His Possession To Claim

Aria slowly blinked her eyes open, greeted by the soft hum of fluorescent lights overhead. She found herself in an unfamiliar room, the sterile smell of antiseptic lingering in the air. She looked around, trying to place her surroundings.Then it hit her—the clinic.

She rarely visited the clinic, so it didn't immediately register. But now, it made sense. There were medical charts on the wall, and the sterile equipment scattered around the room. And then her gaze landed on him—Jared.

Jared, with his perfect frame, was leaning over a tray, inspecting a surgical tray that held its tools. The sight of him like that caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. She couldn't help but stare for a moment.

Just as she did, his voice came through catching her off guard, "you're awake," he said, his voice calm but with a hint of amusement as he continued to examine the surgical tools.

Feeling embarrassed, Aria quickly squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to still be asleep, but it caused Jared to chuckle lightly, clearly knowing what she was doing. "Nice try," he teased, and Aria reluctantly opened her eyes, she was not expecting that.

She quickly sat up, heart racing. The reality of the situation was sinking in. She passed out during the race…her scholarship. How could she have forgotten?

Without much thought, she yanked out the IV line in a sudden panic. "The race!" she muttered, trying to push herself to stand. But her legs betrayed her as she stumbled backward, landing back on the bed with a soft thud. Dizziness swirled in her head like a storm, and she clutched her forehead, trying to steady herself.

Jared rushed to her side with a concerned look. "The race is over," he said, his voice gentle yet firm. Aria blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, it's over?"

He gave her a small smile, trying to reassure her. "Valerie ran in your place," he explained.

"Valerie?" Aria was still struggling to fully wake up. "But what about—"

"Yes, the school agreed to let her run in your place. Your friends begged, they couldn't possibly say no"

With an eased mind, Aria leaned back on the bed, but just as soon as she was about to voice out her thoughts, Jared cut her off, "We're a bit short on nurses. One bailed due to a family emergency, and the others are still tending the others on the field. So, I had to take care of you."

Aria's eyes widened with realization. Sure they were in the clinical phase of their education, but still he had to do it under supervision. Was she being sidestepped because of her poor background? It was a private institution and she had witnessed the partial treatments runned by the school system where the privileged were attended to first before giving a hoot about the unfortunate. So she wasn't sure how to feel about him being her sole caregiver. Should she be grateful he cared regardless? Nervous? Both?

She didn't have time to think it through as Jared grabbed a stool, setting the medical kit down on it. With steady hands, he began to inspect the injury on her foot, and Aria couldn't help but feel totally embarrassed. Here she was, looking like a disheveled mess—her hair a tangled mess, dark circles under her eyes—and he was seeing her at her absolute worst.

But Jared seemed totally focused on his task, inspecting her foot with the intensity of a surgeon about to perform a life-or-death operation.

"I saw blood in your sneakers when we brought you in," Jared said, not looking up from her foot. "So I took them off and found something else." His tone was calm, but Aria could hear the slight tension in his voice. "Someone is trying to hurt you".

Aria gulped hard, the weight of his words sinking in. She knew about it but hearing it out loud from someone else made her blood run cold.

As Jared carefully worked on the wound, Aria found herself mesmerized by his movements. His hands were so sure, so steady, even in the midst of all this chaos. He was perfect, almost too perfect. She was so lost in the moment that she accidentally whispered his name.

"Jared," she murmured.

Jared lifted his head, a small quirk to his lips as he acknowledged her with a soft "Hmm?"

Aria wanted to say something—she wasn't sure what, but something. But when she opened her mouth, she found herself hesitating. "I… I wanted to tell you something," she started, but then, Jared took out a scalpel, cutting the skin around the wound, the abrupt pain made her wince in pain.

Jared paused, looking up at her. "What is it?" His tone was soft but filled with concern.

"It's nothing," Aria quickly muttered, not wanting to trouble him further. Jared scrunched his face in disapproval, not buying it for a second, but he said nothing.

He worked silently, removing what appeared to be a foreign object lodged in her foot. As he pulled it free, he held it up to eye level.It was a time-delayed microneedle patch— more like a deadly one, designed to break upon contact with the skin. But this one… this one was different. It was automated to inject poison into the body after a few hours, a slow and silent threat. The realization hit her like a bolt of ice. It wasn't just a patch. It was a warning.

Jared finished cleaning the wound and wrapping it up carefully. Then, as he began to clear up his tools, the door suddenly burst open.

It was Damien with a warm smile, holding a bouquet of rose, with a cute pink bag loaded with what she didn't know yet.

He went over to Aria's side, checking her temperature. "You feeling alright?" His eyes peered into hers. " If not, we can take you to a real doctor." His tone was sincere, but there was something about the way he said "real doctor" that made Jared's expression harden.

"I'm fine," Aria quickly reassured them both, flashing a smile.

Damien set the bag down in front of her. Aria's eyes lit up. It was filled with all sorts of sweet treats—chocolates, gummies, the kind of goodies that could make anyone's day. Aria couldn't help but smile.

Jared, however, scrunched up his face. "All that sugar's going to make you fat," he muttered, sounding irritated.

But he was talking to a wall because Aria gleefully dived into the bag of sweets. Damien chuckled at her excitement, while Jared just sighed in exasperation.

Damien, ever persistent, asked, "when you are done here, can I take you home? "

Before Aria could respond, Jared interjected with a tone that was far too smug for her liking. "I already asked her first and she said yes" he said, his voice thick with jealousy.

Aria blinked, her brow furrowing. "I did?" she asked, not entirely sure if her memory was reliable.

Jared nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, you did. You must've forgotten. Where was your head at?" He said, ruffling his hair in with a cute grin.

"Bro, let her speak, she can do that for herself" Damien said with an angry glare, they both diverted their gaze towards Aria expectantly, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, Jared will be taking me home,am sorry," that answer made Jared smile like a silly kid but Damien raised an eyebrow, he knew there was something else to it but didn't push it. "Alright," he said, forcing a smile. "Your number then?" He asked with a hopeful look.

Aria couldn't possibly turn him down, but she really didn't want to. Just as she was about to cook up a story, he brought out a marker from his pocket as he flirtatiously wrote his number on her little hand, it tickled her causing her to giggle, but Jared looked unhappy, he didn't know if it was the number written on her skin or her stupid giggles, but he didn't like it one bit.

"Call me then, hope you get well soon!" He said getting up to take his leave. With another guy here, he knew he wouldn't be able to shoot his shot. He could sense his possessiveness.

After a lot of rest, Aria got better, ready to go home. Jared picked up her bag from the locker room as he helped her get to her feet. But her mind looked for a particular person—Jenny. She didn't see her throughout her stay in the clinic. Was she okay?

The ride home was awfully quiet but Aria couldn't help but do a happy dance within herself, she was with Jared, alone!!! Yeee!

When they finally arrived at the building she lived in, she found herself unsure of what to do. They stayed in an awkward silence before she gave him a hurried good-bye and picked up her bag to head inside.

But as she walked down the hallway, a strange sensation crept over her. Something didn't feel quite right. It was the kind of unease that stuck with her—a feeling she couldn't shake. Why was that?