knocks on Nyla's door. She swung her gaze from the T.V to look at the time. Who on earth was at her door at one o'clock in the morning? It had to be a drunk person accidentally knocking on the wrong door. It was Friday night after all, a time of partying for many.

The knocking persistently continued, and Nyla sighed before throwing over the red and black checkered blanket before standing up and answering the door. Through the peephole, she saw it was Darius.

She opened the door, "What are you doing—"

Before she hadn't finished her sentence, Darius walked inside, and Nyla shut the door behind him. "Hello to you to." she muttered sarcastically.

She watched as Darius paced back and forth in her foyer running his hands through his dark brown hair. He was wearing a jacket, but the buttons weren't in the right places. He looked at Nyla and there was just so much pain, so much agony in his eyes that Nyla breathed sharply.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer her question, just kept pacing. Nyla had never seen him like this. Darius was always composed, ready to take on whatever challenge the world threw at him. Making a quick decision, she clasped both hands on either sides of his arms and forced him to look at her.

"Breathe," she commanded.

He took in a deep breath.

"Good," she said soothingly. "Now tell me what happened."

"Vincent," Darius chocked up.

Nyla's eyes went wide, she couldn't believe it, was he dead? Darius wasn't saying anything more, so she asked him softly, "Is he dead?"

Darius shrug off her hands and resumed his pacing. Tears streamed down his face. Nyla hated seeing him like this. "I don't know."

Nyla raised a confused eyebrow at the statement. Based on Darius' reaction, she assumed the worse. Realizing that he wasn't in the right state of mind to tell her everything, she ushered him to the couch.

"I'm going to bring you tea," she said softly, watching him place his head between his hands.

"Don't go," he croaked.

"I'm not," she said gently. "I made tea earlier so I'm just going to grab it from the kitchen."

He didn't say anything, so Nyla quickly rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the first mug. She poured the tea and brought it back to Darius. "Drink, you'll feel better."

He drank from the bright pink mug, which under other circumstances Nyla would have found hilarious. After he had finished drinking, she took the cup from him before sitting next to him on the couch. "Now, tell me everything from the beginning."

Darius wrung his hands repeatedly. "I hadn't heard from Vincent in quite a while, so I decided to stop by his apartment before coming home. He wasn't answering the door, so I used the spare key to enter and that's when I—" Darius paused.

"What did you see?"

Darius hands were now trembling, and Nyla took his hands and rubbed her thumb over this hand comfortingly.

"He was lying on the ground, a bottle of pills right besides him. His body was so cold, and so pale..."

Nyla felt herself freezing for a moment before she gently coaxed Darius to tell her the rest.

"He wasn't breathing so I dialed nine-one-one before performing CPR. He felt so lifeless under me." Nyla could imagine the scene in front of her. It was a person's worse nightmare, to see a family member in such a circumstance and feel so helpless.

"The paramedics arrived and took him, but I don't know if he was breathing when they loaded him up. I just got into my car and drove until somehow, I was sitting in front of your condo. I don't know why but you're the first person I thought of."

Nyla turned her body and hugged him. She held him tightly and let the tears wash over her shoulders. She would allow him this moment to break down because she knew, he couldn't do it elsewhere. To the outside world, he was Darius Giordano, CEO of G-Health and he had no weaknesses. This was the moment in which he could let his barriers drop—even if it was just momentarily. She held him long and hard until the tears disappeared, and his body became still under hers.

She moved her body back so she could meet his eyes. "It's going to be okay," she promised. "I've got you. We're in this together, tell me what you need."

For the first time in her life, Darius wasn't the confident person she knew. "I don't know." he mumbled softly.

Nyla sat for a moment before she knew where they had to go. "Did the paramedics tell you what hospital he's at?"

"I think they said Presbyterian."

Nyla nodded. "Okay, so let's go visit him."

"I don't think I can drive," Darius admitted.

Nyla stood up before offering Darius her hand, he grabbed it and the callous skin met her soft one. "I'll drive," she said softly.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Nyla parked the car and stepped out of the vehicle. Darius, on the other hand remained. She stepped back in, "What's wrong?"

