The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 405

Riley hesitated, unsure if she should tell Sebastian about Pierce.

"What floor are you on? Which room?" The sharp, urgent click of dress shoes against polished tile echoed through the speaker. Sebastian was clearly already walking out of Eleanor's hospital room.

Riley panicked slightly. "It's not Alora. And I'm not at Aegis General either."

The footsteps abruptly stopped. "Mrs. Gable?"

"No." Since she had already backed herself into a corner, Riley decided to just rip the bandage off. "It's Pierce."

Dead silence fell over the line.

Riley rushed to explain. "I had no idea he was even in Statenbury. Scott called me out of nowhere tonight and said Pierce was completely wasted at some bar. His wound tore open, and he's running a massive fever, but he absolutely refused to go to a hospital. It's a matter of life and death. He took that knife to save me. I couldn't just leave him there to die."

The silence stretched on.

Riley's anxiety spiked. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes."

Panic colored Riley's voice, her tone urgent. "Please don't misunderstand. I have absolutely zero feelings for him anymore. But as a doctor, I value every single human life. Even if he were a complete stranger, if I knew his life was in danger, I would have gone."

It was exactly like when Seraphina had tricked her by posing as an online patient. Riley had known perfectly well that meeting an online patient in person violated hospital protocols, but when a life was supposedly on the line, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Her professional oath was carved into her very bones. The line between life and death always outweighed arbitrary rules.

"Riley."

He said her name with a slow, deadly serious weight.

Riley's grip on her phone tightened nervously. "Yes?"

"If I hadn't called you tonight, would you have ever brought this up on your own?"

Riley hadn't actually thought that far ahead. She answered honestly. "No."

"And even when I specifically asked you just now, you still hesitated. You wanted to hide it, didn't you?"

Did this man have telepathy or something?

"Yes."

A soft, heavy sigh crackled through the phone. "Go back to what you were doing. Eleanor is calling me."

Click.

The call abruptly ended, leaving a hollow, rhythmic dialing tone echoing in Riley's ear.

Scott knew there was no point in both of them suffering through sleep deprivation. He nodded. "Thank you for doing this, M—" He caught himself just in time, swallowing the word 'Mrs.' before it could slip out. "Riley."

By 3:00 AM, Pierce's temperature had finally returned to normal. Riley let out a long breath. Seeing how deeply he was sleeping, she figured he wouldn't be waking up before sunrise.

She walked over to the small sofa and gently shook Scott awake. "His fever broke. You take over. I'm heading home."

"It's so late. Why don't you just crash on the sofa for a few hours?"

"I need to go home. I have a shift tomorrow." Riley grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

Scott scrambled up and followed her. "Are you coming back tomorrow?"

Riley repeated herself flatly. "I have to work tomorrow." The implication was crystal clear: No.

"What about tomorrow night? I'm not asking you to take the night shift again! I'm just terrified Mr. Landon won't cooperate with his treatment. Right now, the only person he'll listen to is you. I..."

"We are divorced." Riley paused in the doorway and turned to look Scott dead in the eye. "Coming here tonight was already going above and beyond my moral obligations. If he refuses to take his own health seriously and insists on throwing his life away, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it."

Scott stared at Riley's cold, detached expression. He couldn't get over how drastically she had changed. He remembered her as incredibly gentle, quiet, and passive. How could a divorce change someone this much?

Riley didn't care what Scott was thinking. She turned and walked out. By the time she finally got back to her apartment, it was nearly 4:00 AM. She managed a short nap, setting her alarm for 5:30 AM. When she woke up, she headed straight to the kitchen. She made some warm oatmeal, boiled a few eggs, and blended some fresh juice.

She packed three generous portions into thermos containers, planning to drop them off as breakfast for Eleanor, Sebastian, and Mrs. Higgins. She ate a quick bite herself and left the rest on the stove for Mrs. Gable.