Her Illness

~~~NATE'S POV~~~

I have been upset and grouchy these past few days ever since my lunch meeting with Eric. When I found out that he has been trying to pursue Catherine and he is the one sending her flowers I felt extremely jealous. Though I could tell that Catherine is not at all interested in Eric, I still hate the fact that there is a man other than me who is captivated by Catherine.

I found out from Eric that Catherine is not yet married and is not dating anyone, making me wonder who is the man that was with her that time when she was buying heels. The way that man looks at Catherine, I was sure that he is not a brother or just a friend. The man has romantic feelings toward Catherine. But Eric was certain that Catherine is not dating anyone.

I felt a slight relief after finding out that she is not married or dating anyone. The thought of her with any other man makes me jealous. I might sound possessive but I want her for myself and only for myself.

I know it might not sound right because all I do is treat her badly and now I am saying that I want her to be mine. Maybe I should start taking my chances, I want to show her how I feel about her.

She is just outside my office and I will start by offering her a ride home.

I closed my laptop and decided to call it a day. But before I could stand up, I heard a loud thud outside and immediately sprinted out of my office because I felt that something was wrong. My heart is pounding harshly in my chest at the thought that something happened to Catherine.

When I opened the door, I found Catherine unconscious on the floor and I started to panic and take a long stride toward her. Her whole body, drenched in sweat, is shaking uncontrollably. Her face is red and wet with tears.

How long has she been like this? I thought to myself and cursed that I did not notice anything unusual.

I hurriedly put one of my arms below her knees and the other at her back but after doing so, she screamed as if in pain.

I don't know if it was her or me that is in pain right now.

"Shh...calm down, love. It's me. You'll be fine. Everything's going to be alright. I'm taking you to the hospital now." I whispered to her head and kissed her forehead.

This is the first time that I got this close to her and as much as I hated the condition we are in right now, I love the warmth of her body against mine.

I took the elevator and as soon as we reached the basement parking lot, I immediately spotted my driver. Thank God I told him to wait for me.

"To the hospital, now!" I ordered him. I saw the confused look on his face as he looked at the unconscious Catherine in my arms. But he immediately obliged without a second thought.

As I am sitting in the car holding Catherine on my lap, I wonder what happened to her. Why did she suddenly collapse? Is she in pain? Is she sick? With that thought in mind, I pulled her closer to my chest.

When we reached the emergency room of the hospital I searched around and found a nurse. The nurse looked at us then at Catherine on my hand and saw the recognition on her face.

"Oh my God! Call Doctor Alvin, tell him that Miss Catherine is here!" I heard her shout at someone and she immediately rushed toward us to check on Catherine.

That's when it sinks into me, the nurse knows Catherine and she seems to know what's wrong with her. Does it mean, Catherine has always been hospitalized?

After less than half an hour they had put Catherine in a VIP suite that I requested for her. They had already changed her into a hospital gown and gave her some medications. I sat on the chair beside her holding her hand.

I asked the nurse earlier what was going on with Catherine but she refused to disclose the information and asked me to wait for her doctor instead.

I watch her chest constantly rise up and down. Her breathing is shallow, I noticed. Her brows were furrowed though I know that she is asleep, I could tell that she is still feeling uncomfortable.

I reached out to brush her forehead with my fingers, especially the creases between her brows. Then I tucked the loose strands of her hair behind her ear. I had that urge to lean in and kiss her on her forehead, and I did.

That's when the door suddenly burst open and I saw that familiar man wearing a white doctor's coat. So, he is a doctor. I raised a brow when he looked at me. He is the man I saw buying heels for Catherine.

"Who are you?" He asked me in a not-so-nice tone. I am sure he saw me kissing Catherine on her forehead. And now he looks at me then to my hands that are holding Catherine's.

"I'm Catherine's boss," I said. Though I am not sure if he is Catherine's boyfriend or not, I didn't bother taking my hands off of hers.

I saw the man narrow his eyes on me. "So, you are her boss?" He asked and I am certain that there is a hidden meaning behind his words. "What happened to her?" He asked again without waiting for my answer to his first question.

"I found her unconscious in her office," I replied.

"When?" He asked again and started checking out on Catherine.

"Not an hour ago," I said and I noticed his jaw clenched, he shook his head and I heard him speak to Catherine in a low tone.

"How could you be so stubborn?"

"Excuse me?" I said because I don't like how his face is close to Catherine while whispering something as if I am not here.

"She's been overworking again. Whenever she gets over fatigued, she always ends up here." He said, making me frown. So this is not the first time that this happened? When I arrived, she was sick and my father said that she had been overworked for a couple of days. That's why she got sick. Was it the same condition as this?

"My name is Alvin. I have been her attending physician for three years now."

My head snapped at him when I heard him speak. Three years? She's been sick for three years?

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

I saw him shake his head. "I cannot disclose this information to you unless you are her husband or her father." He said then he pressed his lips.

I am sure my face immediately turned grim. "As her employer, I have the right to know her medical condition so that I would know if she can do her job," I said trying to intimidate him but it looks like he is not fazed at all.

"Then what? Are you going to fire her?" He asked.

"No," I replied quickly. I will not do that and lose her. "I've seen her do her job efficiently and I didn't notice that she has an illness. I might make some reasonable adjustments for her. I'll make her working environment adaptable and possibly monitor her."

"If she needs her job, I will not take it away from her, especially when she is good at it," I added.

I saw him contemplate for a while before he sighed heavily.

"She has fibromyalgia. She has been experiencing extreme fatigue and pain for three years and it was just last year that we were able to diagnose her. It is a long-lasting chronic illness that has no cure. It is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue that makes completing daily activities difficult. But she has managed to overcome them. She might also be experiencing difficulty sleeping that's why she is taking medications to help her sleep."

I suddenly felt weak at the thought that Catherine is having an incurable illness. An illness that is causing pain and fatigue.

"Aren't there any medications for her pain?" I asked because I cannot bear to see her in constant pain.

"I have prescribed her medications that could help ease her symptoms. But sometimes, pain medication is not helpful. She is probably having normal waxing and waning of symptoms that she probably managed very well without medications. But sometimes, there are triggering factors that cause flares like this."

"Flare?

"Yes, that's worsening of symptoms that already exist, usually for days and weeks. Catherine must've been in pain for a couple of days now for her body to break down. But it can be prevented. And Catherine knows how. She's just too stubborn and there are people around her that don't know about being considerate."

I glared at him because I am sure that he is talking about me. But he is right, I could've helped her prevent having pain if I knew about her condition. And obviously, no one in the company knows about it. Not even my parents. Because if they did, knowing how concerned they are towards Catherine, they would have told me and instructed me to take good care of her.

"You said it could be prevented. How?" I asked him. I will do everything in my power to keep her from any pain.

"Usually her pain is triggered by physical and psychological stress." He started and I noticed that he was staring at Catherine with guilt. Why? But I did not ponder. I have other priorities than that.

If her pain is triggered by physical stress, does that mean I have been giving her too much work? Then a thought comes to me, her heels. It probably gives her too much pain that's why she is not wearing them. I felt guilty because I forced her to wear them just because I wanted her to.

If only I had known.

Then what about psychological stress?

I am certain that I am not causing her that kind of stress. Or am I?

"So what should I do?" I asked looking at Catherine then I looked up at him, and that's when I noticed his grim look.

"Why would you care?" He asked, making me smirk. I am still holding Catherine's hand. My thumb is rubbing circles on top of hers. I don't care if he sees because I am certain that he is not Catherine's boyfriend. He may have romantic affections toward her but that could be a one-sided affection.

"I am sure you already realized why," I said.