The Royal Contract

It was not that he was still pining over her. But he still considered her as a good friend. Although it had been a while since he had last seen her.

Still, he would like to make sure that she was ok and her friend too, Dani. Although he only met her a few times, he still felt that he had also bonded with her as friends.

“It is just a small bump in the head, but it is nice to see you too, Sebastian.” She mumbled, downplaying her accident, but she was also surprised to see him inside her cubicle.

However, she expected that she might bump into him here since she knew he worked here. But she thought he was not on duty tonight when she did not see him around the place earlier.

“Let me see,” Sebastian leaned over to her head, checking at her wound.

He gently touched her hair with his fingers since the cut was buried underneath and carefully inspected the extent of the wound. He had no choice but to be closed to her and slightly breathe in her scent.

.....

“The earlier doctor said that I will need stitches.” She told him, wanting confirmation of the procedure as she waited for him to finish.

Although she could tell that the earlier doctor was good, she still trusted Sebastian more regarding her condition. She would rather hear from him what her prognosis would be.

She still considered him a friend. But still, it saddened her heart to know she broke his heart. He was a good man and deserved a woman who would be fully committed to the relationship.

“Well, it is indeed a nasty cut. I will need to stitch it up.” Sebastian concluded after careful examination.

He explained that the other doctor assigned to her was called for an emergency. Therefore, he had to take over her case. He asked her some questions about the accident, but the topic shifted, and they ended up chatting about something more.

“Excuse me, will that take long? The stitching?” Suddenly, another voice joined the conversation. “And what was the result of her tests?” He asked a little bit impatiently.

He had met the doctor before, but they never had the chance to talk. He knew that the other man courted Jacky, but he was still unaware of the entire story.

However, he could not pry on her past, knowing that his own was worse. He had no right to question her previous relationship when she accepted him despite his history.

“Oh! I am sorry, but I am Dr. Reece. Call me, Sebastian.” He immediately introduced himself to the other man in the room, extending his hand across the bed to greet him.

He felt slightly embarrassed that he did not see him when he walked in. He did not intentionally try to ignore him. He was simply surprised to see Jacky that all his attention went to her.

“Well, we have met before,” Marcus stated with a tinge of edge on his voice, but he still took the extended hand out of common courtesy. “Marcus, Jacky’s boyfriend.”

He did not know what made him add the last part, but it sounded good in his ears. He only hoped that the other man would heed the warning embedded in it.

“Oh, I am sorry I forgot to introduce the two of you.” Jacky suddenly realized the awkwardness of the situation.

Although she thought that she had nothing to worry about since she and Sebastian was never a thing, the way Marcus acted felt like he was jealous.

She did not know what to think of her discovery if her suspicion was correct about Marcus. She never expected that she would see him jealous again with another guy.

“That is ok.” Sebastian quickly replied, slightly sensing the hint that his presence was not welcome. However, he could not blame Marcus for feeling threatened.

Jacky had always been a good catch, and many would be interested in a relationship with her. Unfortunately, he did not win her heart. Now, he accepted that she was not the girl for him.

“Anyway, let me check if the results are available.” He opened the screen on his notepad and started navigating the system. After a minute, he nodded his head as if he had finally seen the result.

“What is it, Sebastian?” She asked him when he finally looked up from the screen.

She could not tell if he saw anything seriously wrong with her from his expression. But she was anxious to know if she could finally go home after her stitches.

“You are lucky that nothing serious happened to you. I did not see any blood clot or damage in your tissue cells.” He concluded upon careful review of her results.

“I think all you need now is the sutures.” He quickly called for the nurse to prepare the materials he would need to perform the minor procedure.

It was a quick process, but he still needed to put a little anesthesia around the wound to make it less painful. The only thing he discovered about Jacky that scared her the most was needles.

She was a tough person to crack, growing up in the street. But when it came to injections and needles, she trembled in fear. It was a discovery that he learned by accident.

“Can you just put a bandaid on it and be done with it?” She questioned, realizing that her ordeal was far from over.

It was why she did not want to go to the hospital. She already assumed that the doctors would recommend sticking those prickly metal thingy on her skin.

She had a bad experience with them during her childhood, and she did not like reliving it by being reminded every time she would see it on her skin.

“I don’t think a bandaid will be enough to heal your wound,” Marcus commented, hearing the sound of agitation in her tone.

If he heard it correctly. It sounded like Jacky was afraid of being injected or stitched by a needle. Well, it was the first time he was hearing about it.

He could not help but think about the back story about that one. Usually, when he feared something. It had something to do with a traumatic experience.

“Marcus is right. I need to stitch it up, so it will heal properly and quickly.” Sebastian seconded the other man, agreeing with him. “It will also prevent it from bleeding again.”

He knew he had to convince her to agree with the sutures, but he would need Marcus to help him. Maybe he could provide her some support and strength to get through her fear.

“You know I am afraid of needles.” She finally said, reminding her friend of her phobia.

She could face a gunfight and not tremble at its sight, but a small pricking tool, she immediately shut down. She did not understand the concept, but that was her experience.

“You are?” Marcus asked in astonishment.

“I know.” Sebastian also simultaneously answered her, perfectly understanding how she felt.

“What is so scary about a needle?” Marcus asked, curious about the way the two were interacting.

He seemed to be the only one who did not comprehend the severity of her situation. He always thought of Jacky as fearless, so finding out about her weakness was surprising.

Nevertheless, he still felt odd seeing them together, interacting like they knew more about each other than he and she did. He did not like it one bit.

Then again, he could not blame her. It was probably his fault. Maybe it was his insecurity, eating at him, knowing that he had been the worse boyfriend she had in history.