The CEO 61
The CEO 61
“Sir Erwin, we would just like to know the condition of the last organ donor,” Shantelle
asked.
Warlington Hospital requested a meeting with the organ center. The organization’s assistant administrator,
Erwin, came to entertain their queries.
“What’s the use of asking this, Doctor Shant? “Doctor Park rolled her eyes. “We have
patients to attend to. What’s important is that the donor gave the organ, and the recipients got it happily.”
Doctor Park’s reaction no longer surprised Shantelle. After she removed Doctor Park from her surgery
team, she acted ill- tempered toward her. Shantelle quickly put her in her place, saying, “Watch your tone,
Doctor Park. I am still your superior.
Shantelle looked into the eyes of her co- doctors and described, “How many heart transplants do we
usually get in a year? One, two, at most, maybe three. But I had just performed a heart transplant with a
gap of six weeks. Moreover, there is a threat to my
“I am saying that there may be foul play in this,” Shantelle replied before turning back to Erwin. “For one,
each time my life is in danger, a heart is due to arrive at our hospital. Someone from the organ center is
also leaking this information.”
“There is no foul play regarding the donor’s death,” Erwin responded. “We have already done our
investigation. The last donor was a cerebral palsy patient who was technically brain-dead, but her other
organs were still healthy.”
“The families confirmed that someone approached them and asked if they could specifically name a
recipient for their daughter’s organs, but they refused. They did not think it was fair to the waitlist.
“Being advised of donating their daughter’s organs, however, hastened their decision to
leaking the potential donor’s list from our office, and that’s what we are currently looking into.”
At least Shantelle got some answers. It wasn’t as bad as she thought. Somewhat, she was afraid that
someone was killing donors on purpose to give way to one, Briana West.
***
After the meeting, Shantelle went straight to Evan’s room. He had been admitted to the
hospital for three weeks. He underwent an operation to cover some of his severe
Entering the room, she saw Evan’s attending physician, Doctor Carson. He studied Evan’s arms, saying,
“It’s healing better now. We made the right choice by
Noticing Shantelle’s sudden arrival, Doctor Carson probed, “Doctor Shant. Are you in the wrong room?”
Thompson, I mean.”
‘Oh.” Doctor Carson glanced at the smiling Evan and then back to the neutral-looking Doctor Shant and
asked, “Are you related?”
“Um. Well.” Shantelle cleared her throat and replied, “He is my friend.”
Evan, “You must be proud to have a famous surgeon for a friend. You should know, Mister Thompson,
some of our patients come here only to be treated by Doctor Shant.
my F-R-I-E-N-D.”
“Very well then, I shall leave you both to talk. “Doctor Carson said to Evan, “I’ll have a
“It’s okay, Doctor Carson, I can do it. I’m on break,” Shantelle offered.
After Doctor Carson left, Shantelle started cleaning Evan’s wounds. The entire time, her ex-husband was
grinning from ear to
ear. She raised a brow and asked, “What’s wrong with you? Keep smiling like that, and I would think you
have lost your mind.”
Evan laughed. He then revealed the reason for his amusement, “I’m happy, Shanty.”
“Why?” She asked. “You think your wounds are something to be happy about?”
resting his palm against his chest, and revealed, “I just went from being ah – an
וו
Hearing him, Shantelle held back the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she shook her head and grinned back.
She purposely pressed
“Ah -ah! Careful, careful, my dear friend. That precious arm protected you from the fire’s debris,” he
reminded.
Only then did Shantelle return to being gentle, meticulously wiping his wounds. A portion of Evan’s burn
got stuck to the
Her reaction made Evan ask, “Are you disgusted with me?”
Shantelle’s eyes widened. She looked at Evan and answered, “Disgusted? No! I was more
Evan’s wounds were not a good sight. The cuts were still evident, even if he underwent
surgery to cover his wounds. Other parts of his skin will have slight deformity and discoloration. Genuinely,
it broke Shantelle’s heart just looking at it. She said to Evan, “I’m sorry, Evan. So much for being one of
the most sought-after men in Rose Hills. These scars will reduce your appeal.”
“I’m happy to know my friend thinks I am appealing,” Evan gladly remarked, making Shantelle squint. That
wasn’t her point at
all.
She pressed his wounds again, and Evan hissed. “Careful, friend. Careful there.”
“Which part of your skin did they use to cover your arm?” Shantelle inquired. That was how skin grafting
work. Since the skin in Evan’s arms would not heal because of
the burns, they scraped off a portion of his skin from another part of his body.
Shantelle remarked.
“You know, Shanty, I’m starting to think you aren’t just my friend. Friends don’t
know how perfect my ass is, not even Wendell,” Evan said with a smirk.
“Haha! Let’s face it. We’ve seen each other’s asses,” Shantelle said before pressing his wound again,
making Evan jolt. “Don’t
“You were the one who brought it up,” Evan pointed out. After some time of being silent.
With Shantelle only cleaning his burns, Evan indicated, “I tell you one thing that friends sometimes do.”
Shantelle looked at his athletic face, and he suggested, “Friends have movie nights. They have friendly
dates, tell each other secrets, and play a game of truth or dare.”
“Truth or dare?” Evan sought again. “Come on, Shanty. Truth or dare.”
“I’ll go first, and I choose truth. Ask me anything you want,” he offered. He reached for Shantelle’s hand
and put it on his chest, saying, “Ask away. I won’t lie.”
Shantelle sighed. Then, she asked what had been bothering her for some time. “Tell me the truth. Do you
have any regret about
Evan was surprised by her query. He looked into Shantelle’s blue eyes and answered
firmly, “Shanty, I am proud of these wounds because I did it to save you. My body can heal, but my heart
can’t go on, should I ever lose you again. I said it before and will keep saying that until you understand.
No, I did not regret going into the fire and finding you. That’s how much I care for you.”
Shantelle felt the rhythm of his heart and sensed no changes. She did not realize it, but they stared at
each other in silence. When she realized this, she retreated her hand and smiled weakly, saying, “Thank
you, Evan. Thank you for everything; for saving me
twice, the house, and not hating me about keeping Lucas a secret.”
Yet again, dead air fell upon them, with Evan simply studying her reactions and how she
She gasped, questioning why she had taken part in the game in the first place. As she retreated her hand,
she replied, “Truth.”
asked.
The question utterly took Shantelle aback. Her mouth parted, but no words left her lips. Soon, she replied,
“Dare. I want dare,
instead.”
She saw how Evan was dismayed, but he quickly recovered, saying, “Okay. No
‘A friendly kiss?’ Shantelle froze in her seat. She looked at Evan for some time. Then she quietly picked up
the extra gauze and other apparatus she used to clean up his wounds.
“Shanty, I’m sorry. Please forget about it. I did not mean it. I’m sorry. I won’t ask again next time,” Evan
kept apologizing. He got off the bed, reaching for her arm.
Everything played in slow motion as she closed her eyes and pouted her lips. Evan’s heart fluttered when
her lips landed on his
cheek!
Fireworks erupted. Heck, he did not even know that one could see stars just by a mere
loved Shantelle so, that her every touch sparked happy tingles throughout his body.
For the rest of the day after Shantelle left, Evan was smiling like a fool. He attended a video meeting with
his executives and announced a special bonus for them. After his session, he enthusiastically called his
father, reporting his progress in Shantelle’s
heart. 1
Evan let out a heavy sigh and proudly announced, “Shanty kissed me on the cheek.
Hah!”
harder!”