The morning after my high school reunion, before I even opened my eyes, my hand brushed against a long, hairy leg. Driven by sheer curiosity, I couldn't help but reach out and feel it a few more times... The next second—Bang! The door burst open, and a group of guys flooded into the room. Terrified, I immediately snatched my hand back, snapped my eyes open, and hugged the blanket tight against my chest. "Dr. Carter, the Chief of Surgery is looking for you..." The group of men suddenly froze, letting out a collective gasp of shock. Me: ??? What Dr. Carter? I followed their wide-eyed stares and peeked beside me. A man was lying right next to me. He had long, straight, muscular legs completely covered in a wildly masculine amount of hair. And further up... I practically blinded myself. "We... we didn't mean to intrude!" The group of guys immediately squeezed their eyes shut, scrambling to apologize. I didn't know these guys, and I certainly didn't know the man lying next to me. Just as I was panicking, completely at a loss for what to do— The man beside me reached out and gave the blanket a slight tug. He cracked his eyes open just a sliver, shot me a glance, and said in a gravelly, morning voice, "Care to share a little?" It took me a full second to process his words. Then, I released the blanket like it had caught fire. The fabric barely covered his vital areas before he closed his eyes again and drawled lazily at the doorway, "Are you guys still here?" Whoa... I was already terrified of him. I was about to scramble out of bed when he let out a heavy sigh. "I wasn't talking to you," he muttered helplessly. At his words, the peanut gallery at the door finally snapped out of their trance. "The Chief is waiting for you at the morning briefing! Hurry down!" one of them yelled before they practically tripped over each other running out of the hotel room. The world suddenly went dead silent. I sat there, clutching the corner of the blanket, shivering like a leaf. 2 "What are you so scared of?" My shivering must have chased away the rest of his sleep. He opened his eyes, gave me a helpless look, but couldn't keep them open and let them fall shut again. "I... I think... it kinda hurts." Traumatized and panicking, I started babbling nonsense. The second the words left my mouth, I wanted to slap myself. This time, his eyes snapped open and stayed that way. He stared at me for a few seconds, reached up to massage his temples, and then slung a long arm around me, effortlessly pulling my waist toward him. "It's your first time. That's how it is. You'll be fine in a minute." He was probably trying to comfort me. But I was absolutely not comforted. Instead, a cold sweat broke out all over my body. Then I looked down and saw a tiny spot of blood on the white hotel sheets... My scalp went numb. He stared at the spot of blood too. He froze for a moment, then reached out, ruffled my hair, and let out a breathless laugh. "I'm sorry. I lost control a bit." Lost control?! Another wave of cold sweat washed over me. "Who even are you?" I asked, agonizing over my life choices. My question actually made him laugh. "You don't even know who I am, and you still broke in here and forced yourself on me?" "I... I can't remember..." I had never dealt with anything like this before. I was covered in goosebumps. "I won't get pregnant from this, right?" Honestly, I applaud myself. In the midst of all that chaos, I managed to push aside every other question and hit the absolute most critical one. I'm a genius. "..." He opened his eyes and gave me a long look. He looked incredibly exhausted—so weak that if I pushed him, he might just stop breathing. Just how wild was I last night to wear a grown man out like this? I was dying of shame. "No," he summarized simply. I had zero experience, and I couldn't remember a single detail of last night, so I didn't dare ask for specifics. If he said I wouldn't get pregnant, I believed him. After all, those guys had called him a doctor. Maybe he used protection? I could only hope. "Well then. Goodbye?" To avoid the inevitable awkwardness of him fully waking up, I chose the cowards' way out: fleeing. "..." He gave me one last look and suddenly smiled. "Alright." 