The deluxe window curtain parted softly as Carlton moved closer to the French window in his room, revealing a breathtaking view of a meticulously landscaped garden and compound that illustrated glamor.
Everywhere around the huge mansion was extremely silent, and he could clearly hear the cascading waters of the fountain in sight, only to be distracted by the double door which parted open as his assistant, James, made his way inside.
"Good morning, Mr. Howard. I have been informed that a new doctor will be appointed for you today, sir," James informed Carlton from where he was standing.
"Okay," he replied concisely, and did not lift his gaze away from the same spot he had been staring at for minutes. There were so many thoughts that constantly plagued his mind, and it was hard to free himself from those worries.
"This time should be better. They said this doctor is so good, and excels at every given job. She is a new doctor in the hospital, and her personal details have been sent to your ema....."
"I don't care. I just want my grandfather to know that I am trying my best. Nothing more," he cut in abruptly as his gaze finally tore away from the window, and rowed the wheelchair he was sitting comfortably on towards his study desk.
He has always been that way. He never talked about his legs or the pains that he was feeling. He didn't like talking about anything, but the progress of his companies. Ever since he had gotten into a ghastly motor accident four years ago, he had worked endlessly to get back on his feet by not becoming a liability. However, things didn't remain the same.
Marilyn left his side less than a month ago after his accident, and visited the hospital once when he was still unconscious immediately after the accident.
He never saw her again, and he didn't ask about her either. He knew that once again he had allowed her to play him twice, using his affection for her against him.
And the guilt of having to let go of the one person who had loved him unconditionally suffocated him at every moment.
The empty spaces in their shared life stretched before his very eyes, and he couldn't fill the void that was left by her absence. Not too long after leaving the hospital for recovery at home, he let go of all his workers except James, and moved to another mansion in one of the estates owned by him.
That was how he had been living. Sad, guilty, and alone by himself.
Though his bones had healed perfectly and nicely according to doctors, he still felt terrible sharp pains anytime he wanted to stand to walk long distances by himself. Rehabilitation had done all they could for three years after he left the hospital.
A doctor once told him that they could combine treatments with the help of a therapist, because he felt like his recurring pains were more psychological and physical. But Carlton wasn't interested. He could not let anyone see how messed up his state of mind was.
Since then, he has remained as a stay-at-home CEO, with his grandfather taking over the company as facade while he did most of the work.
It was to stop people from talking and voting for a sudden dismissal or the company president, using his health issue as an excuse. It was to keep the entire corporation safe.
Through dedication and endless work, Carlton tripled his assets and corporation worth in three years after he started working again. He dedicated his entire time and life to working endlessly at the expense of his health and sleep as guilt ate him up daily.
His insomnia made it worse because he was always up most nights, even after several medical drugs and mediums had been recommended as a cure. But he didn't care. It didn't matter. To him, he was not living anymore. He just existed.
"Shall I proceed with the investment in ALGAG, sir?" He asked again to clarify before going along with what his boss had told him an hour ago.
"Yes, you can. What about the company financial statement that I asked for?" Carlton proceeded to ask, as he began to flip through the pages of the numerous files that were arranged on the table for him to sign.
"I brought them with me, and I have also forwarded an overview of everything from sales and marketing reports, cash flow statement, and balance sheet to your email," James answered.
"Anything more?" Carlton asked curtly.
"You have a virtual meeting with the SDA company at three today. And another with RADAAR at 5:00 pm. Nothing more on the schedule for today. Then your consultation with the physiotherapist starts tomorrow from ten in the morning, to one in the afternoon. A one-hour break follows, and then three to six in the evening," James explained to his boss.
"It is the same requirement, hunh?" He muttered under his breath, "When the doctor arrives, discuss with them that our session will be nothing more than two hours."
"Okay, sir. I will make sure I do that."
"You may leave," Carlton instructed without looking up, as he fixed his entire focus on going over the heaps of files he had to go through till nighttime. He could afford to waste half of his day getting therapy with a stranger, when he could be doubling his corporation's wealth.
James returned a few minutes later, after he had left the room, to inform Carlton of the latest news, "I have been informed by the doorman that the physiotherapist is around already. The housekeeper has ushered her in."
| •`•.....****....•`•|
Carlton never imagined that the shock of his lifetime would encounter him right in his living room, as his eyes came in contact with the doctor that was meant to treat him.
He thought he had lost his mind and was hallucinating already when he realized who she was, as a chill froze him to the spot, leaving him with a momentary paralysis.
The rapid beats of his chest echoed in his ears like a thunderous drum roll, as the realization of the unimaginable person that was standing before him, struck him with a force he had never experienced before.
His thoughts collided like shards of a shattered mirror as they tried to grasp the situation, but it was all futile because he couldn't even believe it even if he stared at her.
"Stacy?" His voice, which had been reduced to a mere whisper, barely escaped his trembling lips, as he stared at the same lady he had been dying to see for years before his very eyes.
It was hard for Stacy to hold herself the moment he called her name. It was so hard to choke in all her emotions right at that instant, and suck in the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes if she met his eyes anymore.
Her throat parched so dry with pain as her heart hurt so heavily, and she turned her eyes away from him instantly to reckon with her inner mind.
'What happened to him? Why was he in a wheelchair? Is he okay? What was wrong?' Stacy worried endlessly in her mind for him as she tried to breathe in and out, before turning to look at him again. This time, with all professionalism.
"Hi, sir. I am Stacy Hall, and I am your new doctor from WILLAND starting today," She paused in her breath as she spoke, hoping to mention all the naturality till the very end," I came for a formal greeting today, but sessions start tomorrow. I look forward to working with you," she added, all while holding her breath.
James was equally shocked too, as he watched her introduce herself. He could not believe the scenario that was playing before his very eyes. It was too hard to comprehend that Carlton's ex-wife had appeared in front of him years later after his accident as his doctor. It was too crazy to contain.
"Thank you for having me. Now, if you will excuse me, I have another meeting today and I would like to be on my way. Thank you once again," Stacy rushed her words like a broken record, and turned to leave their presence immediately without saying anymore.
'She wasn't going to wait to hear anything, or wait for him to call her name and remind her of their shitty past. She was just going to turn away cooly, and decide instantly what she was going to do with her life that was teetering on the delicate line of her past. Of the past that she wanted to forget all her life.'
Tears rolled down Stacy's cheeks as she made her way out of the mansion hurriedly, and found her way outside the walls of the gate to where her car was parked.
She entered immediately and slumped hard against the driver's seat as she shut the door, and more tears came rolling down her cheeks with pain to accompany every raw, guttural cry that echoed through the air.
She couldn't even pinpoint why she was crying. Probably because she saw him when she thought that she was getting over her past, or maybe because he was the patient that she wanted to help walk again.
Maybe because he had an accident, and that he was sitting in a wheelchair. For what reason it might be, she had no clue.
All she did was rest her head on the steering of her car and cry as loudly as she could to ease up the pain in her heart, and to let go of every burden that was choking her.
After crying for minutes, she raised her head and wiped her face clean with a face towel as she stared at her face in her front mirror for a while.
'She needed to pull herself together and figure out what to do next. She couldn't allow her perfect image to ruin just like that.'
'First, she was going back to the hospital to get her patient changed no matter what. There was no way she was becoming Carlton's doctor. Ever!'