A Little Accident

The sky has been dark for the past hour.

But the fun at the office building in the city center won't just come to a halt. The sound of a whistle echoed on the rooftop of the building. In the middle of a roof built with a basketball hoop, some young men wet the squicky shiny floor with their sweat.

"Here, Val!" Jason raised his hand to Val.

Jason, Val, and Anwar from the marketing team were competing against the accounting team. Jason's team was currently leading with a significant point margin.

Val is very agile. With his long legs, he moves past opponents easily and brings a big red round ball close to the ring. He almost threw and put the ball in until, unexpectedly, Ardi from the Accounting team rushed in and bumped on him. Val fell very hard to the floor.

"Ah!"

"Wooow! That foul!" Jason and the others shouted.

But instead of fighting, the young men just burst out laughing, Val falling looks ridiculously funny.

"Val is so lame, what an epic fall!" Exclaimed Rian from the Accounting team.

Val whimpered.

Everyone laughed at him, including Jason who stretched out his hand in front of him.

They didn't know that he was actually in excruciating pain, pain in his ankle, and perhaps his pride.

"Come on Val, I think everyone is tired now"

While groaning, Val tried to get up by holding onto Jason's hand and limped.

"This really hurt, Boss"

Soon after.

It's already late at night, and even though tomorrow is Saturday and there are no office activities, everyone is starting to get tired.

One by one the employees left the building after being satisfied with their light exercise.

The elevator doors open on the ground floor.

Jason left with the accounting manager, Dion. The man was not able to join the basketball team as Jason had required him to since he was considered to be old.

Jason had proposed the idea of the basketball team in the hopes that everyone could get some light exercise after long hours of intense work. Additionally, he wanted to foster good relations among the staff, given the high intensity and pressure of their work.

"We'll discuss that Monday morning, Mr. Dion. I think Grandpa will also understand because the mistake also came from the supplier, we'll find the solution for that." They still had time to talk about work until Mr. Dion excused himself and headed towards the big door.

Jason glanced at his watch: it was ten o'clock, it was quite late. Tonight, his driver would take him home to his grandfather's house. As usual on weekends, his grandfather would pick him up from his apartment and insist that he stay a night or two until the next workday. The long journey to the town of Luwy made him reluctant to bring his vehicle, even though his apartment was clearly in the front building block, which meant he only had to walk home every day.

Jason came out of the building, the driver hadn't arrived yet, maybe he would just wait out front.

His gaze came to a halt when he spotted someone sitting not far ahead in the park. He squinted for a moment, trying to figure out who it was.

Jason then approached the person.

"Hey Val! You are still here. Why haven't you come home yet, I thought you left early?" Jason asked excitedly, not expecting to see Val at that moment. He fell silent when he saw the young man bend down to check his feet; he looked in pain.

Val tried to cover his ankle which turned blue.

"Boss, I just took a rest for a while, I'll be home after this."

Jason lowered his body to check on Val's ankle which looked worse.

"Oh, my goodness, why did it come to this? It wasn't just a normal sprain, right?."

Val covered his feet.

"Eh, it's fine, Boss, it doesn't hurt that much either. It just.. " Val bit his lips, trying to endure the pain, it's such a terrible pain for a normal sprain, it's been too much.

Jason glanced at Val's face. Although he didn't want to admit it, he could see the pain in Val's expression as he repeatedly bent down and held his leg.

"Yeah, that doesn't look that hurt. Okay, I'll take you to the hospital"

Val waved his hand.

"Thanks, boss, but no need for that. I just need to go home and rest for a while. It will heal on its own. I've experienced this before. I usually sleep with one arm under my back, and my hand ends up turning blue. This is normal for me."

Jason gazed at the young man, Val, for an extended period. Val's face displayed more than just ordinary pain. Jason reached out his hand to help Val, but the young man remained silent, just staring at Jason's hand. Looks like Val couldn't walk in his current condition, as the pain in his legs had become unbearable, throbbing up to his knees. He cursed in his heart, realizing that just a moment ago everything had been fine.

"Eh that"

Jason realized that the young man was exhausted. He straightened his body, crossed his bag in front of his body, and then lowered his back in front of Val. The young man was stunned to see what his boss was about to do.

"Boss"

"Come on, get on my back and I'll take you to the hospital. You're my employee, so you have to get the best treatment, what will the world say if it finds out that Jason Garber abandoned his men?"

"B-but boss, um, I can walk by myself."

But he can't. Val tried to stand up but the pain of standing on his right leg had gotten worse since he was last there, but leaning on his boss wasn't appropriate.

"Eh.."

Without further ado, Jason grabbed Val's hand and wrapped it around his neck, with all his strength, the athletic man carried Val on his shoulders.

"B-boss" Val stuttered, but he couldn't do anything to reject the man.

Jason easily lifted Val behind his shoulders, carrying him as if he were a small child.

Luckily he exercised, and Val wasn't heavy either, so this was a small thing for him.

"Don't worry, Val, as long as I'm around, I won't let my staff suffer. You don't have to think hard about this, it's not often like this, right?"

Val smiled as Jason's words made him feel comfortable. Just like Val, Jason also felt at ease when he was with him. Since joining the company, his boss has been known for being very gentle and always looking after his employees, without exception. Perhaps he felt sorry for him because he was the youngest in the office. Val tightened his grip on Jason's neck, fearing that he might fall. His boss's long legs made him look like a street lamp post.

"Eh, thank you, Boss, but this will be very embarrassing if anyone sees it"

Not long after, Jason's car finally arrived, Bob, his driver, got out from behind the wheel and helped Jason.

"Mr Jason, sorry to keep you waiting," exclaimed the young man who immediately opened the door for Jason.

Jason put Val down and helped him get into the car.

"Be careful"

…...

City Center Hospital, right at the cross of the intersection.

The nurse finished bandaging Val's bruised ankle, and the doctor approached as another nurse brought the results of Val's lab examination.

"Doc"

Jason stood up when he saw the doctor approaching, just as his phone vibrated, it was his grandfather's call.

"Excuse me for a second," said Jason, heading towards the door.

"Yeah , Grams"

The slightly round-bodied doctor approached while carrying the X-ray film of Val's leg, and looked at it carefully.

"Hmm, it's a mild fracture, but it's not serious. Two or three days of rest will help it get better. Fortunately, it's not on the bone that supports the foot. However, the blood test results haven't come back yet. Usually, a mild sprain won't cause a bruise of this size. There's probably a problem with your blood and this.."

Val caught a glimpse of Jason pacing in front of the door. Luckily, his boss didn't notice, otherwise, he might not have been allowed to come to work on Monday. There were still pending projects and everyone was busy.

"Erm, but it's fine now, right? Can I go home now?"

The doctor took a deep breath and raised his slightly down glasses.

"Looking at your condition, it seems like you've experienced spontaneous bruising once or twice, and this is unusual. With your condition, you should have stayed overnight for observation. We'll see your test results by tomorrow afternoon. Don't turn off your phone."

Val smiled. He thought the doctor liked to exaggerate everything. It wasn't a big deal, but the doctor looked at him as if he was about to die. He tried to get off the gurney when he saw Jason enter and approach.

"So Doc, Val is fine, right?" Jason exclaimed.

The doctor was about to answer but Val's hand reached out to him.

"Hey boss, can I come with you? We're in the same direction, right?"

Jason glanced at Val suspiciously and looked back at the doctor, but looking at Val's cheerful face what the hell could happen?

"Of course, come, Val, I'll take you home."