Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Aria looked at the receptionist bewildered. It had been almost two days and the boy's family had not come to claim his body. How was that possible? The entire city had heard about the accident. It was one of the major headlines in all newspapers and all the news channels had been broadcasting it. There had been a havoc outside the hospital when a lot of reporters had rushed to gather the news. Even now there were a few of them lingering outside, waiting to grab any news of the injured victims.

Now when the entire city was talking about the accident, how was it possible that the boy's parents had not heard about it. Aria snapped from her thoughts. "Did you call the parents?"

"Yes, I called and informed them yesterday morning itself. But they have not yet visited the hospital."

"How about the school? Did they tell anything about the boy or his family?"

"I called the school too. They gave me the phone numbers that I already have. They too tried calling the boy's family after I spoke to them. Since then, their phones have been turned off. And now the school has also refused to take responsibility." The receptionist said with a dejected face. She and her colleague had been trying to call the school and the boy's family for a long time but in vain. After first, the school at least responded. But now, neither party was answering their phones.

"How can they do this? It was their school kid that died and that too when he was traveling on the school bus. They are as much responsible as the boy's parents. I know this was an accident. But they could at least help us contact the child's parents right?" Aria voiced her opinion, her voice laced with utter disbelief.

"Yes, Dr. West. This issue is giving me a headache and I don't know what to do." The lady sighed and bent her head in defeat. This matter had been bugging her and now it was giving her a headache. The hospital could take care of the body themselves if the boy did not have family or guardians. But now that the boy had a family, they could do nothing. If they took the matters into their hands and the boy's family later came to retrieve the body, then that would become another issue.

Aria could understand the receptionist's dilemma. Though on the outside it looked like that she had the easiest job, but only the people who were working there knew how tiring it was to do the job. They were responsible for the patients' files. They also had to see to it that none of the details got mixed up. Their work was as tough as the doctors'.

"Have you talked to the administration? What did they say?"

"I spoke to them. They have asked me to wait for another day and even then if nobody comes forward, then we are supposed to contact the police. They will look after it."

"Hmm. That sounds fair. Let me get back to work." Aria smiled at her went back to work. She pitied the young boy. First, he had died quite young, and second, nobody had come forward to claim his body. It was truly miserable. 

Within an hour, Aria had made a visit to all her patients and had checked them. Everyone looked stable and no new cases had come for her that day. So, she went to the children's ward. She could as well speak to them. However, when she was walking in the direction of the ward, she saw Mason walking towards her. It was the first time after the incident in London that she had come face to face with him.

Every time Mason would see Aria, he would run away from her. He knew he had messed up big time. Mason had no idea why he had behaved that way that day. Maybe it was the alcohol he had consumed. But due to his behavior, not only Aria, many other female doctors had distanced themselves from him. The news had spread like fire in the hospital. 

Now Mason did not even have a chance of flirting with other female staff, let alone Aria. His plan of wanting to have Aria had gone down the drain. But he had not given up on it, yet. He still dreamt of her and her enticing body under him and that was enough of keeping his hopes alive. He wanted to have a taste of her quite bad.

Aria saw the man she despised the most coming from the other side and gritted her teeth. His face alone made her furrow her eyebrows. He looked nothing less than a local thug in her eyes at that moment. Since the ward she wanted to go to was in the opposite, she had no choice but to walk in his way. Moreover, it was not her who was wrong. So, why should she hide?

As soon as Aria and Mason passed each other, Mason stopped her. "Aria.."

"I'd prefer Dr. West. We are at the hospital and I expect professionalism." She said sternly without looking at him.

"In that case, I can call you Aria outside the hospital. Right?"

"Dream on. We are never going to meet outside the hospital."

"Dr. West. I wanted to say something to you."

"I have no time for you right now. I have work to do." Aria started walking, but to her dismay, Mason ran to her front and stopped her.

"Please Aria, listen to me. I wanted to apologize to you for my behavior in London."

Aria glimpsed at him and turned straight ahead. "First of all Dr. Smith, I want you to call me Dr. West. And second, I won't accept your apology. Now if you will excuse me."

Before Aria could stop walking again, Mason held her hand. Her anger rose at once. This man was testing all her patience. She gave him a deathly glare, making him retract his hand immediately. She looked utterly terrifying when she glared, but she also looked beautiful. He was momentarily stunned looking at her.

"Dr. West, I sincerely want to apologize for my mistake. Why won't you forgive me?"

"Dr. Smith, I don't think whatever you did was a mistake. It looked like it was intentional." Mason wanted to argue right away. But Aria beat him to it. "Also, it was your wish to apologize to me and it is my wish to accept your apology."

Aria turned to face him, her eyes staring right at him. "And Dr. Smith, I am not going to forgive you. So, don't waste my time." With that Aria walked away, leaving Mason all alone.