Chapter 12 Don't Let It

• Because of his stare, I immediately feel my heartbeat quicken and am helpless to move. They were fixated in my direction, and because of how his eyes were making me feel—like a huge boulder of ice—I was unable to think of a single thing to say to him since my brain felt like they were also turned to ice.
• "She's here Mr. Saintclare. Nurse Miranda will help you." Lettie smiled at me.
• What? Help him with what? Wait, what? What's going on? Where's Mara? I thought to myself and worried more.
• Because I don't know how I genuinely appear at the moment, I was unable to smile. I was still gathering my breath, my hair was all over my face, and my heart was throbbing loudly inside my chest. And in his presence, I appear ugly. What the heck.
• "Thank you for finding her for me." Hugo spoke with such a thick Essex accent that tickled my ears, creeping it down the back of my neck. "Can you please leave us alone for a minute?" He asked Lettie in a very nice and pleasant tone in his voice.
• While wiggling her eyebrows at me, Lettie keeps nodding and smiling invisibly at me before leaving the room. Given what she witnessed in this room, I'm sure she'll disseminate rumors about it across the medical center, which is not a good thing. Not from babbling Lettie, I assure you.
• I inhaled deeply and looked over at Anne, who was giving me a comforting smile,and no, no one died. Lettie was just trying to be such a pain in my asshole. Hugo was simply staring at me impassively, but she appeared to be glad to see me again. Where is the happy Hugo that I used to swoon over?
• "What can I do for you... sir?" I croaked.
• Jesus Christ Miranda, sir, for real? Can you drop off with the sir part?
• "My mother didn't like the nurse who was sent here because she was the grumpy one before you came in." He said and his voice sounded cold. He has completely changed.
• I don't like where this is going.
• "She wants you to take care of her for tonight." He slightly smiled tight lipped. That subtle dimple on his face is subtly tickling me under my nose.
• "And Hugo kept insisting about you.” She smiled at Hugo, as if she was trying to get him to agree with what she said, before looking back at me as she added, “I think I agree with him."
• I feel my cheeks blushing and burning like a forest on literal fire. Get your thoughts right Miranda!
• "Could you do the favor dear?" Anne asked sweetly.
• But my shift is over and my son is still at Vivian's house.
• My transgender friend Vivian Moller, who is Caleb Moller in his past life, which means prior to the surgery, has been my longtime friend. Her French spouse, who formerly worked for this huge corporation in France, and she, are happily married. I'm not sure when the Satellite Patrol mania started, but that's probably how Vivian and I became friends. At the time, we were classmates at the same university and each had a devoted following. Since he had the money for his surgery, he took a plane to Paris and purchased his own set of vagina. It's actually not a huge problem that I now address him as a she because she still loves me regardless of how I refer to her.
• I sigh inwardly at the thought of being stuck here after duty hours and they were obviously waiting for me to speak.
• "Sure ma’am. I would love to take care of you for the night." I said and faked a smile.
• As if I have a choice, I can't say no to them. She's a patient and he's famous. They're the Saintclares. And even though Hugo has left the limelight, he's still Hugo and you can't say no to Hugo Saintclare. It's just impossible to say no to a nice man like him.
• Due to the medication she had taken earlier, as an hour went by, Anne was already dozing off. On the other hand, Hugo has departed to get himself a cup of coffee as I kept myself awake to watch after him. I still had to maintain my professional demeanor and refrain from watching any late-night television while I am overnight monitoring my patient who specifically asked for me to be here.
• My phone rang and it was a call from Vivian. "Hey Viv." I caved in right away. I stood from my chair and walked to a corner so I wouldn't disturb Mrs. Anne's sleep.
• "Your baby boy woke up." She told me in a soft voice.
• "Why?" I asked worriedly.
• "He was looking for you. I told him you were still at work. He asked if you're on OT, your boy is a genius. Have I ever told you that?"
• I smiled. “Yes, a million times.”
• “Great, because he really is smart.”
• I chuckled softly, “Thank you, Viv. He truly is. Is he having tantrums? Or anything?”
• "Oh don't worry,” She reassured me, “Ben had always been a wonderful little boy. Also, I gave him a glass of milk and he fell back to sleep almost way too quickly. He’s such a good boy like his dad."
• I sighed. "Sorry for the inconvenience Viv. I just can't say no to the patient, that's all."
• "You're always very hardworking Miranda. I always envy that about you. Why don't you try to tell the father of Ben so he'll finally know about it?" She quizzed.
• I groaned inwardly and exhaled.
• “It’s been years.” She adds.
• “I know, I’m just not ready for it.. for me… for Ben.”
• “You’re always so worried about everything.” She told me.
• "I always do it for my son. If Hugo will know about it, he wouldn't believe me for sure. You didn't even believe me at first." I told her as a matter of fact.
• "That's because I thought you were out of your mind." She chuckled jokingly. "But when I saw Benny growing up, having Hugo’s curly hair and his bluish green eyes, I knew he was the father. Like a million times percent."
• I took a pause and sighed again, sighing more today than I have ever been before, "I just can't tell him yet."
• Hugo sat back down on the couch silently where he had been sitting the entire time since a while ago after I suddenly heard a door close. He just popped out of nowhere as I stopped in my tracks with the conversation I had with Vivian when I saw him walk by next to me. Before taking out his phone, he gives me a start of a fright.
• "I'll call you back Viv. Please look after Ben for me. Thank you." I said softly in a fast manner, cupping my hand over my mouth and hanging up the next second.
• Hugo placed two cups of Starbucks' venti on top of his table before he asked with his soft voice, "Coffee?"
• I want to drink some, but I have to stay awake. I shake my head sideways in defiance of my strong desire to do so because I do not want to close the gap between us right now. He then got up and walked up to me, making me feel rigid once again because he was coming in my direction. Even though I wanted to move away from him, my feet were firmly planted on the ground. He was already in front of me with a cup of coffee when I realized it was too late.
• "It's yours, actually. I bought you one." He extended it to me, saying it in a kinder voice. "Here." He slowly placed it on my hand and as soon as I held it, my heart beat was already accelerating. He walked back to the couch and began opening something on his laptop and a few papers were on top of the table as well.
• I moved my eyes down to the cup and my name was written on it: Nurse Miranda.
• I smiled at myself because it was something really cute coming from Hugo. I pull my head up and stare at his cup where he got his name on it too. As I looked eagerly from the two cups, I noticed that the handwriting from my cup was different from his.
• "Did I get your name right?" He suddenly asked.
• Maybe he noticed that I was constantly looking at his cup then back at mine. "Yeah, thanks." I answered softly.
• He smiled back, tickling every single freaking nerve in my body. "I told the barista not to put my name on that. I'm glad I got the spelling of your name correctly."
• The little things he does just makes my heartbeat uneasy. Don’t let it get in your head.