Just a Simple Love Story - Kimberley Nunes (13 inch ebook reader txt) 📗

he tried cheering me up, “we will find some way to wake that guy up. After all, just check out all these wonderful people with way too much free time on their hands, gathered here to discuss about matters they couldn’t actually care about.”

“Gin? Are you ready?” an elderly man, who was a surgeon himself, inquired.

“Sure” the addressed man answered. He stood up after shooting me a reassuring smile and walked over to the podium. Gin, as the leading doctor in this case, was supposed to hold the conference. He started off by giving an overview on the case and what exactly had been done during the operation, as there were quite a few people, who knew head-no-tail about Ian and the BGN-29. Gin paused for a short moment before asking the dreaded question: “Are there any questions up until now?”

Hands shot up right away and I could see my otherwise cheerful friend’s face fall drastically. He sighed before answering all the unnecessary and sometimes really idiotic questions.

The next and actually most important part of the conference was to find a first attempt to wake Ian up from his slumber.

Some of the people attending mistook this as an opportunity to blurt out their opinion on the entire case and how wrong or right they weighed the process.

Shaking my head I sighed heavily and decided on taking my leave. This wouldn’t lead anywhere. I slipped out of the room and leaned my head against the cold wall of the empty corridor. Well, I should have known this would be a total waste of time. But what can be done to wake Ian up? I checked my wrist watch. It was five-thirty. I shut my eyes and sighed again. I don’t know how long I stood there in the same position, but I suddenly snapped open my eyes and had decided. Pushing myself off the wall I headed straight to my superior’s office. My heels clicked with every step I took. Reaching the office, I briskly knocked, not really awaiting the answer, but bursting into the front room, shocking a surprised looking Kasper.

“Doctor Noakes!” he exclaimed indignantly, while shooting up from his chair.

I shoved my hand up his face: “Hold it right there. I neither have the time nor the energy to waist on your speech considering manners and blah blah.”

I walked straight up to the opposite door knocking once and then entering. Kasper followed at my heel calling behind me and apologizing to his boss. Octavio was surely surprised at my bursting in without any prior notice.

“Oh, Kaitlynn” he wondered.

“I’m sorry, Sir” Kasper ran pass me. “I tried to stop-“

“Please,” Octavio cut him off, “close the door behind you, Kasper.”

I saw said PA’s head turn as red as a tomato. He seemed more than just pissed. But there was something like disappointment plastered there, too. Well, too bad. But I didn’t have the time to waste on thinking about him and his jealousy or whatever it was.

“Go on, take a seat” the chief of the department motioned to the chair opposite him.

“Thanks, Octavio.”

“What can I do for you? The way you stormed in there’s no doubting it” he asked leaning forward in his chair and resting his chin on his propped up arms.

I nodded confirming: “Yes, and I’m sorry about bursting in like that.”

He waved me off, gesturing for me to forget it and go on with my actual matter.

“I assume you already know, that Ian hasn’t awoken, yet” I inquired.

He nodded curtly. “Yes, I do.”

“I want to do something about it! I want to help him!”

He smiled his signature creepy smile I had gotten used to and leaned back in his chair bringing up his fingertips to touch each other.

“You want to do something you say? Then why don’t you?”

He laughed, as I seemed to be looking like some lost puppy, at least that’s what he said.

“So you need help?” Octavio asked directly.

I eagerly nodded making him laugh even harder.

“Have you thought about anything so far?”

My cheeks grew hot and were tinted red. “I… actually without even thinking…-“

“You attended that useless conference, left it before it could end, realizing just now that the device YOU had developed wasn’t showing the results you had hoped for and decided you had to do something. And as a result you burst through my doors and are sitting here now without wasting a second thought on how you could achieve your goal” he expertly deduced hitting the bull’s eye.

Realization dawned upon me just at this moment. I smacked my forehead shaking my head.

“I can’t believe it” I sighed. “How could I let myself be driven by my emotions to this extent?”

My superior chuckled: “And there I praised you just the other day.”

“I’m sorry, Octavio” I apologized in total embarrassment.

He stood up from his chair and walked around his huge oak desk leaning against it and patting my shoulder.

“So, have you calmed down?” he asked.

I nodded once and looked up at him.

“Good. Let’s think about something together, then” the snake-like man suggested.

“You know you are spoiling me here?” I smiled weakly. “Not just that, your assistant on the other side of the door must be fuming right now.”

Instead of an answer he grinned widely. Octavio walked back to his seat and pulled out a notepad. “Let’s start brainstorming, shall we?”

We sat there for at least one and a half hours talking and discussing over methods and errors.

 

It was seven-thirty when I left Octavio’s office clutching the notepad tightly. Kasper had left. I wondered when the department chief would head home. Did he ever leave?

