I couldn’t wait until Monday, so I could tell Michael that I had an apartment. A small part of me was hoping he would offer to help me move. I glanced at my watch again and wondered where he was. It was just past eight o’clock and Michael was usually at his desk. It was odd, he usually arrived at seven.
As eight thirty came and went I started getting really worried. It was ten minutes to nine and he still hadn’t arrived.
When my cell started to ring, I reached for it and with a quick glance at the screen it told me Michael was calling. The sight of his name made my body sag in relief.
“Michael, I was really worried. Are you okay?” I asked in a rush.
“Lily.”
My heart sank. Something was wrong. I could hear it in his voice. “Michael, what’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m okay,” he paused. “An SUV crashed into the car on the way to the office.”
“Oh god, Michael!” My voice quivered and tears started to fall down my face. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Shit Lily, please don’t cry. I’m really okay. Apart from a couple of stitches on my forehead, I’m fine, but George had a heart attack,” he sighed. “It was only mild, so he’s going to be okay, thank god.”
I was sobbing uncontrollably. “Where are you? I need to see you.”
After Michael gave me the name of the hospital, we ended the call and I broke down into a flood of tears. The thought that Michael could have been seriously injured terrified the life out of me.
“Lily, whatever is the matter?” Dale asked, coming around my desk and put his arm around me.
I gulped some air into my lungs and managed to calm myself down. Dale passed me some tissues and I wiped my tear-stained face. “Michael was in a car accident. I don’t really know what happened, but he said an SUV crashed into them and George apparently had a heart attack. I don’t know whether that was why the accident happened, or whether it was the shock of the accident that caused it. I need to get to Michael.” I jumped up from my seat and quickly grabbed my jacket and my purse. “He said he was okay and that he had a couple of stitches in his forehead, but I still need to go.”
Dale just looked at me for a minute. “He’s more than a boss to you, isn’t he, Lily?”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Yes,” I whispered.
“Come on. I’ll get Jacky to cover the phones in here,” he said with a huge grin on his face. “Jacky will be pissed that she has to do some work for a change instead of gossiping all day.”
Dale led me from the office and accompanied me in the elevator to the ground floor. He managed to grab someone from security to drive me to the hospital. I think I surprised the hell out of Dale, when I reached up and kissed his cheek, whispering a ‘thank you’. He was an incredibly sweet and thoughtful man.
On the way to the hospital I had all sorts of scenarios running through my mind, worrying constantly about the condition Michael was in. The thought of arriving at the hospital to find Michael unconscious in bed with wires sticking out of him had me in hysterics all over again. I was an idiot. I knew that didn’t happen for a few stitches in the forehead, but I hadn’t seen him yet and my imagination was running a little wild. I was stressed, to say the least.
As soon as the security guard pulled up outside the hospital, I was out of the car running towards the entrance and through the doors to the reception desk. “Excuse me, can you help me?” I asked a lady who looked as though she had swallowed a whole lemon.
“I suppose so.” She was cheerful.
“Can you tell me where I can find Michael McKenzie?”
“Are you a relative?” she asked me with a sneer.
I was about to reply in the negative when a hand landed across my shoulder. It was Ruben. “She’s his fiancée and I’m his brother, so please can you tell me where to find him? Or do I need to ring Simon Summer, your administrator? He’s a good friend of mine.”
Flustered, she pressed some keys on her keyboard and pointed us in the correct direction.
“Lily, I’ve spoken to Michael. He said he was okay except for some stitches. You look really distressed,” Ruben said with concern.
“Ruben, I just need to see him, okay?”
He kept his arm around me and pulled me in the direction the receptionist had pointed out.
“He’s picked right this time around. I like you Lily. Hopefully one day you’ll be a McKenzie too. But you have to promise me you won’t tell Michael what I just said, unless you want him to beat me up.”
I smiled at him. “I won’t. Thank you for the rescue back there. She was actually about to see my temper.”
“So I guess I actually saved her from you then?”
We rounded a corner and found Michael sitting on a chair in the corridor with his head in his hands. I started to walk towards him with more speed. “Michael.”
His head shot up. He blinked and then stood up and walked towards me. “Lily,” he said just as I threw myself into his arms and started to sob my heart out, overwhelmed with relief that he was all right.
“Um, I think you might want to step in here,” Ruben said, ushering us into an empty room.