“Oh, got it, Mr. Dawson. I’ll head over right away.” With that, Yarrick quickly hung up the call.

As the new guy in the company, Yarrick had no way of refuting Ethan’s order. He got up, walked to Hailey’s bedside, and gently took her hand in his.

“Um… Hailey, that was Mr. Dawson from work. He said a new batch of computers just got delivered, and they need help setting them up. I’ve got to head over now. I’ll come back to see you once it’s all done, probably in the afternoon.”

Because the nurse was still in the room, Yarrick felt too shy to call her “honey”; he just used her name. She knew how things were. She’d understand.

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, said goodbye to the nurse, and left the room.

“Hey, Michael, Mr. Dawson just called and asked me to help with the new computers. Where are you right now?” Yarrick immediately sent Michael a message as he walked out of the hospital.

A few seconds later, Michael replied with a message of his own.

“Ugh, man, don’t even get me started. I was just about to ask out that girl I was chatting with last night, but Mr. Dawson had to go and ruin it.”

“Why didn’t you just say you had something going on at home and couldn’t make it?” Yarrick replied.

“Yeah, right. We’re both on probation. One wrong move, and Mr. Dawson could decide to fire us.”

“You’ve got a point. I’m literally at the hospital taking care of someone, and the second he called, I dropped everything to go over.”

The two of them kept chatting as Yarrick made his way out of the hospital and onto a bus heading toward the company. Not long after, Yarrick arrived at work and headed straight to Ethan’s office.

“Hey, Mr. Dawson?”

“Hey, Yarrick. You got here fast,” Ethan said with a nod and a pleased smile. It was clear he appreciated Yarrick’s promptness. “Wait at your desk. I’ll call you when the computers arrive.”

“Alright, Mr. Dawson.” Yarrick nodded and turned to head back to his cubicle.

Michael approached Yarrick as he sat down. “Hey, is Mr. Dawson in?”

“Yeah, he’s in his office.”

“I’m gonna go say hi real quick.” Michael was quick. As soon as he heard that Ethan was in, he made a beeline for his office. After all, showing the right attitude mattered. Ten minutes later, Michael returned to his desk.

“What now? Still bummed about the date falling through?” Yarrick asked with a chuckle, giving Michael a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“Yeah, I really like her. With girls like this, you have to move fast. Wait too long, and someone else will snatch her up.”

“Well, even if you can’t meet in person, you can keep the conversation going through text. Once you get talking regularly, it’ll build up naturally.”

“Yeah, we’ve been texting all morning, but it’s just not the same as hanging out in person. I was hoping to set something up this weekend, maybe get things going.”

“Dude, slow down!” Yarrick laughed. “You need to stake your claim before someone else slides in,” Michael sighed, clearly frustrated. “You’re lucky, man. You’re at the hospital every day; you don’t even have that option anymore. What a waste.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Yarrick agreed, chuckling as he nodded.

Act Fast! Five Bonus Times Running Out! You snooze, you lose!

As he stepped out of his office, striding briskly down the hallway while listening to the instructions, Yarrick helped with unboxing each computer and installing the necessary software.

“Man, a perfect Saturday totally wasted,” Michael groaned, slumping in his chair.

“Well, hey, maybe you’ll get lucky later tonight.”

Just as Yarrick finished setting up the last computer, Ethan called him. “Yarrick, can you come to the hospital with me?”

“The hospital?” Yarrick was taken aback.

“Yeah. The president wants to see you.”

“The president?” Yarrick’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be…

Without waiting for a response, Ethan turned and headed out. Yarrick quickly followed.

They arrived at the hospital in no time. Ethan led Yarrick to a private room on the VIP floor, room 291. Yarrick took a moment to compose himself and knocked softly. A faint voice sounded from inside, and a moment later, the door creaked open.

Peeking into Hailey’s room, Yarrick froze, confused. He thought that maybe the nurse had led him to the wrong room.

He stepped inside the dimly lit room.

Hailey had already moved into the VIP room this morning. Where did she get the money? Although this room was a private suite, there was no proper bed, just a plush recliner.

Thinking it over, Yarrick smiled to himself. Of course, she must have moved to a different room last night. She would have to sleep on a couch otherwise. Perhaps she decided to change rooms for that reason.

“Hi, excuse me. Do you know where Hailey from Room 290 moved to? She was here this morning, but now the room is empty!” Yarrick asked the nurse he saw in the hallway.

“Oh, you mean Ms. Jardon? She was discharged earlier this morning.”

“Discharged?” Yarrick called out.

“Yes, she was officially discharged this morning.”