Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Chapter 714  Aria's suggestion

"Oh, you are awake." Aria narrowed her brows, not hiding the fact that she was annoyed with him and Noah raised his brows questioningly. "How do you feel?"

Even though she was irked, she still went to him and rechecked his condition, much to Noah's relief.

"I feel weak and miserable." Noah croaked, bearing with the discomfort in his throat and Aria stared at him for a moment before she helped him to sit and poured him a cup of warm water.

Noah gave her a puppy look and drank the water, his eyes not leaving Aria even for a moment while Aria entered his details in the patient's charts.

"You are still weak and need to rest some more. You will not be discharged until I deem you fit and fine." Aria reported. Not once did she look at Noah, much to his anguish.

"Are you angry?" Noah lowered his cup and looked at Aria, his lower lip jutting out slightly as if he was guilty and Aria glanced at him before she returned to his chart.

"What do you think?" She threw the question back to him and Noah lowered his head all the more.

"I'm sorry. I should not have..." Noah started, only to stop when Aria glared at him.

"Spare your breath and reasons. You'll need them when Ian and Joshua arrive in the morning." Aria did not hide her anger from him and Noah did not know how to appease her.

"Please don't be angry. It was unintentional." He realized how unbelievable and wrong he sounded when the words had left his mouth.

"Oh really?" Aria placed her hands on her waist, her eyes shooting daggers at him. "And here I thought you fell sick intentionally because you love seeing me anxious and worried. Am I right?"

"No, never." Noah immediately shook his head in denial and raised his head to look at her. "I never want to see you anxious or worried."

"Then, why do you make me?" "I was...it was...I.." Noah had no response for her and he lowered his head once again, not having the courage to meet her gaze.

Aria let out a sigh in defeat and approached Noah after she dropped his patient chart on the table beside his bed. "I know you are worried, Noah. I understand. I really do. But that does not mean you'll ignore your health in the meanwhile." Aria took the chair and held his hand. "You have no idea in what condition I found you and how scared I had been to see you all weak and sickly. You scared the crap out of me."

"I know, Aria. I know. It's just that the situation is spiraling way too out of control and I find myself helpless when it comes to the lives of people I care about deeply." Noah looked at his lap, his eyes turning melancholic all of a sudden. He sounded defeated and Aria could not bear to see him that way anymore.

"But that does not mean you put your life at risk." She argued and Noah remained silent, not having any words of reply. "You need to take care of yourself if you wish to protect others. And if this is how you take care of yourself, then you don't need to protect others."

Noah panicked when he realized Aria's fury and moved closer to her, hoping to hold her hand. But Aria avoided his touch and stood up immediately.

All Noah clasped was air and he shook his head fervently. "Aria, please don't be angry. Please. I promise I will take care of myself. I..."

"Oh, you will. Otherwise, I will stop loving you."

"Oh, really? Can you bear to do that?" He raised his brow cockily and Aria narrowed her eyes at his smugness.

"Maybe I cannot. But that does not mean I will not stop talking to you. And trust me, this time, I am not joking." She threatened. "You do not want to challenge me in this. Otherwise, you will regret it for sure."

Noah realized that Aria was damn serious this time and immediately dropped his smug expression.

'I should not anger her more than she already is. Otherwise, I will be the one to suffer in the end.' He thought and smiled at Aria, who raised her brows in suspicion. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Fine, I promise. I will take care of myself from now onwards."

"What if you don't?" Aria did not fall for his words right away and instead folded her hands, waiting for the man to compromise first. "What will you do then?"

"Then..." Noah thought for a moment before he made a decision. "Then, you can punish me however you want and I will not complain."

"I will hold onto your words then. If you dare ignore your health, see what I'll do to you."

"I won't, I won't. Don't worry." Noah chuckled and beckoned her to come to him. "Please come here. Don't be angry anymore. I'm sorry."

"Fine." Aria scuttled closer to him and just when she was about to sit on the chair, Noah moved away and patted the space beside him. "Come here."

"Noah, you are sick."

"I will be fine. Don't worry. I just want to hold you. Please. I feel drained and I just need some comfort."

His pleading expression melted Aria's heart and she gave in to him within a few seconds. Having no choice, she removed her shoes and lay on the bed beside him while Noah pulled her closer, hugging her to him.

"What happened? What got you all stressed?" Aria queried and looked up at the man who was staring at the ceiling.

Without hiding anything, Noah revealed all that they had found out in the evening and Aria listened to him patiently, not interrupting him even for a moment.

Silence fell over the place once he was done and Aria thought for a moment before she sat up straight.

"I have an idea if you are up for it."

"Tell me. What do you have in mind?"

"Since Maggie was able to find out that Grandpa was in contact with Theo over the years, can't we contact him too? Grandpa must have his phone number or something we could use to contact him. Maybe Joshua or Maggie can find out. Instead of waiting for Grandpa to wake up, why don't we bring Theo here?"

"We can do that." Noah's eyes lit up and he thought about it for some time. "I am not sure if Maggie or Jo could find Theo's contact details. It seems every time he would change his number after he called Grandpa. And I don't know how Grandpa was able to contact him, though. I'll ask Jo to look into it. Maybe we can find some way to reach Theo." Noah nodded thoughtfully.

"Moreover, he will never stay still when he finds out Grandpa is sick. He is too loyal to my grandfather and will never abandon him after hearing the news. He is bound to come here and once he does," Noah's eyes flashed with conviction. "I will not allow him to leave without him answering all my questions."