Ethan didn’t say anything, but his questioning glare spoke volumes on what he was thinking.

Krystal gulped. They might all have fathers of equal ranking in the social hierarchy, but even the Mega youngsters knew there were some of them they could not afford to disrespect.

Especially Ethan, who had been deemed crazy from childhood. None of them could understand why previously, but after having one or two coincidental encounters with him in their estate, they knew their parents might not be far from wrong.

"I said you are partly at fault for what happened her. As I can see, this was actually because of something Kera ate. But it’s not entirely because of that..."

Ethan sighed out loud, frustrated at the way Krystal was going round and round with her words. Were all doctors this talkative?

"You do realize you have only been repeating a sentence for the past 2 minutes?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry about that. I wanted to say that this was also because it has been a while that she came for her check-up, which is your fault," Krystal explained hurriedly, itching to get out of the room already.

"You mean if she came for check up at the expected time, this would not have happened?"

"Correct, but Shikera is used to it so she would not bother. Don’t think about it too much."

Krystal started to walk towards the door when Ethan stopped her.

"What happened to her? I’m sure she was not breathing...and I only brought her here because I didn’t want to believe it. What did you do to her?" he asked, trying to get more information on what he should do if a situation like this ever arose. As much as he knew his heart couldn’t bear an occurrence like this again, he would kill himself if it actually happened and he was not prepared for it.

Krystal shrugged, smiling gently.

"She was breathing...just the Shikera’s way of breathing. You do know her body composition is different from normal people’s, right?"

"And so?"

"Uh...you can’t understand since you are not a doctor but simply put, just be more careful with her meals and let her come for check up more frequently."

"And why can’t I understand because I am not a doctor? Teach me, Doctor Alexander. How to conduct my own personal checkup for her, and everything else you can do for her in this hospital? Teach me as many things that I can do without a medical license," Ethan requested, his tone demanding instead of pleading.

"I can’t," Krystal answered immediately, as if she had predicted that he would ask.

She added,"I am so busy that I don’t think I can take another intern, much less an highly demanding and inexperienced one like you. But Leonard can though? If you want."

She smiled when she was done talking, knowing that she has just paved a path for her brother to walk. Leonard might have lesser chances than Ethan in getting Shikera’s heart, but she wanted to give her only friend and first patient the opportunity to choose between two great men. She did not want Shikera to feel like she had no choice but to accept Ethan.

But she was making a mistake if she thought Ethan would agree so easily.

"And why should I agree to let him teach me?" he asked.

"Probably because you signed a contract with Chairman Anderson in which his beloved daughter must not die at least until he comes back. Or...because you love her and want to do everything in your power to help her? What do you think?"

"I think that you must really want me to show you why I don’t lose negotiations," Ethan replied her, a creepy smirk tugging at the ends of his lips.

Krystal’s eyes widened when she heard that, but she was quick to regain her composure. Of course, she was the boss here so Ethan was not allowed to control her. After all, Shikera’s life was still temporarily in her hands.

"Are you that insecure, Mr DeLoach? I thought Shikera would look at no one else even if she was surrounded by 20 men but who knew that she secretly admires my brother? Is that your reason for not agreeing to let my brother teach you?" she pressed him, not letting him answer one question before throwing another. She knew Ethan was a man of few words so he wouldn’t necessarily want to answer all of them at once.

And she was right, for Ethan simply answered,"No, I am not insecure. It’s just..."

"That’s great then," Krystal cut him off. "I will tell Leonard to get ready in advance. Call me when you want to start!"

She ran out of the door while murmuring loudly about how she had a patient already waiting for her.

As soon as the door slammed shut after Krystal, Ethan stood up from the chair he had been sitting beside the bed. Gently, he placed Shikera’s hand that he had been holding, inside the sheets and adjusted it until it covered her up to her chest, before walking out of the room.

Raymond, Ruthlyn, Enoch and Cyprian were waiting outside impatiently, even though they already knew Shikera was alright now. Immediately the door open and Ethan walked out, they leaped to their feet and crowded around him.

"Is she alright?"

"What did Doctor Alexander say?"

"What caused her sudden collapse?"

"What do I have to do?"

Of all four questions, Ethan answered only one, the last question which was asked by Raymond.

"Accelerate the plan," he answered, and everyone in the room stared at Raymond in confusion.

Though they all knew he was closer to Ethan in terms of his shady activities, they still didn’t know that the two had been planning things behind their backs.

Cyprian left the small group and walked towards Shikera on the bed, a sad smile on her face.

"She looks so beautiful while sleeping. How I wish the woman that looked like her mother is really her mother, then Kera will have all the love she is supposed to have, and be freed from this pain as early as possible," she whispered, though loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

All of them except Ethan didn’t understand Cyprian words, and he only did because he had heard Shikera’s audio recording from the previous day.