C21 Taking Care

Chapter-21: Taking Care

Zaiden Storm

Watching Aria falling down, that too on someone else's arms, was bothersome, but it didn't matter because Aria lost consciousness. Her health came first to me.

"Aria," I called her name and ran to her. I wanted to catch her but she was too far away. In fact, I was grateful that Liam was there to hold her.

I picked up Aria in my arms. Before Liam could utter a word, I told him, "Thank you for catching her. Call Daniel."

He nodded and ran away.

I felt my heart clenching at the sight. I placed her on the nearby waiting couch.

Aria was lying unconscious, and when I placed a hand on her forehead, she was burning up. She had a high fever. Oh, my God, she really was unwell.

I needed to take her to a doctor as soon as possible. Where the heck was Daniel?

"Did you call me, Boss?" Daniel asked from behind.

I snapped my head in his direction. "I am taking Aria to the doctor. I am taking a day off for today and tomorrow as well, so will Aria. Handle the basic tasks and keep the hard ones for me," I said all in one go.

"But Boss, the deal with Mr. Raymond—"

I interrupted Daniel saying, "I will handle it later. Just call my driver."

I placed my coat over Aria so that it would make her feel less cold. I picked up Aria bridal style and rushed to the private elevator. Deciding to take her to the nearby hospital, I drove there with her. All this time, I felt so scared. Despite knowing it was just a fever, I was worried.

What if the fever was something serious? What if the fever was a sign of a dangerous disease?

Shaking off the negative thoughts, I took her inside the hospital by scooping her in my arms. Daniel had already informed Dr. Adrie, a renowned doctor who also happened to be a friend of mine.

"Mr. Storm, please bring her to this room," a nurse informed me and I followed her direction, carrying Aria with me.

I placed her on the hospital bed and pushed a few strands of her hair from her forehead. "You've to get well soon," I mumbled.

"Zaiden, even though I would like to say that it's nice to meet you, but I know that it's not nice to see someone on the hospital bed," said Dr. Adrie and made her way to check Aria.

"She has been feeling unwell since lunch and then she fainted. When I put my hand on her forehead, it was burning up," I said in one breath.

Dr. Adrie arched an eyebrow at me and chuckled. "Never saw you like this before, Zaiden." She finished checking up Aria and told her something to her assistant before turning to me. "She has a high fever. She needs enough rest and proper medication. I suggest you keep her here for two days."

A gush of relief splashed over me after learning that she was okay and it was only a high fever, not a symptom of any dangerous disease. "If we keep her here for two days, will she recover fully?"

Dr. Adrie nodded her head. "If you let her rest at home, she will be focused on work. You told me once that your managing director is a hardworking person like you. Isn't she the one?"

"Yes," I agreed and looked at Aria, who had the IV attached to her wrist and seemed so pale. I could feel the stinging pain in my heart seeing her in that situation. "She's Aria Anastasia."

Dr. Adrie smiled at me. "So she's the woman you told me about. I kinda figured it out when you carried her here and got stressed."

I put my hands in my pocket and said while looking at Aria, "Yes, she is precious." A smile automatically evolved on my lips even by thinking of her.

"No wonder why you panicked just because she fainted," commented Dr. Adrie. "You didn't have to say much, because your expression said it all." When I walked to Aria, Dr. Adrie said, "I am going to check on other patients now. You can stay with her." With that, she left the room along with her nurse.

I pulled a chair and sat next to Aria, who was lying on the bed—unconscious. I took her hand in mine and mumbled softly, "You've to get well soon."

I kissed her hand. "You are too stubborn, Aria. I was about to give you leave, but you decided to walk away. Did you ever think what would have happened to you if Liam wasn't there? You've fallen on the ground and get injured."

I looked at her beautiful face, caressing her cheeks with my thumb. She was so adorable. She looked cuter when she wasn't speaking, but I was habituated with her chattering most of the time.

The first time I saw her sleeping was when we were FaceTiming and I was teaching her how to solve the Rubix cube. She fell asleep soon and I didn't want to cut the video call because I liked watching her. But I knew if I did it for too long, she would check the time when the call ended after getting up in the morning and I would end up getting labeled as a creep. So I had cut the call.

I enjoyed our kiss. When my lips met hers, there was a spark in them. I could feel it through my veins. I never felt it with any other woman whom I have kissed before. I knew Aria was different.

When she mentioned that we weren't dating, it stung me hard. I hoped we were dating. I thought she was smart enough to consider my feelings for her and that I was dating her indirectly when I told her to have lunch with me alone. I even forced her not to pay for it because I had everything booked from the beginning.

But she was dense in case of love.

A chuckle escaped my lips remembering how she ran away after the kiss. She didn't even ask me anything about it. Was she waiting for me to tell her about my feelings?

It wasn't a bother for me to tell her what I felt, but the problem was I didn't know whether she felt the same or not. I was afraid of getting rejected by her and thus, I was waiting for her to confess that she felt for me. Even if she said she liked me, I would say I like her too.

If I confess that I love her at once, Aria would run away from me in a flash. So everything had to go slow. I was okay with this pace as long as Aria liked me in a romantic way.

I texted Daniel that I would stay with Aria the entire night at the hospital when he asked whether I would work at night or not. Aria was my first priority. My work was not more important than her.

I leaned closer to her and kissed her warm forehead softly.

Aria Anastasia was my life now.