Recluse

Chapter 30

I take a deep, steadying breathe before asking the hospital receptionist, "Where can I find Dr. Malik?"

The frail woman starts bustling through a pile of paperwork on her desk, "Let me see... He's on floor two with a patient by the name of Scooter. Why do you ask?"

I smile politely, lying with ease, "I was admitted to the hospital a few weeks ago and just recently left. He was my nurse, and I have a few questions for him about the medication I'm on."

"Dr. Malik isn't an actual doctor yet. Surely I can schedule you an appointment with someone more qualified to answer your questions?" She asks, suspicion dancing in her eyes.

I shake my head, "There's no need for that. I don't have time to schedule an appointment, I need to talk to him now."

"Well I can't just let you trespass into a random patients room. You'll have to wait until he's not busy." She snaps, smiling with fake politeness. The irritation glistening in her eyes gives her away.

"Then can you at least let him know I'm here and to come speak to me as soon as he can?"

"I'll do what I can."

"Thanks."

I let out an annoyed huff, plopping down in a waiting room chair. This receptionist is a bitch.

~

"Madison, wake up."

I'm startled by a deep, smooth English accent. I blink the sleep out of my eyes, and find myself face to face with Zayn.

"I fell asleep?" I question him. I look around. Shit, it's dark outside and I'm still in the waiting room. I must've passed out while I was waiting for Zayn...

"Yeah, you did. It's 11 o clock at night, actually." He chuckles, "What time did you get here?"

"Like 6... Fuck." I slept in this fucking waiting room for FIVE hours?!

He chuckles again, dark brown eyes brimming with entertainment, "Wow, someone's a bit sleep deprived, eh?"

"Tell me about it." I grumble.

"So the receptionist told me you had some questions for me about your medication? I assume you lied to her, because we didn't send you home with any medication."

I don't respond, I just look up at him and shrug.

His smile slowly fades into confusion when he notices the tired look in my eyes, "You doing okay? I figured you'd be overjoyed, since you got to speak to Niall today."

I shake my head, eyes now glued to the bland tile floor, "He dumped me." I breathe out.

Zayn plops down beside me, leaning in close as if he must have misheard me, "He... He what?!"

"He woke up, I kissed him, he told me he loved me, then he dumped me." I state dryly, "And he wouldn't give me an explanation."

Zayn runs a hand through his solid black hair, jaw dropping open, "Madison, that makes zero sense. Literally right before you came to see him, he would not shut up about how excited he was to see you. One of the first things he said when he woke up was Where's Madison? I'm in love with her and I need to know if she's okay. Can you find out for me?! Please?! like those are exact quotes from him. He didn't say that stuff to me, but he said them to Dr. Falones. Dr Falones couldn't stop smiling after that, said that he wished his wife loved him like Niall seemed to love you. Half the staff was talking about it. There's no way he dumped you after-"

"Well he did, okay? He did. It happened. No need to make me feel worse about it." I interrupt sharply.

God, it hurts to hear all of that.

Zayn falls silent and I immediately apologize, "I'm sorry. It's just a touchy subject for me. I don't know why he did it, and you telling me all of that just makes me even more confused."

Zayn squeezes my hand, speaking gently, "Well there's gotta be a reason. I can try to get it out of him?"

I grind my teeth, extremely nervous to present him with Brett's idea. What if he thinks it's ridiculous and refuses? What if he thinks I'm a bitch for even considering it?

Whatever, I guess I have bring it up to find out, "I have an idea as to how I can get it out of him. But I'm gonna need your help. And you're gonna think it's insane."

"What do you have in mind? I'll help you in any way that I can." He chirps enthusiastically. I look into his eyes, deep into his eyes, and shit, I see it. I see what Brett was talking about. This guy likes me as more than a friend.

Guilt pricks me like a thorn. I don't want to take advantage of him...

But I have to know why Niall ended things between us. And this is the only plan I can think of that might work.

"I need you to be my fake boyfriend." I suggest, slowly beginning to smile at how stupid I sound.

He raises an eyebrow, a smile slowly forming on his own lips, "Um... Elaborate?" He laughs nervously.

"I'm glad you asked. You see, Niall can be an extremely jealous guy. Even though he dumped me, the way he acted today makes me feel like he still loves me. I feel like if I pretend to date you, he will see us all the time, because you work here. And it will drive him so crazy that he'll crack and tell me why he ended things between us." I explain, him nodding along as I do so.

He thinks through everything I just said, gradually nodding, "I think I'm going to agree to this. But, honestly, we should wait a few weeks before we start this plan."

My heart sinks, "A few weeks?!"

"It'll seem more realistic that way. If he sees us 'dating' only one day after the breakup, he's gonna either think you cheated on him or that you're intentionally trying to make him jealous. We gotta do this right."

I smirk, "I like the way you think... Babe."

"Nope. Not your babe yet. Two weeks, princess." He smirks, standing up and offering me his hand.

I take it, and he assists me to my feet. I smile up at him, shaking his hand as if we just made some formal agreement, "See you in two weeks, my good man."

"See you then." He winks, and escorts me to my car.

Maybe fake dating him for a bit won't be so bad. After all, he's a very attractive guy with a great sense of humor. It won't be bad at all.

Seeing Niall jealous will also help with the sting of this heartbreak he left me with.

I sigh. Two weeks. Two more weeks of unanswered questions.

I can deal with that. Heck, I've dealt with worse.