Chapter 34 She Wouldn't Be Alive Today Without You
"Your hand's still messed up. You shouldn't be here takin' care of me," Katniss uttered.
Katniss shoved the blanket aside and tried to get outta bed without the wheelchair. She felt a bit dizzy, but as long as she didn't overdo it, she'd be fine soon.
She went ahead and set up the meal boxes, grabbing a chair for George too.
"My hand's cool; just needs some chill time. How 'bout you? Still feelin' woozy?" George plopped down and looked at her. "If you're not dizzy anymore, I'll go handle the discharge stuff. Got some biz in New York City tomorrow."
Katniss shook her head. "Nah, I'm good now."
She checked the time and realized she missed her flight back to Velvet City this afternoon. Tristan was probably already back.
Reading her mind, George said, "Your boss and his girl already bounced. My buddy saw 'em on the plane earlier."
Katniss pressed her lips together and nodded. "There's a midnight flight to New York City. I'll book the tickets."
George didn't argue and just dug into his food. By the time Katniss had booked their tickets, he was already done eating.
He put down his utensils and got up. "Once you're done, pack your stuff. I'll handle the discharge."
Katniss quickly finished her lunch and left the hospital with George. They grabbed a cab back to the hotel.
The presidential suite was empty. When she got to her room, her luggage was nowhere in sight.
After a moment, she opened the closet and found her suitcase neatly packed with all her stuff.
Did Tristan do this? So, he knew Bella was coming and packed her things ahead of time.
A sarcastic smile crept onto her face. She took a deep breath, grabbed her luggage, and went to meet George.
On the plane, she scrolled through the news on her phone, her thumb hovering over Tristan's Facebook page.
Their chat history was still stuck on the last work convo.
On a whim, she snapped a pic of the view outside the plane—blue skies, white clouds, and the vast airport. The scenery was dope.
She posted it on Facebook without a caption and then turned off her phone.
At Velvet City City Airport, Katniss, lugging both her and George's bags, spotted Matilda as soon as she got outta the gate.
Seeing her, Matilda waved excitedly and ran over. "Katniss, I knew you were back when I saw your Facebook post. I figured you'd land around this time, and I was just here to drop off a client!"
Every time Katniss left Velvet City for more than a day, she had to let Matilda know, in case Sophia needed to reach her.
Matilda's eyes landed on George's hand, and her smile faded a bit. "Mr. Russell, what are you doin' here? And your hand's messed up?"
"I was at a competition and had a little mishap, but it's no biggie." George shrugged, trying to play it cool.
Katniss thought for a sec and said, "You should chill at home for the next few days. I'll crash at Matilda's to help out."
Matilda quickly caught on that George's injury was probably 'cause of Katniss. Without a word, she grabbed the luggage from Katniss.
"Works for me. I got a ton to vent to Katniss about since I just started my new gig!" Matilda said.
George, knowing how Katniss rolls, didn't argue.
But instead of heading straight to Matilda's, Katniss asked her to drop George off first. She needed to swing by her place to grab some stuff.
The room had been empty for two days, still carrying a faint whiff of Tristan.
As she packed, she wondered if Bella knew about her and Tristan.
If Bella really knew, her reaction being just those warnings was kinda surprising.
Unable to figure it out, she decided to let it go. She tossed a couple of loungewear items and personal stuff into her bag and headed to Matilda's.
Her Facebook had two likes, one from George and one from Matilda, plus a few comments from old classmates saying how cool it was that she got to travel all the time.
Those classmates were all moms now, stuck at home with nowhere to go.
At a red light, she mulled over her classmates' comments for a few seconds.
If she could, she thought it would be nice to have a home and not be on the move all the time.
The day she would quit was probably coming soon.
She got to Matilda's just in time for dinner. Matilda was already in the kitchen.
"Let me help you." She dropped her stuff, rolled up her sleeves, and joined Matilda in the kitchen.
Matilda handed her some greens. "Same deal, you wash the veggies, I'll cook."
Katniss nodded, glancing outside. "Your roommates not around?"
Matilda explained, "They both went home. I told 'em you'd be staying for a few days, and they were cool with it."
Katniss nodded and helped Matilda prep dinner.
George showed up just as the food was ready and couldn't help but rave after taking a bite of Matilda's cooking.
"Your cooking's better than my mom's," he said.
Matilda laughed. "Then you should come over more often!"
They were about the same age, and since Matilda also loved gaming, they hit it off pretty quick.
