Chapter 2: A visit to the hospital
"La casa de Vidal," Jason said to the chauffeur whilst glancing at the golden wristwatch he wore.
"Okey," He nodded, before wounding up the windows, and switched on the air-conditioning in the car.
Jason relaxed into the seat and emitted a sigh.
The ride from the airport to the hospital was taking too long. Or perhaps, because it had been long since he last visited El Escorial.
His hometown still looked the same, but he noticed some small stores close to the road leading to the Vidal's Villa.
He was jet-lagged and he desired to rest in the comfort of his penthouse an hour from here before exploring the city. But he needed to visit his grandfather who had taken ill, and he was also the reason he was here.
Jason winced whilst kneading the flesh at the back of his neck as he alighted the car a few minutes later.
He strode into the clinic, and his nose crinkled as the scent of antiseptics wafted into his nostrils.
A petite woman in a nurse outfit approached him. Her coffee coloured eyes ogled him and Jason lifted a brow whilst she observed him.
She widened her eyes and her jaw slackened as recognition dawned on her. "Jason Vidal?"
Jason glanced at the starstruck nurse with her mouth opened. He rolled his eyes inwardly and envisaged what would happen next.
"Jason Vidal! Oh my goodness. It's you!" The nurse whose name on her tag reads Carol squealed.
He knew that was what would ensue. It always happened since he was quite famous and wherever he went, he would surely meet a fangirl.
His lips quirked into one of his infamous smirks and the nurse swooned.
"Oh, dear!" Jason caught her before she could slam her pretty face on the floor.
She clutched at his hands tightly as if he might disappear from her sight the next moment and her eyes gazed at him with admirations.
Jason allowed her to stand on her feet with his hands still gripping her. He clutched her because she might feign slumping again since girls do that a lot when it comes to him.
Most girls he had encountered except for Ximena Claros.
It appears he irritated her more as she never cared if he was affluent or not. She never hid whatever she was feeling which made her even sexier.
Still, he wished she wouldn't stop denying the attraction that was glaring obvious between them.
Footstep echoed in the hall and the wide-eyed nurse straightened when her gaze latched on the doctor.
A blush grazed her ruddy cheeks and her eyes travelled to the floor.
"Welcome, Jason." The doctor acknowledged, nodding towards him.
His hazel orbs drifted to the woman in the white lab coat, despite what she wore, it did little to cover her curvaceous body. His lips curved up in a smile as he surveyed her.
"Emily." He murmured, stepping towards her.
Emily glared at the nurse who scurried away, then gaze back at him with those lovely glassy blue orbs he adores.
It had been quite an age since he last saw her, and the years had been good to her since she filled up in the right places. She was also an inch taller or maybe it was because of the stiletto she donned. Yet, he was still taller than her.
She stretched out a hand to him for a handshake but he went in for a hug.
"I'm surprised you only want to shake my hands." He tucked a stray dark lock behind her ears.
"Whereas I want to jump and squeal like a fangirl. I mean, it's been a long time since we last saw each other and you look so good." He let his eyes wander away from her face, to her body, then back to her face.
Emily chuckled as she gazed at his serious expression.
"I miss you too. I wouldn't tell you how good you look because one of the nurses already made sure of that." She pointed out.
Jason let out a chuckle whilst rolling his eyes at her assertion.
"Not only that," She continued, "People seem to be fascinated with you." She waved her hands around and Jason grinned as he saw the women in the clinic smiling at him coyly.
"Of course! Who wouldn't want to get a piece of this?" He flexed his arms and he heard some squeals. He swirled back, and wink at them.
"Stop it, Jason. I don't want you to be responsible for some people becoming hospitalised."
"How is he?" Jason asked switching the subject, as he recalled the reason he was there.
"Your grandfather?" Emily inquired, and he nodded.
"Come with me." She said.
Emily led him down the narrow hallway and stopped at a door with a large blue sign above it. The noise of a television could be heard in the room next to it.
His eyes widened as he stared at the people present. His sister wasn't bluffing when she said it was the whole family.
