NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52: Stay with Me, Katherine
With a sweet smile on her face, Katherine walked up to him and wanted to ask about the bill from the restaurant but her excitement upon seeing him made her forget what she wanted to ask.
Without saying anything, Damien opened the door for her before he cast a friendly look over her friends behind her.
…
Crown Resort Group
When they arrived back at the office, Katherine went into work mode right away. From time to time, she would pause and massage her temples to relieve the pain. She started to get dizzy but with so much work to do, she had to push through.
"Katherine."
A hand knocked on her desk to catch her attention and she flinched in surprise. Damien had been standing there and calling her name but she didn't even respond.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, President Park." She abruptly got up which caused her to sway. She grabbed onto the back of her chair for support and breathed deeply. "My head hurts."
Damien came to her side right away. He touched her forehead to check her temperature and was relieved that she didn't have a fever. "Come on, you need to take some medicine."
He helped her to his office and let her sit on the sofa while he retrieved a pouch from a cabinet in his office with different kinds of over-the-counter drugs inside.
Katherine chose a familiar brand of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug and took it with water.
"You should rest here for the meantime." Damien placed a square pillow at her back and made her lean.
"I have a lot to finish though… I can't stay idle for a long time."
He stroked her hair and nodded, "At least until the medicine takes effect. For now, take a rest."
Katherine badly needed to rest so she closed her eyes for a few minutes. Damien went back to his desk and continued with his work while he glanced at her from time to time to check if she was okay.
Katherine fell asleep but woke up thirty minutes later when she felt the need to pee.
"Where are you going? Rest for a few minutes more." Damien immediately said when he saw her get up from the sofa.
"I need to go to the loo." Katherine was about to walk out of his office when Damien stopped her.
"You're already here. Just use the one in the living room."
Katherine's eyes widened when she heard what he said. "You have one in your living room?"
She followed Damien to his place and saw him open a door that she had never noticed before. He gestured for her to go inside before heading towards his kitchen to grab a drink.
After relieving herself, Katherine washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She leaned closer to the mirror when she saw a small bump below her left eye. She touched it and thought that an insect must have bitten her without noticing.
When she stepped out, she saw Damien sitting on the sofa browsing through his tablet.
"Thanks for the medicine. I'll head back to my desk," she said as she walked towards him.
Without looking up, Damien reached his hand to the side to grab Katherine's and pulled her down to the sofa, making her sit next to him. "Rest a bit more. I can't have you fainting on my watch," he said with a low, cultured voice.
Katherine pouted but she did not argue. He wanted her to slack, then she shall slack.
She wanted to laugh at her thoughts and realized that being around Damien was unhealthy for her. Her heart had been unstable whenever he's around and even when he wasn't. And he's been taking care of her a lot lately, making her feel like she's too relaxed – as if she was the boss and he was the worker. 'Boss, please let me work,' she said in her thoughts, feeling guilty.
Katherine held her head in her hand and coolly swiped and tapped on her phone. Her headache was gone but there was a strange feeling in her throat and face that she couldn't recognize.
They were both quiet for a few minutes until Damien glanced at her and noticed her occasionally scratch her eyes.
"Don't scratch your eyes." He only had to gently tug her hand away and Katherine stopped before he shifted his focus back to his work on his tablet.
Katherine set her phone on the sofa and placed a hand on her neck. She tried to swallow and take a deep breath but something was definitely weird. It was as if her throat was swelling.
Unconsciously, she tapped Damien's arm, making him snap his head towards her. "What's wrong?" he asked when he noticed her uneasiness.
"I don't know…" She cleared her throat. "Something… something's off… I think…" she swallowed. "I think I'm having... trouble breathing."
Damien straightened up and pulled Katherine's chin towards him. In an instant, a shocked expression formed on his face when he saw the swelling under her left eye. "Your eye…"
He scanned her quickly as she continued to touch her throat. He realized what was happening when Katherine clutched on his hand saying, "Damien… I think my throat is closing up."
Damien dropped his tablet and immediately picked up Katherine in his arms without delay. "I'm taking you to the hospital." He hurriedly carried her out of his office and into the elevator in a flash. She closed her eyes and leaned into him as she tried to concentrate on her breathing.
"Katherine, stay awake. Don't sleep." Damien's voice was gruff when he placed her on the passenger's seat.
He did not waste time and as soon as he got inside the car, he sped off to the hospital.
"Can you hear me? Stay with me, Katherine…" Damien gripped the steering wheel and stepped on the gas, ignoring the traffic lights as he drove.
Katherine shifted on her seat to face Damien and tried her best to stay conscious. She didn't want to die yet.
As dangerous as it already was, Damien held her cold hand and squeezed it. "You'll be okay… We're almost there." Damien said, his heart beating erratically as he worried.
Katherine gasped for air as her breathing became labored — the swelling of her throat caused her to have trouble breathing.
Hillcrest Hospital
"I need help here!!!" Damien belted out as soon as he got inside the emergency room, carrying Katherine in his arms. She clutched onto his shirt when she felt even dizzier.
His loud roar caught the attention of the medical staff and they rushed towards him with a hospital stretcher.
"What happened to her?" asked one of the staff.
"I think she's having an allergic reaction," Damien responded right away.
Recalling the medicine that Katherine took earlier, he added, "She took ibuprofen."
They wheeled in Katherine towards a closed area and asked Damien to stay outside. "Sir, you need to stay here. We'll take care of her," the nurse said before she disappeared behind the door.
Damien felt like he had been hit by a thick plank of wood. His heart did not stop beating so fast as he was extremely worried about her condition. But there was nothing else that he could do except to wait.
Several minutes later, a doctor came out of the emergency room and walked up to him. "Are you Ms. Katherine Miller's guardian?"
"Yes, how is she?"
"She's stable now," said the doctor and Damien exhaled a sigh in relief.
"May I go see her?" he asked with a worried expression.
"Of course," the doctor nodded and ushered him inside the ward, "She's asleep but you can go and see her."
Damien swept the curtain aside and saw Katherine on the bed. He sat on the chair next to her, grabbed her hand and held it in his.
It was already evening yet Damien did not move as he continued to wait for Katherine to gain consciousness and couldn't help but feel guilty for what happened to her. He looked at her with a heavy gaze and spoke in a low and wistful voice, "I'm so sorry… it's all my fault."