You Already Are
815 Words
POV: Ameera
---
I didn’t cry when I saw the hospital bill.
I just… stared.
$12,950.00 for one round of meds.
And that was before Doreen’s next appointment.
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard, I tasted blood. My hands trembled around the paper I’d printed from the staff computer.
Miss Agnes’s voice echoed from behind the corridor.
“You have ten minutes. Don’t be late.”
I folded the bill, slid it under my pillow, and inhaled shakily. The uniform felt tighter today, the air thinner. Maybe because I was running out of time — and excuses.
Doreen was getting worse. I couldn’t pretend anymore.
---
The hallway leading to Killian’s office was long. Too long. It echoed like a warning bell in my ears.
I shouldn’t be here. I was nothing but staff. Asking him for anything would be a mistake. A humiliation.
But I couldn’t sit back while the woman who raised me lay in a hospital bed, breathing like every inhale was a decision.
So I knocked.
Once. Twice.
No answer.
I turned to leave, my chest caving.
Then the door creaked open. Slowly. Quietly.
“Come in.”
---
His office was warm. Dimly lit. Wood panels and books and shadows that wrapped around the walls like secrets.
Killian sat behind the desk in a crisp black shirt, sleeves rolled, two fingers on a crystal glass of something dark.
He didn’t smile. He didn’t speak.
Just raised one brow.
“I—” My throat caught.
I cleared it. “I wanted to ask something.”
“Ask.”
My fingers curled into fists. “I... need an advance. Just a small one. For my paycheck. Please.”
His gaze didn’t move from mine.
“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t serious.”
Silence.
Then he leaned back, slow and deliberate.
“For what?” he asked.
“I—” I hesitated. “Medical bills.”
“For who?”
“My—” My voice broke. I swallowed the lump. “My nanny. She raised me. She’s sick.”
Still, he didn’t move.
I hated the quiet. Hated how it made me feel like I was peeling my skin off just to be seen.
He finally set the glass down.
“You’re asking me,” he said slowly, “to give you money before you’ve earned it.”
“Yes.”
“To cover a debt that’s not mine.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“And what would you give in return?”
My eyes widened.
“I didn’t mean it like— I’m not asking for—”
He stood.
Walked around the desk.
Stood right in front of me.
And tilted my chin up with two fingers. Gently. Too gently.
“I didn’t say you were,” he said. “But you came here thinking I’m cruel enough to want something.”
“No,” I said, my voice cracking. “I came because I have no one else.”
Silence.
Then something flickered in his eyes. Something sharp… and soft.
“You should’ve knocked louder,” he said quietly.
---
He handed me an envelope.
Just like that.
I blinked at it.
“But—”
“It’s more than you asked for,” he said, brushing past me. “You’ll need it.”
I turned, watching him pour another glass of that dark liquor.
“You didn’t even ask how much—”
“I don’t need to.”
My jaw clenched. “Why?”
He turned.
His expression unreadable.
“Because I saw the look in your eyes, Ameera. And it wasn’t about money. It was about pain.”
I looked down, swallowing hard. I hated that he could read me so easily. I hated even more how it made me want to crumble.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I moved toward the door.
Stopped.
And turned around.
“I’ll pay you back,” I said.
He didn’t smile. Didn’t nod. Just looked at me with that same unreadable stare.
“You already are.”
---
When I got back to my room, my hands were still shaking.
KIRA 💌:
💬You alive?
Did he make you sign a blood contract? 😭
ME:
💬 He gave me the money.
KIRA 💌:
💬 HOLD ON—WHAT
Just like that???
ME:
💬 I think he saw right through me.
KIRA 💌:
💬 😭 That man’s giving mysterious billionaire daddy energy.
Are we in too deep already? Be honest.
ME:
💬 I was already drowning, babe.
---
That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn’t stop hearing his voice.
“You should’ve knocked louder.”
What did that mean?
And why did it make my stomach twist in a way no paycheck ever could?
I didn’t know.
But I couldn’t wait to find out.
******************
Drop your thoughts. Drop your feels.🔥
- Writer
