James pov
“What do you mean ‘no one’?” I snapped after a few moments and watched as she jolted a little.
“I meant I have no one to call.” She responded almost immediately and I scoffed.
“What do you mean by that? How is that possible?” I paused. “Don’t you have any best friends you could call?” I asked and watched as she slowly shook her head.
“Family members?” I asked and noticed her swallowing emptily before shaking her head.
“Bullshit.” I responded while levering her with a pointed look. The doctor came into the room almost immediately and I turned to him as I began to speak.
“Did you get the phone she had on with her? There must be the number of someone that could be reached.”
The doctor shook his head. “She wasn’t with a phone when she got brought here. I glanced at her with a pointed look and she watched as she huffed out a small breath as she spoke. “I left my phone back at home.
“Great, just great. And where’s this ‘home’?”
“Around.” She responded and I leveled her with a pointed look until she averted her gaze.
I turned back to the doctor who was flipping through the sheets he had with him. “So, the reason why she had fainted and why it had taken long for her to wake up, was because of her malnourished state.”
I glanced at her after a moment and noticed the prominence of the bones in her neck, and then back at the doctor who was still speaking.
“And dehydration, along with stress. Her blood pressure was also quite high, which means she had probably been doing a lot of thinking.” The doctor continued and that was the exact moment that I felt a small pang of concern for the stranger – Blair.
Which completely took me by surprise at first, because it wasn’t like I knew who she was or something, coupled with the fact that she had completely ruined my day and schedules yesterday.
“Her medication isn’t complete yet, but she’d be ready to leave in a few days time.” The doctor was saying after a few moments and that was when She was finally speaking.
“What? A couple of days? I’m leaving today.” Her voice was filled with so much panic when she spoke and the doctor glanced at me in a silent question. I gestured for him to step out and in no time, I was left alone with her once again.
I moved towards the bed which she was still on and stopped a few inches away from her, as I began to speak.
“Why were you dehydrated and malnourished?” I asked, the question slipping out before I could even notice.
“That wasn’t the reason why I fainted.” Was her response and I blinked down at her.
“It wasn’t?” I folded my hands. “Okay, what was the reason then?” She remained silent after that, and it didn’t seem like she was going to respond to me after a few moments had passed.
“Look,” I paused until she was staring at me. “You’re staying here until after the doctor declares you free to leave.” I continued.
“No, I can’t. I’m leaving today.” She argued and i scowled at her instantly.
“Are you nuts? Didn’t you just hear the reasons why you had fainted, which was obviously why you still needed more treatments.” I snapped.
“Look, I heard what the doctor said just fine, but I don’t have money, if you had been unable to figure that out already. Heaven knows just how much the doctor had charged since the time I got brought here till this very moment.” I was honestly taken aback by her tone and the snappiness in her words at first.
I hummed a little while regarding her carefully. “Believe me, it was a lot.”
“And I don’t have any money, which is why I have to leave today.”
When I remained silent, she continued to speak. “I’m so sorry I put you through the whole trouble of bringing me over here after I had spilled coffee over you–”
I cut into what she was saying. “Hot, scalding coffee. The coffee was very scotching.”
She blinked at me for a moment before nodding her head and picking up from where she had stopped. “…hot, scalding coffee on you, which ruined your outfit. That wasn’t my intention at all and I’m so sorry that happened as well, if I could undo it, I would.”
“You not only ruined my suit with coffee, but you got blood and dirt on it!”
“I had no idea I had scrapped my hands when I fell down, I’m so sorry for that as well.” She breathed out but I waved a dismissive hand at her.
“There’s no need for you to apologize, I already threw the suit away.”
Her eyes widened. “You threw away the whole suit?”
“Yeah, because it was already ruined.”
“Why would you do that? It must have cost a whole lot–”
“Because you’re getting me another suit.” I responded calmly, as soon as the response had popped into my head.
She spluttered. “What?”
“Did you or did you not ruin my suit?” I asked calmly and watched as a scowl made its way to her face.
“Yeah, but –”
“But you’re getting me a different one, and it’s from a very classy designer brand, keep that in mind.” I pointed out and she looked like she was going to faint once again.
“Also, your hospital bills was a whole lot, which I’ve fully settled, so you’re going to pay me back as well, along with the money for my suit.”
Her mouth parted a few times but nothing came forth. “But- but…”
“No buts, Blair. Or did you think you were just going to be off the hook like that?”
She shook her head instantly. “No, but…”
“No buts. Not only did you ruin my outfit, you ruined my whole schedule and appointments as well, so you had better start thinking of how you’re going to pay me back every single dime.”