Fine for Now
A car accident? How did that even happen? Sonia was in disbelief. She had only just texted Toby not ten
minutes ago, and he had told her he was on the way home, that he was going back to her. And now, out
of the blue, she got a call from Tom saying that Toby had met with an accident. How the hell am I
supposed to cope with that?
She chewed hard on her lower lip as her eyes turned red with fresh tears. She felt a tightness in her
chest, and her heart twisted so much that it hurt.
She knew how terrifying a car accident could be; on one end, it could result in minor injuries, but on the
other, it could end up being fatal. Toby had already been through an accident once, and while he
survived that one, there was no telling if such luck would repeat itself. I’ve only just gotten him back. Am I
going to lose him again?
Crippling fear seized her the more she thought about it, and her breathing grew ragged once more.
On the other end of the phone, Tom had heard her question and cast Toby a brief look before saying,
“Don’t worry, Miss Reed. He’s fine for now, though he is still unconscious. I’m on my way to the hospital
right now to get him medical help.”
“Is he really okay?” Sonia asked, still worried as her nails sunk into the fabric of the armrest. It was a car
accident, after all, and she had every right to be nervous.
Tom nodded somberly. “President Fuller will be just fine. I was the driver, and if I made it alive, then
surely President Fuller will pull through as well. More importantly, the accident wasn’t a serious one; we
merely ran into the hedge on the sidewalk.”
Upon hearing this, Sonia felt reassured, and her heartbeat slowed. Indeed, there were plenty of accident
cases where the first to die of their grievous injuries were the driver and the passenger in front, whereas
those in the backseat had a higher chance of survival.
If Tom had been the driver and he was presently fine, then Toby would surely pull through as well.
Comforted by the thought of this, Sonia let out a sigh of relief and felt the tightness in her chest wane,
and the pain ebbed with it. But why would Toby black out? Given his physical condition, he should be
able to sustain the collision.
More to the point, Tom had said that they ran into a roadside hedge. The impact would have hurt Tom
more than it would Toby, but if the former was fine, then it didn’t make sense that the latter had fainted
after the accident.
Narrowing her eyes, she was deep in thought for a few seconds, but gave up when she couldn’t figure
out an explanation for this. She didn’t want to dwell on it, either; what mattered now was that she could
get to the hospital to see Toby.
With that in mind, she dug her nails into her palm and forced herself to stay composed, then rose to her
feet again. Bracing through the pain, she headed into her room. “Mr. Brown, which hospital are you
heading toward? I’ll be right over.”
“The hospital where Dr. Lancaster works,” Tom answered dutifully, referring to the First Hospital.
Nodding, Sonia said, “Got it. I’ll be on my way. Take good care of Toby, and call me if anything else
happens.”
“I will, Miss Reed. Don’t worry,” Tom reassured.
Sonia forced out a smile and hung up the call, then hurried to put on a change of clothes. After barreling
out the door, she made her way over to the First Hospital.
Along the way, she clenched the steering wheel tightly, so much so that her hands trembled, making the
car swerve out of lane every once in a while. Her dangerous driving began to irk the other drivers on the
road, and there were even a few of them who, in the process of overtaking her, rolled down their
windows to hurl abuse at her.
But this was the least of her concerns as she gnawed on her bottom lip, her red-rimmed eyes staring
ahead as worries over Toby’s safety filled her mind.
Tom might have said that Toby was fine for now, but the temporariness of such reassurance was what
weighed on Sonia’s thoughts. There was no medical diagnosis to confirm this, and for as long as Toby
was not seen by a doctor at the hospital, her worries would only grow.
As things were, she had to get to the hospital and get to Toby as soon as possible.
And yet, fate had a way of withholding one’s true wishes in the most desperate of moments.
Sonia had only just gotten onto the freeway when she saw that the traffic was badly congested, and the
frustration that had been welling up in her made her give the steering wheel a hard slap. The tears that
threatened to overwhelm her finally did.
Meanwhile, Tom had managed to get Toby to the hospital in time, and Tim happened to be on duty
tonight.
Upon seeing Toby on the stretcher, Tim was astonished as he asked, “What in the world happened?”
“President Fuller blacked out following a car accident, but your questions will have to wait, Dr. Lancaster.
You need to save President Fuller right now! Come on!” Tom said frantically, shoving Tim into the
emergency room.
A cold frown etched itself on Tim’s face as he became obviously displeased at being treated this way.
He was not altruistic, despite his profession, and most times, he would refuse to perform operations even
though he could perfectly manage them. He knew full well that he could save lives if he had performed
those surgeries, but out of laziness or apathy, he had watched those patients die instead. And he had
done so without feeling even a trace of remorse.
Then again, Tim was antisocial by nature, and whatever sentiment that made society humane was
decidedly non-existent to him. Presently, he shoved Tom aside and straightened his own wrinkled sleeve,
pointing out sharply, “You should be grateful that your precious President Fuller is Sonia’s boyfriend;
otherwise, I wouldn’t save him, no matter how powerful he is.”
“You—” Tom’s surprise at the doctor’s outrageous words quickly turned into anger.
However, Tim did not bother waiting for a heated response from Tom before he turned and marched into
the emergency room.
Seeing this, Tom had no choice but to quell the rage in him. I can’t very well lash out at him now that he’s
gone in to save President Fuller.
Scratching his hair in frustration, he crouched down and pulled out his phone, then informed Sonia
through a text that Toby was currently undergoing emergency treatment by Tim.
Having read this message, Sonia finally felt the divot between her brows smooth out, and she no longer
felt so uptight. Now that Toby had safely arrived at the hospital and was receiving treatment from Tim,
there was a strong likelihood that he would pull through just fine.
She clutched her phone to her chest and tipped her head up slightly as tears of relief and joy cascaded
past her cheeks. The frustration, helplessness, and desperation she had felt when she realized she was
going to be held up in traffic and that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the hospital in time finally
subsided.
Over at the hospital, Tom did not kick up a fuss when he read Sonia’s reply, which told him that it would
take her a while to reach them due to traffic conditions.
After all, traffic congestions were commonplace in Seafield, and earlier on, they would have been caught
up in traffic as well had the police officer not turned on the siren and cleared the way.
“Excuse me, sir, now that your boss is receiving treatment, I’m going to need you and the lady to come
with me so I can get your statements on how the accident happened,” said the police officer as he
approached Tom with a pen and notepad in hand, gesturing at the woman in the wheelchair.
“Very well,” Tom agreed wearily with a nod. He kept his phone and rubbed his face once, then stood up
and shot the woman a baleful look.
She did not object to having her statement taken down by the police, either, and merely said delicately,
“Okay.”
It wasn’t a malicious car crash but rather an accidental one, so the statements were taken quickly and
without hassle. The only thing left for them to do now was to agree on a solution.
“I’m willing to compensate all his medical and rehabilitation bills, and I’ll nurse him back to health,” the
woman promised, glancing at the door of the emergency room as she clutched the armrests of her
wheelchair tightly.
While that sounded like the most sensible solution to this conundrum, it would only work out if the person
lying unconscious was not Toby.
“Our boss doesn’t need your measly compensation,” Tom replied stoically, eyeing the woman with sharp
indifference.
For some reason, he found the woman familiar, even though he had never seen her anywhere before the
accident.
Shaking his head, Tom did not ponder on this and brushed the thought off, then resumed his cold and
angry stance as he barked, “Seeing as my boss is the one who got injured, I don’t have the right as his
assistant to decide on these matters on his behalf, so we’ll just have to settle this after he wakes up. As
for you, don’t you dare think of leaving until then!”
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