Skipped at the altar, Taken by his uncle Novel

Chapter 125 "The patient's blood pressure is through the roof. Does he have a history of hypertension?" the doctor asked. Whitney honestly had no idea. Ivan was divorced, had no kids, and his parents were back in his hometown. In Ravorport, it seemed like he didn't have any family around. "I don't know," Whitney replied, then it suddenly hit her. "But one time, I happened to see his face twitch. Could that be a symptom of high blood pressure?" The doctor quickly told the nurse to hook him up to a monitor and start an IV. "Is he a heavy drinker?" Whitney nodded. "Yeah.

Sometimes he can't avoid it. He has to go out for work stuff." "So, what's more important, his health or those business dinners?" the doctor asked, his tone icy. Whitney rubbed her nose. "Of course, his health matters more. He's going to be okay, right?" "Look at this, his blood pressure's at 220! I'll get it down first and give him some fluids. Go handle his admission paperwork. He needs to stay here for treatment. Once he's better, we'll transfer him upstairs," the doctor said. Whitney immediately did as the doctor instructed.

Ivan was groggy the whole time while getting his blood drawn, labs done, and a CT scan. Whitney never left his side, keeping watch over him every step of the way. Finally, Ivan groggily opened his eyes. "Whitney, where am I?" "Boss, you're finally awake!" Tears welled up in Whitney's eyes. "You scared the hell out of us!" "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?" Whitney said as she went to call the doctor. "He's doing better. His blood pressure's down a bit. Just hang tight. When the inpatient ward calls, we'll take him upstairs. The nurse will go with you," the doctor said.

Whitney finally felt a weight lift off her chest. "Boss, you suddenly collapsed in your office. When we saw you on the security feed, we all freaked out. Thank God you're okay. If anything had happened to you, I..." Whitney said, her voice trembling. Her eyes welled up again as she spoke. "Alright," Ivan said weakly, his face pale. "I'm still here, aren't I?" Whitney's face turned stern. "Boss, the doctor said you have to quit drinking, watch your diet. Cut out the heavy, greasy stuff, and get more exercise!" Ivan looked miserable.

"Ah, no more drinking?" He never smoked, but he did like to drink now and then. When he had to socialize for work, or just enjoyed a little something with his meals at home. "You have to quit!" Whitney said firmly. Ivan gave a wry smile and shut his eyes. "Alright." His health was indeed getting worse as he got older. By the time they finally moved him to a regular room, two hours had already passed. Whitney finally had a moment to check her phone. She was stunned to see five missed calls from Townsend, three from Frank, and Klein... He'd called her ten times.

Whitney decided to call Townsend back first, figuring it'd be best to reassure the office so no one would panic. "Whitney, is Ivan okay?" Townsend asked. "He's fine, Mr. Barton. He's stable for now. His blood pressure shot up to 220, and he passed out, but luckily, he's alright. He just needs to stay in the hospital for a while," Whitney replied. Townsend let out a sigh of relief. The whole thing had even made it onto X's trending list today. "That's good, that's good. I'll be at the hospital in an hour. Send me the room number when you get it," Townsend said.

When Ivan heard Townsend was planning to come, he immediately shook his head. He was sick. He really wasn't up for dealing with visitors right now. "Mr. Barton, Ivan says you don't need to come by. The hospital is limiting visitors, and the doctor said he needs to rest. Maybe wait until he's feeling better?" Whitney said. "Alright, alright. You've been working hard, Whitney. If you're not too busy these days, keep an eye on him for me, okay? He's in his forties, no wife, no kids... what a situation," Townsend said. Whitney just smiled wryly. "Yeah, I know, Mr. Barton. It's no trouble, really.

It's the least I can do." After hanging up, Ivan grumbled, "What's he complaining about now? He's divorced too, but he's always giving me grief over it." "Oh, wait, I just realized. You probably don't know," Whitney said. Whitney had just accidentally caught wind of some major drama without even trying. Then she texted Frank and Valerie from her team to let them know everything was okay. Just as Whitney was about to call Klein back, she heard a quiet knock at the door. "Ivan, hope I'm not intruding.

I heard you weren't feeling well, so I thought I'd stop by and see how you're doing," Klein said. Ivan, hooked up to an IV, looked genuinely caught off guard. He stammered, "M-Mr. Harris, I didn't you to come." expect Mr. Harris stepped inside, his lips pressed in a thin line. He gave Whitney, who was practically trying to disappear into the corner, a quick, indifferent glance before turning his attention to Ivan. "Saw the news about you collapsing, so I figured I'd check in since I was nearby.

Tried calling my wife, but she didn't answer, which made me even more worried about you, so I came straight to the hospital," Klein explained. Ivan had heard that Klein had just gotten married, but he didn't understand what his wife's not picking up had to do with him being sick. Then, to his utter shock, he saw Klein looking at Whitney with obvious affection. Klein walked over and gently took Whitney's hand. "Next time, don't ignore my calls. Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?" Klein said, his voice low and full of concern.

Ivan's jaw dropped so wide you could've fit an egg in it. "Whitney, is my blood pressure spiking again? Am I hallucinating right now?" Ivan blurted out, eyes wide in disbelief. Whitney stared at the numbers on the monitor, nervously biting her lip. "Boss, your blood pressure's normal. He's actually here for me," Whitney said softly, trying to reassure him. Ivan's throat bobbed as he struggled to lift his hand, pointing shakily at the two of them, their fingers tightly entwined. "Wait... you guys?" Klein's lips curled into a faint smile. "I'm her husband.

Sorry, Ivan, for keeping it from you all this time." Ivan slapped a hand to his forehead. "No way, I must be seeing things. This has got to be a dream." He couldn't believe that his precious protégé's whirlwind marriage partner was actually Klein. ***** After a few minutes, Ivan finally managed to wrap his head around it. "Heh, Whitney, can you step out for a minute? I want to talk to Mr. Harris alone," Ivan said. Whitney could pretty much guess what Ivan was about to say. She bit her lip and gave Klein a pleading look. She was silently begging him not to make things difficult for Ivan.

Klein gently pinched her cheek. "Be good, go on." "Ivan's the patient, so be good and do as he says," Klein said softly. Whitney got the hint and quietly slipped out of the room. Ivan was still polite, but he wasn't sucking up like before. "Mr. Harris, I gotta ask. Did you marry her as some kind of joke?" Ivan said, his tone dead serious. Klein knew Ivan was a big deal in Whitney's life, her boss, mentor, and someone she really looked up to. He respected Ivan, so he didn't get mad at the tough questions. "Of course not. I love her!" Klein replied without hesitation. Ivan narrowed his eyes.

"But she used to be your nephew's fiancée. Won't your family and friends judge her? Are you sure she won't get a hard time because of it?" Klein's expression hardened. "I'll handle anything that comes up. That's not going to be an issue." "And what about Emily?" Ivan pressed. Klein curled his lip coldly. "Her?" "She won't be a problem for much longer," he said, his voice icy. He'd kick her back to where she came from. Men understood men. Ivan could tell in just a few sentences if someone was genuine or just faking it.

Ivan pressed on, "If you think all that's no big deal, then what's the real problem between you two?" Klein's eyes flickered. "All I ever think about is how to make her like me a little more, depend on me a little more." He didn't want to be the last one she'd call, or worse, get blocked, when something happened. What Klein wanted was to be Whitney's top priority. Ivan grinned. "That's good, that's good." Ivan was proud of his protégé, who had made Klein, that high-and-mighty big shot, totally in the palm of her hand. That was good.

***** Dex Morgan Dex Morgan works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.