Chapter 93

93 The Devil’s Care

Now that I think about it, I still have the money that he gave me saved away in a separate account. How did that slip my mind? With starting a new job and dating Kyle along with other changes that came along with life, I never got around to talking to Ace and returning that money to him. I shamefully realized that I had been using the fact that he is the CEO as a convenient excuse to avoid him, thinking that he is too far away for me to reach.

With the way things are now between us, Ace is more reachable than ever. I should find the right time to thank him properly for what he did for me and return the money back to him. After all, I never had any intention of using it and it wasn’t a small amount either.

Ace may not even remember all that happened between us before. To him, I was probably just some random girl that he ran into and took pity on. He teased me and played around me with for a bit and then he moved on with his life. The money that he gave me was clearly an insignificant amount to him, so he probably doesn’t remember that I still owed him that money. It wasn’t like he expected to get that money back from me. In fact, he didn’t want the money back.

“Ace...” I mumbled.

I could see light through my eyelids and as my eyelids fluttered sparks of light leaked in. Slowly, I managed to open my eyes. The white ceiling that greeted me felt unfamiliar and so did the smell of the room. Where am I?

My senses felt dull, and I had trouble moving my limbs the way that I wanted to. My body just felt heavy, and it took a lot of effort to turn my head to the side.

“Ace...” I whispered his name.

I woke up to find Ace sleeping with his head resting on the side of my hospital bed with his hands holding mine. How long had he been sleeping there in such an uncomfortable-looking position?

“Why am I...in the hospital?” I mumbled to myself blankly.

.....

After scanning the hospital room with my eyes, I took in the IV drip attached to my arm and then my eyes fell to Ace’s face. He looked tired and had dark circles under his eyes. Instinctively, I reached my hand toward his face to smooth over his hair.

“Rina...” Ace called my name when he stirred.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you...” I apologized immediately.

Ace woke up and blinked his eyes at me as if he couldn’t believe that I was in front of him. He really does look tired.

“Rina. You’re finally awake. How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you have a headache? Are you hungry?” Ace fired rapid questions at me one after another.

He seemed so panic, and I had no idea what brought this on. I started giggling at his reaction and his bewildered face. Honestly, I never thought that there would come a day that I would get to see the Devil CEO flustered this way.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I feel a little tired but apart from that I’m fine,” I replied before smiling at him reassuringly.

“Really? I’ll call for the doctor now. Wait a moment,” Ace said before quickly turning to press a button on the wall close to us.

I still had no idea how I ended up in hospital. If I remembered correctly, Ace carried me to bed with him last night and then we ended up having some very rough and steamy sex. It felt good, I definitely remembered that much. After that, I guess I fell asleep, but I don’t seem to remember anything else after that.

“Why am I in the hospital?” I asked, still very confused.

“You had a fever this morning...” Ace told me with a sorrowful look on his face.

Oh, I had a fever?

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to burden you like that. Sorry for making you worry but I’m fine now. We can get back to work,” I quickly said.

What time is it anyways? This isn’t the time for me to be laying in a hospital bed. I’m sure that we had many things planned for today as part of our trip.

“No. You should rest and don’t worry about working or anything else,” Ace replied with a deep frown in between his brows.

“But...don’t we have so much to do for our research?” I quickly protested.

My words earned me a disapproving glare from Ace that effectively shut me up.

“You should rest. Just sleep in bed here for today and another night...or two...” he said sternly.

“That’s not necessary. I’m fine now, plus staying in hospital is expensive you know...” I shot back.

We’re also abroad, I had no idea if the insurance that the company provided for me covered this.

“Stop worrying about trivial things like that. Just stay in bed until you feel better!” Ace yelled quite loudly at me.

Why is he so mad? I just thought that we should go back to work.

Frankly I was shocked at Ace’s outburst, but I didn’t have time to react to it before the door to my hospital room opened and a middle-aged doctor walked in followed by a nurse. After a while of inspecting me, the doctor seemed satisfied with the result.

“How is she?” Ace asked with worry.

“There’s nothing seriously wrong. She probably had a fever because she was tired and didn’t get enough rest for a couple of days. Is that right?” the doctor told Ace before turning to ask for my confirmation.

I guess doctors were the most accurate fortune tellers. He was right, I probably haven’t had enough sleep for many nights now ever since before we left on this trip. The cause of my sleepless nights was none other than the hot and handsome man who was sitting next to my hospital bed.

–To be continued...