Chapter 55: Away from the Hospital

For the first time since Diana’s transplant, Selen went home. It took a lot of convincing from JK, Sarah and even Clancy to get her to spend a night at home.

As each day went by, she began to look sick due to the stress and tiredness from trying to stay awake for as long as possible. "How could I bring myself to sleep at home when my baby girl is here?" She had said.

"What if she needs something? What if she needs me?" She asked them. "You are her mother and she will always need you. But we will try to do as much as we can to do whatever she might need" Clancy said.

She pouted her lower lips involuntarily and internally deliberated on it. "You do not even have to sleep. Just go home, freshen up in your bathroom and lay down on your own bed" Sarah said.

It was as if she could hear Selen’s thoughts. Selen surrendered, "fine, I will just wait for her to-" "No!" they all scolded.

"I could drop you off," Clancy offered. "You are too tired to drive and I also need to get a few items from my hotel, my driver is already waiting outside," he said.

"Hotel?" Selen wondered internally. She had barely spoken to him long enough to know about his living conditions.

And since he spent a very short amount of time going to pick up his change of clothes, she just assumed he lived around. She did not care enough to know if her assumptions were right or not.

She and Clancy walked out of the hospital together and he escorted them to his car, where his driver was waiting outside.

He opened the door for her and asked her for her address so he could place it in the car’s map. He shut her door before going to his side of the car. And that was when Selen had the chance to actually look at Clancy.

They had both been confined in the hospital for weeks and she had barely looked at him long enough to see that he equally had eye bags like she did.

She had not realised when the driver drove out of the hospital and that she had been staring at him the entire time. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

Selen immediately looked away and nodded her head, "yes, I am just cold" she said in a low tone. Clancy immediately ordered the driver to reduce the air conditioner for her.

She was not entirely telling a lie. But she had not realised how cold she was until he called her attention.

"Have you been staying at a hotel all these months since you came here?" She asked him, letting her curiosity get the best of her.

"Yeah, I have. But it is one of my hotels, so it’s not been a bother" he said to her. He would usually glance at her as he spoke and it made her look away whenever he did.

"So how do you always get your change of clothes so quickly?" She asked him. Clancy smiled a bit. This was the first time she was showing interest in something that concerned him.

"My assistant brings them. I just pick them up downstairs. That way, I don’t spend a lot of time away" he said truthfully.

Selen did not want to feel any kind of emotion toward him. But at that moment, there was a little time she felt his genuineness and she had a feeling of gratitude.

They were silent for the rest of the ride after that. "Take a left turn here," the car’s automated voice said, breaking the silence. The driver parked in her driveway and helped her open her door, while Clancy helped her with the bag she carried.

He was about to get back into his car and leave when Selen called out to him. "Clancy," she called. He turned around to face her.

"Would you like to get something to eat or drink before you go? I’m sure Sarah made the chef stock up the fridge with loads of foods" she said.

"I am not softening toward him. I’m just inviting him for breakfast," she said to herself as Clancy shut his car off and walked toward the entrance of the house.

He had not expected the invitation. But he was not going to decline as well. He took long strides and met up with her.

Selen led them to the kitchen where she immediately began to rummage through the stocked refrigerator for food for them. "Brocoli?" She asked him as she raised a container of steamed broccoli.

"Uh, no, thank you," he said. His response made her have a small smile on her lips as she remembered that the boys would usually say the same thing whenever she asked them. But unlike the boys, she could not make Clancy eat it against his will.

"Peas then?" She said in a tone that made it look like his answer mattered. Meanwhile, she was already plating their food and setting it in the microwave.

Clancy smiled at her and just waited quietly. They ate in silence, with only the sounds of cutlery hitting their plates echoing in the kitchen.

When they finished, Clancy insisted on doing the dishes, "you fed me, the least I could do is load the dishwasher and dry the plates" he said as he took her plate out of her hand and loaded the dishwasher.

"Thank you," she said to him. "You are welcome. It’s no trouble" he said. "No, I mean thank you. For everything. For helping Diana , and even helping me in the hospital" she said.

"Selen, you do not have to ever feel like you need to thank me. If at all, I owe you a thank you and apology. Thank you for giving me another chance to be involved in your lives and an apology for how I did it" he said.

"I just hope you do not only see it as me taking advantage of the situation, which I was, but also that I genuinely would do anything to be a part of your lives, Selen" he said to her.