Chapter 28 Miss You
The ICU was pretty roomy.
There was even a couch by the window.
Darwin was chilling on the couch, trying to wrap up some work he didn't finish earlier.
Outside, it was drizzling.
Anniston bounced shortly after.
Mira, being all considerate, stepped out too.
Now it was just Darwin and Hathaway in the room.
"Darwin, if you're bored, you can head out. I'm good," Hathaway said, trying to be nice.
"Nah, you just rest," Darwin replied, not even glancing up.
He wrapped up his work.
Out of nowhere, he opened his chat with Fiona.
Usually, if she wasn't around, she'd always check in during every flight, at takeoff and landing, but not this time.
Darwin felt a bit off.
He then opened Fiona's Instagram.
And there was this fluffy kitten.
Darwin had never seen it before.
When did she get a cat?
He kept scrolling.
The latest post was from three hours ago.
It was in Newport, on some random street, with a cat rolling in a pile of leaves.
The caption read: [Happy little cat.]
Everyone from the office had commented below.
Darwin skimmed through the comments and liked the post.
He exited and kept scrolling.
Fiona didn't post much.
The next one was from three months ago.
It was a small cake.
The caption read: [Another year older.]
Darwin frowned.
He vaguely remembered Fiona's birthday was in August.
But he couldn't recall the exact day.
Every year, he'd just write her a check and let her buy whatever she wanted.
Maybe it was because the cake looked too small, too plain, Darwin felt a bit annoyed.
The next post was from late April.
There were nine pictures, including a gray sky, a convenience store, stone steps, a big bunch of roses, a small alley, a small bench, hands clasped together, and an old photo. The last two pics were the clasped hands, probably hers and her grandma's.
In the old photo, there were two elderly people, a woman who looked kinda like Fiona, and a girl with a super cute smile, wearing a floral dress and two pigtails.
This had to be a family photo.
The caption read: [Miss you.]
Darwin frowned.
Around this time of year, Fiona should've gone home to be with her grandma.
Was she bummed because she had to leave her grandma and come back to Bay City?
Darwin opened the comments.
Surprisingly, for every one of Fiona's posts, the office staff would leave comments and likes.
But for this one, no one did.
Just as he was piecing things together, Hathaway suddenly hummed.
Darwin looked up.
He saw Hathaway had already gotten up from the hospital bed.
"What's up?" Darwin put away his phone.
He frowned, got up, and walked over.
"Nothing, I'm just a bit thirsty and wanted some water," Hathaway said, looking a bit flustered.
"Lie down, I'll get it." Darwin walked to the water dispenser, poured a cup of water, and brought it back to Hathaway.
Hathaway stood by the bed, not lying back down.
Taking the water, she hesitated for a moment. "Darwin, can we talk about Ms. Woods?"
Darwin's brow furrowed instinctively.
Hathaway quickly added, "I mean no harm!"
"What do you wanna talk about?" Darwin asked, his tone and expression not exactly warm.
"That day when she got hurt, I saw you were really worried about her, and you seemed restless afterward," Hathaway said with a helpless smile, not looking too bothered.
"She's really important to me," Darwin said bluntly. "Miss Ross, I won't stop you from dating other guys in the future, so..."
"So even if we get hitched, you don't plan to cut ties with her?" Hathaway cut in.
Darwin nodded.
Hathaway looked understanding. "At least you're honest."
Darwin stayed silent.
"Alright then." Hathaway nodded. "It's good to clear things up early. I don't wanna be tied down by marriage either. In front of our parents and the media, we'll still have to act like a loving couple. Cool?"
"Cool." Darwin agreed.
"The engagement should be set up ASAP. The sooner it's done, the sooner we're free."
"Okay."
Hathaway took a sip of water and lay back down.
Darwin felt a lot better.
Having cleared things up with Hathaway, he thought things would be smoother moving forward.
He sat back on the couch, eagerly messaging Fiona.
Darwin: [Come back as soon as you're done.]
It was almost 1 a.m. by now.
Darwin didn't expect Fiona to reply right away.
He reopened her posts and then saw nothing.
Darwin was shocked.
It all started with his like.
The executive office staff, taking advantage of Darwin's absence from the company recently, had indulged themselves.
They were all at a bar until midnight.
While they were having fun, one of them checked their phone and saw a notification.
When she saw that Darwin had liked Fiona's post, she sobered up instantly.
Then, she called Fiona.
Fiona was already asleep.
She answered.
Before she could speak, she heard a panicked voice on the line. "Fiona, Mr. Solomon liked your post! You didn't block him?"
Fiona woke up too.
She hung up, sat up, and reset her privacy settings.
Moments later, she saw Darwin's message, asking when she would return.
Fiona opened her Instagram.
She clicked on the post with the nine pictures.
It was late at night.
Some deeply hidden emotions could no longer be contained, growing wildly in the darkness, fueled by memories.
That day was her grandmother's cremation.
The immense helplessness and fear of the future almost swallowed Fiona whole.
She felt like a drowning person, desperately wanting to grasp something.
So, she posted a post visible only to Darwin.
This was the only time in five years by his side that she overstepped her bounds.
She waited a day and a night until her grandmother was buried.
Fortunately, she received nothing.
From then on, she had no more illusions.
She never expected after more than half a year, Darwin would scroll through her Instagram late at night.
He must have seen that post too.
Unfortunately, he would never know the "miss you" in the caption was meant for him.
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