Healing Mr. Ashford

Chapter Six: Adverse Reaction

NATALIA GEORGETTE

"What are you doing here?"

Ethan was the first to speak, but it wasn't the question I expected. He sounded more irritated than surprised.

I looked at his hand still wrapped around Leila's arm.

"I should be asking you that. I thought you were in Palawan." His jaw tightened and his expression changed.

"Nat..."

"So, you came back already?"

I stared at him, trying to understand what I was seeing.

"You didn't even call me. You haven't replied to any of my messages since yesterday."

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Then my eyes moved to the woman beside him.

Leila.

She lowered her eyes. She looked terrified, and somehow that frightened me more than Ethan's uneasiness.

Until she tried to open her mouth.

"Natalia, I..."

"Her phone was dead."

Ethan cut her off so quickly that I looked at him.

"What?"

"My phone," he clarified, reaching into his pocket. "It died yesterday. I couldn't charge it, and I got caught up with a client."

I stared at him.

"And Palawan?"

"I was there."

He answered too quickly.

"I just got back."

I wasn't sure whether I believed him.

"I was actually on my way to the clinic," he continued. "Then I saw Leila walking here."

His eyes briefly moved toward her.

"I remembered what you told me yesterday about the pregnancy."

He gave a small shrug, as though everything suddenly made sense. My gaze landed on Leila, who had been unusually quiet, her lips pressed into a thin line. There was something in her expression that made me want to ask what she had been about to say, but Ethan was already speaking again.

"I'll take her home," Ethan said, finally letting go of Leila's arm. "Then I'll go to the clinic."

I looked at him.

"I took a half-day."

His brows lifted.

"Why?"

"I was going to check on you at the firm. You hadn't answered any of my messages, and I was starting to worry."

For a moment, he simply stared at me, then his expression softened.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know."

I glanced at Leila, who was still holding the paper bag tightly against her chest.

"I'll let you take her home."

"Thank you."

He stepped closer.

"I'll see you later, then."

I nodded.

"I'll be at the apartment."

He smiled faintly.

"Good. I'll come over later."

"For what?"

He gave me a look as though the answer should have been obvious.

"We need to talk about the wedding preparations."

I almost smiled.

"There's still something left to discuss?"

"Apparently, there always is."

That made me laugh softly.

"Fine. I'll see you later."

"Later."

I watched him walk away with Leila before getting back into my car. By the time I reached home, I had almost convinced myself that everything was fine. And, to his credit, Ethan acted like it was.

He came over that evening and helped me go through the remaining wedding details, complaining about the seating arrangement and joking about how many times we had already changed the guest list. For a while, everything felt normal.

He was the same Ethan I knew, the man I had loved, the man I was supposed to marry. And yet, even while he sat beside me and laughed over something as insignificant as the seating arrangement, a small part of me was somewhere else.

Still standing in front of that pharmacy.

Still thinking about Leila's face and the way she had looked at me before they left.

I could have asked Ethan about it, but I didn't. I wasn't even sure what I would ask. I didn't want to ruin the evening over something I couldn't explain, so I let it go...or at least, I tried to.

After Ethan left that night, I found myself staring at the ceiling, wide awake and replaying the scene in my head. Something was bothering me, I just didn't know what.

The next morning, I was halfway through my first consultation when Liza knocked on my door.

"Doc, Mr. Ashford is here."

I looked up from the chart in front of me.

"Mr. Ashford?"

She nodded. "He brought something for you."

I frowned. "For me?"

"Yes, Doc."

A few moments later, Maximo walked into my office carrying a white box.

"Good morning, Doctor."

"Good morning."

He placed the box on my desk.

"I brought you something."

I looked at the box, then back at him.

"What is it?"

"Cassava cake."

I couldn't help smiling.

"Cassava cake?"

"We harvested yesterday," he shrugged. "My cook made too much, so I thought I might bring some here."

I was just looking at the boxes of freshly baked cassava cakes when I heard him again.

"I’m not trying to court you, if that's what you're thinking."

I looked up, and I he gave me an amused smile.

"If you're wondering why I keep bringing things here."

I almost laughed. "I wasn't thinking that."

"Good." He nodded toward the box on my desk. "I just wanted to thank you. I honestly feel healthier lately. And I brought some for my cousin, too. So I figured I'd drop by here while I was in the area."

I smiled. "You didn't have to."

"I know. I wanted to."

I looked at him for a second. There was something different about him lately. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, or maybe I was simply noticing him more than I should. Then I remembered yesterday at the pharmacy and his truck had been parked outside.

My eyes went to him.

"Were you at the pharmacy yesterday?"

He nodded.

"Yes. I ordered some medicine for one of my farmers."

I remembered the paper bag in Leila's hand because it looked exactly like the one I'd seen at the pharmacy.

