A Trade Of Hearts |✔

CHAPTER 53: Hope Is Fickle, Death Is Not

ADRIAN

My hands trembled as I signed the informed consent for dad's surgery. I instructed the doctors that I needed the best doctors at Mount Sinai to cater to him. I hadn't seen him yet, all I knew was that he had a car accident and they had directly taken him to the OT.

I walked across the room to look at Cecile, dad's driver's daughter.

"You alright?", I asked her.

She looked up at me, crying and just nodded my head.

"He is going to be okay.", I said, with little conviction. Shaun had taken most of the hit as the truck had hit the car head-on, at least that's what the bystanders told one of the paramedics at the site of the accident.

"Do you even believe your own words, right now?", asked the red-eyed, thirty-something lady.

"Whatever the medical expenses are, just send me the medical bills. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you.", she said, wiping her tears, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to call my mother."

I nodded as she got up and walked out into the corridor. I needed to call my family too, I remembered. I felt for my phone in my coat pocket and fished it out. I searched for 'Mom' in the contacts but couldn't find it. Then I remembered that Mrs.Ludwig had just got me the phone today, so Mom's name was probably saved as something else.

I scrolled through the contacts and found her number under 'Mrs. Greys'. I was about to press call when I realised I couldn't do it. She wouldn't be able to handle the news, nor would my sisters. I would have sent Bryan home, to get them but I wasn't exactly in a position of asking favours from him, nor did I want to. I scrolled through the list desperately until my eyes locked onto a name:

Vanessa

But she lied to me. Should I even be calling her?

Desperate times called for desperate measures and right now I was more than just desperate, so I just swallowed my pride and hit the call button.

I heard the phone ringing and then a voice,"Hello?"

"Vanessa.", I said as calmly as possible.

"Adrian??? Is that you??", she asked.

"Yes...",I said but before I could tell her the purpose behind my call, I heard a familiar voice in the background. I frowned, "Your with your dad?"

"Yeah. I have this shareholders meeting."

"You picked up my call during a meeting?", I asked, disapprovingly.

"No. It hasn't started yet but it is going to. Anything urgent?"

I sighed, debating whether to ask her or not, "Nothing. Dialed by mistake."

"Then why didn't you cut it?"

"So that you don't keep calling me for the rest of the day.", I said. Being the boss of a company had definitely taught me how to cover up well.

"Are you okay??", she asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?", I said, biting down on my cheek, preventing myself from giving away how I felt.

"You are having a normal conversation with me. Shouldn't you be mad at me for day before?"

How do I tell her, my world just got flipped upside down. There was so much to take in, so much to process that I couldn't even be angry. Hell, I didn't even know how to feel right now.

"I am angry at you but that doesn't mean I'm going to yell at you, on a call. I'd do that in person, instead."

She laughed,"Great. That's exactly what I picked up the call, to hear."