3 I honestly thought I would never see him again in my life. Yet, exactly two weeks later, I was sitting outside his department, clutching a pregnancy test in my pocket, shivering like a leaf. "Hey, Mrs. Carter!" A young guy in scrubs bounded over to me. I jumped out of my skin, nearly having a heart attack. "Are you waiting for Dr. Carter?" He was grinning, acting like we were old friends. In reality, our only interaction had been that hurried, mortifying morning in the hotel room. The morning I wanted to scrub from my brain forever. Two weeks ago, I attended my high school reunion, drank way too much, and stumbled into the wrong hotel room. I only found out later that Dr. Carter and a bunch of surgeons from the hospital were attending a medical conference at that exact hotel. Coincidentally, his room was right next to mine. He had been sick with a fever, and his colleague had forgotten to make sure the door clicked shut when leaving. And I just... stumbled right in. Then his colleagues came to get him for a meeting the next morning... And the rest is history. "Uh, yeah," I brushed him off, my entire face burning up. "Come wait in the break room with me." Before I could protest, he dragged me inside. As we walked past Dr. Carter in the hallway, he glanced at me with an expression that said he had absolutely no idea who I was. To be fair, I barely recognized him either. I had never seen him out of bed and fully dressed in a crisp white coat before. I waited anxiously for two hours. From the nameplate on his desk, I learned his name was Liam Carter. Attending Cardiologist. I sneakily Googled his credentials on my phone and discovered he was already... 29 years old? I silently calculated the massive generational gap between us. A while later, Liam finally came into the room to change his coat. He gave me a suspicious look. "Are you waiting for Ben?" Me: ??? "Dr. Carter, I'm waiting for you." I stood up, gripping my purse tight, my voice as small as a mosquito's. "You are?" Me: ??? Does he seriously not recognize people once he's out of bed? "Two weeks ago. At the hotel. We..." I braced myself and tried to explain, losing confidence with every word. Finally, I just pulled the pregnancy test out of my purse and timidly held it out to him. "I think... I'm pregnant..." "Dr. Carter, it's time for lunch." Right at that moment, a beautiful female doctor pushed the door open. I panicked and tried to hide the test, but it slipped from my fingers and fell right into the trash can next to the desk. I stared at the trash can, terrified he hadn't gotten a good look at it, debating whether I should fish it out. "..." Liam didn't say a word. He just stared at me, a highly amused look crossing his face. "Is this a patient?" The female doctor clearly had no intention of leaving, turning her scrutinizing gaze on me. I opened my mouth, but the awkwardness was suffocating. "Just taking care of something. You guys go ahead," he said, making zero effort to introduce me. I felt like a thief caught red-handed. The female doctor looked reluctant to leave. Before stepping out, she deliberately tugged on his sleeve, a subtle display of ownership. He has a girlfriend. I felt like I had just been struck by lightning. 4 He acted as if absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He sat down at his desk, started filling out patient charts, and casually joked, "Feeling better?" Wow. My heart started racing. "I'm fine," I replied automatically. He shot me an airy glance and smiled again. "Want me to take responsibility?" I honestly admired him. How could he calmly write charts at a time like this, treating me like I was just here for a routine checkup? "I just don't know what to do." I had never expected him to take responsibility; I was just completely lost facing this result and wanted a medical opinion. I tested the waters, "I can get an abortion, right?" On the outside, I was holding it together, but my palms were dripping with sweat. He kept writing his charts, acting like I was talking about something that had nothing to do with him. What a jerk. His absolute calm was driving me insane. "It's up to you." He suddenly looked up, his gaze locking straight onto mine, completely devoid of emotion. "If you decide you don't want it, then you don't want it." "Okay." Could I really do it? Given the circumstances... "Scared?" His tone held a hint of teasing mockery. "Yeah." I was at a loss for words. "Now you know how to be scared..." He gave me a look I couldn't quite decipher, flipped to a new page in his charts, and laughed. "You certainly weren't acting like this that night." Me: ??? Thinking back to how half-dead he looked that morning, I really, really wanted to know what exactly I did to him that night. But his words made it sound like this was 100% my fault. I was getting annoyed. "It wasn't entirely my fault either," I muttered, so quietly I could barely hear myself. He stopped writing. He raised an eyebrow at me, and a sudden smile broke through his stern face. "I was running a 103-degree fever that night. Do you really think I had the energy to fight you off?" Well... He had me boxed into a corner. I thought to myself: If you didn't have the energy to fight me off, how did you have the energy to wear me out like that? A jerk is a jerk. The fact that he could talk about something this shameful so casually proved he was way too experienced at handling these situations. I couldn't play his game. "If you've thought it through..." He went quiet, finished his chart, and sighed as he looked up. "Let's do it next week." "Next week?" "I don't have an opening in my schedule until next week," he explained. "Okay." Adults have to pay the price for their actions. I didn't argue, but my heart was a tangled mess of anxiety. 