Best Friend

"I… am not ignoring you," Irvyn looked flustered, not meeting Chloe's eyes directly. "And I definitely am not ignoring my health!"

"Wow, now you are strangely blabbermouth, huh?" Chloe scoffed off.

Truly, it's only in front of Chloe. Irvyn is the type of person who can never be shaken due to the ice-cold nature and rock-solid demeanor he exudes. But it seems that whenever Chloe is in the picture or in front of him, he loses every word that has been floating around in his head, and he is left with a total mental blank. He doesn't know why he is always like this with only her, but maybe deep down, he can guess the reason. And it is Chloe herself, for sure.

"I have to speak up for myself, don't I?" Irvyn let out a tired sigh, leaning his head against the wooden frame of the sofa. "The soup was nice, thanks."

"You owe me this," Chloe took his cup, and put it away on the side table. After that, she turned around looking at him, with a serious look on her face. "Now tell me, what's going on in your life these days? Why are you so stressed?"

"I am not. I am doing fine." Irvyn curtly responded.

"You mean to say that feeling restless and then passing out to the point where I had to inject a dose of medication that was twice as strong as what you normally take is nothing out of the ordinary for you? This is fine to you?"

Chloe's voice rose up with each word she kept saying, and it was hard to discern whether or not those words were out of rage or frustration, or simply helplessness.

"Look, Irvyn. I am your doctor, and that's why no one else knows this better than I am. This is getting bad."

"This was already bad, Chloe. How can something like this turn 180 degrees out of nowhere?" Irvyn shouted out, startling her. And when he looked back up straight into her eyes, Chloe could see his glare cold as ice, pricking hard like a poisonous needle. "This is useless, and this was bound to happen, Chloe."

"Sigh," Chloe looked away from him. Somehow, his gaze was too piercing and painful to look at for longer. She got up from the sofa, taking both the cups in her hands, and headed towards the kitchen after turning her back to him. "I am going to Italy tomorrow."

"Hang on, what?" Irvyn leaped out of his seat in response to the unexpected bomb that she dropped. "What do you mean you are going to Italy? For a vacation? How come I don't know about it?"

"And is it necessary for me to keep you informed of every decision that I make in my life? Since when, Irvyn? I thought I had nothing to do besides maintaing the doctor-patient relationship we had, right?" Chloe turned back at him, her eyes slowly getting bloodshot, and even though Irvyn didn't see it, Chloe could realize how blurry her eyes were becoming thanks to the moisture pooling in her eyes.

Irvyn was lost of words by the response he got. For a second, he couldn't figure out how he should respond to her. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't hoping or ready for the harsh words from her. "I thought we were good friends, Chloe. That's all." His tone became more subdued as he began to experience feelings of defeat as a result of her words. He might not be someone who cares about anyone in this world, at least the usual people he has to face every day or every now and then. But only he knows how some people mean a lot to him, and for them, he can be anything but the icy-cold successful businessman Irvyn Collins. To them, he was always their closest person, Aunt Suzy's young master, Josh's Vinnie. And Chloe's…

"Irvyn." Chloe called out to him, and despite her best efforts to conceal the emotion in her voice, it could be heard that she was choking a little bit.

That's right. His best friend, Chloe, and he was her Irvyn, the only one who called his full name with a lot of emotion, care, respect, and love.

"Look, Irvyn. I know I sounded really harsh right now, but I was mad, okay? Why wouldn't I be, if I see my patient and my best friend being this much sick, and I am able to do nothing?" Irvyn noticed that she had her hands balled up into a tight fist,, so hard that he feared she might dig her nails in it.

"I will be fine, Chloe. And who said you are not able to do anything? You just gave me medications, and warm soup. That's way more than any doctor would ever do for their patient." Irvyn walked up in slow steps, closing towards Chloe. And once he was in front of her, he rested his hands on her shoulder. "Don't worry too much about me. Didn't I tell you, not to make everything in your life circling around your patients?"

"And exactly that's why I am going, Mister." She slapped his hands away, turning her back on him. "I need to learn more about some stuff to make sure I can work on your condition well. Until then, I'll be leaving my assistant for your care. Make sure to attend the monthly checkup as you always have, and take those medications I left with him in the meantime."

"That flower boy assistant of yours?" Irvyn gasped in shock. "Please Chloe, anyone but him!"

"But… he is a great guy. He is the best intern we have in our hospital." Chloe had a puzzled look on her face after seeing his expression. She knew Irvyn tends to act more like his natural self every now and then rather than his outer thick coconut crusty nature. But this is the first time she saw him acting as he got stepped on something really nasty on the way of his walk.

"He must be. And I don't doubt the great neurosurgeon of Westford City Hospital, Miss Chloe Smith," Irvyn started to sound desperate without even him noticing. But getting his words straight was more important than his image right now. "But… that guy… keeps following me, and…"

"And?" Chloe asked, seeing Irvyn awkwardly pause in the middle. But Irvyn kept fidgeting, with his eyebrows scrunched up tightly.

"F-flirting and confessing…" for some strange reason Irvyn felt like the back of his head started pulsating loudly, remembering those annoying experiences he has to face every time he ends up meeting Chloe's assistant intern doctor.