Chapter 9 9

When Clair finally opened her eyes, she saw the clear white ceiling above her that was starkly different from the one in her room. As she tried to turn her neck, a surging pain shot through her body, causing her to stop and only move her eyes around. She was in a hospital room."Why am I here?" She winced in pain.The neck collar made her feel extremely uncomfortable, and she wanted to call out, but her throat was so dry that she could barely speak. She noticed the plaster around her arm and felt helpless as she lay there.

Her heart filled up with despair as she gave out a painful scream, tears rolling down her eyes.Suddenly, the doors opened quickly, and Ray bursted into the room, looking worried. "What happened?" he asked, concerned, as he came to her side."What is all this?!" she growled at him, as if it was his fault."Bandages," he stated the obvious. At his answer, she rolled her eyes and gave out a heavy breath. "Do I look like I am in the mood for stupid talks?" she grumbled, then looked behind him, as if trying to find someone else but didn't. Ray noticed that and spoke. "Madam isn't here. She is at a meeting," he said, holding his smile.Clair gave him a hateful look before speaking. "Did I ask? Does it seem like I care if she is here or not?!" she screamed again. Clair had severe anger issues, and Ray was already fed up with them, despite only being beside her a few times a month, unlike Azalea, who lived alongside her and had to bear her for her whole life."Calm down, miss. You will hurt your throat. Have some soup," he picked up the thermos from the side table."I don't want it!" she grumbled and gulped in her saliva to try and wet her throat, which had started to burn."Madam didn't make it, so don't worry. It isn't poisoned," Ray said sarcastically, opened the lid of the bottle and poured the steaming soup into a bowl."Was that supposed to be funny?" she said with a visible frown on her forehead, even though it was mostly wrapped in bandages."I tried," he responded, then dipped a spoon into the soup and put it against her lips."Did you sell off your brain or something? I need to wash my mouth before I eat! Who brought you up?" she scolded him again, and Ray took a deep breath before replying. "Definitely not your mother." He didn't seem to show any respect for the spoiled daughter of his boss."Go get me some water, and I need the doctors here right now! What is taking them so long to fix me? Are they not getting paid enough for my treatment?" Clair continued to complain.Ray gave her a broad, annoying smile and then placed the bowl away. "Yes, I will do that for you," he said, walking away from her and out of the room for quite a long time. In the meantime, Clair glanced over at the pot of soup and heard her stomach give out rumbles."Why is he taking so long?" she grumbled, struggling to remove the weight of her hand. Thankfully, her legs were not severely injured, but they still caused her a lot of pain. She winced painfully and slowly dragged her feet off the bed, attempting to stand up. Her feet dangled down and reached the flat ground, but she had all of her weight on her injured arm, which was unable to hold it for much longer."Where the hell is he?" She huffed to herself, finally managing to stand up. Her legs felt weak, and she clung to the bed tightly to hold her body up. She walked over to the door with an awkward gait and reached the doorknob with sweats breaking out of every corner of her body. She blew out heavy breaths and clicked the door open before heading out of the room and into the hallway. The place was almost empty, with only a few people walking by, and sometimes a nurse would walk across the corridors ahead."Ray!!" She screamed, frustrated as her legs began to give up on her. "No, no, no!" Her legs got wobbly and she felt quite weak, her legs became soft, and her body collapsed, ready to fall. Suddenly, she heard a sound of many plastic rods falling on the floor, and someone rushed over to her side to hold her in place. A guy had rushed to her side and held her up like a baby, making her feet not feel the weight of her body. She was in shock as to what had happened and looked over to the fallen viper and brushes scattered by the damp water bucket."Are you hurt?" asked the guy carefully as he kept his distance from her so that he would not crush her arm if he held her too close to him.Clair didn't reply and turned her head to look at the guy. As their eyes met, she stared at him blankly, for some reason his face was very familiar, and yet she couldn't remember who he was."Did you just touch me with your dirty hands?!" Clair bursted at him, causing the guy to freeze, and a wave of guilt rushed through his bones."I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," he said in a soft kind voice, but Clair was on the edge of causing another scene. Thankfully, Ray appeared and dispersed the situation by sending away the guy and taking Clair in his care. He sat her up on the bench and crouched beside her, giving her a tired look. "Why did you leave the room?" he asked. Clair's eyes were on the guy's back, who was slowly walking away. She was sure she had seen him somewhere, but still wasn't able to figure that out, yet she had a strong urge to fire him from this place as he had spoiled her mood.When Ray didn't get a response, he snapped his fingers in front of her eyes to catch her attention."I am talking to you," he urged her to respond, and she did turn around to look at him."I had to go to the restroom. Why can't I go?" she said in a frustrated manner."Yeah, you can go, but you need to stop being so rude," he added and stood up before giving her a hand. "You won't get away with it every time.""I didn't ask for a lecture, did I? Do your job and don't get on my nerves," she gave him a serious look and then took his hand to stand up."I'd rather bang my head against the wall than talk to you," she snapped at him, without considering the fact that he was carrying her weight at the moment."Well, no one asked you to come here. I didn't call for you," she retorted, her frustration clear in her tone."You already know why I'm here. And furthermore, I don't want your bitter words to add to Madam's already stressful day. And I'm glad she's considering handing over the company to you. I wish to see you run it down and suffer," he spat out, the words dripping with malice. He didn't care about her reaction because she had no power over his job because if she could fire hi. She would have done it in the past three years of his job.Clair scowled and turned her head to look at Ray. "What does he mean? Why is she handing over the company to me?" she asked, her voice changing suddenly."Well, that's what's written in your father's will," Ray replied calmly, before continuing to walk."But..." she had a deep frown on her face but had no way to say out loud what she was thinking off.