When Benjamin finally calmed down, they sat by the park and had warm tea together.

  “Thank you…” Benjamin said in an exhausted voice.

  “You’re welcome. It’s my duty anyway.” Jazzlyn said politely while sipping her tea.

  “How’s Auntie doing? I’m sorry, I was trying to save her and nearly neglected your father.” She asked and explained in a little guilty tone.

  Auntie? That would have changed if it weren’t for us being apart this long… Benjamin thought to himself while meeting her gaze.

  “She’s doing fine. Just a couple of fractures. She has regained consciousness and is resting. I didn’t let her wait at the theatre cause it would only get her more restless, but she knows you were working to rescue Dad.” He explained, still admiring her beauty while toying with his wishful thinking.

  “Uncle would need more care when he’s awake… You should spend more time with them.” Jazzlyn advised professionally, trying to ignore his soft-spoken demeanour, like when they used to date.

  “Jazz…” He held her hand, which she pulled away quickly, only for him to retain his grip tightly.

  “I’m sorry about the past… I should have explained back then, but I was so busy with surgeries… My career, the pressure from my parents and the management to perform and outstand…” Benjamin finally explained himself, but Jazzlyn felt sad for him.

  She knew it was too late. If it was back then when they just broke up, she probably would find herself plunging back into his arms without hesitation but now, after many nights of enduring the pain of him breaking up with her through a pathetic text message, it would disappoint her friends especially Isla if she were to force herself to reconcile cause she knew she no longer loved him.

  “It’s fine…” Before she could finish her sentence, Benjamin hugged her.

  “Let’s get back together. I promise to treat you well. Better than before…” She could feel his desperation in his hug, but she still pushed him away firmly as she stood.

  “Benjamin, we were in the past. I have long gone past us…” Jazzlyn rejected firmly, but Benjamin refused to accept.

  “Why? Is it because you have someone else now?” Jazzlyn sighed in disappointment as she knew he had never changed from before; he always blamed others when clearly he was at fault.

  “There’s no one else at all. It was always you…” Jazzlyn paused, realising the bitter fact which, for a moment, gave Benjamin some hope.

  “... but no longer you. We would never be able to get back like before, and that’s it. Move on, Benjamin.” Jazzlyn reiterated.

  “You used to call me Ben… How is it you’re so harsh now, calling just my name?” He reflected as Jazzlyn looked away.

  “Cause there’s no more us. We were in the past. Today was a gratitude I humbly accept as it’s my duty… Don’t let that muddle with your feelings, Benjamin. We both knew there was no love anymore for a long time. And that’s fine cause we were fighting through our busy schedules for a successful career path. That was what was drifting us apart and making our love fade away…” Jazzlyn looked away for a moment, trying to push her mountain of overwhelming feelings away.

  “But that’s fine too, cause we are both pursuing our own futures. So let’s just remain the way things are now… Happy to be working with you in the future, Dr. Kang.” Jazzyln had imagined this situation many times, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she would be this brave and strong to refute him.

  She walked away feeling the proudest she could and did not look back cause she knew her heart was meddling with other issues now. However, for Benjamin, he could not accept her rejection and had a feeling Dr. Wang was the reason.

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  Benjamin hated the way she had addressed him, especially her last sentence. That made him more determined to not give up on chasing her back as he knew Dr. Wang had resigned. By then, he would have ample chances.

  Jazzlyn thought about her options again that night in bed. She had been tossing for the past two hours.

  You have no idea just how much I want to leave that god-forsaken place, Ethan. But I have to let this opportunity go for now. Jazzlyn sighed as she blinked away her tears realising she did indeed have a little feelings for Ethan but she rather not pursue such uncertainty.

  Though her heart yearns to take up the freelance offer, she was worried once again if anything similar to last night’s accident happened to people closest to her, she wanted to be the first to save them.

  With that in mind, she finally sent Ethan a long-written message she had kept in her draft.

  “Thank you Dr. Wang for the offer but I’m sorry I have to reject it this time. After many considerations, I have decided to stay on for stability. If there’s a chance, I hope we can work together again in the future. All the best, Dr. Wang.”

  When Ethan woke and read the message, he knew she had already decided for him his path and choice for his future. He had decided it was time to put down to rest his unrequited love and move on.

  By the time Jazzlyn’s alarm rang, she was still wide awake as she dragged herself to another week of endless nights on duty. Because it was Ethan’s last week and he was handing over, she had been lined up with more of his tasks in the emergency wards, watching more trauma patients flooding into the ward, more life and death situations, which she fought tirelessly to save, just to get her mind off her own problems.

  Isla and Ellie had been trying to reach her for the past week and a half, but even on weekends, she was either in the operating theatre or asleep in the staff’s bunker. Isla was getting worried about Jazzlyn. The last time something similar happened was when she broke up with Benjamin. The first time it ever happened was when she nearly broke all ties with her persistent, archaic medical family.

  She was weighing which was the case this time when Ellie nudged her as they sat by the hospital lobby, still unable to reach Jazzlyn.

  “What are you thinking so intensely?” Ellie asked as Isla blinked a couple of times.

  “Something is not right with Jazz… I couldn’t figure out if it was her family or… It can’t be Ben cause they broke off. Maybe it’s Dr. Wang?” Isla shared her thoughts with Ellie as Ellie gave it some thought.

  While the two ladies were deep in thought, Ethan, who had just finished his meeting with the management, recognised Isla. The first time he saw her was during Lex’s accident.

  Knowing they must be waiting for Jazzlyn who had finished her shift and finally headed home earlier to swap her toiletries for new ones at the end of every week, he walked up to them both, who were a little flabbergasted to see him.

  “You must be friends with Dr. Su?” Ethan asked with much confidence. Isla nodded slowly with plenty of thoughts still running in her mind about Jazzlyn’s situation as he smiled.

  “You are…” Ellie questioned.

  “Dr. Wang. Nice to meet you.” Ethan introduced himself.

  “Ellie. Nice to meet you, and this is Isla.” Ellie introduced while Isla frowned.

  “Do you have any idea why Jazzlyn is so occupied? Is there really a shortage of doctors that she had to pull so many shifts without proper rest?” Isla questioned while Ellie tried to hold Isla back from going further.

  Indeed, Isla must be the “mother” Jazzlyn mentioned that day… Ethan smiled at the thought, though he was a little taken aback by Isla’s first line to him.

  “Nice to meet you, Isla. I’m sorry that would be possible as it’s my last day, the day after tomorrow. So, most of my tasks had been handed down to her.” Ethan explained as Isla gasped.

  “That must be it!” Isla announced to Ellie, who understood what she meant, too, and nodded.

  “Where are you heading? Are you aware she was also looking for a job to leave the hospital? It’s been intoxicating her lifestyle cause she was not offered a permanent position for a long time. Do you have any vacancies you could introduce her to?” Isla went on questioning that Ellie was overwhelmed, but those were news to Ethan.

  He seemed to have make sense of the reasons Jazzlyn was not leaving. “I will keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me know. I need to head to somewhere. I will make a move first!” Ethan said before running off leaving Isla and Eille behind, forgetting his purpose of greeting them was to inform them that Jazzlyn had left for home.

  Isla grinned, watching him leave. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Ellie was half scolding her.

  “Don’t you see the obvious trend? It’s obvious these two like each other. They need a little push…” Isla smirked while folding her arms. That was when they both heard a familiar voice calling Isla.

  “Isla!” They both turned to see it was Benjamin waving at them from the entrance.

  The ladies both shared a look, knowing trouble was brewing.