Siana

"Is killing the only way out? Can"t we approach the problem from another perspective?"

He could only helplessly listen to her. This was exactly what had kept him from becoming an unfeeling monster all these years. Even if his opponent was a sc*mbag, she would still consider his life and would always find alternatives to deal with such people. If he was the unfeeling Devil King, who could kill left and right, she was the Protector Angel of his victims, always fighting for a second lease on life for those.

"Love, you know that there are cases where there really is no other way, right? This just happens to be one of those cases. It"s not only because he is problematic, but it"s also because of his backing of equally annoying people who will do everything to bring him to power. We can"t allow for the powers of such a strong family to fall into the wrong hands. Our plan has to be foolproof."

"Even if it is so, killing should be the last resort. If things come to that point and we still don"t have an alternative solution only then we can proceed with your plan. For now, we need to deal with the problem at hand and meanwhile think of other ways of dealing with him in case the cat"s out of the box."

How could he disagree to her when she was so sincere and serious about saving someone? Even if that someone was a lost cause he could never neglect her opinion and her wishes. So what could he do other than readily nod to her in agreement?

Seeing the happiness in her eyes, he knew that he would surely be looking for alternatives when the sh*t hit the fan. She was probably one of the few doctors who was truly a doctor at heart: someone who wholeheartedly cared about everyone, disregarding their background or their personality, and being a devoted person to saving lives not only in the hospital, but outside of it as well. How good it would be if people were just a bit more like her?

Probably, if she wasn"t such a person, she would never be able to go back to treating patients after that incident. Her will to help had always been indescribable to the extent that he always found it unimaginable: even her profession reflected the purity of her heart. She had decided to take the path of the hardest medical profession because she felt that it was the area which lacked professionals the most, resulting in many patients staying untreated. For the sake of helping people she didn"t mind the difficulties and responsibilities neurosurgeons carried with them. Well, she also found the profession fascinating, feeling like a fish in the water, as she would collectively describe her feelings during every surgery she had performed. She liked challenges too, so her choice was in reality a combination of many factors: all of which he couldn"t help but respect.

He wondered if one day he could live up to her expectations and live without staining his hands with anyone"s blood. However, before that happened there was still a group of people he had to deal with or else all his past choices would be meaningless.

It was then that he realised that the contented Queenie had been quiet for while. He found her blissfully sleeping when he lowered his head to look at her. What would he not do to be greeted with such a sight every day? Even in the darkness, she continued to glow in his eyes.

His constantly cold body could only feel warmth when he was with her. How did he even manage to survive all these years?

He was still marvelling at the miracle next to him, when her alarm went off. He stretched his arm to turn it off, however, he was a step too late as she started slowly opening her eyes.

He kissed her forehead gently and whispered,

"Go to sleep."

"I have to go to the hospital," she sounded slightly hoa.r.s.e and she looked slightly groggy.

"You haven"t slept at all. You are staying."

"I can"t. There are patients waiting for me," she was more or less awake by now.

"No way," he insisted.

She was equally stubborn, but still decided to take a step back,

"Look, I promise I will take power naps in between the surgeries. I also won"t do any paperwork so I have time to sleep. Is that Ok?"

With apparent anger he continued to eye her. Was this going to be their life after they got married? Was he always going to let her go in the morning and welcome her back only in the evenings? D*mn, should he pretend to be a patient to spend more time with her in the future? But no, that wasn"t a long term solution. He should become a staff member to spend time with her, but what could he do? Oh, wait! Why hadn"t he thought about it before? It was as simple as that! There were actually so many ways around the problem!

On the side Sia continued watching him attentively. Though his face remained impa.s.sive, the waves in his eyes still betrayed the inner fights he was currently going through. Only after she noticed the sparkles in his ocean-like eyes did she heave a sigh of relief. But why did she have an unsettling feeling from that eyes of his? Hopefully, he wasn"t planning anything peculiar...

After long arguments he had finally agreed to let her go to the hospital, with the condition that she wasn"t going to take any cases from others and was just going to do her own work. Meanwhile he would stay in her flat and start researching about Black Lily. He wasn"t going to order dinner, so she would have to come back early and cook for him, if she didn"t want him to "starve to death" as he had put it.

--

- Hospital -

Sia was in her office when someone knocked at the door. After getting her permission, the person who entered was none other than Mark. Unlike yesterday"s stoic expression, he now carried a warm smile on his face. For a moment, she felt like the person in front of her was not the same man from yesterday. How could someone"s countenance change so drastically in a matter of a single night. Before she could guess the reasons why, he said warmly,

"Hi! How are you? Hope I am not disturbing your work."

She gave him a smile of her own that turned increasingly teasing by the end, "h.e.l.lo. I am doing good! How about you? Don"t worry, if you disturbed my work I wouldn"t even let you in, let alone talk."

He chuckled at her reasoning: she was probably the first person who treated his family in such a normal way without fearing the social norms.

"I am good too. I can finally relax knowing that dad is getting better. He has just woken up and I wanted to personally invite you to come and see him if you have the time."

"Of course I do, I was going to come anyways so might as well go in your company rather than alone."

When they reached Jason Herondale"s ward, they found him lying on the bed, looking out of the window. No one really knew what he was thinking about but he was so deep in thought he didn"t realise that people ad entered the room. Mark wanted to inform him of their presence, but Sia stopped him with a hand motion. The atmosphere around him was so tranquil that she didn"t want to break it. So, she quietly took a seat next to his bed waiting for him to sort out his thoughts without any interruptions.

After a few minutes, he turned his head to find the girl from before sitting next to his bed with a small smile on her face. She talked as soon as their eyes met, sparing him the embarra.s.sment of being out of it today.

"Hi Mr. Jason. How are you doing? "