Kiss Me, Heal Me

Chapter 1

It has been a month since the results of the Physicians Licensure Examinations came out. Reeva’s hands were trembling back then, and her heart was pounding hard. She cannot even breathe properly while browsing through the results. Then she shouted in delight that the people at the cafe darted their eyes at her. She saw her name. Reena Valerie Clarke. She proudly informed them that she passed the exam and that she is now a licensed physician. She doesn’t just have a doctorate in medicine. She really is a doctor now that can practice medicine in hospitals! The people at the cafe cheered with her, even the owner, who is her friend, paid for their coffee in glee.

She breathed deeply as she stared at the logo of St. Joachim Medical Center. It was a huge one, really. She was just looking from the outside but could see the facility's impressive architectural design. It screams luxury. Its skyscrapers exude power.

Is this where she’s going to work?

Her eyes shone brightly as she recalled the e-mail she received last week. She was invited for an interview with no other than the hospital director himself, Doctor Larren Pierce.

Reeva was going to seize the moment, it is a promise to herself and to her dad. She wanted to become a fellow in cardiothoracic surgery. She would do her best just to save people’s lives… just to save a lot of daddies’ lives. Her dad died of a stroke and kidney failure. It was one of the reasons why she wanted to save every sick daddy out there because she knew damn well how it feels not to have a father. And it wasn’t easy.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Reeva was greeted by the guard when she rolled her windows down.

“Hi,” she greeted him back with a smile. “Is Doctor Pierce already in?”

“I’m afraid he’s not—oh,” the guard stopped and motioned his hand, pointing at the back of her car. “Just about time, ma’am.”

It looks like Doctor Pierce had already arrived.

He was continuously honking. Is he in an emergency? Maybe he was already late, she thought. She just discovered that Doctor Pierce is kind of impatient when it comes to parking.

Reeva smiled at the guard again. “Thank you, sir—

“Miss? Could you please?” shouted the man behind her. The one who’s driving the car. The man’s window was already rolled down as he waved at her continuously. He was shooing her away. He honked again and again. “You’re blocking the way!”

“Is that really Doctor Pierce?” she asked the guard again. That cannot be, his voice was way too young to be Doctor Pierce’s. Her brows creased. She got out of her car. She didn’t have to wait for the guard’s response. She walked directly to the owner of the car. She knocked because his window was already rolled up. The guy didn’t even bother to open it as he continued to honk. Damn it. He’s really testing her patience. She lost control so she banged his windshield. It was tinted and she cannot even get a glimpse of who was inside. She noticed the stickers—one, the hospital logo, and two, the typical medicine logo with letters M and D on it. “Excuse me! Excuse me, sir—”

“What, woman?” The man’s voice rang in her ear as he opened his window. She blinked when she saw his face--when she finally saw who was inside the car. He was, indeed, young. He looked like he was her age, or maybe two years older. His brows raised as if he was testing her—as if he was provoking her. “I said, move your car because it’s blocking the way.”

“You’re saying that you’re Doctor Pierce, sir?” she tried to be as polite as she could. It was her best.

“Well, I am definitely Doctor Pierce,” he answered, squinting his eyes.

“Impossible! This is identity theft!” She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Not to act like a diva, but to have a reason to avert her eyes from him because she’s feeling intimidated. His stare made her nerves jangle. Dammit, it was just a brief stare, for heaven’s sake!

“Ma’am, he is—” The guard tried to interrupt but didn’t succeed.

“What?” The man laughed out loud. She saw him getting something from the compartment. It was his wallet. He was slightly shaking his head and half-smirking when he pulled out his IDs and showed them to her. Yes, with an ‘s’ because the guy handed her a bunch of his identification cards—all named Luxien Pierce.

Reeva was lost for words. If it is because she was embarrassed or her mouth being widely opened, she doesn’t know. She gave his IDs back. “There’s no need to show those to me, you know,” she softly said. She cannot look into his eyes but she can imagine him grinning from ear to ear because of her embarrassment. She blew a breath upwards and it made her bangs move. She marched her feet softly. It was as if her feet were dying to hop into her car to save her face.

“Really, huh?” he smirked when she turned on her heels and finally opened her car and got in.

She even shot the guard a look when she realized that he was laughing secretly.

She huffed. “A Pierce… so, he may be a son or something,” she whispered to herself. She nearly jumped off her seat when she heard him honk his goddamned horn again. “Fine,” she hissed, and she started the engine. What an impatient bloke.

So, what if he’s the son? She asked herself once more. She shook her head. This is bad. Really bad. “Yeah, that’s what you get when you go unprepared and over-confident,” she reprimanded herself in the rear-view mirror. What does she expect? That she was going to be accepted because Doctor Pierce, the old Pierce, knew her? The hell, she was not even sure if the old man remembered her. It was already over two decades.

The memory was still fresh in her mind. A certain Larren Pierce saved her father while they were on board.

Roviel Clarke, her dad, had a heart attack in 1996 while on board. The attendant calmly—as trained—asked the passengers if there was a doctor on board. And thankfully, there was. Larren Pierce came to the rescue and gave her father a series of physical tests. When he and one of the flight attendants failed to find a pulse, he asked if there was an automated external defibrillator on the plane.

Minutes after reviving her father, they finally found a pulse.

She knew they were in great debt with that man named Larren Pierce. She then grew up idolizing the man. The time came that she, at last, got the chance to search for him on the Internet, but all she saw was his name and that he owned hospitals and different foundations in the country. From there, she vowed to be a medical practitioner like him.

She wanted to know more about him, but the internet just wouldn’t let her. There was nothing about him—even about his family. Maybe the old man tried his best to avoid social interactions to have a private life.

But then again, whoever he was, or whatever his life was… he saved her father. And it made him live even just a few years more. Her dad passed away when she was still in medical school and she was taken under the roof of her uncle.

And here she is. She gathered all her guts just to apply for this residency, hoping that Doc Pierce would recognize her. But who was she kidding? It was already two decades. Who knows how many patients he had saved on an airplane?

She grabbed her cell phone when she found a parking space. She hurriedly Googled Luxien Pierce.

Oh, heavens! Her face paled as she read the results. “Possible successor… chief of surgery—what? He’s the chief?” she mumbled to herself. She browsed more. She even visited the hospital’s website again, because she was sure that she hadn’t seen his name there. Then, she saw something at the bottom of the site. All the information wasn’t updated. The last update was two years ago. She tapped the back button and clicked Luxien Pierce’s name. Only to reveal a photo of him. She wasn’t sure if it was the picture or it was just her—it was smirking at her.