Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Ian personally overlooked Valerie and Ryder's transfer to the hospital and sent one of his men with them to keep him updated. Although he had no reason to do so, he could not stop worrying about them, especially Valerie. Something in his heart made him want to accompany her too.

But he was bound. Ian had promised Maggie and Ryder to find their colleague, Preston and until he fulfilled his promise, he could not leave the port, at least not until he got some news about him. Ian was a man of his promises and he could not leave just like that.

"Ian....you," Maggie stared at the man, her eyes filled with distress. Ian looked exhausted. She did not miss the dark circles under his eyes and his eyes, damn. Her heart ached when she saw the red streaks in them. Just a few words from her and Ian had come with her to find her friends.

For the first time ever, Maggie felt like crying with joy. She did not know what she had done to deserve to meet such amazing people. First Joshua, then Valerie and Aria and now, Ian. Such amazing people and Maggie felt utterly disappointed with herself. They had done so much for her while she...

Ian more or less understood what Maggie was thinking at that moment and he just smiled at her in assurance. It was a smile filled with confidence and surety and Maggie felt herself relaxing. It was as though he was silently conveying to her that he would take care of everything. She had nothing to worry about.

"Take care of Deputy and Ryder, Maggie. I will visit you once I am done here." He patted her head as though she was a kid.

"No." Maggie shook her head at once and Ian raised his brows at her immediately. "Once you are done here, you are going home to your bed straight. You need rest and you will take rest. I will call your friends and make sure that you follow my words."

Ian let out a chuckle and sighed helplessly. "Fine, I will visit you after I am done resting and don't you dare forget what I told you. You are weak too. So, you too take good rest while you take care of your friends."

Ian glanced at the ambulance that had both Ryder and Valerie in it and nodded at Ryder when their eyes met.

"I have already detailed Ryder and Deputy's situation to the doctor. They will take care of everything. Just..." Ian stopped for a moment. "Take care of Deputy."

Maggie just let out a smile, not giving much thought to Ian's words. Even if he had not asked her to, she would still take care of her Deputy.

Ian waited until the ambulance drove away before he turned around and stared at the ruined port. A tired sigh escaped his lips and he pressed his forehead in worry. He was utterly drained and he had no energy to even search thoroughly for Preston amidst the mess. So, instead of doing it himself, he ordered his men to do the work while he sat on the ground, in a clean spot, not even caring about his image in front of all the people around him.

His eyelids were turning heavy and he did not know how long he could hold on. It had been one of the most exhausting days of his life and he wanted nothing but to sleep for days and forget about everything that had happened.

'Where are you, Preston?' He pondered and ran a hand through his hair. The ringing of his phone brought him out of his thoughts and he answered it without seeing who was calling him.

"What's the status, Ian?" He heard his friend, Noah, speak from the other side and Ian let out a sigh again. "Is everything under control?"

"I guess so," Ian mumbled, not hiding the fatigue in his voice.

Silence ensued for a moment before he heard Noah speak again. "What's wrong, Ian? Is something the problem? Did something happen to Deputy and her team?"

Ian was not surprised that Noah had guessed the problem right away. He let out a smile and looked at the sky that was filled with stars. "The explosion was destructive, Noah. Deputy is in a critical condition but she will make it." 𝘧𝘳𝑒ℯ𝔀𝘦𝒃𝘯𝒐𝐯e𝗹. co𝐦

Although something about his words did not seem right, Noah did not dwell much about it. Instead, he looked at Aria, who was deep asleep beside him, before he got off the bed and stood in front of the window that overlooked the lawn.

"It's Preston, Noah."

"Preston? Who is that?" Noah frowned as he tried to recall who Preston was.

"He is friends with Maggie and Deputy. He is missing." Ian explained and Noah's frown deepened.

"What do you mean by missing?"

"From the situation here, it seems that he is missing." Ian elaborated on all that had happened and the status of the situation and Noah's expression turned grim as time passed. It was already a stressful matter for them for they had involved themselves in an incident which they had no right to in the first place and now, Maggie's friend, Preston was missing. It was only adding more to the troubles.

"What are you going to do now?" Noah queried and turned around to glance at Aria. Once he was sure that she was still sleeping, he looked out of the window again.

"I have ordered our men to search for Preston. I just hope he is somewhere around here."

Noah did not miss the weariness in Ian's voice this time. "Do you need help, Ian? Do you want me to come over?"

"That's fine. I am sure our men will manage." Ian knew that his friend was not asking him. He would certainly come over if he did not assure him. "If I need help, I will not hesitate to ask you." He added. "Do not worry."

"Doctor Davis...." At that moment, one of the men came running to Ian and stood in front of him as he panted audibly.

"What's wrong?" Ian did not end the call and stood up immediately. "Did you find Preston?"

"No, Doctor. We found something else." The man muttered in between his breaths.

"What?"

"It's difficult to explain, Doctor Davis. Please follow me. You would want to see this yourself."

"Noah, I will call you back soon." Ian ended the call and followed the man and when he saw what the man wanted to show him, his eyes almost popped out of his sockets in shock.