I decided on stopping by Ian’s room before heading to the laboratory. Knocking once, I entered expecting either Sebastian or nobody to be in the room. Instead, I was greeted by a furious looking red-head and an irritated and frowning Sebastian.

He looked up and shut his eyes. That was surely no reaction I had expected.

“Who the heck are you?” the vicious red-headed glasses woman demanded.

I shut the door behind me and walked up to where Ian was lying. Holding out my hand I introduced myself: “Good evening. I’m Doctor Noakes.”

Instead of extending her hand she snorted: “So you’re that fake doctor?”

“Excuse me?” I inquired.

This was the first time Sebastian spoke up: “Shut up, Karin. You’re in a hospital.”

Karin? So this is Ian’s wife.

“But Sebastin” she started. Her venomous voice had turned sweet.

I arched an eyebrow at her brother-in-law questioningly. He sighed heavily and defeated.

“Karin, this is-“

“I know who she is” she snarled facing me. “It’s your damn fault he isn’t waking up. I can’t believe Sebastian allowed something developed by some biologist to be implanted into Ian’s brain. But it surely isn’t his fault.”

The way she spit out the word biologist made my blood boil. And what does all that eye batting towards Sebastian mean? Isn’t she Ian’s wife? I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself.

Putting on my professional smile I looked directly at that annoying bitch: “Mrs. Benz, nice to meet you, too. I’ve heard a lot about you.” I paused for a short time. “You’re right when you say it isn’t Mr. Benz’s fault. May I ask where the patient’s spouse when the time to decide gad come?”

Karin’s facial color changed drastically to a deep crimson.

“The reason I actually came over was to inform you, Mr. Benz that the chief of department and I have already started searching for the reason, why your brother hasn’t been able to wake up until now. I ask you to please be patient. I can assure you that we will work something out and will be able to dismiss any errors.”

I curtly nodded and headed for the door. Before leaving though, I turned around and addressed Ian’s wife: “Mrs. Benz? It’s past the visiting hours. Unauthorized people should leave the hospital right away.”

With this I left the room walking straight to the lab rooms.

This would be a tiring process. I unlocked my office door and shut it behind me, leaning my head against the wood. I could feel the looming headache… This will be one hell of a project, I knew that much. Taking a deep breath I pushed myself off the door and headed to the tiny adjacent room, grabbing the clothes I usually wore while working in the lab. Before heading to the lab I walked over to the nearest coffee machine getting the largest and strongest serving. I gulped the hot liquid while munching on a chocolate-corn bar. Freshly energized I locked myself in the laboratory and started my work.

Good Girl

 

I suddenly jolted up at 5am the next morning. My mobile had been vibrating. I rubbed out the sleep from my eyes and checked the phone. There were six new messages and three missed calls. I scrolled through the messages registering four new ones from Sebastian, one from Nala and the other from Gin, but didn’t care to read any. I had slept for around two hours after working through the night. Man, my sofa in the office wasn’t as comfortable as it looked. Yawning, I pulled myself to the small bathroom containing a toilet and sink. As I had spent one or two nights in the office after starting to work on the BNG-29 before, my toothpaste and brush were lying in some container in the bottom drawer of my desk.

After washing up I decided, or rather my rumbling stomach decided it was time to have a good breakfast. I walked past deserted offices and corridors greeting a nurse or two. Getting myself a freshly baked bread with a slice of cheese and ham and a cup of hot milk tea I sat at a table right in front of the huge window walls overlooking a river and singular city lights.

I had been able to find something like an approach, at least I hoped it to be. Octavio had told me he would resume work at seven, as he had some lab research to do himself. There was nothing else for me to do, other than go through all my notes and eradicate any possible sources of error. Sighing exhaustedly I got up and carried my tray over to the machine for cleaning. I slouched out of the canteen. Suddenly I felt someone catch hold of my wrist. Why now? I exhaled soundly and turned around to only gaze into the most beautiful blue orbs I had ever seen.

“Sebastian” I stated with a small smile.

He looked tired and worried, but there was something else there, too. Is that anger?

“Where have you been, Kaitlynn?” his voice was hoarse.

Whenever he called out my name a pleasant shudder ran down my spine. Our eyes never wandered off, not even once.

“I texted and called you, but you neither replied to any of the messages nor once picked up the phone.”

“Oh, you did?” I asked.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you check your phone?” Sebastian inquired surprised.

I shook my head.

“I’m sorry, Sebastian. I was in the lab, so I hadn’t taken my mobile with me” I lied, while I felt a pang of guilt wash over me. I could and surely would not tell him that I was pissed and hurt about the things that red-headed shithead had blurted out.

“You worked after…” he broke off.

“After your brother’s wife yelled at me