The Chairman's First Love

Chapter 3: Falling Apart

It was early August that year when she got involved in a hit and run accident. That time, Chloe was six months pregnant with the child of Aaron Zender, her ex-boyfriend who dumped her heartlessly and disappeared from her life completely without a trace.

She was on her way to her part-time job that day and was about to cross the road when suddenly a black car ran into her at high speed. Chloe's body flung through the air and landed on the road about four meters away. The car that hit her just drove off leaving the scene as if nothing happened.

The only thing that she remembered vividly during that time was that she was going to die. She really thought her life was over when she was lying on the road with her blood puddling on it and feeling intense pain all over her body. She felt as if her body was being split apart in half.

She went blank in mere minutes and when she woke up, she was inside the hospital already. A male doctor was standing beside her, looking through some medical reports and checking the oxygen machine beside her. He was Patrick Harisson and during that time, he was a resident inside the Metro City General Hospital.

"I'm sorry, we couldn't save your baby," he said softly with a serious gaze when he realized Chloe had gained consciousness.

Chloe looked at her body and could feel that her womb had shrunk. Her baby was gone. No more baby bump on her body. She burst out crying in an instant. Patrick got uncomfortable seeing her that way and was hesitated to ask the next question. Only when she was calming down again did he continue to question her.

"Ma'am, are you married? Who's the father of the child? Can you call him over?"

Chloe just shook her head. Her eyes were still reddened.

"Which one is no? You're married or to call the father over?" Patrick was confused.

"I'm not married and the father of my baby didn't know about it. He's gone."

"He died?" Patrick suddenly felt a surge of sympathy for her.

"No. He just left and I can't reach him anymore," Chloe explained and Patrick turned silent.

"How old are you?" Patrick asked again after a while.

"Twenty," Chloe replied shortly.

'She's so young. How come she had to go through this kind of thing when she was still so young?' Patrick pondered.

"Do you have any other kin?" Yet, he still needed to continue his duty of questioning the patient's contact details.

"Just my grandpa. But he's old and I don't think he would be able to come here."

Patrick sighed at that information. 'Looks like she was all alone,' he thought.

"Doctor, I don't have money to pay for my hospital bills. Can you release me today? I'll pay the bills by instalment later. I need to start working again if I am to pay that bills," Chloe grabbed Patrick's arm and pleaded him to allow her to go home.

"Miss, I can't do that. You had just been admitted to this hospital yesterday. You just passed your critical condition last night. We still need to observe your condition, Miss. You might have other complications so it's really crucial for us to put you under observation. Besides, can you even move your body? I don't think you'll be able to stand at all."

At the mention of that, Chloe quickly tried to raise from the bed and be on her feet again but she was too weak to do that and she felt intense pain in her abdomen as well. She hastily put her palm on her stomach as if trying to reduce the pain.

"Miss, you had just undergone a cesarean surgery last night to remove your dead baby. You need to be here at least a week before we could release you. Plus, you also got involved in a car accident and you had a few broken ribs. Your ankles were also might not be in a good condition. Right now, you can only move using a wheelchair until your ribs recover."

"But... how can I pay all my hospital bills... I don't have much money left inside my account," Chloe started sobbing again.

"Do you have any insurance?" Patrick asked and the woman only shook her head weakly. He sighed heavily while looking at her in sympathy.

***

The shower was turned off and Chloe's mind came back to reality. Five years had passed, yet those memories she had with Patrick back then was still vivid inside her mind.

She came out of the bathroom and dried her hair. Then she got ready to go out. An hour later, Patrick called again to ask her to come down because he was waiting for her in front of her apartment building. She got into his black Mercedes-Benz and he drove off immediately leaving the area. He brought her to a fine dining restaurant in Metro City.

"So, how's your interview?" Patrick asked while they were ordering the food.

Chloe told her order to the waiter standing near their table before she answered the doctor. The waiter left after getting her order.

"I'd told you before. It was fine. Nothing unusual. I'm the last candidate so they were kind of fast forward my interview and skipped a lot of questions. I... don't really think I can make it to be shortlisted," Chloe replied.

"Hmm... just marry me then. You can just stay at home. I'll work for you," Patrick joshed at her, although he actually really meant what he said.

"Stop joking around. You're engaged now," Chloe chuckled, didn't take his word seriously.

"I'm serious. If you marry me, I'll just let you stay at home and do whatever you want. You don't need to find money. I'll provide everything for you," Patrick continued. His face was giving her a ravishing smile.

"Patrick..." Chloe pretended to reprimand him. The doctor chuckled immediately.

"If you found it uncomfortable after we got married, I can bear with that as well. You can just live on the third floor like you used to be before," he gave her a wink.

'Third floor,' Chloe's mind wandered to the past again at the mention of those words.

After she was released from the hospital five years ago, she was struggling to pay the hospital bills because she had stayed there for almost a month. Because of that, she ended up losing her part-time job. She called some friends to borrow some money but none of them helped her. To them, she was just a dirty woman who had to stop college because she was pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child. Worst, Aaron Zender never came back to her.

Just when she thought about giving up and tried to work as a cleaner inside the hospital to cover her hospital bills, a staff from the hospital called her and told her that all her bills had been settled and she didn't need to pay the instalment anymore.

She felt like God was sending a saviour to her that day. Thus, she asked who was that kind human who paid all her hospital bills. It was Dr Patrick Harisson. She didn't know why he wanted to help her, but she was so shy to meet him again. Therefore, she just told the staff to tell him that she said thank you.

After being saved unexpectedly by Patrick, she was determined to start over again. Having left with a little money inside her purse and zero balance in her bank account, Chloe returned to her hometown to live with her grandfather. He was just making enough living selling vegetables to the locals at the village.

However, as if bad omens were following her around, her grandfather died just after a few days she returned to him. The locals inside the village helped her with the funeral, yet that was not the most shocking thing she received. After the funeral, she found out that her grandfather had actually sold his house and he was just a renter. The landlord lady came to inform her to move away in a week.

Chloe was devastated. She had used almost all her grandfather's money for the funeral and she too hadn't had much left. Now, she was left homeless with nowhere else to go. She could work, but where should she live? Under a bridge? Inside a tent? Or should she just sleep in the street and become a beggar instead?

Her life fell apart piece by piece after Aaron left her. She suddenly had an intense resentment towards that guy. If only she was not pregnant with his child, she wouldn't have to postpone her study to work in order to save money for the baby. Now, the baby was gone. Her grandfather had died. She was left with nothing and it was quite clear now that she probably wouldn't be able to continue her study again. Her life was ruined because she met Aaron Zender, the irresponsible bast*rd who made her pregnant.