After dinner, Katniss took on dish duty while Matilda downloaded George's game and got totally into it.
Matilda had work the next day, so George bounced around nine.
After washing up, Matilda and Katniss crashed in bed. Matilda hugged Katniss's arm and rested her head on her shoulder.
"Katniss, I think George is really awesome. You shouldn't let him slip away. You should break up with Tristan soon." After a long pause, Matilda added softly, "If Mom knew you were with Tristan because of her and missed out on George, she'd be heartbroken forever."
Katniss's long eyelashes fluttered slightly, but she didn't open her eyes. She said in a calm tone, "We'll break up eventually, but I don't get to decide when."
She added, "In this situation, all I can do is wait. I don't have the right to make decisions."
Even if it meant risking Bella finding out about her and Tristan, she had to keep earning money for Sophia's treatment.
Matilda lifted her head to look at her, eyes filled with pain and guilt. "Katniss, if you really can't hold on anymore, just tell the truth. I won't blame you, and Mom definitely won't either! She wouldn't be alive today without you."
Telling the truth would mean stopping Sophia's treatment, which could lead to her death at any moment.
Katniss's battered heart felt a bit warmer because of Matilda's pained yet helpless words. She smiled softly and patted Matilda's head. "It's late. Let's get some sleep. I can handle it."
She didn't feel much, just exhausted when she thought of Tristan.
Because of the change in environment, she had trouble falling asleep, while Matilda knocked out early.
The next morning, at Synergy Global Corporation, Tristan came out of the lounge, his face cold and handsome, the lines of his profile tense. He sat down at his desk.
Instinctively, he dialed the internal line to ask Katniss for coffee. After waiting for a long time without any coffee, he got up and walked out of his office.
Seeing the empty desk, he remembered that Katniss had taken leave.
She was taking care of George.
He frowned slightly, staring at the empty desk for a while before turning back.
Suddenly, the office door opened, and Bella walked in with a cup of coffee, smiling a bit sheepishly.
"I heard you calling Katniss for coffee, so I made you some. But I'm not very good at it, so it took a while." She placed the coffee next to Tristan and said expectantly, "Try it."
Tristan glanced at the coffee cup and then looked up at Bella. "Why are you here so early?"
"I'm here to help you." Bella leaned on the desk with both hands and thought for a moment. "Tristan, I think Katniss and her boyfriend are moving pretty fast."
She went on, "They'll probably tie the knot soon, and then they'll be dealing with kids. Her boyfriend might not be as loaded as you, but he's not bad either. He probably won't let her work anymore. You should think about training a new assistant ahead of time."
After saying that, she patted her chest and said, "Seriously, consider me. She's on leave these days, so I can start learning. What do you think?"
She looked intently, studying every subtle expression on Tristan's face.
Tristan's face took on a frosty look, and his eyes held a deep, hard-to-read emotion.
"Okay."
Bella didn't expect him to agree and was over the moon when she realized it. "You agreed? Awesome! Then just let me know if you need anything!"
Tristan watched her leave excitedly, then leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples, his face showing a complex expression.
Bella was super eager in her new role as a secretary, but since she had never worked before, she messed up a lot. By the end of the day, she had made a ton of mistakes.
When asked to print documents, she accidentally put them in the shredder.
When asked to schedule a lunch with a business partner, she got into an argument because of the partner's attitude.
She even forgot to remind Tristan about an important dinner meeting that evening.
By the time she remembered, there was only half an hour left before the meeting, and it was too late to get there.
"Tristan, it's just that I'm not familiar with this yet," Bella explained sheepishly, seeing Tristan's dark expression.
Michael walked into the office and saw Bella standing in front of Tristan with her head down, looking like she was feeling very self-critical for making a mistake.
He frowned and walked over, "What's going on?"
Bella tugged on Michael's sleeve and quietly explained the situation, looking innocent. "It's my first day, so it's inevitable that I'm a bit flustered."
Tristan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, one hand in his pocket, and looked back at her. "You're not a professional, so it's normal to not do well. Besides, you should be doing work related to your studies to make your years abroad worthwhile."
His words made sense; Bella had no reason to continue persisting.
Bella remained silent, her eyes slightly red as she looked at him. She suspected that Tristan had agreed to her in the morning because he knew she wouldn't be able to do these things well. It was as if he was waiting for her to mess up so that she would have no reason to continue being his secretary. She even doubted if Tristan knew exactly where she would go wrong but chose not to warn her.
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