And, in the ER with the CEO…

Being alone in a car with Valentine Hosek wasn't as bad as Summer thought it would be. And it had a lot to do with his ride. She never imagined she'd like a car as much as she liked her Mini, and so, she was truly humbled by the experience of being in the Land Rover.

Much like the exterior of the car, the interior was luxurious, uncluttered, and very pleasing. The whole ambiance inside the CEO's car seemed to be linked with his overall air, it was both calming and elegant. Perhaps even more so since his perfume seemed to have been embedded within the leather surrounding them.

After exactly three minutes of leaving Summer's gaze wandering around the enticing machine without saying anything, he let out a throaty chuckle.

Summer tried not to laugh but ended up laughing, "What? It's my first time in one of these,"

"I see… Are you into cars?"

She grinned, "I'm only into my Mini,"

His small smile stretched, "You seem to like this one too?"

Summer struggled to find the word that would do right by the car, "…It's very manly,"

Valentine tilted his head her way without looking at her, "…You know what? 'manly' was not listed as a specification when I bought the car,"

Summer's face flushed thinking that her choice of words might've struck him as strange, "It suits you very much," she complimented honestly.

He gave her a nod and pressed something on the touch screen in front of him, and background music for a woman with an angelic sound filled the space around them.

Summer leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment, her ability to do so was very significant as she wasn't one to let her guard down easily. it was a mixture of so many things in her head: The music, his perfume, the stability of the car on the road, the fact that they were on a first-name basis now, and most of all, the fact that her days might as well be numbered.

Put all of it together, she was able to rest her eyes for a bit, even with the prodigy CEO driving next to her.

Right then, she remembered something she heard on one of her most recent dates, something that sounded ridiculous back then but suddenly made a lot of sense. It was what Andrew Wilson had told her, that some people could come close to being perfect.

She glanced up at the man sitting next to her, registering for the first time that even while they sat down, he was still noticeably taller. And a long moment later, a crooked smile was drawn slowly on his face.

Summer looked straight ahead, wondering what was wrong with her. 'Of course, he'd sense that I was staring!' and the tranquillity that she found in the Land Rover seemed to have leaked out of the windows without leaving a drop behind.

But as she stared ahead now, she noticed the road they were on for the first time. She frowned, her lack of confidence when it comes to directions tried to persuade her to keep quiet about it, but her better judgment won over that.

"Um, I noticed that you're not following a GPS… and perhaps there was more than one road back, but the one I took to the yacht club looked nothing like the one we're on right now,"

"That's because we're making a stop before we go back to the Holding,"

"Oh?" She tried to probe as politely as she managed to.

"I'm taking you to the ER to check your foot,"

"You really don't have to,"

"I do, it was an injury that you suffered from while on the job, it's company policy,"

While he wasn't exactly in the wrong about it, she found it unreasonable to be taken by the CEO himself.

"Please, don't overthink things. The hospital that my family owns is on the way back, it won't even be a detour, and we'll arrive back sooner, consider it a shortcut,"

"…"

"Do we have an agreement?"

She had no idea why he decided he was keen on taking her permission now that her opinion mattered very little. 'Can't be the one to breach the policy now, can I?'

"Summer?"

She frowned at the strange feeling she got when she heard her name and decided to change tactics quickly, "...Mind if you gave me the name of the hospital we're heading to?"

"…Of course not,"

***

"I'll be right there," Valentine said to Summer then nodded to the receptionist.

She found herself in a very difficult spot.

Because she entered the facility with Valentine next to her, nobody asked for her ID or gave her any papers to sign. Instead, one of the receptionists was leading the way through the long corridor on the first floor not stopping until they reached the very last room.

The sign on the door said, 'Personnel Only' and there was no doorknob that one can use to go inside. The smartly dressed woman was all smiles for Summer as she used her employee key card to open the door for her.

"Please, make yourself comfortable, a nurse will be right there to assist you,"

Summer gave her a stiff smile that went along well with the stiff nod.

"Do you need anything else?" The receptionist asked enthusiastically.

"…My brother is supposed to arrive at any moment, would you mind leading him here too? My phone just died,"

"What's the gentleman's name?"

"Gabriel Taylor,"

"I'll make sure to lead him straight to this room once I see him,"

"Thank you," the next breath Summer took felt lighter in her lungs.

"I'll leave the door open, rest assured that nobody comes here,"

She thought that it was a slightly strange statement to hear, but the woman had turned on her heels and left the room before Summer could react to it.

"Haaah~" She sighed long as she made her way to the bed and sat on the edge of it.

Her battery couldn't have picked a worse time to die. She first texted Gabe with the address of the hospital asking him to meet her there as soon as he can, and she was texting him with the details asking him not to panic when her phone totally died on her. 'He must be worried sick,'

The sight of her CEO interrupted her thoughts about her brother, and she also noticed a friendly-looking nurse in pink scrubs following him.

"Ms. Taylor, my name is Rose, and I'll be taking care of your injury,"

"Thank you, Rose,"

Much like the receptionist, the nurse was all smiles as she moved to the near cupboard and started rummaging through it.

Summer eyed her now swollen foot, wondering why she chose to wear the lacey sandal today of all days.

"Allow me," Valentine startled her when he crouched next to her.

"Oh! It's probably not something you…I mean… it doesn't end here…"

She folded the leg opening of her trousers up for him to see how the shoes worked, and his eyes followed the lace that stopped in the middle of her long leg.

"…You can start, I'll help with the swollen area,"

Summer took her jacket off and placed it neatly next to her, then she started working on the upper parts of the lace just like her boss suggested, she winced before she even reached her ankle,"

"…We should've come earlier," he murmured, continuing where she stopped. His big hands were surprisingly soft and gentle, but Summer also knew that it was much more comfortable for him to handle the lace because he didn't have to bend over like she was.

"...Sunny?"