A Night of Desire

Sarah Shelby, however, confidently walked over. Smiling at Seth Quinn, she said, "I was keeping my distance because I’m just so in awe of a great hero like President Quinn. A humble person like me wouldn’t dare approach; I can only worship you from afar."

As she drew closer, Seth Quinn found the familiar scent in the air growing more pronounced. He did his best to ignore it, but to no avail. It kept assailing his senses, throwing his heart into slight disarray.

"You flatter me, Miss Shelby. That was simply my instinctive reaction when my wife was in danger. It’s hardly enough to be called heroic."

Sarah Shelby leaned casually against the footboard of the bed, smiling. "In my eyes, any man who would disregard his own safety to save his wife is a true man, which naturally makes him a true hero."

With that, she turned to Clara Grant and said, half-jokingly, "Clara, I’m so envious of you for finding a man like President Quinn who cares about you so much. If I were you, I’d be bursting with happiness."

"COUGH, COUGH..." The words had barely left her mouth when Seth Quinn couldn’t help but start coughing.

Clara Grant had just been about to say something to Sarah Shelby, but at the sound of Seth Quinn’s cough, she quickly turned back to him and began patting his back. "What’s wrong? Why the sudden cough?"

"...It’s nothing. I just haven’t had any water all morning, so my throat is a little dry," Seth Quinn said, covering his mouth with his fist as he let out a few more coughs.

Skylar Hayes had already poured a glass of water and handed it to Clara Grant.

While helping him drink, Clara Grant grumbled, "You haven’t had any water all morning? It’s hard for you to get it yourself, but wasn’t Dr. Linden here? Why didn’t you ask him to get you some water?"

"I’m used to you being around. You always get me water without me having to ask. With you gone, it didn’t even occur to me that I was thirsty," Seth Quinn said after he finished drinking. He took the tissue Clara Grant offered him and wiped his mouth.

Clara Grant opened her mouth, about to complain that Rowan Linden wasn’t very attentive for not even thinking to ask a patient if he needed water. But then she remembered that Sarah was still in the room, and Rowan Linden was the man she wanted to introduce to her.

Worried that Sarah would get a bad impression of Rowan Linden, she quickly swallowed her words.

...

Clara Grant knew Sarah would feel awkward meeting Rowan Linden with Skylar Hayes around, so she didn’t rush to call him over.

The group made small talk in the hospital room for a while. Seeing that Seth Quinn was indeed recovering well, and sensing that her presence was making the younger people a bit constrained, Skylar Hayes decided to leave. She told Seth Quinn to focus on his recovery, instructed Clara Grant to take good care of him, and then headed home.

Clara Grant was eager for her to leave so she could finally call Rowan Linden over to meet Sarah.

So, the moment Skylar Hayes was gone, Clara Grant immediately had Seth Quinn call Rowan Linden.

Seth Quinn did as she asked, but after trying for a while, there was still no answer.

After several more attempts went unanswered, Seth Quinn put down his phone and shrugged helplessly. "No one’s picking up. I don’t know if he’s in his office or not."

"Now what?" Clara Grant frowned. ’It wasn’t easy to get this chance. How could the leading man be missing in action?’

Sarah Shelby’s expression fell. ’Looks like this Dr. Linden and I aren’t meant to be,’ she thought. ’Or could it be that Yvette Zimmerman arranging my engagement has blocked off all my romantic prospects?’

After a moment’s thought, Clara Grant said, "I have an idea. I’ll go over to his office and check. His phone might be on silent, so maybe he just didn’t hear it."

She then turned to Sarah. "Sarah, can you keep an eye on Seth for me for a minute?"

Without waiting for Seth Quinn or Sarah Shelby to reply, she hurried out of the room.