Capítulo 23: Gabe meets Valentine

Summer and Valentine's heads snapped in the direction of her brother's voice. Gabe both sounded and looked out of breath standing at the entrance of the room. He sprinted inside and stopped when he got a good look at her leg from where he stood, then he walked fast to take a look at what the nurse was getting.

"My phone died…I'm sorry,"

Gabe's face darkened one shade after another until it settled on a shade of purple. His eyes lingered on the man's hands that were pawing his sister's foot. He walked back to where Valentine crouched and extended a hand his way.

"Who's this," he asked Summer with a rude tone and without breaking eye contact with Valentine.

"Valentine Hosek," the CEO volunteered, "Summer and I work together in the same company," he said without moving an inch.

"He's my CEO," Summer corrected with her eyes on her brother's stubbornly extended hand that hung mid-air.

Gabe didn't look impressed at all while monitoring how valentine took Summer's sandal out with great care. And she bit her bottom lip hard when Valentine stood tall and shook Gabe's hand with a secret smile on his face.

"And you are?" Valentine sounded amused.

"Gabriel Taylor," Gabe held his head up high in a confident manner that wasn't void of hostility, "I'm sure you're a very busy man, Mr. Hosek, if you'd be kind enough to give my sister a sick leave, I'll take it from here,"

Summer only looked down once more when the nurse sat on a low chair and held her foot then started applying an ointment over it. She pressed it with an ice bag a second later. It stung, but she swallowed all of it down as she looked at her boss's eyes assessing her brother in his scrubs once more.

"…Of course, I'm giving her an hourly leave," Valentine corrected then turned around to face her once more, "Remember what I said before. If you can't make it to overtime today, feel free to telework,"

Gabe flinched, 'What overtime when her foot is swelling like that!', not only was that overly buffed rich man hovering all over his sister, but he was asking her to go back and spend more time with him! 'Not a chance,' Gabe stared more intensely at Valentine now as if that was even possible believing that no CEO in the world would drop everything that they were doing to open up a room in a hospital for one of their employees suffering from something as minor as a twisted ankle.

He didn't want anyone to take advantage of Summer while she was this vulnerable. Her boss included.

"Excuse me," Valentine nodded politely at Gabe and then at Summer then headed out of the room with the nurse following him once more.

Gabe sat on the chair not bothering to wait for the two to leave the room, he held his sister's foot and removed the bag to take a better look at it. "You need antiinflammation medicine, it looks painful, are you okay?"

"…Am I okay? What is the meaning of this attitude!" She began in a hushed tone as soon as her boss was out of sight.

"What attitude?" He mirrored the low volume she was keeping up with. "Should I just let every guy I see you with take advantage of you while you're this vulnerable?"

Summer couldn't believe her ears. Not only her younger brother was out of line with her boss just now, but he was also incredibly condescending towards her.

"…How old am I, Gabe," She asked rhetorically.

"…29, so what?" he answered anyway.

"Well, I think I'm at least old enough to make my own decisions about the men I date or don't. Maybe what I'm going through shouldn't make me vulnerable… Maybe this was all meant to be… Maybe this should be... liberating…"

Gabe who had a bored look on his face at first suddenly looked as if somebody slapped him once he heard the word 'liberating,'. He refused to accept the notion that her freedom was confined, it was why he moved to another state with her in the first place.

"Don't give me that look!" She objected, her temper on the rise, "I'll become thirty in a few months… and what do I have to say about my twenties? Or even before that? I had one boyfriend when I was basically a child, then I was engaged to someone for less than a year…and we spent most of it arguing instead of dating…" She hit the bed with her fist, "Why shouldn't I date whomever I see fit now? What would stop me?"

"I'm not asking you not to date! I'm telling you to date the guy that I-…" Gabe paused, he wanted to be careful with the words he used since she was being extra sensitive.

"That you what Gabe! That you chose for me once more? Didn't you learn anything from the engagement I broke off? JUST LET ME LIVE MY OWN LIFE!" She yelled then quickly put her foot back in her shoes and tied the lace with one knot in a very practical manner and smoothed the pants down.

"…That's not fair," her brother murmured a minute later.

She knew that.

Gabe had nothing to do with her engagement, he was just a boy then. But she didn't care. She only wanted to leave the room and get some fresh air outside, the minty scent of the ointment the nurse rubbed on her foot was making her nauseous.

"Summer," he said when he saw her making her way to the door. "Summer," he pleaded this time.

When she turned around to look at him one more time before she walked out, she never imagined she'd bump full force straight into her CEO who wasn't supposed to come back.

Valentine was quick to grab her by the elbow to steady her. His other hand had the papers that she quickly concluded she had to sign after all. They said nothing to each other when their eyes locked, and Valentine didn't let go of her arm.

Judging by the neutral face he had on, she understood that he heard her entire outburst, or at least the final part of it.

Summer was mortified.

"Excuse me," she said as she averted her eyes and intended to make a dramatic exit, but instead, she ended up limping pathetically out of his grip and into the hallway.

"My foot was better before they applied whatever that was!" She mumbled to herself through gritted teeth. She was not someone who can be easily provoked, but when she lost it, it usually took her some time before she was able to calm down once more.

She felt Gabe beside her before she saw him with her peripheral vision, "…Take my arm, Sunny,"

She pretended that he was thin air.

"…I'll carry you if you don't,"

The thought of being carried out of the ER with that proximity to Valentine Hosek was unbearable, so, she took her brother's arm with an exasperated sigh.