This Crazy Rich Boy - Chapter 101

The doctor is a picture of sheer horror as he glares at Claire’s hand holding Gabriel’s. “You don’t know what you’re doing. His condition could worsen. He’s not over the critical phase, yet.” He looks around. “Where are the nurses?”

“I asked them a favor, Doc,” Miguel jumps in. “She must see him. Or else this entire hospital would be shuttered.”

“What?” The doctor’s eyes ping-pong from Claire to Miguel to Claire, unsure of how to take what the man just said. “What do you mean? Who is she, anyway? And what does my hospital have to do with your recklessness?”

“You may not yet know it, but we own this hospital,” Miguel says, his face serious. “And if something bad happens to Gabriel and he doesn’t get a chance to be with her, even for a few minutes, then we will be very upset. That’s why I had to send the nurses away, just to give them some privacy. Only for a few minutes.”

“But you don’t understand—”

–“I understand perfectly well, Doc. Don’t worry. We had precautions. I’m sure my brother is going to be fine.” He turns to Claire. “Have you told him what needed to be said?”

Claire quietly nods.

“Let’s go,” he says. He takes Claire gently by an arm, leading her out of the room. “See you later, Doc.”

The doctor’s mouth stays open. He looks at Gabriel on the bed, he gazes at the clock, then he runs outside, calling out for the nurses.

Outside, in the waiting area, which would have been relaxing as the glass wall offers a view of the hospital’s garden, Miguel seats her down. Claire seems calmer now, although her eyes are still swollen.

“How are you?” he says.

“He almost woke up,” she says. “He stirred.”

Miguel sighs. “He’ll be fine.”

“Are you really one of the owners of this hospital?” she says.

Miguel laughs. “Not really. But I have connections, you know. I mean, Gabriel and I have connections. So…”

She says nothing. She looks like she could use some rest. Miguel gazes at her, noting how the light defines the contours of her face. How he loves looking at that face. If only she knew.

“How about you and I get some rest? We’ve been here hours. Gabriel isn’t going anywhere.”

“Go ahead,” she says. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just stay here.”

“Claire,” he says. “Gabriel wouldn’t like it if he’d later learn how you spent long hours here being stressed out. You could get sick, too. This isn’t good. And besides, Gabriel already has a battalion of deeply invested nurses guarding him.”

“I don’t care,” she says. “I want him to see me the moment he wakes up. I want to hear his voice. I want to be there when he opens his eyes.”

This woman is really serious, Miguel thinks as he gazes at her. Has Gabriel put her under some love spell?

“Leave me,” she says.

“Are you staying here for the whole night?”

She nods.

“Are you serious, Claire? You can’t lie down here. Your clothes are too dressy for comfort. I’m also not too sure about the mosquito situation. This might be torture.”

“I don’t care.”

She’s nuts, he thinks. “Did you know they turn off the lights in this hallway at night? It’s going to be dark. You’d be all alone here. There might be, you know, ghosts…”

“Ha ha. Try harder than that. I’m not a child you can scare away with ghost stories, Miguel.”

“Well, at least that made you smile a little.”

She stops smiling and throws him a look. “I’m not leaving. I’ll stay here. I’ll wait for Gab to wake up.”

“Okay,” he says. “Then I’m not leaving, too.”

“What? You should go.”

“Why should I? This is my brother we’re talking about. I should be here more than you.”

“Half a minute ago you were so keen on leaving.”

Miguel grins. “Hah! I was just testing you.” He plants himself in the seat right beside her. This girl is so stubborn, he realizes. He doesn’t have the heart to leave her here. Who knows what might happen? The hospital staff might say things that cause her to panic even more. He wants to be here to protect her, or at least manage her expectations.

And because he couldn’t leave, anyway, Miguel busies himself with attending to her needs. He’d make a few trips to the vending machine down the hallway, or at the Starbucks on the ground floor. As day turns to night, he calls up a restaurant he knows and orders food. They share a tray full of ȧssorted sushi and a pitcher of warm tea, which came with an actual waiter who stood by as they ate. It’s the least Miguel could do to cheer her up, and somehow, it works; for a moment, Claire is laughing at his jokes, even at the corny ones.

Much later, a different doctor arrives and speaks to them. “I have better news about our dear patient,” he says. “His fever seems to have subsided, and although he’s still asleep, I’m confident he will wake up tomorrow morning.”

“What time would it be?” Claire says.

The doctor laughs. “Sorry, that we cannot know for certain. It would be all up to him.”

“So you mean my brother is out of the woods?” Miguel says. “No danger that this could suddenly turn to something worse?”

Claire shoots him a look.

The doctor shrugs. “I surely hope so. All indications point to his full recovery.” He smiles. “I’ll let you know when the patient wakes up.”

“Gabriel is waking up,” Claire says after the doctor left. She smiles.

“Then we can go now. Let’s get you some good old-fashioned beauty rest.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would we go? He could wake up any time now. He’d look for us.”

He’d only look for you, Miguel thinks. “Why don’t we come back tomorrow morning after he’s completely woken up? You can’t stay all night long here.”

Claire sighs. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not leaving this place without him?”

“All right,” he says. He glances at his wristwatch. “It shouldn’t take long. Don’t worry, I’ll wait with you.”

They sit and wait. The hours tick by. Their conversation soon tapers into silence. By the wee hours of the morning, Claire is nodding off, trying to fight off the encroaching sleep. Yet, she soldiers on.

“I just feel dizzy,” she mutters. “Like the room is spinning.”

“It’s because you’re not used to this, sitting through the night and not sleeping,” he says. He starts telling her about how he suffers from insomnia, that this situation is normal for him, and how, in an old hotel in Switzerland, he would spend nights in the balcony, watching the night sky. Miguel has been talking for minutes before he realizes Claire has fallen asleep on his shoulder. Then he stops talking. He feels the shape of her head, the scent of her hair, on his shoulder. Carefully, he rearranges her to have a more comfortable angle. He removes his jacket and uses it to cover her body snugly. He gazes at her face. He remembers those nights he spent in Switzerland gazing at the heavens; because this feels like the same thing. He feels like he’s gazing at heaven, so beautiful and so heartbreakingly unattainable.