Arland Hospital, the biggest hospital in the city, one of the biggest in the country, one of the biggest and most advanced in the world, and one of the biggest nonprofit hospitals in existence, financed mainly by Arland Group through Arland foundation.
If it had been any other time, Alex would have dissed the old man for his narcissism that made him put his name anywhere and everywhere. But this time, he did not even have the leisure to care about the germ-filled taxi.
To reach the hospital from the accident site, he took a taxi. He frowned in distaste, he squirmed inwardly, but he did not hesitate in the end. As soon as it stopped, he ran out of it and straight into the hospital, showing none of the signs of having just been in an accident.
He didn't want to linger in the wide lobby, but he was forced to stop and call Leyna again. She picked up at the first ringing:
"Alex–"
Alex cut her off as he held his breath:
"I've arrived. Where are you?"
There was only urgency in Alex's voice, though suppressed like boiling water in a lidded pot. But that was understandable, so Leyna went straight to the point:
"We are in the OB-GYN department. I will–."
Hearing Leyna's voice, Alex's eyes flickered, but he still cut her off with one sentence:
"Wait for me in the corridor."
With that, he ended the call, and he took off, weaving through the crowd like an Olympic runner. However, he didn't run toward the elevators. And as he pushed open the door of the stairwell, he missed the sight of the panicking blonde who was battling with the button of one of the elevators all for a chance for it to come faster, to bring her to where she was dying to reach faster.
Like two sides of the same coin, their paths crossed again, or maybe not.
But even if he had seen her, Alex would have paid her no attention at all. As the door to the stairwell started swinging back, he took the first step onto the flight of stairs. When the door closed at last, it was as if it had simply been opened by a mischievous gust of wind a little too strong. Alex was not there anymore. He had disappeared.
*Ding~*
The elevator arrived and Sharon ran inside. At the same time, a few floors above, the door of the stairwell was violently pushed open. Alex came barging into the corridor like a tornado. He immediately spotted Leyna who had stopped walking, startled by his sudden entry:
"Alex!"
"Leyna! Where is she?"
In one step, he appeared before the black-haired woman. She blinked, then spun around to hurry back in the direction she had been coming from, her heels click-clacking sharply against the ground while curtly saying:
"Come with me."
They walked down the corridor with wards on either side until one deeper inside, the deepest one, where Leyna stopped and turned around to Alex who was also forced to stop:
"Since you are not barging into the ward, I'm sure that you must have noticed already. The situation is under control, and there is no need to worry."
As she said that, Leyna let out a small smile, then tenderly raised her hand to comb through Alex's hair and tidy up the mess his urgency had caused.
Alex looked into Leyna's greyish-blue eyes, then lowered his head to give her easier access. The air turned quiet, with a calming atmosphere. A minute later, Leyna softly patted the brown hair to make her work hold, then nodded with a satisfied smile:
"Alright, let's go. Your eyes have returned to normal now."
Alex froze, then blinked, and blinked again.
It seemed… tonight was the full moon.
Shaking his head, he smiled, and resumed walking after Leyna as she carefully pushed open the door of their destination and walked inside.
"Chairwoman, Alex is here."
Grace was not lying on the single bed inside the ward. She was reclining in a medical infusion chair where she opened her eyes and turned around at the words of her assistant. The lake-green eyes fell on Leyna, quiet, but weighty enough to make the latter embarrassedly turn her own greyish-blue eyes away to avoid them.
"Mom~"
Interrupting them, Alex walked past Leyna with a smile, putting himself between her and his mother as he went to scrutinize the bottle of the IV drip connected to the latter.
Seeing that, Grace said nothing and took her gaze back to close her eyes again. Alex's smile deepened. He nodded to himself after the serious observation and sat on the chair Leyna had brought over while he was covering for her. As she went to set the room to the most comfortable possible for her boss, Alex took Grace's hand on the armrest into his and asked with a casual smile:
"Leyna told me. How is the pain?"
Grace didn't open her eyes, but after a moment, she replied:
"Nothing much. Just a bit worse, this time."
Alex went quiet. He took the blanket Leyna passed to him and covered his mother's leg.
A soft knock resounded. While Leyna went to get the door, Alex went on to ask, his voice softer:
"So it was a relapse of something old. Are you feeling better now?"
Grace froze. But it was her lapse which had given Alex a clue, so she simply responded without trying to elaborate:
"Hm."
Alex looked back to see a basket of fruits in Leyna's hand as she came back. Checking the IV drip he observed up close just a minute earlier, he exhaled and smiled again:
"Then I'm relieved. Let's wait and hear what the old lady will say."
"Am I the old lady in your words, heir Lenner?"
Alex almost choked on his saliva. He had no need to turn around to know who had come in like a ghost. Before he could pretend to have heard nothing, his mother stopped resting and glanced at him with her calm green eyes:
"He has no need to care about the one who helped give birth to him anymore. After all, he is all grown up now."
"Indeed, I can see that."
Hearing that answer from the back, Alex knew that he could not ignore the voice and its owner anymore. So, donning his armor —read: thick skin—, he bravely put himself between the two women, pulling the attention to himself by clearing his throat:
"Cough~ cough~ This young one was wrong, okay? Can you ladies tease me later? For now, what is the preliminary verdict, beautiful Dr Robin?"
As he said that, Alex turned around with his brightest, most respectful smile of the month.