One Night, One Hospital, One Dangerous Man
First chapter
The wet asphalt shimmered beneath my feet, and I was trying to pretend I was fine.
Cars passed by, their headlights spilling across the pavement. People walked past me indifferently, as if no one noticed that just a few steps away, someone was fighting to breathe.
I placed my hand against the cold wall of the unfinished building. It was rough and damp.
If I let go, I would fall.
The air was stuck in my chest. The harder I tried to take a deep breath, the worse it became. Sounds faded in and out, as if someone were turning the volume of the world up and down.
"Not now… please, not now…" I whispered.
I blinked.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn't alone anymore.
First, I saw his shoes. Clean. Untouched by the rain.
Then I heard his breathing—steady and calm. The opposite of mine.
When I lifted my head, my heart skipped a beat.
He stood straight. Confident. Unhurried.
As if it hadn't just rained. As if a girl wasn't about to collapse right in front of him.
His gaze settled on my face. Not pitying. Not alarmed. Just focused. Too focused.
A familiar feeling crawled beneath my skin.
A feeling that shouldn't have found me in that moment.
I tried to pull myself together, to stand up straight, to say something—anything.
But the ground softened beneath me.
The world tilted.
And before I could fall, a warm hand wrapped around my waist.
Everything went black.
---
It didn't take long before I regained consciousness.
I was lying on a bed in a private room. The décor was simple, but too neat. Too polished. It took me a few seconds to figure out where I was. My head felt heavy. I tried to sit up, but the pull in my hand reminded me—there was an IV attached.
My eyes followed the clear liquid dripping steadily into my vein.
Hospital.
I pressed the button above my head. A nurse hurried in. The moment she saw my eyes open, she let out a relieved breath.
I looked around the room. He wasn't there.
Had he brought me here himself?
Unlikely. At most, he could've called an ambulance and left. But this room… it felt more like a hotel suite than a hospital.
"Where am I?" I asked.
She smiled. "In a hospital."
I frowned. "Obviously. Which hospital?"
"Norasteh Hospital."
I shot upright. "What?! How long have I been here?"
"They brought you in yesterday afternoon—"
The rest of her words faded into static.
Norasteh.
One night in this hospital probably cost the equivalent of selling one of my kidneys.
Which devil had brought me here?
At that exact moment, his face flashed before my eyes.
Not the calm man from the street—
In my mind, he had transformed into a well-dressed demon, ready to confiscate my organs one by one.
Oh God… no. No.
I couldn't pass out again. If I did, they might keep me here another night. And then I'd have to put my liver and spleen on installment payments too.
I looked at the nurse and said, "Excuse me… can I give my spleen instead? I kind of need my kidneys."
She stared at me for a few seconds, as if trying to determine whether I was joking or still under the influence of medication.
My stomach twisted. Not from illness—from the future bill.
I tried to get up quietly, but the nurse quickly stepped forward.
"The doctor needs to examine you again to make sure everything's stable."
The doctor?
My heart pounded.
No. There was no way I was letting them run more tests, more paperwork, more charges.
I nodded calmly and stayed still.
But in my head, there was only one plan:
The moment she leaves this room… I'm running.