Illusion of love

Chapter Fifteen

Emma drank a glass of water, she was hoping to come across as indifferent, but the nurse only smiled more.

"I...I...I knew that it was him, because no other doctor is that shameless. Who follows a patient home?"
"You call it shameless, I call it committed. Doctor Adams is one of Australia's best young surgeons and he genuinely cares about his patients."
"You should be the chairperson of his fan club nurse...?"
"My name is Valerie, Valerie Geswind."
"What a coincidence, Nathan's mother was also a Geswind," Emma gasped and closed her mouth when she realized her mistake.
"Aha! I knew that the two of you had a history."
Well...it's called history for a reason."
"Uh huh," was all Valerie said, before leaving.

Emma looked around the beautiful room that she occupied. It was even more stylish, then the previous one, and it was a corner suite. It had floor to ceiling panoramic views of the city and the mountains. Even at night you could see the mountains.

Emma decided to take a shower. She reasoned that she might as well make use of the benefits, as she would be paying the debt off for a long time to come. When she came out of the bathroom an hour later, after taking a bath and not a shower, a trolley with an array of fancy food was in front of her bed.

"Wow! This is the best hospital food ever," Emma said, before biting into a lamb chop that had been drizzled with mint sauce. "This is the good life. Maybe I should get beaten up more often."

To her surprise there was a television in the room. It had hundreds of channels to choose from, she hadn't had many options in that regard, since Nathan left. That thought was enough to make her switch off the television, it made her remember the things that she most wanted to forget.

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Nathan lay back against the pillows in the B&B. He was exhausted due to lack of sleep, but the truth was that he would have still been at the hospital if he hadn't forced himself to leave.

He called April, he had to hear her voice. She was the reason that he had left the hospital. She was the reason why he was not going back there, atleast not untill Emma was gone. She was his future.

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Surprisingly, Emma had been awake for most of the night. Well, maybe it wasn't much of a surprise, considering that she slept through most of the previous day. However, the fact that Nathan had not been there even once, made her irritable. She had tried not to think about what Valerie had said, but still her stupid heart focused on that. She decided to start the day earlier by taking a six o'clock shower.

"Emmerentia," Valerie called out when Emma was in the shower.
Emma wrapped a towel around her body and came out. "Hmm?"
"My shift is almost finished, is there anything that I can help you with before leaving?"
Besides getting her discharged, Emma couldn't think of anything, "No, I'm good."
"Fine. Oh! I almost forgot, the good doctor left after he arranged your dinner. It was scrumptious, wasn't it?" Valerie said, lifting a brow.
"I...I'm used to better," Emma said, avoiding Valerie's glance.
Valerie crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that so? Well, I guess that's why you were moaning like a starved woman."
"Well, I was starving, so even stale bread would have elicited the same response from me."
"Yeah, I believe you, I really do. Anyway, enjoy the view, Ms. Malgas."

Emma thought that Valerie was very cheeky, for a public servant, but she liked her. She was even looking forward to seeing her at night.

Thoughts of Nathan plagued her mind all morning. The man had messed up everything. In fact, his coldness was better than the kindness, because his kindness made her remember what a fool she had been thinking that he would come back to her. It had become obvious to her, that he had only been a good childhood friend and nothing more.

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Nathan found himself back at the hospital, but it was not by choice. His friend, Doctor Stefan Grobbelaar had asked him to meet with a little boy who wanted to be become a brain surgeon. The poor child was fighting for his life, but he did not stop dreaming.

Nathan came from the boy's room, and spotted Ruth. When he approached her, her back was turned to him and she was on the phone. They were in the underground parking lot.

"Yes, Seth, I'm at the hospital now. I'm about to tell my best employee that she won't have a job for much longer. If, only the Adams' deal went through, we might have had a chance at recovery, but now I have to close the place. Even the month of love won't be able to safe this business from sinking. I'll talk to you later, my love."

Ruth got an incoming call immediately after, and was not aware of Nathan's presence. He slid behind the wheel of the car, with a lot on his mind.

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Emma was discharged two days later, but she was not looking forward to a house without Bubbles.

She got out of Sean's bakkie with a heavy heart. Her mind's eye conjured up images of her deceased pet from the gate to the bathroom. Every area of the house reminded her of Bubbles. She spent another sleepless night tossing and turning in bed.

Her phone's alarm sounded, and Emma switched off the app, but instead of waking up she fell into a deep slumber. Her phone was offline, so no-one could get through to her.

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"I'm sorry Mr. Adams, but I can't get through to our consultant. It is unlike her to stay away without informing me. Maybe she's unwell," Ruth reasoned.

"It's fine, I can come back at another time," Nathan replied, but it was not fine. He was worried that something was wrong.

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Nathan knocked on the door to the separate entrance which Emma occupied. The landlord told him that she had not seen Emma leave, but that did not make him feel any better. What if she was unconscious inside?

After knocking several times, with no luck, Nathan, finally, heard the shuffling of feet.

Emma groaned as she reached for her phone, switching on the device, whilst she got out of bed. She was almost at the door when she looked down at the phone and noticed the time. She shrieked, as it was 12:35.

"No! I have to call Ruth," Emma decided, forgetting about the door.

"Extravaganza Desserts, hello."
"Thank God, Ruth."
"Emma, where are you?"
"I'm so sorry," Emma paused when she heard another knock at the door. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Mr. Grumpy from Australia was looking for you."

"Emmerentia! Open the door!"