C3 CAUGHT IN HIS ARMS

**Aurora**

Caught in his arms

“Finally,” he said, rising to his feet. “I’ve been waiting for you.”I sighed, already feeling a headache coming.

“Dr Ryan… what are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re trespassing.”

He chuckled.

“I prefer the word visiting.”

I walked past him and placed Ethan’s medical file on my desk.

“If you’re here to flirt again, save your energy. I have charts to finish.”

“I wasn’t flirting.”

I paused and looked at him.

“Oh?”

“I came to return your novel”.

“Was packing it in a gift box necessary”.

Reading has always been my escape. After long, exhausting shifts at the hospital, nothing calmed my mind more than getting lost in a good romance novel. That was exactly why I’d lent Ryan my copy of Fifty Shades of Grey—not because I wanted to, but because he’d begged me for weeks.

I blinked.

“Ryan—”

Before I could finish, he picked up the Novel and walked toward me.

“Please don’t.”

“You haven’t even heard me out.”

“I don’t need to.”

“I’m in love with you, Aurora.”

My breath caught.

I instinctively took a step backward.

Ryan kept walking until the back of my knees hit the edge of my desk.

There was nowhere else to go.

“Ryan…”

“I know you’re married.”

“Then you know this conversation shouldn’t be happening.”

“I also know a woman like you deserves to be appreciated every single day.”

I frowned.

“My husband appreciates me.”

Ryan smiled sadly.

“I hope he does.”

He stretched out the novel and asked me to reach for it if I could. Ryan was undeniably handsome. His sharp jawline, warm hazel eyes, and athletic build made him one of the most admired doctors in the hospital. More than half the female staff had a crush on him.

Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t one of them.

“Give me back the novel”

He raised the novel above his head with a teasing grin.

“Come and get it.”

I glared at him.

“Ryan, this isn’t funny.”

Standing on my tiptoes, I reached for the book, but he was simply too tall.

I stretched a little farther…

My heel slipped against the polished floor.

“Aah!”

Before I could hit the ground, Ryan instinctively grabbed my waist..

The force pulled me forward.

My palms landed against his chest.

For one brief second…

We froze.

Our faces were inches apart.

Then—

The office door burst open.

Nurse Au—”

My colleague Nurse Vera stopped mid-sentence.

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers.

She looked from Ryan’s arm around my waist…

…to my hands pressed against his chest.

“Oh my God…”

I quickly stepped away.

“It isn’t what it looks like.”

“I—I didn’t see anything.”

Her voice shook.

“I’ll come back later.”

“No, wait!”

But she had already rushed out of the office.

I covered my face with both hands.

“This is bad.”

Ryan sighed.

“I’ll go explain.”

“You’ll only make it worse.”

Knowing hospitals, gossip would spread faster than a virus.

By tomorrow morning…

Everyone would probably think I was having an affair.

I was already getting furious and asked Ryan to leave my office.

As I quietly sat at my sit,my heart seemed to skip faster than usual. I couldn't stop thinking about what just happened.

Just then my phone rang

Melissa ❤️

I answered immediately.

“Hey, Mel.”

“Busy?”

“You would not believe what just happened ”

She laughed.

“What’s up bitch?”

I told her everything because why not she is my BFF.

****************

“Where are you gonna be tonight?" “ hospital?”.

“Yes… why?”

“I was thinking of stopping by your place.”

The smile on my face faded ever so slightly.

For some reason…

The question felt… strange.

Melissa had asked me almost the same thing a few days ago.

“You can still come over,” I said. “Jason will be home.”

call:

“No problem”Melissa said almost immediately.

I frowned.

“You sound excited.”

She laughed nervously. “Do I?”

“Yes you do”

The call ended.

I slipped my phone into my coat pocket, but for reasons I couldn’t explain, an uncomfortable feeling settled in my chest.

It was simply… uneasiness.

Melissa had asked about my work schedule more than once this week.

Maybe I was reading too much into it.

She was my best friend.

No…

She was more than that.

After my parents died in a tragic car accident when I was sixteen, the Grants had taken me into their home. Uncle Richard and Aunt Sophia never treated me like an outsider. They loved me as though I were their own daughter.

Melissa and I grew up sharing everything. We went to the same school, we had almost everything in common so she was just more than a bestie, she was more like a sister.We told each other everything from our first kiss.Everything about me she knew it and so did I.

Even when Jason came into my life, she was one of the first people I introduced him to.

I still remembered the way she’d laughed after meeting him.

“He’s exactly my type.”

I’d laughed too.

“Too bad he’s already mine.”

She had simply smiled and hugged me.

Back then, I never imagined there would come a day when that memory would make me uncomfortable.

I shook my head.

“What is wrong with me?” I muttered.

Melissa would never betray me.

And Jason…

The rest of the afternoon dragged on.

No matter how hard I tried to focus on my patients, my mind kept drifting back to that strange feeling.

By the time my shift was almost over, I’d made up my mind.

I walked over to Jessica.

“Jess?”

She looked up from the files she was organizing.

“Yeah?”

“I know this is last minute, but… would you mind covering my night shift for me?”

She blinked in surprise.

“You? Asking for time off?”

I laughed softly.

“I know. It’s unlike me.”

“Are you okay?”

“I think so. I’m just… exhausted.”

Jessica studied me for a moment before nodding.

“I’ll cover for you.”

Relief washed over me.

“Thank you.”

“Go home and get some rest. You look like you’ve been carrying the whole hospital on your shoulders.”

“If only it were that easy.”

An hour later, I unlocked the front door to the apartment.

Silence greeted me.

I placed my handbag on the console table and kicked off my heels.

“Jason?” I called.

No answer.

I glanced at the clock.

Six-thirty.

He should have been home soon.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

Melissa ❤️

“Don’t tell me you’re already outside.”

“I’m so sorry, Rory.”

Her voice sounded apologetic.

“Something came up.”

“I won’t be able to make it today.”

“Oh…”

Disappointment flickered through me.

“It’s okay.”

“I promise I’ll come another day.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“You know I love you, right?”

I smiled.

“I know.”

After hanging up, I set my phone on the kitchen counter.

A few minutes later, it rang again.

This time…

❤️ Jason Calling ❤️

“Hi, honey.”

“Princess.”

His warm voice instantly eased my mood.

“I’m really sorry, but I have to work late tonight.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“Don’t overwork yourself.”

He chuckled.

“I should be telling you that.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The call ended.

I stared at the dark screen for a long moment before setting the phone down.

The apartment suddenly felt much quieter than usual.

Too quiet.

Without realizing it, I wrapped my arms around myself.

For the first time in a very long time…

Being alone in my own home didn’t feel comforting.

It felt… awkward more because by that time most times I am at the hospital either in an icu or writing charts.

I headed toward the bedroom, un dressed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Unaware that my decision to leave work early had already ruined someone else’s plans.

Little did I know…

Someone was desperately hoping I wouldn’t come home tonight.