you,” she said and left the
room.
“I love you too,” I called after her. I looked at my breakfast and thought about just sticking with the coffee and toast. But Hana had made the porridge, and I didn’t want to be ungrateful. I put a little on the spoon and put it into my mouth, expecting something soggy and bland. Instead, it was creamy and full of flavour. I could taste the chicken broth and a slightly nutty flavour. Before I knew it, the bowl was empty and my stomach full. It felt like I had eaten a warm cloud. I sighed happily and had to admit Hana knew what she was doing. After finishing the bread and coffee, I headed for the shower and got ready for the day. Jason texted me as I was getting dressed. I let him know I would be right down. I took the tray with me as I walked down the stairs, I wrote a text to Hana. I opened the door to my office and looked
din on
on her as 1 sentit.
Me: Jason is here. I won’t be long. Thank you for breakfast, as amazing. Love you.
Hana had looked up as he opened the door, she smiled and looked at her phone.
“Love you too,” she said. I smiled and closed the door. I headed downstairs to Jason. He had an irritating smirk on his face.
“The old man can’t take it anymore,” he joked.
“Shut up,” I said. He laughed as we d
drove off
“Hana was unusually demanding when she texted me last night, Jason said.
“She has a bossy side, apparently.” I told him.
“So do 1. But I think I need to rethink working all hours of the day,” I confessed.
“About time. I have been telling you for years; you need to have more fun, Jason said.
“Well, your type of fun isn’t as alluring as
s the
type of fun. I have with Hana, I told him.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t turn down endless amounts of cupcakes either,” he said. We looked at each other and burst out laughing
