Gillian wasn’t exactly certain how she was going to survive the entire night playing nurse to Ethan. Not being able to have a full night of sleep was not the problem, she had slept her fair share during the long flight from Baltimore. She even managed to get some ‘closed-eyes’ time after checking into the hotel in the early hours of the morning when she and Dr. Millard first arrived in Hong Kong. Tonight, her struggles were more to do with her feelings for Ethan.
Gillian’s original plan was not to let him or any of her friends know of her return to Hong Kong until the medical conference was over in a week’s time. When Gillian was asked by Dr. Millard to accompany him as his interpreter when he was asked at the very last minute to fill in as a special honorary guest speaker for a medical convention in Hong Kong, she had less than 5 hours to get ready before heading to the airport. The renowned middle-aged doctor decided to take this rare opportunity to travel Asia with his wife who would be joining him after the one-week medical conference. Thus, Gillian was also given an extra three weeks to stay in Hong Kong before she had to return to Baltimore to start her summer semester.
Gillian had only arrived in Hong Kong for less than 5 hours when Ethan happened to spot her from across the street. She was planning to take Dr. Millard to a nearby restaurant for an authentic Asian breakfast. Because if the accident, they both ended up having breakfast at the hospital, though she did order some Asian dishes for him to try.
Now, 12 hours later, Ethan was with Gillian in the hotel room that was reserved for her by the Conference Association. The room was very spacious with two queen size beds which was why Gillian had agreed to keep watch of Ethan for the next two days. Her main responsibility was to take his vitals and test his cognitive skills every few hours to make sure there were no symptoms of brain injury.
When Gillian came out of the bathroom after using the shower, she noticed Ethan had made himself comfortable in one of the beds. He looked like he was ready to sleep, so Gillian was curious and had to ask as she poured herself a glass of water. “Have you brushed your teeth yet?”
Ethan observed her with all seriousness for a moment before answering. “Are you asking as my nurse or as my future wife?”
Though Gillian was quite touched by his persistence in wanting to win her heart throughout the entire day, she gave him a roll of her eyes before heading to her own bed that was separated from his by a bedside table. She sat down on her bed and placed her hand on the phone that was on the bedside table.
She looked at Ethan. “There is only one role that can possibly describe my current relationship with you, so you tell me!”
Gillian picked up the handset and was ready to dial. “If you give me the wrong answer, I’ll call Dr. Lam to report you have brain damage and have you admitted back to the hospital immediately!”
Ethan pouted and gave her a snub. “Fine! Nurse Chan!”
Gillian flashed him a satisfying smile and placed the handset back. She watched as he pushed the blankets aside and sat himself up on the bed to face her. Their knees were only an inch apart when he blurted. “I need to take a bath now!”
After a moment, Gillian noticed Ethan was still looking at her. So, she moved her knees to the opposite side. However, he wouldn’t budge at all. She shot him a challenging glance. “Do you need help standing now or something?”
Ethan finally gave out a smirk. “You’re my nurse! Aren’t you supposed to bathe your patient?”
Gillian made it look as if she was at a loss for words. When Ethan’s smirk turned into a grin, she dealt her card. “I think Aunty May is much more qualified for that job!”
Gillian picked up the handset again. “I will give her a call now!”
Ethan reached out immediately to grab the handset and placed it back. Then he finally relented and showed his displeasure as he stood up. “Some nurse you are!”
Gillian couldn’t help but gave out her laughter as Ethan made his way to the bathroom. She warned him again. “If you are not out in 10 minutes, I will take it that you fell unconscious!”
“Not going to happen!” Then he stopped just before entering the grand bathroom because he was amazed by the elegance. “Wow!”
“10 minutes!” Gillian reminded him again.
“But there’s a Jacuzzi!” Ethan whined playfully. Just before he closed the door, he shouted. “Make it 30!”
Gillian caught his big grin just before the door shut. She was indeed touched by his unrelenting attempt to win her love again since he woke up at the hospital. And every time her heart started to melt, she had to force herself back to reality.
While he was in the shower, Gillian took out the blood pressure cuff and thermometer from her pouch and placed them on the bedside table so she could conveniently check his vitals throughout the night. After that, she was ready to relax so she turned on the television to check out the programs that were offered by the hotel.
When Ethan was done with his shower and returned to his bed, she asked him what he would like to watch on television. She gave him two options, The Movie Channel or The News Channel.
