It was almost six in the morning and Damien and Katherine were still in bed. Instead of preparing breakfast like he usually would, he chose to stay with her.
"Why don"t you take the day off? There"s not much to do anyway, Markus can cover for you today." Damien pulled the blanket up to cover her as he laid on his side.
Katherine shook her head. "I"ll be fine. I don"t want to stay here and waste the day away just like what I"ve been doing over the weekend."
"You can come in late then." He searched for her hand under the blanket and held it, his thumb brus.h.i.+ng it in short strokes. "Do you still want to leave this place?"
"I really appreciate that you allowed me to live here. Even though that wouldn"t stop them from gossiping, I still can"t stay here and pretend that I"m okay."
"I understand. If you"re not comfortable, then I will let you leave. However, I can"t let you stay just anywhere. I need to make sure that wherever you are staying is safe. So let me make the arrangements for you, okay?"
Katherine stared at him and thought about what he told her last Friday. She nodded, thinking that it was better to let him take care of it. There was no point in being stubborn now that the only person she could really trust is him.
"Okay," she replied.
Feeling satisfied with her answer, Damien sighed before he moved closer and kissed her. One thing that he loved about her was how easy it was to talk to her. Granted, there were times that they wouldn"t see eye to eye but ever since they became a couple, they have always stuck to what they initially agreed upon - honesty and open communication, something that"s rare in this day and age.
"Don"t worry about anything. We"ll figure this out," he said above her head.
Feeling the warmth of his embrace around her, Katherine knew that she made the right choice in trusting him. Ever since she woke up from her coma, Damien was the first person that she had no problem adjusting with.
It was weird, that despite feeling that he was a stranger at first, she somehow always had this part of her that wanted to depend on him. She could only hope that it will remain constant. Being with Damien was her happiness.
"Do you think I"ll be able to fully recover my memories?" she wondered out loud.
"I hope so… I"ll do whatever it takes to help you. Do you want to start trying again?" It had been some time since her last visit to Jeffrey. And back then, she told him that she didn"t think she would want to do it again — therefore, he respected her wish and had been very careful about it since.
Katherine shrugged, still unsure of what her next move was. There was this unknown source of hesitation that almost felt like detestation, as though it was safeguarding her from what she would learn about her past. "You told me that Dr. Cheng is missing… Does that have anything to do with me?" she asked.
"We"re not sure… but there"s a big possibility. There were strange transactions in his account that didn"t match his ident.i.ty. Have you seen other doctors apart from him?"
She shook her head. "I didn"t really think too much about it. I was too lost to even doubt the people around me… I mean… I had a lot of doubts, but I thought it was more of not knowing or remembering my past that was making me feel that way. Just… uncertainty."
Katherine still had so many questions in her head but she knew that Damien wouldn"t have answers to them as he had already told her what he found out.
Raising her head, she looked at him and said, "Maybe we can try… but it scares me. I forced myself a lot of times before but I would only end up depressed and detached, like how I was last weekend."
Because of what happened at the pool earlier, she was more scared of herself now than before. What if Damien wasn"t there at that time? Would she really have—
Katherine blinked and swallowed, not wanting to even think about it anymore.
"Don"t worry. We can do it slowly… You don"t have to force yourself. I"ll think of something. Do you trust me?"
She nodded but there was an evident look of worry on her face. "I do… but what if… what if I really become violent, just like what they said?"
Damien lightly caressed her cheek and formed a gentle smile on his face. "You didn"t have me back then."
His simple answer meant so much to Katherine. It was an a.s.surance for her that whatever happens in the future, she will always have him.
Feeling so much better, she leaned in and initiated a long and deep kiss in which Damien gladly responded with his own.
Later, the two of them got ready for work. Damien had asked Markus to send over a set of business suit to change into while he prepared their breakfast. They both dressed up nice and clean as they headed towards the office. Pa.s.sing by the hotel lobby and the main office"s lobby with their chin up, they walked straight towards the private elevator while maintaining an appropriate distance from each other.
With a stoic expression on his face, Damien shot brief glares at those who dared to look at them for new gossip. Katherine tuned out the rest of the unnecessary noise and maintained a professional and elegant aura around her — making all the women feel even more envious.
Once they got inside the elevator and the door had closed, she smiled and tiptoed to give Damien a kiss on the cheek, making him turn his head to her.
"What was that for?"
Looking straight ahead and still with a smile on her face, she answered, "Nothing. Just because." She wasn"t oblivious — of course, she was aware of what he just did. He had fired those employees that were gossiping in the elevator that Friday and she also saw him giving deathly stares as they were walking past the sea of judgemental people.
As if the kiss wasn"t enough to show her grat.i.tude, she slid her hand in his and interlaced their fingers together.
Damien wondered what was on Katherine"s mind at the moment, but seeing that she was happy, the corners of his mouth curled up in response.
Reaching their floor, they walked out of the elevator and started their Monday.
"Good luck at work," she muttered as he entered his office.
"You too," he said.
Their routine started and Katherine was back to her usual self. It was the first Monday of the month, July 2nd, and there were reports that needed to be finalized from the previous month. She buried herself with work and didn"t even realize when it was already lunchtime.
They would either eat out or have some food delivered but since they were busy, neither of them noticed the time and made any lunch arrangements.
The elevator opened and came out a delivery man who placed a paper bag and a bottle of water on her desk. "Delivery for Ms. Katherine Miller."
Katherine looked up and saw one paper bag that had her name on it. "Is there only one?"
"Yes." The man nodded, lowering his cap before turning around to leave.
She furrowed her brows and watched the man as he disappeared into the elevator before she turned her head to see Damien through the gla.s.s panel. She found him busy talking on the phone in the midst of a conference meeting. She thought that he might still be busy for a while and wouldn"t be able to eat yet.
Her stomach grumbled and after contemplating, she decided to eat first and cook something for him later as she did not want to disturb him now.
Feeling stuffed, she washed up and rested on her chair for a few minutes before she started working again.
About thirty minutes later, Katherine started to feel uneasy. She began to scratch her neck and her eyes were stinging. Her throat was becoming itchy, making her cough many times. Grabbing the bottled water that was already half-empty, she drank the rest of it in one go.
Just as she finished, she coughed and wheezed some more. All of a sudden, she could feel her throat swelling up. It was the same feeling that she had back then when Damien rushed her to the hospital. In her panic, she reached the right-side drawer and rummaged through the junk in there but she couldn"t find what she was looking for.
Katherine staggered as she got up and steadied herself while trying so hard to breathe — the office chair fell as she pushed it away and she walked with so much difficulty towards Damien"s door.
As soon she pushed it open, she could feel her throat closing up as she lurched her way towards his desk. She could barely see him and didn"t know when she fell to the floor.
"Katherine!"
Gasping, she grabbed his s.h.i.+rt and wheezed, "I can"t breathe..." she managed to say before her vision spiraled.
.. . 1
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