"I don't think I can do this." Darius fingers were shaking once more as he looked at the hospital. "I've hated hospitals, ever since my father died."

Nyla was honoured that he was sharing such important parts of himself. She knew people were terrified of hospitals after they had lost loved ones, she needed to be empathetic but also get him inside somehow. The hospital would only release information to a close family member.

"Think of it as another building, it's not a hospital. It's an organization like any other. It's run by a board of directors and filled with employees who are providing services to a customer."

Darius nodded and she knew that he was listening. She kept talking to him and pulled him out of the car and she continued talking about boring, mundane things all the way until they had stepped inside the hospital.

He turned towards her and let out a sigh. "Thank you, for getting me till here. I didn't think that I would be able to enter."

Nyla approached the receptionist. "Hi, we are looking for a patient that was brought by the paramedics."

The receptionist didn't even look up. "Name?"

It was Darius who spoke. "Vincent Giordano."

"Well it looks like Mr. Giordano is in the post-op floor, which is on the fourth level."

"Is he awake? Or even alive?"

The receptionist looked up. "I'm afraid I don't have that information. You will just have to go up and see."

Nyla could see that Darius was getting a bit angry, so she tugged on his arm and led him towards the elevator. The ride to the fourth floor was extremely tense with both of them not speaking. When the reached the correct floor, Darius once again asked about Vincent but this time he was given a room number.

Nyla trailed after Darius unaware if he wanted her to go inside with him. She hung around the corner, but Darius' blue gaze penetrated her.

"Come in with me, I know you were worried as well."

Nyla hesitated but only for a second. She needed to see with her own eyes that Vincent was fine. She stepped into the room and was shocked.

Vincent was hooked up to about three different machines and a low humming filled the room. There was a bandage wrapped around his forehead, but he was breathing—and that is all that mattered.

"He's alive," Darius whispered from beside her.

Nyla nodded and the two of them stood silently. She didn't know how much time had passed as they stood in the doorway, staring at the broken body of a man they thought they knew. A knock on the door took them out of their haze and they both swung around as a doctor entered the room.

If she though she had been shocked at seeing Vincent's body, it was nothing compared to this. She watched as the doctor walked into the room. Her breathing increased rapidly, and she felt herself going tense. Anger poured out of ever inch of her body. The doctor turned around and his gaze met Nyla's.

The shock was apparent. "Nyla?" he said her name as if he was in a daze.

"Rohit," she replied in a cool tone.

He opened his mouth and then closed it. In a different scenario, it would have been funny to see him standing there like an idiot, but this was not one of those times. Darius glanced once between the two of them before he thankfully interceded. "Is he going to wake up?"

Rohit's eyes travelled to Vincent lying almost lifelessly on the bed. He then fixed his gaze on Darius, "I'm not sure. When he came in, we also had to do an emergency brain surgery because he was hemorrhaging. That surgery was successful."

"Then why is he still out?" Darius voice was firm, demanding an answer. It was the voice he used in the boardroom.

"My guess would be because of his fentanyl overdose. An excess of such drug can lead to depleted oxygen to the brain, also known as hypoxia. In more sever cases—like this, it can cause a coma."

"Are you sure the surgery you preformed didn't cause the coma?"

Nyla looked up at Darius and she saw the hard lines on his face. Rohit on the other hand looked downright pissed.

"I can assure you that I did my best to save him. I swore an oath when I became a doctor and I do not intend to break such an oath."

Nyla thought that Darius would be okay with the answer but all he said was, "I will want to speak to the chief of the hospital and have a full investigation into his treatment."

Nyla had been wrong. This was Darius, CEO of one of the biggest corporations in America. If he wanted an investigation to be done, it would be done. She was pretty sure that Darius' company donated a substantial amount to hospitals and his word would not be taken lightly.

Rohit's brown skin turned even more red and Nyla saw his fingers curl. "As you wish."

The tension was thick in the room. She looked at Darius, he was exhausted, but something told her that he needed a moment alone with his brother. "I'll grab you another coffee from the cafeteria." she said.