While trying to decide, he noticed she was preparing to take his vitals. Without thinking, he reached for her arm. “Can I have the third option?”
Immediately, Gillian froze upon hearing his request as this was their lingo for intimacy when they were dating.
Realizing what he said, Ethan quickly took his hand away from her arm and gestured nonsensibly. “I didn’t mean that kind of option.”
“Third option?” Gillian asked at the same time.
“No…Yes! No! I mean…not you and me kind of third option!” Ethan was choking on his words. “You know what I mean!”
Gillian shook her head. “No, not really!”
Now she was curious what other kind of third option he was referring to. They both started laughing at their predicament and Ethan finally explained himself. “I was hoping you could massage my back. I am starting to feel the soreness on my shoulders and lower back now.”
First day after the Medical Conference, Gillian agreed to have breakfast with Ethan. While she was sitting in his car at the parkade waiting for Ethan to return with the parking ticket, his cell phone that was placed inside the cup holder started ringing. By the time she got to the phone, it had stopped ringing. That was also when Ethan returned to place the parking ticket on the dashboard.
“Your phone just rang. I couldn’t reach it in time.” Gillian handed him his cell phone and thought perhaps this was an opportunity to get out of having breakfast with him. “Is the station trying to reach you? Maybe something urgent came up?”
Ethan gave her an annoyed knowing glance for he could hear she was trying to get out of having breakfast with him. He checked the number of the missed call. “No, not the station. I don’t recognize the number.”
As they made their way to the elevator, Ethan noticed a message notification flashed on his phone. “Hmmm…. there is a message!”
Gillian noticed the furrowed brows on his face when Ethan dialed his phone to retrieve the message. “Is something wrong?”
“It appears we forgot to cancel our booking with the church.” After saving the message, he put away his phone and grinned at Gillian. “They just called to ask us for our wedding ceremony details.”
Gillian gasped upon realizing what Ethan was talking about. “We booked it for July 8. I completely forgot about it after giving them the deposit payment.”
He brushed his fingers through his hair to hide his foolishness for not remembering either. “I guess it’s too late for a refund now.”
She looked thoughtful, as if calculating something in her head. “Well, by right, we still have three weeks.”
Trying to hold back a smirk, Ethan asked cheekily. “Do you mean three weeks to get ready for the wedding?”
“Right, you’re unbelievable!” She gave him a look that meant she couldn’t believe he would turn this into a joke. “We just lost ten thousand dollars!”
“Why not?” He took her hand and kept her from approaching the Receiving Desk at the entrance of the restaurant. “What do I have to do to get you to marry me again?”
“I was never married to you so I can’t marry you again.” Gillian tried to shy away from his grasp.
“You know what I mean.” Ethan wouldn’t let go.
“I only know I’m hungry!” Instead of fighting him off, Gillian dragged him to the Receiving Desk and told the hostess they needed a table for two.
They were seated at a table right away and remained silent as they browsed the breakfast menu of 5 items. Naturally, they fell into the ‘couple’ mode and ordered the bacon with hashbrown and pancakes and the sausages with fruits and toast so they could share the food with each other.
While waiting for their drinks to arrived, Gillian wanted to deal with the urgent matter at hand. “You need to call the church to cancel the booking.”
Ethan studied her face for a moment and saw a touch of melancholy in her eyes. She turned to look away from him. Throughout the week, Gillian had avoided the subject of their relationship. He did not tell her about finding the ring that she had dropped into the sea. He also told Derek and Erica not to say a word about the ring to anyone, especially to Gillian.
Since her return to Hong Kong, Ethan had been dreaming of ways to propose to her again with that same ring. This time he knew he had to come up with something very special to convince her that she was his ultimate choice. Looking at her side profile, he wanted to get her attention.
“Tell me, what does fate have to do to prove you are meant to be my wife?” Ethan knew this was a head-turning question.
“Fate?” Gillian turned to look at him and repeated the word as if she had heard wrong.
“Last time, fate proved we were meant to be together by letting you find the ring I gave you on the night before Derek’s wedding!” Ethan reminded her. “Is there anything else fate can do for us to be married in 3 weeks?”
Gillian didn’t want to be reminded about the ring, just the mention of it made her heart sink to her stomach as the memory of it dropping into the deep water flashed across her mind. “Well, I suppose fate would need to help one of us find the ring again.”
