Nathan Yun saw the determination in Samantha"s face. She was there to know the truth and knowing her, she will definitely make sure that she gets it. Looking at her, Nathan saw Samantha"s pale face — she had gotten thinner compared to the last time that he had seen her a few days ago. His heart ached the more that he looked at the woman whom he once loved and still loved. He looked away. He had to look somewhere else. Anywhere as long as he won"t focus on her. "Why don"t you sit down first," he offered, his hand pointing towards the sofa.
Nathan did not want to be the one who should tell her the truth. After all, he told Daniel that he can be trusted. So how was he supposed to handle the situation? What was he going to tell her?
Samantha watched as Nathan took his time preparing some tea for them while they sat on his comfortable sofa. The sofa felt really nice to sit on, making Samantha feel drowsy. Or was that really the reason why? All she knew was that she was feeling tired at that moment.
Hannah felt a weight on her arm and found that Samantha had leaned on. "S? Are you okay?"
Samantha sat up straight and nodded, "I"m just a little tired from all the walking earlier." She said, referring to the walk from the parking lot to the third floor of the hospital.
Hannah got worried for her, the walk only took less than three minutes yet her best friend was already that exhausted.
Nathan carefully placed the teacups on the coffee table in front of them before he started tidying up his desk quickly, putting all the files regarding her tests and the poison away.
"So, what did you come here for?" He said. Sitting down on the opposite sofa, he looked calm and collected as he drank his tea.
Samantha observed the indifferent look on his face. She knew Nathan very well but he was unreadable that time. "I saw Daniel coming out of your office earlier. What did you guys talk about?"
"We were just discussing your course of treatment," he lied, although technically, they were talking about how to save her. Daniel came earlier to talk about the poison but he can"t tell her that.
Samantha thought that his answer was quite simple but she was not buying it. "You also met with him yesterday. Why?"
Nathan was in a bind. He was too busy thinking about solutions to think about keeping this huge thing a secret from her and now he"s being interrogated.
Seeing that Nathan did not respond right away, Samantha narrowed her eyes. "Why can"t you tell me anything, Nathan? You two aren"t exactly close friends to be meeting so casually. So why?"
And she was right – her husband and her ex-boyfriend secretly meeting behind her back? That"s not normal.
Just as Nathan was about to respond, the door of his office opened and in came Daniel Cho looking slightly agitated.
Daniel stopped in his tracks when he saw his wife sitting on the sofa with Hannah. He had something in his hand that he subtly placed in his pocket. His expression turned perplexed as he s.h.i.+fted his gaze from them to Nathan Yun who just stared back at him, obviously looking a little concerned. "Has he told her already?"
His stare went back to Samantha when he heard her call him, "Daniel…" She did not think that he would be back this soon as he was in a hurry to leave earlier. Where did he go anyway?
"Samantha… what are you doing here?" He walked up to her and Samantha met him halfway.
"I should ask you that question, Daniel. Nathan is my doctor so why are you seeing him without telling me?" She questioned.
Daniel saw the doubt in her eyes as she looked back at him and he hated that look. She seemed puzzled and maybe a little mad that she found him in this situation. He did not want to add more worries to her as she was already had a lot. Was there really no other way? Did he really have to tell her everything?
With all these questions in his head, his attention was brought back to the thing inside his pocket. His blood started to boil again but he tried to keep it down yet Samantha saw the change in his expression and her heart p.r.i.c.ked when she saw it. Was he mad that she was questioning him?
"Am I dying?" Her voice broke when she suddenly asked. Nathan and Hannah"s heads snapped at her upon hearing her words.
"I am, aren"t I?" Tears started to well up as she looked at her husband in the eyes. Daniel"s heart throbbed at the sight in front of him but he could not speak.
"That"s it… isn"t it? It is why you two are being so secretive. I really am dying."
"Why won"t you say anything?!" She cried. "If I"m dying, don"t I at least deserve to know?"
Daniel immediately closed their gap and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her and stroking her back. "Stop crying. No one"s dying. You"re not going to die."
"Then why-"
Daniel slightly pulled back and cupped her face. Staring seriously, he spoke, "Listen to me. I need you to trust me. You are going to be okay. Do you hear me?"
Samantha nodded, trusting him completely even though she still did not know what was going on. "I do. I do trust you but you need to tell me the truth. I need to hear it from you."
Wiping her tears away, Daniel placed a kiss on her forehead before he told her, "Can you wait for me outside? I promise that we are going to talk after." He smiled at her rea.s.suringly.
Seeing the look on his face, Samantha"s heart calmed down instantly. "Okay," she answered and then looked at Hannah who abruptly got up from her seat and nodded.
When the two women left, Daniel breathed out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was way too stressed already.
"What happened?" Nathan asked, handing a gla.s.s of warm water to Daniel.
After drinking, Daniel retrieved a small vial from his pocket and handed it to Nathan. "Can you check on this?"
"What is…" Nathan narrowed his eyes before he received the vial. "...is this what I think it is?"
"I don"t know. That"s why I need you to check it as soon as possible."
"Where did you get this?" Nathan wondered. Daniel was out for only about fifteen minutes and he already came back with the vial.
"Devyn Nam," he uttered under gritted teeth. His murderous aura suddenly showed, surprising Nathan.
A shocked expression appeared on Nathan"s face when he heard Daniel. "Dr. Nam? How… Why… That"s impossible."
Daniel glared at him, "You don"t know a thing about her. She might be a great surgeon but her hands are more than capable of killing someone whether it"s a patient or not. I suggest that you don"t get a.s.sociated with her anymore."
Nathan averted his eyes as he thought about one of the doctors that he looked up to. Was there really such a cruel doctor in their hospital?
"How soon can you get this done?" Daniel"s question brought him back to the pressing matter.
"I will start on it right away but it could take hours… a day or two."
Daniel grabbed onto Nathan"s arm and gripped it, "We don"t have much time left." He clenched his jaw when he recalled what Devyn said to him earlier, [ "If she doesn"t take this, she"ll probably die in less than five days."]
When Daniel told Nathan about his conversation with Devyn, Nathan"s eyes turned dark. Time was of the essence, he had to do something or it might be too late.
..
The door of Nathan"s office opened and the two men stepped out. "I will call you," Nathan spoke before he disappeared into a laboratory.
"S, I"ll go ahead so that you guys can talk. Call me if you need anything." Hannah held Samantha"s hand before she faced Daniel with a rather annoyed look, "Daniel." She said before walking away, leaving the couple behind.
"Let"s go home," Daniel held her hand and they headed towards the parking lot.
The two of them were both quiet on the ride home. Daniel tried to think of ways on how to go about the situation without adding more weight on her shoulders. How could she handle everything in her state right now?
Cliffside Villa
When they entered their home, Samantha watched as Daniel went to their living room. He took off his coat and loosened his tie before he sat down. Following her husband, she began to feel nervous as she sat next to him — that"s only when she noticed Daniel"s tired look. He looked like he had not been sleeping much.
She reached out and touched his cheek as she was so worried for him. Daniel held the same hand that touched him and he kissed her palm before bringing it down, holding it with both of his hands.
Breathing out a sigh, he looked straight at her, "There"s something that I need to tell you about what happened several years ago. And you may not like it. You might end up hating me. You may even… leave me. Do you still want to know?"