She turned to leave and Darius touched her hand lightly as she exited. Rohit glanced between the two of them and frowned. Nyla ignored it; she had nothing else to say to her ex-fiancé.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

She was walking down the hall, coffee cup in hand when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Rohit walking towards her, his strides brusque and determined.

Knowing that she wasn't going to win this race, she slowed down and allowed him to catch up to her.

The sight of him in his pristine white lab coat just made her angry. "I don't want to talk to you."

Rohit raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think we can talk like adults?"

Nyla snorted and started walking again. "We could have done that years ago, but you choose not to."

Her comment was louder than she'd intended it to be and many heads swiveled their way on the quiet floor.

"You know we weren't right for each other." Rohit said from beside her quietly.

It seemed like she wouldn't be able to avoid this conversation, so she sat down in one of the waiting rooms in the corner. Rohit followed her in and sat in his own chair—a few feet down.

"I've had a long day and I just can do this right now." Nyla said.

"Right, the boyfriend. He's quite the shiny tool thinking that he can throw around his money and get his way."

Nyla didn't correct him because she didn't see the point. Rohit was no longer in her life, so he did not need to know what was going on. But she did stand up for Darius. Her voice was dangerous, "You don't know what you're talking about but since your so keen on being chatty, I'll let you in on a little secret. The man whom you just spoke to, is Darius Giordano, CEO of G-Health."

Rohit's skin paled a few shades and Nyla watched it with satisfaction. Even though Rohit was in the medical field, he had to know one of the worlds biggest pharmaceutical company and its CEO. He had every right to be fearful, she didn't know all of Darius secrets, but she knew he would tear the world apart for his family.

Rohit changed his tactic. "I'm sorry for the way I broke our engagement."

"I don't care." Nyla lied. Even though it had been so many years, a part of her still was sad—not from the broken engagement, but everything else that happened after, including her separation from her parents. They didn't talk anymore, and the broken engagement had been the catalyst. She realized that to move on with her life, she needed to have everything out in the open and come to terms with it. She had to be honest.

"Actually, fuck that." Rohit flinched at her tone but let her continue. "You breaking the engagement in a shitty manner was hurtful, but the fact that you married by best friend—and roommate, was even more terrible."

"We didn't get together right away," Rohit tried defending himself. "After you left, we just naturally became closer and one thing led to another."

Nyla was exhausted. She didn't want to sit here and listen to Rohit's excuses. "After I switched my program, you said I would never have success. That shit hurt, I thought you would believe in me, more so than others."

"It's hard to make it in the business world. I honestly didn't think you would succeed but I am happy to see that you are doing well."

Nyla laughed, but it was an empty sound that echoed through the room. "Yeah, I don't need your validation."

"Then what do you need to let go of all this anger?"

Nyla thought about it. Rohit had apologized for the way he broke their engagement, but it didn't matter. It was everything else after that. She was no longer a part of the Indian community she grew up with. Aunties used her as an example of what not to do and it was embarrassing. A part of her needed to accept that she would not longer be part of that community and maybe it was time for her to build her own.

"I'm not angry," she said softly. "Maybe I was once upon a time but now I frankly don't have time to care. I'm busy with a hundred of other things to do and if I married you, I wouldn't be the successful person I am today so I forgive you."

Rohit looked taken back by her attitude as if he had expected her to hit him or something. But Nyla didn't need the negativity in her life.

"I wish you and Karishma all the best in your life." She stood up to leave. "Congratulations on the baby as well."

Nyla exited the room without a backward glance. She walked towards Darius, coffee cup in hand feeling much lighter than she had in years. She'd needed this, even if she hadn't realized it earlier. Darius looked up when Nyla entered the room and she smiled. His eyes were filled with sadness, but he managed to give her a small smile as she handed him the cup. She had new people in her life, and she was okay with that.

---------------

Did any of you suspect that Vincent was struggling with addiction? There were a couple of hints in the book but I didn't want to make it too obvious. How about Nyla supporting Darius when he needs her the most?