The Doctor

Mei's heart raced as she stood frozen in Shun's arms. She knew she was lying to herself when she told him that perhaps they could part as friends. The truth was, he could never be her friend. The feelings she had for him were still too strong.

Mei closed her eyes, and reminded herself that Shun was getting married and she needed to be firm. Otherwise she would be heartbroken again. Though she already knew it was inevitable, it would make it worse. "Shun", she said, stepping out of his embrace and turning around to face him. "Please don't do things like this", she begged softly. "It's confusing".

"Confusing?" Shun asked, as a sudden spark of hope jolted through his mind. Mei wanted them to part as friends, but her words and body language at this moment were telling him something else. That his touch affected her. Instantly Shun decided to use that to his advantage to remind her that they could never be friends. Not when he still wanted her.

"Mei!" a voice suddenly interrupted them. And as Shun looked up to see a man in a white coat approach he noticed Mei tensing up next to him.

"Doctor Chen … Eric", Mei greeted him with shock. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I work here", Eric replied as he came to stand in front of them and turned towards Shun with a curious gaze.

"Oh, Eric this is my ex-husband Li Shun", Mei introduced before quickly explaining what she was doing in Shanghai and why she was at the hospital.

"I'm sorry to hear that", Eric looked towards Shun. "I know the hospital will do everything it can to help your grandmother's recovery". He then turned back to Mei and smiled warmly. "I'm glad it's not you. When I first saw you, I had to double-check that it was you. And then I was afraid that you might've … but … I'm glad you're okay".

"Might've what?" Shun asked without hesitation as irritation prickled inside of him. How did Mei know this doctor? Why was she so tense? And why was he so concerned about her?

"Nothing", Eric backed off with a smile. "The last time I saw Mei was two years ago in Paris and she had caught a cold. So, I thought she wasn't taking care of herself again".

Shun's instincts were sharp and he knew the doctor was lying. But there was nothing he could do about it. "Well, she's under my care now, so you can be rest assured that she will be well", he said a tad possessively. "And how long did you know my wife in Paris for?"

Mei eased out of her initial shock and relaxed when she saw the mischievous grin that presented itself on Eric's face. Shun was noticeably irritated at his sudden appearance, obviously misreading the situation again, and she knew it gave Eric an opportunity to test to him. After all, neither him nor his beautiful wife Sofia had a good impression of Shun, given everything that had happened.

"I met your 'ex'-wife shortly after she moved to Paris", Eric said. "She and I got 'very close'. In fact, we saw each other nearly everyday for the next year and a half".

Shun clenched his fist. And as soon as Mei saw that she immediately stepped in. "Whoa there", she held up her hand to him. "Calm down. He's just teasing you. He's married to a friend I met in Paris so yes, we used to see each other a lot. Speaking of which where is Sofia?" she asked Eric.

"She's in Shanghai", Eric replied. "We moved here a few months ago. You should come and visit. She would be thrilled to see you again".

"Oh! I'd love to see her too", Mei said with excitement. "Can you give me her phone number?"

Shun watched as Mei interacted with Eric. For the first time since landing back in Shanghai, she seemed happy. Genuinely happy. And he felt a pang of jealousy inside. Yes, he was jealous, he admitted as he watched her face light up with everything Eric said. But it also made him happy to see her smile again.

Shun felt his phone ring and he excused himself for a moment before moving away to answer it. "Sir, you have a meeting in half an hour", his secretary reminded him.

"I'll be right down", he answered and walked back towards Mei. "I have a meeting to get to. Would you like me to arrange a car to take you home?" he asked.

"If you don't mind, I'd like stay here with Grandma Li for a while", Mei replied. "I want to be here when she wakes up again".

"Then I'll come and pick you up later", Shun said.

Mei stared at him with surprise. Did Shun just offer to pick her up from the hospital? The man who during their married life could not even find five minutes to say hello to her? "Ah, there's no need", she said. "I'll take a taxi or something. And besides I'd like to go to the shops for some books".

"If you wait a little while I can show you where the closest bookstore is during my lunch break", Eric offered. "And after my shift I can take you home to see Sofia. Visiting hours will be over by then and you should come and have dinner with us. You too Mr. Li. If you have time, we'd love to have you over", he looked at Shun with testing eyes.

"Send me the address", Shun looked at Mei. "I'll see you both there" he said before turning around and walking towards the elevator. As he got in, he retrieved his phone again and dialled his secretary. "Kang, I want you to find out everything you can about Chen Eric".

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