Chapter 1
Bibi's POV
Okay, one more box and then I can finally rest.
Today, I'm finally moving into my new apartment. It's past noon and I've been moving boxes all morning. I don't why I decided to do this while I'm sick. I feel so weak and I'm alone with no help. I mean, I had movers help me move in my furniture earlier but they left a while ago and now it's just me taking multiple trips back and forth just to bring my stuff in. I could've had my friends help me but they're all busy.
As soon as I get upstairs, I feel myself trip on the top step and fall flat on the ground, along with the box that I was carrying.
Great, just my luck. Why do I gotta be so clumsy?
The good news is that the stuff that I was carrying are just shoes, so I don't think any of them broke. But the bad news is that I feel some sharp pain increasing in right ankle. I try to stand up and put weight on it but it's so painful that I fall to floor again. Luckily, I'm so close to my apartment that I decided if I just scoot down the hallway with my shoes, I'll make it inside quicker.
As I'm putting my shoes back in the box, I hear a door open. When I look into the direction of the opened door on my right, I see an attractive man looking down at me. He has tanned skin, wavy dark brown hair, brown beautiful eyes and he's wearing a tank top and some shorts. He give me a huge smile, a smile that can brighten my day, and I give him one in return. I feel my cheeks heat up and I already feel embarrassed that I might've caused a ruckus.
”Hey." he said, with a smooth voice.
"H-hi," I stuttered. I looked down and quickly return to what I was doing earlier.
"Do you need some help?" he asked.
"No, I'm good. But thank you for the offer."
Instead of my original plan of scooting down the hallway, I stand up with the box in my arms. Even though my ankle hurts like hell, I ignore the pain and give him a small smile. One of the last things that I want is to become a bother to him.
"It was nice meeting you." I said to him.
As I turn to leave, I feel his hand gently wrapped around my elbow. The feeling sends tingles up and down my arm. I turn back to him and he gives me a concerning look. "It looks like you're injured. Let me help you. I don't want you to cause any more damage to your leg."
I start to get a little irritated at him. All I wanna do is go home, take some pain killers and medicine, and go to sleep. It's been such a long morning. "I appreciate the help, but I already said that I'm good. I can do this on my own."
"No, I don't think you can. Please...I insist."
I sighed, not feeling like arguing with him. "Fine."
He smiles at me and takes the box from my arms. "Where's your apartment?" He asked.
"It's two doors from the right of yours."
"Okay, not far. Wait here. I'll be right back." He walks to my apartment and puts my box of shoes inside. Soon, he comes back to me and picks me up, bridal style, while I wrap my arms around his neck.
I gasped in surprise. "Wow, I was not expecting you to pick me up."
He chuckles a little. "If I insisted on helping you, I'm gonna help you the best way I can."
As we reach inside my apartment, he lays me on the couch and inspects my injury. I feel his hand putting pressure on my ankle.
"Ow, that hurts! Be gentle," I hollered.
"Alright but can you at least move your ankle?" He asked.
I start move my ankle back and forth a little. "Yeah but it's painful."
"This might be serious. Let me get you some ice." He said as he walks into my kitchen.
After grabbing a bag of ice from my fridge, he sits down on the couch next to me and places the ice on my ankle. "Your ankle looks really swollen. I think you need to go to the hospital right now."
"No, I don't think I do. It doesn't look seriously injured. I think some aspirin and ice will be just fine for me."
He raises an eyebrow at me. "Are you always this stubborn?"
"I'm not stubborn. I just don't need help. That's all." And I'm this close into asking you to leave my apartment. Can't he see that I just wanna be alone?
He puts his hands on my shoulders. "I saw you struggling to put weight on it earlier. That's not a good sign. Your ankle could heal incorrectly if you don't seek medical attention. Let me just take you to the hospital to get you checked out. It's for your own good."
Even though I don't wanna go to the hospital, I feel like he's right. Annoyed, I sigh once again. "I guess I'm not gonna win this argument, am I?"
He smirks at me and shakes his head. "Nope."
"Whatever. You win. Let's just go to the hospital and get this over with."
He nods and picks me up, walking me out of my apartment. "I haven't see seen you around here. So Based on the stack of boxes in your apartment, I'm assuming you just moved in?" He asked.
"Yeah. I just moved in today."
He nods. "Are you new here in New York City?"
"No, I'm originally from the Bronx but I've been living here in Manhattan for a few years now. I'm just moving into a new neighbor."
He starts walking down the staircase. "Is it because of a new job or something?"
"Um...no. I just wanted to move somewhere new. And move because of some details that I don't feel like talking about right now.
He gets to the bottom of the stairs and walks into the lobby. "Well, welcome to the neighborhood. It seems like I didn't get your name."
Of course he would ask me this. "I'm Bibi and what's yours?"
"Rick Cruz. Your new neighbor." He smiles at me and I can't help but smile back at him. "Well Rick, are you gonna drop me off at the hospital?"
He turns to me with his eyes widened when I asked him that. "And have you go home all alone and injured? Of course not!"
Even though I rather be alone right now, the thought of him being by my side makes my heart skip a beat. I can't help but smile.
Soon we leave the apartment and make our way to the hospital. When we arrive, Rick carries me inside, sits me down in a wheelchair, and takes me to the lobby before going to the front desk and giving me some papers to fill out.
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As we both wait in the lobby for a doctor, I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda feeling nervous. Hospitals are not my favorite places to go to. I think Rick noticed my worried expression because he takes my hand in his and gently squeezes it. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. The doctor will take care of your ankle."
I melt into his touch and squeeze his hand back. For some reason, I start to feel less nervous when I'm around him or just talking to him. " I hope so." I respond back to him.
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"Ms. Rio?" A random voice asked out. Noticing someone call my last name, I look up to see a nurse standing in front of me. "That's me."
"Hi, I'll be taking you in so we can get your X-rays and see how minor or severe your injury is," The nurse said.
I take a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready."
Before I get wheeled into the X-ray room, I turn to Rick and give him a small smile.
He returns the smile. "Good luck. I'll be here when you get out."
As soon as he says those words to me, I'm wheeled away from him with my heat beating faster than normal.
