The Alpha's Healer

15 | Blessings in disguise

The phone buzzed. Iris reached for it without thinking. A short, common phrase hung in the chat interface under hers. "Are you done?"

Her fingers had just touched the screen when another text popped up under the previous one.

"I'm at the hospital. Where are you?"

Iris paused again. She glanced at the three people at the table, looked down and weighed whether it would be a good idea to let them see her and Sebastian together.

The answer was obvious and didn't take long, but Sebastian must have been in a hurry. A call came in, buzzing the device in the palm of her hand. She picked up hastily, not wanting to make him wait.

"Hello?" She whispered.

She kept her voice low, yet the fact that she was on the phone couldn't be hidden. The other three fell silent immediately and pretended to be busy with something of their own. Iris lowered her head, wishing she could directly go under the table.

"I'm at the hospital gate. Where are you?" He asked. Even the phone couldn't filter out the magnetic charm out of his voice. Iris was momentarily stunned. It took a second to find her voice, and she kept it short, "In the cafeteria."

"Alright. I'll come up."

"N-No, I'll be there." Iris' refusal came loud and clear. Sebastian paused for a minute, then asked, "Are you with someone?"

"Hm. Dr Carlos' students." She answered in an even lower voice. "I will be downstairs in a minute."

"Take your time."

Iris waited for the call to disconnect, then faced Claire and said, "I need to go. Someone is waiting for me."

"Okay. It was nice meeting you." Claire said with an easy going smile. "I sincerely wish you never have to come here again, for any reason. Stay healthy."

"Stop sounding weird." Adam scolded, turned to Iris and added, "Don't mind the way she speaks. Bye."

Iris waved frantically, gesturing that she didn't mind. The moment she got up, Robert stood as well, wiping his hands with a tissue, "I'll walk you to the gate. The corridors can be quite confusing."

"It's okay..." Iris initially refused, but when she tried to trace the route in her mind, all she recalled were white walls and nurses. "Okay. Thankyou."

--

Sebastian parked his car in an inconspicuous corner of the parking lot. Less people meant less attention.

While the stares and whispers, even occasional interruptions meant little to him, he noticed what they did to Iris and decided to stay clear of them.

Leaning against the car, he resisted the urge to reach for a smoke. He'd been on a journey to quit for about a year, only to fail drastically every time. The most he lasted was three months of continuous no smoke.

Instead of the cigarette in his right pocket, he pulled out a pack of gum from the other one and chewed on four at a time.

The taste of mint brought him far more pleasure than the choking of smoke.

Iris always smelled like mint. Under that cool scent was a faint herbal fragrance. Sebastian stayed awake the entire night wondering what made him and Iris compatible.

Her timid nature, cautious bearing and the overall fear of everything under the sky were not things he'd consider to be appealing before their encounter. Yet, somehow those things tugged so hard on his heartstrings, it gave rise to a natural instinct to keep her safe.

Not to mention the absolute art that was her face. The goddess must have taken her time carving each line on her face and curling every individual strand of her hair, pairing them all to create the perfect masterpiece.

Sebastian didn't recall much of what put him into a sorry state in a forest, but he was belatedly joyed that a calamity that could have taken his life had given him such a beautiful encounter instead.

Given her determination, she would have rejected him without mercy if he wasn't about to die. Sebastian even laughed out loud when that thought crossed his mind.

Sometimes, blessings came disguised as a curse.

Now, it was entirely his job to make sure Iris stayed. He needed a perfect plan, step by step, to remove the idea of rejection from her head. With no prior experience in such matters, he even contacted his parents for tips.

The lovesick couple had given him a raging headache with their ideas. So absurd he wanted to cancel their flight back to shadow ridge so they'd not be a roadblock in his path to love.

Sebastian chewed aggresively, eyes glued to the gate for a glimpse of his mate. His lips automatically rose up the moment he saw her walking out, but they curled down into a flat line when he saw someone else, a man, stuck to her back like an unwanted shadow demon.

"Thank you for walking me out." Iris stopped at the gate to thank him.

"No problem. My father wouldn't be happy if I left you on your own." Robert said.

Iris parted her lips, about to say goodbye when suddenly a large shadow swallowed her from the back. A heavy arm, laced with the fragrance of musk and pine landed on her shoulders, pulling her flush against a hard yet warm body.

"What took you so long?" Sebastian asked, his slightly narrowed blue eyes staring down the man instead of Iris, the one he was addressing.

"I-I stopped by the cafeteria." Iris, taken by surprise, stuttered. The grip around her shoulder loosend slightly but the hand stayed.

In the entire Shadow Ridge pack, there was hardly anyone who wouldn't recognise Sebastian. Robert naturally recognised his Alpha and took a respectful step back.

"I wasn't expecting to meet you here, Alpha. Please excuse my rudeness." Robert's gaze lingered on the places sebastion was attached to Iris and a deep look crossed his features, as if he understood something.

"I'll take my leave." He nodded towards them and disappeared behind the busy corridors of the hospital.

Sebastian felt a nudge on his torso. Looking down, he smiled at the elbow softly poking at him. He let go of her shoulder but not the little grudge brewing in his heart.

"You already ate lunch? I thought we made plans to eat together." He said, a hint of accusation hidden in his tone made Iris panic internally.

Iris didn't like making meaningless excuses. In fact, she didn't remember the last time someone let her explain. It was a different case with Sebastian. He wasn't angry because she didn't keep her word, nor did he make a big deal out of it.

Even his accusations were gentle and more like a grievance than anger. Iris rushed to explain how she couldn't refuse their offer at that time.

"Then, would you refuse me if I ask you to have lunch with me?" He asked.

"But I already ate... I'm full." Iris bit her bottom lip with guilt overflowing her veins. "I'm sorry..."

"I was joking. Don't take everything so seriously. Since we're done here, let's go to the apartment and get you settled there." Sebastian suggested.

Iris had no reason to refuse. Fifteen minutes later, the car stopped in another underground parking lot. The building was a concrete jungle, with tall buildings huddled together in a bunch. Iris felt her eyes crossing once she tried to count them.

"This apartment complex has good security and better features compared to some others in the area. It's closer to my place as well, just a ten minute walk." Sebastian listed out the features she'd get to enjoy during the elevator ride.

Iris had an inexplicable feeling that she had turned the Alpha of shadow ridge pack into her personal tour guide. There was nothing to be done about it when he willingly took up the responsibility to get her settled in.