THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 29: AN UNINTENTIONAL RIVAL

Chapter 29: AN UNINTENTIONAL RIVAL

For over an hour, no one came in, or went into the room.

Ace sat still, his eyes staring into space. All of his life choices and decisions flashed before his eyes.

From the day he was born, up until now, he was in a constant battle with a lot of forces.

As a child, he witnessed the unspoken battle between his father, and his sister. His father was the kind of man that didn’t take things to heart.

He was free, and filled with humor. Nothing phased him. Not even when he found out his wife could only bear a child.

Aunty Celine in all her twisted glory had used his nature against him. Manipulated him to his deathbed.

Ace watched all of that, and vowed to be the complete opposite of his father.

They started to see the change when he was ten, and told his Aunt to her face she looked like a spoiled batch of pumpkin.

On that day, the ongoing war between them was stamped and sealed.

Over fifteen years later, he was in the same position he was the day his father died.

Prior to the man’s death, he had argued with Aunt Celine. His father, who would rather walk out than indulge in a confrontation, argued at the top of his voice with her.

He heard every bit of the argument. In her arrogance, she didn’t notice the little boy peeking from under the table. She thought his father was alone.

Every bile imaginable to man, she had spewed that day. Her mission was to plant seeds of doubt in his legitimacy. She asked his father to run a DNA test, but he flat out refused, because he trusted his wife that much.

Then and there, she swore on her life he’d regret his actions. Three days later, he was found dead in a hotel room he stayed over for a work conference.

Cause of death was ruled as suicide. Carl Atticus, died by suicide.

"What a joke," he had said, the day he found out.

"What a—" he felt a light tap on his shoulder causing him to jerk up.

In front of him stood the chief, a grim look on his face.

"Where’s Fay?" He quickly jumped to his feet.

"Calm down son, let’s go talk in my office."

Marilyn instantly went ballistic behind them. "What are you going to tell him in his office? Where’s Mrs Fay? Why can’t we go in to see her!" She questioned erratically.

"That’s enough, Marilyn! I’ll go talk to the chief. Just wait here," he said, trying to maintain orderliness, even though deep down, he was in shambles.

She moved her mouth to speak, but thought better off it. As much as she wanted to get an update, it wasn’t in her place to ask questions.

"Let’s go."

The chief nodded, and led the way. He climbed up a staircase, and two doors after, he walked into a room.

He waited until Ace was in, before shutting the door behind him.

"Please, take a seat," he offered, as he went round his desk, and sat.

Ace did as he was told, patiently waiting for what the chief had to say.

He cleared his throat, and began. "The doctor on duty would be out at any time now, and he’d be available with the final verdict. What I personally wanted to tell you is how much of a fighter your wife is."

Ace hissed. He didn’t want to hear how much fight Fay put on, except it was followed with her success. This news was no better than the silence of the last hour.

"Is this what you brought me all the way up to say?" He asked in a voice that spelled doom.

The older man chose his next words carefully. He had heard about Ace Atticus, but this was the first time he would personally meet him. From everything he heard, no one would pray to get on his bad side. A side very easy to get on.

"I know that’s not what you want to hear right now, but —-"

The door opened, silencing his words. A man in scrubs came in.

"Doctor Alexander. Thank God you’re here!" The Chief sighed in relief.

Ace turned his head around to see the doctor that was supposed to deliver the verdict. He went rigid for a few seconds, as recognition flickered through his eyes.

’What are the odds?’ he thought, as his mind went back to that restaurant. This was definitely the man Fay had been talking to.

"Hello sir, I’m Alexander." He stretched out his hands to Ace, who hesitated in accepting it.

He looked dead at it, before lifting his gaze up his face. "How’s my wife?" He asked, stressing the wife part to drive home a message.

He didn’t know why he was suddenly being so defensive, but he couldn’t help himself.

"Sorry," Alexander let out a small awkward laugh, as he withdrew his hands. "Anyway, your wife has been stabilized. She’s not awake yet, but we’d keep an eye on her for the next three hours," he said.

Ace was a little amused. The doctor wasn’t acting like he knew the patient. He was also not acting like he recognized him. It made him question if he saw him that day.

"Do you think she’s going to wake up soon?" He asked.

The chief who was watching the awkward exchange between his number one doctor, and the infamous business mogul, shifted in his chair.

There was clearly tension between them, and he couldn’t for the life of him understand why.

But he trusted Alexander. He’d rather remove himself from unpleasantness, than engage in petty wars.

"Like I said, we’d find out in about three hours."

"Can I see her?"

"Unfortunately no. You can go home if you like. We’ll call you if there’s any progress."

"And leave her in your hands? I’m sure you’d like that," he said, before he realized he sounded like a crazy person.

"I don’t understand what you mean sir, but I’m sure you’re just stressed by the state of your wife. If you’ll please excuse me, I have another patient to attend to." He offered him a kind smile, but Ace could see through it.

"Chief," he acknowledged the older man with a nudge of his head, before turning around to leave.

Ace was livid. He had been bested in the act of level headedness, and he felt disgusted with himself.

’Pull yourself together Ace!’ he screamed internally.

"You heard the doctor sir. There’s nothing more we can do, other than wait. But I assure you, doctor Alexander has done everything he can to save your wife. He’s in fact, our most outstanding doctor, as you may have seen for yourself."

’Yeah right. Outstanding indeed. Pretty sure he was out of his mind with joy when he discovered the patient was Fay,’ he snarled in his head.

The thought of the doctor touching her body made his hand fold into a fist. Just for the heck of it, he didn’t feel like continuing in this hospital.

"I’m sure he is, but wouldn’t it be better to take her to a different hospital? I’d love a specialist to look at her," he suggested.

The chief frowned. "It’s totally up to you, but I’d warn it’s not in her best interest to be moved back and forth. Have we done anything you don’t like? Please tell me, so we can correct our mistakes." His face scrunched in confusion, as he waited for a response.

Ace knew he had no solid reason, other than the fact he watched the head doctor talk to Fay. He didn’t even know why he was being that protective, considering the fact he had no emotional connection whatsoever to her.

"Forget what I said," he relented. "She can stay." He rose to his feet, ready to leave.

"You must care about your wife a lot," the chief suddenly observed out loud.

"I guess," He shrugged, and walked towards the door. With his hands on the handle, he turned his head. "I know this goes without saying, but I’d like our privacy to be respected. On no circumstance should the press hear about this."

"You have our word."

"Thank you." Ace slipped out of the door, and strode purposefully down the stairs.

"Sir Ace, what did the doctor say?" Marilyn was immediately in front of him the second she sighted him.

"Why? Didn’t the doctor pass by? Why didn’t you ask him?"

"The doctor?" Her face appeared ridden with confusion. "Only a couple of nurses, and other staff came out of the room. When we asked, they said only the doctor could give out information, and to the family of the patient."

"Oh. I guess there’s another exit then. Anyway, I heard from the doctor himself. He said they’ve done their best and—"

"Call the doctor! The patient is going into cardiac arrest!" A piercing voice cutoff his explanation.

Shuffling feets suddenly filled the hallway, as different staff began to scurry back and forth.

"What is happening?" He stopped someone to ask, but they shoved him away.

Alexander ran into the path leading to the room, and paused when he saw Ace.

"Did something happen?" Ace asked.

Marilyn beside him suddenly gasped, but before he could raise further questions, the doctor ran past him, and entered into the room.