Perhaps, she had exaggerated a bit, but his immediate family, a cousin, niece, and nephew were the ones present and not the whole family tree.
"Thank goodness, you are here." His mother exclaimed whilst standing to embrace him.
"I'll see you later, maybe?" Emily touched his shoulder, and her brow lifted as she awaited his response.
"Sí," He nodded.
Emily let her hand rest on him for a while before moving out of the room.
"Well..."
His mother lifted a perfectly plucked brow as she waited for him to explain.
His mother knew Emily and she had even joked about them getting married one day because of their closeness, but it had sounded absurd to him.
Moreover, it still sounded absurd since he wasn't ready to get married and women like Emily were the kind he often avoided.
They always wore their hearts on their sleeves and lived in a fantasy world. A world far from reality.
"Mamá, nothing is going on between Emily and me. We will always be friends and nothing else." He affirmed.
"Is that Amado Nieto," His grandfather muttered.
"Sí," He responded and moved to the foot of the bed he was in.
Ever since he knew his grandfather, he had always referred to him that way, and it means beloved grandson.
His mother had told him when they birthed him, his grandfather had taken a liking to him.
Though he wasn't the first grandson, he was the one the old man cherished and had willed most of his properties to. Also, he had declined because it came with an ultimatum and he wasn't ready for it yet.
He had fled only to return due to his illness.
"I missed you." His lips turned up in a crooked smile. He noticed two more missing teeth aside from the three that had missed before.
"I missed you too." Jason grabbed one of the vacant plastic chairs in the room and sat on it. He clutched his grandfather's wrinkled hands in his and placed light kisses on each.
"Why are we here, old man?" Jules, a cousin of his, said rather annoyedly. He grimaced as he watched the way Jason and the old man behaved towards each other.
Jules only wanted one of the old man's investments but their grandfather was too clever and knew what he was doing. He had given Jason who knew little about handling estates.
His siblings and other relatives seemed not to mind and had accepted the crumbs the old man had given to them. But, he didn't accept and he had vowed to do everything possible to get it.
"Do you have a child now? What about your wife?"
Jason was taken aback, and his gaze travelled to everyone in the room. Even the youngest, his niece who was two years younger than him, was engaged and to be married soon.
"Not yet." He muttered, and he heard the defeated sign of the old man. It broke his heart to see how helpless he looks.
"You are not getting any younger, and I may die today or tomorrow. All I want is to see your child. Is that too much to ask?"
"You are not dying anytime soon, and I'm only twenty-eight years old. I still have a lot of years to live before going into life imprisonment."
He noticed a tear slid down his grandfather's cheek, and he berated himself for the comment he made. He knew how marriage meant to him because he had been very much in love with his wife until she died of cancer twenty years ago. It was hard on him, but he never broke the marriage vow even in her death.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just not ready." Jason said.
His grandfather coughed, then he began convulsing. Everyone in the room froze for a few minutes before they scurried off to get to the doctor.
******
Jason paced outside of the room whilst waiting for the doctor checking the grandfather to come out.
"Jason."
Jason halted as Emily stepped out of her office. She beckoned to him and he followed her into another room which was brightly lit.
"Sit."
His eyes strayed to Emily as she ordered but he shook his head.
"How is he?" He asked, tugging at his tie.
"I'm sorry Jason. He has less than a year to live." She said whilst watching the tears slid down his cheeks.
She had never seen him this emotional and it was disheartening.
She wanted to hold him and comfort him because she was aware of how close he was to the old man. But, she restrained herself.
Even though it was a normal thing to be comforted, Jason wasn't the kind of man that liked pity or any emotional things
"What about meeting later to talk about this?" Emily asked, hoping he'd accept.
But she already knew the answer as she gazed into his eyes.
"Thanks, Emily. Can we see tomorrow? I'm just not feeling myself today."
"Of course, whenever you are ready, just tell me. Also, if you need someone to talk to, I'll be here." She said, rubbing his shoulder.
He let her stroke his hand for a few seconds before he rose and left her office.
