Chapter 47: wingman

The hospital was quieter that afternoon.

Emily sat beside her mother’s bed, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest.

For once, she wasn’t staring at a bill notification .

The payment Adrian had sent had already been processed, and the treatment could continue without another interruption.

It wasn’t a permanent solution.

She knew that.

But for now, her mother was getting what she needed.

Emily leaned back in her chair and released a slow breath.

Her phone buzzed.

She looked down.

Adrian:You free later?

Emily stared at the message.

She already knew what he wanted.

She typed.

Emily:need anything?

The reply came almost immediately.

Adrian:You owe me lunch.

Emily rolled her eyes.

Of course.

She looked at her mother.

Then back at her phone.

Emily:Fine.

An hour later, Emily stepped outside the hospital.

A black BMW was parked near the entrance.

Adrian stood beside it, checking his phone.

When he noticed her, he put it away.

"You came."

"You said I owed you lunch."

"Don’t you?."

Emily walked past him.

"let’s get this over with."

Adrian smiled.

"You make it sound like a court sentence."

"Until you hear an actual court sentence ."

He followed her.

"Still dramatic."

"You’re the one who made the ridiculous arrangement."

"And you’re the one who accepted it."

Emily looked at him.

"There’s no need to remind me."

They got into the car.

For the first few minutes, neither said much.

Emily looked out the window.

She wasn’t nervous.

She wasn’t attracted to him.

She wasn’t secretly reconsidering anything.

Adrian was still Adrian.

Someone she’d known for a while.

Someone she genuinely liked as a friend.

Nothing more.

The problem was that Adrian clearly wanted it to be more.

That was what made everything complicated.

They eventually stopped at a restaurant.

Nothing overly fancy.

Just quiet as if specifically arranged for two.

Adrian sat across from her.

"So."

"So?"

"How’s your mom?"

Emily’s expression softened slightly.

"She’s stable."

"That’s good."

"Yeah."

A brief silence followed.

"Thank you," Emily said.

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"The money."

"You already thanked me."

"I know."

"Then why again?"

"Because It really went a long e."

Adrian nodded.

"You’re welcome."

Emily picked up her drink.

For a while, they talked about normal things.

University.

People they knew.

Some lecturer they both found annoying.

Adrian even brought up something stupid that had happened during one of their earlier classes.

Emily laughed.

"You still remember that?"

"Of course."

"You remembered the wrong part."

"I remember the important part."

"There was nothing important about it."

"There was to me."

Emily shook her head, smiling.

For a moment, it felt normal.

Just two friends having lunch.

Then Adrian looked at her.

"You know, this isn’t so bad."

Emily frowned.

"What?"

"Us hanging out."

She immediately understood.

"Don’t."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

Adrian smiled.

Emily sighed.

"I only agreed to this cause I didn’t want to feel like a burden to Damian."

"I know."

"Good."

He leaned back.

"I still want you around, though."

"As a friend?"

Adrian paused.

"Let’s start there."

Emily narrowed her eyes.

"You’re beginning to sound annoying."

"You’ve said that before."

"And yet you’re still here."

"A habit probably ."

She shook her head.

Despite herself, she smiled.

Adrian noticed.

He didn’t push any further.

Later that evening, Damian was packing his laptop into his bag when Claire appeared beside his desk.

"You busy?"

Damian looked up.

"Depends."

"Come hang out."

"With who?"

"Me and probably a few others."

Damian thought for a second.

"Yeah, sure."

Claire smiled.

"Good."

"I just need to round up a thing or two first."

"How long?"

"Shouldn’t take long."

"Just don’t be late."

She walked away.

Damian watched her leave before closing his laptop.

Ethan appeared a few seconds later.

"What are you doing?"

"Claire invited me to hang out."

Ethan nodded.

"Okay. Cool."

Damian grabbed his phone.

"I’ll just check on Emily first, then I’ll head over."

Ethan stopped.

His expression changed.

"Uh..."

Damian looked at him.

"What?"

"Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"Go check on Emily."

Damian frowned.

"Why?"

Ethan suddenly realized he needed a good excuse.

Fast.

"Because..."

He looked around.

"Because she’s probably fine."

Damian stared at him.

"I know she’s probably fine."

"Exactly."

"That doesn’t mean I can’t check on her."

Ethan sighed.

"Bro, just leave it."

Damian raised an eyebrow.

"You’re acting weird."

"I’m not acting weird."

"You’re definitely acting weird."

Ethan rubbed his face.

He couldn’t tell Damian.

Not after promising Emily.

And definitely not when he still didn’t know exactly how much of the situation Emily wanted kept private.

"Look," Ethan said. "I’ll check on her."

Damian blinked.

"You?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I’m your wingman."

Damian stared at him.

"My what?"

"Your wingman."

"I didn’t ask you to be my wingman."

"You don’t have to. That’s what bestfriends are for."

Damian shook his head.

"Ethan..."

"I’ll check on her, okay?"

Damian hesitated.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

Ethan slapped Damian lightly on the shoulder.

"Go."

Damian laughed.

"You’re weird."

"Yeah, yeah."

Ethan watched him leave.

Then muttered to himself.

"Now I just have to figure out how to check on her without looking like I’m checking on her."

He sighed.

"Easy."

It wasn’t.

By the time Ethan reached Emily’s place, the sun was already starting to drop.

He walked up to the door and knocked.

Once.

Nothing.

He knocked again.

Still nothing.

"Emily?"

No answer.

He waited.

Then knocked a third time.

Nothing.

Ethan looked at his phone.

Maybe she was still at the hospital.

He turned around.

"Guess she’s not home."

He started walking toward the street.

Then he heard an engine.

Ethan stopped.

The sound grew louder.

He turned.

A sleek sports car came around the corner and slowed near the house.

Ethan’s eyebrows rose.

"Damn."

The car pulled up.

He recognized it almost immediately.

A BMW i8 Competition.

Ethan stared for a second.

"Okay..."

The car looked expensive.

Very expensive.

He couldn’t help being impressed.

"Bro..."

Then the passenger door opened.

Emily stepped out.

Ethan’s expression changed.

"Emily?"

She shut the door and adjusted her bag.

She looked tired.

Not happy.

Not excited.

Just uncomfortable.

Ethan’s eyes moved toward the driver’s seat.

The window lowered.

Adrian.

His eyebrows shot up.

"Oh."

Adrian glanced at Ethan.

Their eyes met for a second.

He said nothing.

The car immediately started moving.

Ethan took a step forward.

"Wait—"

The BMW reversed slightly, turned, and sped away down the street.

Ethan stood there watching it disappear.

His mind was racing.

Why was Adrian driving her?

Why had Emily looked like that?

And why hadn’t she mentioned anything to him or Damian ?

He turned back toward her.

Emily was standing a few feet away.

She looked just as surprised to see him.

"Ethan?"

He stared at her.

"Emily..."

She swallowed.

Neither of them said anything for a moment.

Ethan took a slow step forward.

"What was that?"

Emily looked toward the road Adrian had disappeared down.

Then back at Ethan.

Her expression tightened.

And Ethan knew immediately.

Something was wrong.