5 A week later, I found myself sitting in his office again. My resolve to go through with the surgery had cracked. It started because my mom had invited me over for dinner that week. My stepdad, my little stepbrother, my mom—it was a loud, warm, bustling family dinner. When I returned to my tiny, empty apartment, I looked around and thought of the cozy scene I had just left. I sighed, feeling a crushing, unprecedented wave of loneliness. My parents divorced when I was very young. I lived with my mom, but since middle school, I had been sent to boarding schools. My mom had met my stepdad when I was in junior high and started a new family. She was happy. I should have been happy for her. But coming back to my empty apartment, I felt exhausted down to my bones. Suddenly, I wanted to keep this baby. I was just so lonely. I knew Liam would never agree. No guy in his right mind would. Especially since he probably had a girlfriend. So even as I sat in his office, I was agonizing over whether to go through with it. "Hey, Mrs. Carter, looking for Dr. Carter again?" It was Ben, the guy from before. "Yeah." I sat there, stiff and uncomfortable. "Please don't call me that!" I reminded him quietly. "Don't be shy!" Ben leaned in close, checking to make sure the coast was clear before lowering his voice. "We used to place bets on who would eventually tame the ice-cold Dr. Carter... I never expected it would be you. We seriously bow down to you." "Huh?" I was completely lost. I whispered back, "You're misunderstanding... He and I aren't..." Finally, I gave up trying to explain and just threw out, "Doesn't he have a girlfriend? Don't start rumors." "Who?" Ben suddenly looked deadly serious. "How do I not know about this?" "..." I was stunned. Liam didn't have a girlfriend? Had I misunderstood? "Are you saying Dr. Carter is sneaking around behind your back with another woman?" "?" I didn't know how to explain that I was the "other woman." "Do you have too much free time on your hands?" A voice floated down from above us. A tall figure appeared right in front of us. Liam! I shot up from my chair, feeling the exact same embarrassment as getting caught talking in class by a teacher. "I..." I tried to say something. Ben got so scared he immediately pretended to study a medical chart and bolted out the door. "I wasn't talking to you." Once Ben was gone, Liam's tone softened. He ruffled my hair, gestured for me to sit back down, and took a seat behind his desk. I felt so awkward. Why did he always touch my hair? Didn't he know that gesture was way too intimate and totally embarrassing? "Why are you always so scared of me?" He gave me a curious look. "Do I look that terrifying?" I sat down nervously. "No, it's just that you're older... you seem like..." "Like what?" He suddenly looked highly entertained. "Like an elder," I answered honestly. "An elder?" He let out a sharp laugh of disbelief. "How old are you?" "I turn 22 next month." His laugh made me feel totally inadequate. When a usually stern guy suddenly laughs, it's lethal. Especially when he has a face that belongs on a billboard. "That is a little young." He dropped the smile, lost in thought for a second. "Wait here a minute." He stood up and went into the attached locker room to change his scrubs. Those few minutes were pure torture. I kept debating how I should bring it up. Because Ben had said Liam didn't have a girlfriend, my resolve was shaking even more. I was almost 22. I had never been in a relationship. And Liam—whether it was his looks, the way he carried himself, his career... he checked every single box I had ever imagined for a partner. Except for the fact that he was a bit of a jerk, of course. I thought to myself: Maybe I could actually date him. Finally, I gathered my courage, stood up, walked to the locker room door, and gave it a soft knock. "Dr. Carter, I have a question for you." I clenched my fists. I didn't have the guts to say this to his face, so talking through the door was much easier. He didn't answer. I hesitated, but pushed forward. "Do you have a girlfriend? If you don't, could we maybe give this a try? I want to keep the baby." That single sentence drained every ounce of energy in my body. I stood at the door, awaiting his final judgment. Then the door swung open. But instead of his judgment, I was greeted by the booming judgment of a cell phone on speaker... "Keep it! Of course you're going to keep it! If you dare touch a hair on her head, I will disown you! You bring my granddaughter-in-law home to me safe and sound!" Liam leaned casually against the doorframe, handing the phone right to my face while he continued buttoning his shirt. The