Gillian tried to look away from his pair of determined, yet tender loving eyes. They were communicating his intention to ally with fate in winning her back. She knew she had been procrastinating all week in dealing with her feelings for Ethan. It didn’t help when he ceased every opportunity to show his intention. She was almost convinced by his persistence which was why she finally gave in to have breakfast with him alone this morning.
Ethan leaned forward with a hint of a smile on his lips. “So you are saying you’ll marry me if fate was on my side. We won’t need to cancel the church. We will just let it be!”
Gillian believed it was an impossible task, even for fate. To her, misplacing the ring once was a warning, dropping it into the deep sea was the sign that their marriage was not meant to be.
As soon as the last three words rolled out from Ethan’s tongue, the introduction to the famous Beatles song ‘Let It Be’ came on as the background music.
Ethan was surprised and he flashed Gillian the smile she couldn’t resist and said with confidence. “Hah! They are playing the song Let it be! Looks like fate is already lending me a hand!”
Gillian couldn’t help but chuckled in disbelief of such coincidence. However, she didn’t think it was possible for anyone to find the ring that she had dropped into the open sea. “If fate is ever to be on your side, then I would have to ‘Let it be’!”
Ethan smiled and relaxed his arms as he sat back into his chair. “Yes, you would! I will hold you to your words! You better get ready to walk down the aisle as my bride in 3 weeks!”
Gillian gave him a brush off and told him in a get back to reality tone. “Call the church! Don’t hold up the spot! Some couple might be searching for a church venue!”
Two days later, Ethan was told by Derek that his application for training had been processed and approved. However, Ethan didn’t seem too eager to receive the news. He asked Derek. “When do I need to leave for England?”
“I’m not sure what I’m about to tell you is a good thing or a bad thing.” Derek handed the file folder he was holding to Ethan and then sat himself back into his black leather chair with a sigh.
Ethan studied his boss’ facial expression. “What do you mean?”
Derek pointed to the folder he was holding, gesturing for Ethan to open it up.
So, Ethan opened up the folder in his hands and did a quick glance. He then started reading aloud what was written on the top of the page. “Quantico, Virginia?”
He dropped himself into the chair and looked up at Derek in puzzlement. “Is that in England?”
Derek leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk. “When Wai Sir told me about the training program, I assumed it was in England. I didn’t realize he meant the FBI training at the National Academy in Quantico. USA.”
“FBI?” Ethan was indeed stunned by the news. “As in The X Files kind of FBI?”
Derek smiled. “That’s the only kind I know.” When he saw Ethan’s smile, Derek’s heart was at peace. “I gather you take this as good news then?”
“I had no idea Wai Sir thought I was made of FBI material.” Ethan admitted humbly.
Derek got up from his seat and walked around his desk to extend his hand to Ethan. “Congratulations on making FBI training!”
Ethan accepted Derek’s hand with respect. “Thank you, Sir!”
“There is someone else you need to thank!” Derek gave Ethan a pat on the back. “We all believed you have what it takes to be a successful investigator, but Gillian was the first person who saw that and put it in your file when she wrote up your report three years ago!”
Upon hearing that, Ethan quickly skimmed through the documents inside the folder again as if he was looking for something specific. He seemed to have found it and reiterated the information aloud. “Orientation July 12.”
Ethan looked up at Derek. “I need your help!”
Startled, Derek showed his concern. “You sound so urgent, what is it?”
Gillian was strolling in the mall to past the time while waiting for Aunty May who was getting her hair done at the salon. She was strolling past Café De Coral and was surprised to see Ethan there. He was there with Anita, Nathaniel, Katie, Derek, Erica and Mark.
When Ethan didn’t contact her after their breakfast, Gillian had thought he was caught up with solving cases at work. But when she didn’t hear from him the next day, she had thought he had finally given up pursuing her. But watching him through the glass panes of the restaurant brought about a sour feeling in her heart which she couldn’t explain. She could tell Ethan was happy and was enjoying bonding with his friends and colleagues.
Just as Gillian was about to look away to continue her stroll down the mall, Ethan turned and spotted her. It was as if he sensed her presence close by. Ethan and the rest of the group were waving for her to come inside the restaurant to join them. She hesitated and showed reluctance.
Just when she was on the verge of waving good-bye to them, Ethan got up and rushed towards the entrance. Within a few seconds, Ethan was approaching her with gladness written all over his face.
Gillian noticed something different about him, but she couldn’t put a finger on exactly what. When Ethan grabbed her hand, she felt betrayed by her own feet as they willed her body and followed him into the restaurant.