Carrow looked at the woman sleeping on the bed with an intense gaze, as if he were afraid she'd disappear if he even so much as blinked. It was only once the hospital staff finally arrived that he managed to painstakingly tear himself away from her to approach the two medical professionals.
"I'd like you to do a routine checkup on this woman. I still don't have the exact details of what happened, but she collapsed in the lobby about twenty minutes ago. If I knew it would take you this long to arrive here, I would've sent her to the emergency room." Carrow's face glared as he said those words, and his two staff audible gulped. After all, how were they to know they'd receive a patient first thing in the morning? This was typically time they had free to themselves, so it'd become a routine to just hang out in the break room and enjoy coffee until the day had well and truly started.
"Y-yes sir! My apologies sir!" The hospital staff began to rapidly run around the room gathering materials to check her blood pressure and heart rate. It was only after a few minutes that they realized their boss had not yet left that their anxiety began to grow again. Was he going to watch them administer every test? They couldn't handle that kind of pressure!
"Um, sir...? May I ask…" the younger of the two doctors began to question meekly but cut himself off as he saw the CEO's domineering gaze turn to him.
"Yes? What is it?" Carrow bit back his annoyance as he replied to the doctor coldly.
"Well, I was just wondering… are planning on being here the entire time, sir?" There was a brief pause wherein Carrow gave him a penetrating gaze that screamed 'So what if I am what is it to you?' before the young physician decided it was best to amend his previous statement. "It's just that, well, given the… erm… nature of your relationship with this woman it may not be suitable for you to be in the room while we complete the checkup." The doctor's face was now bright scarlet and he quickly turned away from the CEO, too embarrassed to face him straight on. There was a chill in the room as their boss stood up, and the young doctor was certain he was about to die for his impertinence when finally, the older female doctor spoke up.
"Sir, while I may respect that you care deeply for this woman, without any familiar ties we really must ask you to leave the room during the checkup. I can assure you no harm will come to her in the ten minutes we are examining her, and you may be let back into the room once the examination is complete." Unlike her male colleague, this woman spoke with true authority and pride as a doctor as she challenged Carrow even though he was her boss. It was only once she saw Carrow's bitter sulky expression that she calmly suggested, "I noticed that this young lady's clothes have coffee all over them. Perhaps while you're gone you might like to prepare a change of clothes for her. Surely we'll be done by the time you get back…?" Carrow glanced at her gratefully for giving him something to do other than pointlessly worry about the woman as he headed back to the elevators once again, racking his mind the entire way to the store about what type of clothes the woman might like to wear.
Soon after their boss had left, the two doctors heaved a big sigh of relief as they finally turned to the woman once again. Even without doing a full examination, the bags under her eyes were enough for them to tell she was utterly exhausted and for few minutes they debated whether they should wake her or let her continue sleeping. Although it wouldn't be easy to get rid of Carrow a second time, if the patient was severely lacking in rest, then it would be detrimental to disturb her rest once she finally managed to get some. They hadn't fully come to a consensus yet when her shrill cry pierced through their conversation.
Immediately, both medical professionals turned to the woman to examine her once again. Although her cry seemed to be one of pain, they couldn't tell which part of her was injured, when she let out a few more whimpers. Helpless without more information, they steeled their hearts as they gently grasped the woman to wake her up, calling in a soothing voice. Upon making contact, however, the woman's cries only intensified as she began to thrash about on the bed. Immediately, the woman turned to her colleague and sent him for a bucket of water. It wasn't until the cold liquid was splashed on her that the young woman once again regained consciousness, still hyperventilating like crazy.
"I-I'm so sorry miss," the young man stammered, "we- we weren't sure what exactly was wrong with you, but you were thrashing about quite terribly…" As he trailed off Lucillia's eyes immediately focused.
"I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?! Do you need to go to the hospital?!" Lucillia quickly sprang to the worst-case scenario in her mind. When she had these nightmares, she completely lost control of herself, and she'd even hurt Jackie, who knew what to expect a number of times, not to mention unsuspecting people.
"M-miss, actually, we're already at a clinic." The doctor's explained how Lucillia had been brought to the small infirmary by the CEO, as well as their orders to complete an examination on her. When she heard the words examination, Lucillia's heart lurched.
"Did you already complete the examination?!" she cried out with a voice full of panic. The thing she was most afraid of was allowing someone else to see her scars.
"Not yet, but we can begin right away!" the young doctor replied cheerfully, not picking up on the panic in her words before he continued. "If you don't mind me asking, though, miss, just what exactly was hurting you before to cause you to make such noises even in your dreams?" Although it was an innocent question, Lucillia had no desire to answer it.
"It was just a stupid nightmare," she scoffed darkly. Although the younger doctor didn't pick up on the significance of her words, the older woman noticed her expression and immediately began formulating theories in her head.
"Pardon my prying, but may I ask if you have these nightmares often? Judging by the dark circles under your eyes it appears you haven't been getting much sleep." Although the tone the doctor used to address Lucillia was gentle and caring, to Lucillia the words were nothing but hostile.
"It's true I commonly have nightmares, but it's hardly as serious as you're making it sound." Lucillia replied with a fake smile. "It just so happens that this is the time of the year when they're the most intense. I assure you I'm perfectly fine, however. Allow me to apologize for whatever inconvenience I caused for you by passing out, however, if that's all I really am quite busy so I should be going." As Lucillia bowed her warm demeanor faded into a cold expression for the slightest of moments.
"But-but Miss…! What about your examination?!"
"Sorry, but I have no intention of undergoing an examination." At this point, Lucillia was smiling daggers into the man's eyes.
"I- I apologize, but we have strict orders from the CEO to complete a full examination on you." Even the young doctor felt his words were laughable as he stared at Lucillia's expression, however he couldn't help but mention their orders as he shuddered imagining the consequences if the CEO found out they failed to complete their task.
"CEO's… orders…?" Lucillia repeated blankly. "And might I ask in what hospital a boss's orders are more important than the individual patients own wishes?" Contrary to the start of her statement, the last words were spit out with spite. Seeing that the two doctors were speechless, Lucillia took it as her cue to exit and strode over to the door before jerking it open. It was only after she saw the tall frame of a man blocking the exit that she stopped in her steps.