sheer volume of the voice on the other end was enough to prove just how furious the man was. "Who is this?" I took the blazing-hot phone, my heart about to beat out of my chest. "My grandpa." He massaged his temples and gave a helpless smile. "Ah... Granddaughter-in-law, is that you? Don't you worry, when that brat Liam gets home, I'll break his legs! If he dares to bully you... you have to keep the baby..." Liam's grandpa went on a massive tangent over the phone. I was so mortified I wanted to curl up and die. All I could do was nod continuously and say, "Yes, sir." Meanwhile, Liam listened to the whole thing with an attitude that screamed "not my problem," casually sitting back at his desk to write more charts. Was he even human? I was dying inside. 6 By the time the call ended, my brain was buzzing. I walked over, handed the phone back, and couldn't even look him in the eye. "You really know how to cause trouble..." He looked at me and let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't know you were on the phone." I looked incredibly apologetic. "Anyway, don't listen to him." He stood up and gave his final conclusion. "Dr. Carter, what I asked earlier... did you hear me?" I cut straight to the chase. "My grandpa heard you, what do you think?" he countered. "Oh." I waited for his actual answer. "Take some more time to think about it." I took that as a flat-out rejection. I stood frozen in place, my hands and feet turning to ice. "Why?" I honestly applaud myself for having the sheer audacity to ask that question in a moment like this. "..." He paused, letting out another sigh. "You're too young, and you're too innocent. I'm not exactly a good guy." He shot me another look and muttered, "Way too young." For a second, I didn't know if he meant my age or... something else. Regardless, my face flushed crimson. I don't even know how I managed to walk out of that office. But the only thing repeating on a loop in my head was his final sentence— "The best way to fix a mistake is to cut your losses immediately, not use another mistake to cover up the first one." I told him I was holding off on the surgery for today, and fled the hospital like my life depended on it. 7 Two days later. Just as I had completely given up hope on the whole situation, I was suddenly contacted by Liam's family. And by family, I mean his grandpa, grandma, maternal grandparents, mom, dad, uncles, aunts... In a single day, I received so many phone calls I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Basically, they all had one central message: The baby must be kept, and they would handle Liam. As for how they were going to handle him? I figured no one on earth could withstand that kind of coordinated artillery fire from an entire extended family. Sure enough, the very next day, Liam showed up at the door of my apartment. "What are you doing here?" I was shocked to see him when I opened the door. He was leaning against the wall outside my apartment, a cigarette between his fingers, looking deathly pale. The floor around him was littered with cigarette butts. "Fixing your little mess." He reached out, ruffled my hair, gently nudged me out of the way, and walked straight into my apartment. "I'm sorry. I have no idea how your grandpa got my number." It was obvious he was incredibly annoyed by this whole ordeal. "..." He stubbed out his cigarette, ignoring my apology. He slouched down onto the corner of my sofa and offered a tired smile. "I pulled an overnight shift. I'm dead on my feet. Can I borrow this spot to sleep for two hours?" "Ah, yeah, of course." I quickly moved the throw pillows off the couch so he'd have room to lie down. No wonder he looked so utterly exhausted. Once he laid down, I realized that compared to his height, my couch was practically miniature. He looked totally cramped sleeping like that; it couldn't be comfortable. Yet, he fell asleep the exact second his eyes closed. He said he needed to sleep for two hours and asked me to wake him up. But when the time came, his face was still buried deep in the cushions, and he looked so drained I honestly didn't have the heart to wake him. Even though I didn't wake him, he snapped awake exactly on the hour. He checked the mechanical watch on his wrist. "8:30. They're open." With that, he sat up, suddenly looking sharp and wide awake again. "What's open?" I asked. Truthfully, those two hours had been nerve-wracking. I had no idea what he was doing here. Since he rejected me last time, I hadn't wanted to see him again. It was too awkward. "Do you have your birth certificate and ID?" He looked me dead in the eye. "No." My heart skipped a beat. "They're at my mom's." "..." He stared at me for a long moment, then laughed and sighed. "Looks like we're taking a trip."
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "395076", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel