Loving Him

Chapter 31

Alex's eyes trailed Dr Peter's every step until the man was towering over him. Surprised was mild to describe how Alex was feeling.

"Nice to see you again, Alex." The man had a very baritone voice, deeper than most. Throw in his six feet tall height and bulky build and he could hold a very commanding presence, which was sometimes intimidating. It could be seen an added advantage for him considering his line of work. He made people listen.

Alex wasn't sure he shared the man's sentiments. He was a reminder of a past Alex would rather keep locked away and hopefully, never to resurface.

The man wasn't fazed by Alex's silence. He continued, as if Alex had replied him. "It wasn't really nice how you ran off on me like that."

Alex raised both brows questioningly, sitting up carefully. He didn't think 'running off' was the right clause to describe what had happened. The last time he'd seen Dr Peter was about twelve years ago, around the time he had gotten married.

"I didn't run off on you," Alex muttered. The man had always had a way of making him feel like a petulant child, even though he was only a few years older than Alex.

It was Dr Peter's turn to do the questioning eyebrow raise. "Okay, whatever you say." He pulled a chair closer and sat. "How have you been?"

Alex shrugged, gesturing with his hands at himself. "You can see for yourself."

Dr Peter nodded. "I was around and then Dr Andrew mentioned that you just had surgery. I decided to come check how you're doing."

"That's very thoughtful," Alex mumbled. He felt uncomfortable, but he didn't want to make his discomfort obvious.

"How long has it been? Ten years?"

Twelve. But Alex had a feeling he knew exactly how long.

He was saved from answering by a soft knock on the door, accompanied by the door opening. Before he had time to process it, someone was rushing towards him with outstretched hands.

"Daddy!"

Angel halted before she could hit Alex with the full force of her sprint but didn't resist pulling him into a choking hug even though Alex was too surprised and confused to hug her back.

"I missed you so much!" Angel declared, a huge grin lighting up her face.

Alex muttered an incomprehensible response while his brain was processing the fact that his daughter was here, even though he'd made it clear he didn't want her to find out he was in the hospital.

He felt the familiar rise of anger and he turned to glare at Raymond who swiftly averted his gaze, looking anywhere else but at him.

"What happened to 'she's not supposed to know about this?'" His question was directed at Raymond who sighed.

"You can't just let anything go, can you?" Raymond asked at the same time Angel spoke.

"Nobody told me anything dad, I heard you and uncle talking about it before you left."

"So you were eavesdropping?" Alex squinted his eyes at Angel who was looking mighty pleased with herself. She flashed him another huge grin and he felt his anger dissipating. She always had that effect on him. There was no point being angry anyway, she was already there. "And whose idea was it to bring you here? I have a feeling it's not Raymond."

His eyes shifted as he spoke and they landed on Sophie who was subtly hiding behind Raymond. She was staring guiltily back at him and he felt the familiar flutter in his chest.