Nikita

"I'm so sorry. I really am," Nikita ranted as he got out of his car and rushed to her, worried that he hurt her and her baby. He hadn't realized it yet, but he subconsciously ranted his apology. 

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to let you go on the trip; I shouldn't have let you leave without me; now look what happened. I'm sorry I wasn't a good brother and son, but I will be better. I promise. I will find Yuri and bring him home, and I promise I'll defend whatever is left of our family and make things better." 

The people around him were looking at him, wondering what had happened to him. He looked lost and so broken; anyone could tell it wasn't his intention to almost run over the woman and her daughter.

Rushedly, Nikita went back to his SUV and returned with a stethoscope, checking the womans' child worried too much. No one knew what was going on in his head or who he might have been apologizing to, but anyone could tell he was not okay. 

The fact that the little girl in that woman's hands looked as pretty as his little sister Raisa made Nikita feel even more guilty. He could have ended the life of a new kid, and he could have put a whole family in the state that he was left in.

He wouldn't want that for anyone. Tragedy had already struck his family, which was okay forever if possible.

"I'm really sorry, ma'am. Please, I'm sorry. I know me telling you I'll pay for the damages won't make any sense. I'm a doctor at Todorov hospital," Nikita said as the woman's eyes widened. She hadn't expected this, frankly.

Typically, people with big beautiful SUVs in this area were either extremely rude or pretended like they were the only ones who were ruling the estate. Still, this one seemed different, something that the woman was yet to decipher.

The fact that he had offered to take her and her child to Todorov for treatment and was ready to pay for the hills meant something more than an apology. He didn't want to lose someone else, and he had lost too much, and the woman understood him.

"If anything happens to her, just take her to the hospital and tell them to put the tab under the chief surgeon's name. I'm sorry, I'm Mykolajki, sorry doctor Mykolajki Pavlenko. And once again, I'm so sorry for what I have done." 

The woman was openly staring at Nikita, and so was everyone else. They had thought he was like the rest and had come to save the poor woman for him, but it turned out that he needed more saving than the woman and her kid.

Not knowing what to tell the woman anymore, Nikita stayed quiet and waited for them to decide on what to do with him. He was ready to accept the consequences because life was way too meaningful.

Thus was someone's family, and he respected that. He knew what it meant to have someone you love snatched away from you, and he almost ripped a family apart. He waited for the blows, for the curses, for the claims of police reports.

He waited for them to condemn him, and he was ready, but the more he waited, the more they watched him. They wanted to make sure he reached his destination instead.

It didn't take long for Nikita to realize he had been ranting like an intelligent fool, and now that he was conscious of his actions again, he looked at the woman and her child, then to them and whose number he had hit, wondering what they would do with him.

Instead of the man talking to him and telling him to pay up or go to the police station, he just looked at Nikita. The doctor wasn't in a state to drive or even go anywhere alone. What was he doing behind the wheel then?

"It's okay, son, '' the woman said to Nikita, making him look at her again. She was the same age as his father, or rather what his father would have been. 

"I mean what I said, if there's an issue with the kid, just take her to Todorov and tell them you have an appointment with me, I already informed the receptionist and my secretary of the same. Anything you need, ma'am," Nikita insisted as the woman just smiled at him.

"If you want to repay me so badly, then let me drive you to your destination. You don't look too good, and you could knock someone out of the highway again," the woman said, and Nikita knew he had no option but to agree. Turning to the man he had hit, he apologized.

"Hey man, I'm sorry. Here's my card. You can foot the bill in my name, and I'll pay too," Nikita said as the man just nodded and took the card.

Everyone watched Nikita pitying the poor man who held the baby in his arms as he became a passenger in his car and a strange woman drove him to Qiao's house. The drive was quiet, save for the honks of vehicles on the highway.

He wondered if the woman would walk back or be a game of pick me, I choose you. He would just call a cab for her to take her home when he reached Qiao's house. The woman honked when they reached the gates, and Qiao came out.

He looked like he had just made a pitstop home and was going back to work, but seeing Nikita here was surprising for him. The watchman opened the gates and let them in before the woman took her leave.

Of course, Nikita had offered to call her a cab, but she insisted that she could walk. She even told Qiao to take good care of his boyfriend, making the two men look at each other in sheer disgust. They were friends alright, but they weren't gay.

The woman just smiled before leaving. Of course, she knew they weren't gay, but she wanted to clear the tension that had mounted between the two friends, which was honestly an intelligent move for a stranger.

"I am not gay."

"Anyone can tell that the woman was just messing with us, you dipshit. Remind me again how you became a police officer?" Nikita teased his best friend, who just laughed and told him, "the same way you became the chief surgeon ȧsshole."

Together, the boys walked into Qiao's house, bickering about who looked manlier than the other.. This would be endless banter, but at least the tension between them was broken.