The Love We Choose

Chapter 64

Huan rolled out of hospital and into the crisp midwinter air for the first time in over two weeks. It had been a long and arduous journey, but he had finally been cleared to go home by all departments. The news couldn't have come soon enough. Quiet as kept, he had begun to work on almost every last one of his colleagues' nerves who were charged with his care. Once he had recovered enough strength to not sleep for 80% of the day, he had started asking his team to update him on his patients. Then, he moved on to reading his own chart and making suggestions. As much as they enjoyed working beside him, they were quite ecstatic for him to finally be going home.

Wheeled out of the hospital by Dr. Levatner, with his mother walking by his side, he was met by a crowd of cheers from his fellow hospital staff and other well-wishers. Despite his conversation with his Department Head, it seems like the powers that be and the PR department of Kensigntonna Hospital decided to milk his exit for all it was worth. The news crews and their cameras were evidence of that.

"Lovely, I get to be a circus act.Somebody paint my face, I've already got the balloons," he thought to himself as he waved to the crowds.

Although his body still ached and felt heavy due to the medication still coursing through his system, he was happy to move in the direction of the car waiting to take him to his mother's home. Bao was leaning against the front door as Huan and his small entourage arrived and stopped in front of him..

"Didn't think you did chauffeur services?" Huan asked his cousin with a cheeky grin.

"Well, there's always a first time for everything," Bao responded before opening the back door to the car.

Mindful of the brace on his ankle, Huan carefully rose from the wheelchair, supported by his cousin, and got himself situated in the back seat with his leg stretched out. Huan thanked Dr. Levatner while his cousin packed the trunk with his things and his mother sat in the passenger seat. "I don't want to see you in the hallways for anything other than therapy or a check-up until you are cleared to return. Which means you have to do a "fit to return to work" exam first. That's an order," the older man told him.

"Understood, boss."

"Let's get the hero home," Bao stated as he closed the front door and started the engine.

XXX

Lynne glanced up at the clock on her wall that read 10:30am. They'll be discharging Huan soon. She couldn't think about that though, she was still catching up on the workload she had let pile up when she had been recovering.

Skimming through her inbox, Lynne cleared it of all junk mail before her eyes drifted over the words: 'Annual Spring Benefit Gala Invitation.' Juuuuuuust great, she thought to herself. The annual event was one of her least favorite attendance requirements at her job. Each year she had to pour herself into a gown, plaster a customer-friendly smile to her lips, dodge advances of some of the more lecherous donors and benefactors of the school, and feign interest at the insipid chatter of socialite PTA mothers. Begrudgingly, she opened the email and read the information about the upcoming event.

Instinctively, she picked up her phone to text Huan. This year, she definitely didn't want to go alone, but didn't know if he would be healed enough to make it. She would be just under seven months along at the time and did not want to suffer through it stag. By then, she wouldn't be able to hide it anymore. Her pouchy stomach was getting more prominent by the day. Not attending was not an option. It was mandatory of all staff to attend. She'd ask Huan about it on the weekend when she saw him.

Putting her phone down, she dove back into her work for the day, going through the monthly reports from the different schools, and typing up her own report that she needed to bring with her for today's Re-Accreditation Committee Meeting. Before long it was one-thirty and Ava was standing in front of her desk tapping her heel impatiently.