Chapter24
1032 Words
"Do you want anything to eat, Lily?" Damien asked, his voice unusually gentle as he stepped closer to her bedside.
The girl looked up at him with wide eyes, her small hands still wrapped around the stuffed bunny Ava had brought the day before. She blinked a few times, thinking. “Can I have strawberry yogurt? And those small chocolate cookies in the red pack.”
Damien nodded. “Anything else?”
She shook her head, then added, “Maybe apple juice too.”
“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Don’t go anywhere,” he said with a faint smirk.
Lily giggled. “I’m literally attached to wires. Where am I going?”
Damien actually chuckled, a low sound Ava rarely heard from him. He turned and walked out of the hospital room, leaving a strange warmth in his wake. Ava stood in the corner near the window, arms folded, silent.
She hadn't said a word to him since the car ride. After that “boyfriend” stunt he pulled, she didn't know what to say. Her chest still ached with the whiplash of his hot and cold words. One minute he was dismissive. The next is possessive. She couldn’t tell which one was real, and that uncertainty made her nervous.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Damien returned holding a small paper bag in one hand and a bottle of juice in the other. “For the patient,” he said, approaching the bed.
Lily beamed. “Thank you! You actually found the red pack!”
“I said I would, didn’t I?” Damien knelt slightly beside the bed, tearing open the packet and handing it to her with care.
“Do you work for the hospital or something?” Lily asked as she took a bite of the cookie.
“No,” Damien said smoothly, “I own a few companies. But I’m not much of a doctor.”
“But you look like a bodyguard,” Lily said between chews. “You’re all serious and tall and scary-looking. But… you brought cookies. So maybe you’re not that scary.”
Damien’s lips twitched. Ava could tell he was holding back a real smile.
“You’re the first person to ever call me scary and sweet in the same breath.”
“You are sweet,” Lily insisted, swinging her legs a little under the blanket. “Ava, is he always like this?”
Ava cleared her throat, forcing a small smile. “He’s… something.”
Lily giggled again, and Damien handed her the yogurt. The girl happily dipped her spoon and began eating while Damien sat down in the chair beside her bed, resting an ankle over one knee like he’d been coming there for years.
The ease with which he moved, the softness in his voice when he addressed Lily, it all unnerved Ava. It made it harder to keep her distance. Because this Damien wasn’t the cold, detached man who barked at her to get into his car. This Damien was something else entirely.
“You know,” Lily said mid-bite, “you should come around more.”
Ava’s eyes flicked to her sister. “Lily…..”
“What?” Lily shrugged. “He’s nice. I like him.”
Damien leaned forward slightly. “And I like you too, little troublemaker.”
“I’m not a troublemaker!” Lily gasped, playfully scandalized.
“You made me search three hospital shops for that yogurt brand.”
“I have standards,” Lily replied, raising her chin dramatically.
They all laughed then. Even Ava, though the sound caught in her throat. She hated how natural it felt. How fast Damien could switch from business to warmth. She couldn’t tell which side of him was real anymore, and she hated it.
Minutes passed. They kept talking. Lily told Damien about school, her favorite cartoons, and how bored she was being stuck in bed all day. Damien listened with the same attentiveness he gave his board meetings, nodding and asking the right questions like he truly cared.
Ava watched, quiet, torn.
He was making it impossible for her to hate him.
Eventually, Lily’s eyelids drooped slightly, the sugar rush wearing off and exhaustion beginning to settle again.
Ava rose, walking to her bedside. “You should rest now.”
“Five more minutes,” Lily whispered, but she snuggled deeper into the covers anyway.
Damien stood too, brushing invisible lint from his suit jacket.
Lily looked between them, then suddenly said, “You two are cute together.”
Ava froze.
Damien gave no reaction, just stared down at the child with unreadable eyes.
“And you’re lucky,” Lily added with a yawn. “You know… to have someone like him. Because he looks at you like…”
“Like what?” Ava asked gently, brushing a strand of hair from her sister’s forehead.
“Like he wants to protect you. Even when he’s pretending not to care.”
The silence in the room grew heavy.
Ava looked up and met Damien’s gaze, but he didn’t look away this time. He stared back, expression unreadable but intense.
Before either of them could speak, Lily murmured again, her voice softer now. “The other day… I saw you with my doctor.”
Ava blinked. “Who?”
Lily’s brows pinched. “That man. He’s tall too. Looks… like you, kind of,” she said to Damien. “Dark eyes. Sharp face.”
Ava straightened.
Damien’s entire body went still.
“What do you mean, Lily?” Ava asked carefully. “When did you see him?”
“I don’t know,” Lily muttered, eyes already closing. “He was just there. Watching from the door. But he didn’t come in. And he was with… my doctor.”
Her hand twitched, gesturing weakly toward Damien. “He was with….”
Then she fell asleep.
Ava and Damien stared at each other, something silent and heavy falling between them. The tension from before returned tenfold.
The name words hit Ava like a slap.
Why was Lily seeing Damien with her doctor?
Why hadn’t Damien said anything?
But most of all…
What the hell was Damien hiding?
- Writer