My stomach tightened.

"Did you happen to see a woman there yesterday? With a man?"

He looked at me for a moment, his gaze made me hesitate.

"Never mind..." I was about to close the conversation ut he was already nodding.

"I saw them."

My heart gave a strange little beat.

"Are they together?"

"Not exactly, "

I waited for him to continue.

"The woman was already leaving when I arrived. After I came out, I passed by them. They looked like they were arguing." I swallowed.

"Did you hear what they were arguing about?"

He frowned slightly.

"Why?"

I forced a small smile.

"I'm just curious."

I looked down at my desk before adding, almost too casually, "The man is my fiancé."

Maximo went completely still, and I watched his eyes slowly lifted to mine. For a second, I saw something I couldn't quite understand in them...pity.

Why would he look at me like that?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He immediately looked away.

"I'm not."

"You are."

He was quiet for a moment.

Then he said softly, "If something doesn't feel right, Doctor, you should talk to your partner." I stared at him.

But he didn't look at me again, and somehow, that bothered me more than the answer itself.

Maximo's reaction stayed with me long after he left. I couldn't shake the way he had looked at me, especially that brief flicker of pity in his eyes. It bothered me more than it should have, mostly because I couldn't understand where it came from.

Maybe I should confront Ethan. I could ask him where he had really been yesterday, why he hadn't bothered to call, and why he had looked so nervous when I mentioned Leila's pregnancy. But then again, what if I was simply putting pieces together that didn't belong?

I didn't want to become that kind of fiancée, the woman who questioned everything simply because she was afraid of what the answers might be.

So I told myself to let it go.

By the time I reached my apartment, I had almost convinced myself that I was overreacting. Then I noticed a woman standing outside my gate.

I slowed down.

It took me a few seconds to recognize her.

Leila.

She looked nothing like the woman who had sat across from me in my clinic earlier. Her hair was messy, her face was pale, and her eyes were swollen as though she had been crying for hours. She kept looking over her shoulder, too, as if she was afraid someone might be following her.

"Leila?"

She turned toward me.

"Natalia."

Her voice trembled.

I opened the gate and stepped aside. "Come inside."

She followed me quietly, but the moment we were through the gate, she suddenly dropped to her knees.

I froze.

"Leila, what are you doing?"

She grabbed both my hands. Her fingers were cold and trembling so badly that I could feel the movement against my skin.

"Please help me."

Something about the desperation in her voice made my stomach turn.

"What happened?"

"Please help me get rid of it."

I stared at her, unable to make sense of what she was asking.

"Get rid of what?"

Her hand slowly moved to her stomach.

"The baby."

For a second, I forgot how to breathe. I inhaled sharply, but the air seemed to stop halfway down my throat. My mind went completely blank, as if it needed a few seconds to understand what my ears had already heard.

"You're asking me to...?"

She nodded while crying.

"Please, Nat. I don't want it."

She struck her stomach with a trembling fist. Thankfully, I immediately caught her wrist.

"Stop!"

"I don't want this child!"

"Don't hurt yourself, Leila."

"I can't have it!"

Her voice cracked, and she broke down so completely that I had to fight the urge to pull her into my arms.

"I'm a doctor," I reminded her, forcing my voice to stay steady even though my hands were shaking. "I save lives. I can't help you end one."

"Please."

"I can't do that for you."

She covered her face and sobbed.

"I don't know what to do."

I swallowed hard before asking the question I already knew she didn't want to answer.

"Have you talked to the father?"

She went completely still, so waited ut she did not respond.

"Leila?"

She lowered her eyes.

"Who is the father?"

She still didn't answer.

The silence stretched between us, broken only by the quiet sound of her crying.

I finally let out a slow breath and stood. "I'll get you some water. Then I'll call Ethan. We can talk to the father together, and we'll figure out what to do next."

"No!"

She suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Please, no."

"You need help."

"I'm sorry."

Her voice broke.

"I'm so sorry, Natalia."

I frowned at her.

"You don't have to apologize."

"I do."

"No." I squeezed her hand, trying to calm her down. "Whatever happened, you don't have to face it alone. You can rely on me. We'll talk to the father and figure this out."

She shook her head so hard that her tears fell onto her cheeks.

"No, Natalia."

I stared at her.

"Why?"

She kept crying, unable to look at me.

"I'm sorry."

My confusion slowly turned into uneasiness. There was something in the way she kept apologizing, something that made the back of my neck prickle. I couldn't understand why she was looking at me as if I were the one she had wronged.

"Leila, why are you sorry?"

She finally looked up.

Her eyes were red and swollen, but there was something else in them that made my heart begin to pound.

Fear.

Guilt.

And the kind of shame that didn't belong to a stranger.

Her lips trembled before she finally spoke.

"Because Ethan is the father of my child."