Chapter 7

 

“Don’t leave me, mom,” Trent says, lying on the hospital bed.

 

He’s looking at Valerie with wide eyes and thinned lips. There’s no denying the nervousness he’s feeling, and Valerie tries not to smile too much. Trent’s being all sweet and loving now. Now that he’s about to be operated. He’s just as nervous as Valerie is.

 

“I’ll leave you two for a moment.” That’s Angel, who stands up from the one-seater couch at the corner of the room and walks towards the door. “I’ll grab some coffee. Do you two want anything?”

 

Trent shakes his head; he knows he can’t eat or drink anymore until the transplant is finished. Valerie replies and says, “No, thanks. I can get my own once the transplant is over. Thanks anyway, dear.”

 

With that, Angel leaves the hospital room and heads for the café in the building beside the hospital. Valerie can’t leave the room, not that she wants to. Trent needs her more than ever, and she has to wait for the surgeon to come in to discuss the transplant – what he’ll do and what Trent can expect after the transplant.

 

Valerie relaxes on the couch Angel previously sat in as mother and son spend the rest of the time in silence. Valerie doesn’t have to worry about the success of the transplant. They’ve been assured that the doctor is one of the best in the whole country and that kidney transplants are fairly common with a high success rate.  As a mother though, she always worries about Trent still.

 

“Good morning, Ms. Summers,” a deep familiar voice calls out from the doorway.

 

In a matter of milliseconds, Valerie’s eyes fly in the direction of the door. There, standing in a doctor’s coat is Lucas Hill, the same Lucas she just had sex with a couple nights ago. His hair may have been gelled and pulled back and his body may have been covered from neck to toe in professional clothes, but there’s no denying this is the same man she can’t stop thinking about.

 

Then, she finally sees his eyes for the first time – misty and gray, and secretive and expressive at the same time. They’re looking at her with curious interest. She knows that look; she’s gotten it multiple times from other men every time she’s with Trent.

 

‘How can someone with that body and face possibly have a child?!’

 

“I’m Doctor Lukas Hilton, and I’ll be performing the kidney transplant on Trent,” he says. Now, she knows his name. She doesn’t want to speak; she’s scared he’ll find out who she is when he hears her voice. “Are you ready?” he then says to the ten-year old, visibly shaking on the bed. “There’s no need to worry. You’ll be more than alright. You’ll be Superman right after this.”

 

As Lukas brushes his hand across Trent’s hair to calm the child down, Valerie can’t help but tip her lips up into a small grin. This man right in front of her is so very different yet so alike with the man she can’t stop thinking about. Soft on the inside, hard on the outside. The same man she’s experience the best sex with ever.

 

“Did you hear that mom?” Trent then says excitedly to her. “Superman!”

 

“I did,” Valerie says, avoiding eye contact with the doctor. “Now, let’s hurry. I’ll even buy you a cape afterwards.”

 

Trent is beaming when Valerie turns to look at her son. He still looks nervous but much less  now than a few minutes ago. She then feels it, Lukas’ eyes on her. She’s still avoiding making eye contact with him, but she knows she’ll have to face him sooner or later.

 

“Mrs. Summers, is that right?” Lukas then asks, to which Valerie shakes her head.

 

“Ms. Summers,” she replies, and then, she slowly turns her head up to face him. “You can just call me Valerie.”

 

Then, there’s that playful smirk on his face, the same ones she’s seen numerous times in his bedroom. It’s the same smirk he pulls every time he’s up to no good during sex or when she does a bedroom trick that catches him by surprise. She can’t describe the way he’s looking at her at the moment. There’s mischief in those gray eyes of his.

 

Does he recognize me? The thought swims around in her head.

 

She doesn’t know and doesn’t find out. He leaves the room for a moment and when he comes back, he has a couple of nurses with him. They push Trent’s bed out of the hospital suite and towards the operating room. Valerie follows Trent, the nurses, and Lukas. His back is facing her, and when he moves his head to the side, she can’t help but notice the smirk still playing on his lips.

 

Surely, I have the same voice as a million other women out there?