The Numbers That Brought Our Fates Together Chapter 173: Birthday Surprise.

He stood outside for a few more minutes, and then went inside. Paying no attention to anyone, he left the mask and gloves in the room and moved to the roof. This place was the only one where he could be alone with himself since all the entrances here were closed. To Rick's convenience, there were no closed doors for him.

He sat down on the steep slope of the roof and put his hand in his pocket, "Aggh, damn!" The man cursed himself when he found a cell phone in his pocket, which he had completely forgotten about. Rick ran a hand over his face in annoyance, making such a mistake was completely unacceptable.

He turned the phone in his hands and pressed the button, to his surprise, the display lit up and the desktop flashed. He ran his finger across the screen and made sure that the phone was not locked. On the desktop, there was a photo of a girl, the one that who called him Ninja-san. He, however, did not mind it and said nothing to stop the girl from calling him that. Rick stared at the photographs of the child and began to examine every line of her face with interest.

At that moment, the phone suddenly vibrated, taking the man by surprise.

Rick twisted his hand, the phone slipped and rolled down the roof. The man jumped up in fear and rushed over the phone, catching it at the very edge. Although, even if he had fallen, Rick would still rush after it to catch it in the air.

He sighed with relief when the little gadget was in his hands, the vibration stopped, and he returned to his favorite place. But his calm was not long, as the phone vibrated again, announcing an incoming call.

Rick looked at the display. [Daniel.]

"Hmm, this is probably the man who was with her in the hospital and then at the banquet," Rick recalled the scene of the kiss of Daniel and Corey in the dark corridor and the feeling of irritation began to awaken in the man again, the feeling that appeared in him every time when this strange man was near Corey. Although, who was stranger here, him or that guy, that was the question. In any case, Rick understood one thing, he didn't like it, he didn't like it at all when that guy touched this woman.

He was looking at the display and, feeling lost in his own thoughts, he did not even notice how he pressed the answer the call button.

"Hello," a gentle female voice from the phone brought him back to reality at that very second. Rick brought the phone to his ear and listened carefully to what she would say next.

"Um, hello?" Corey repeated her question, "Don't be silent, please say something. Hello?"

Rick closed his eyes, unable to answer, for the first time he heard her voice so close, for the first time her attention was drawn to him.

"I don't know who you are, but you have my phone. If you do not answer, I will count to three, and then I will hang up and submit the proper request to the police so they would start looking for the phone. Hello?"

The man continued to keep quiet, her gentle voice, so melodious and so tender, fascinated his attention. He wanted her to continue and never stop speaking until the girl began her counting and only then did he catch the meaning of her words.

"Hmm, okay. One, two, thr-"

"- Hello."

The words themselves flew from his lips before he could figure out what he did. Rick covered his mouth with his hand, the silence on the other end of the wire made his heart pound like crazy.

"Um, who are you?" Corey asked after a short pause. Rick opened his mouth to say something, but could not make a sound. He just didn't know what to say. 'Who are you?' Even he himself did not know the answer to this question. This whole situation, in the blink of an eye, seemed absurd to him.

"You must be one of the firefighters, right?" Corey suggested, taking off a huge load from his shoulders. More precisely, from his brain, which at the moment refused to work and issued a system failure.

"Y-yes," that was all that Rick could squeeze out of himself, surprised at the sound of his own voice. He felt his palms began to sweat from the strain. Even his natural voice betrayed him, and the sounds came out of the throat with some kind of squeezed creak.

"Phew, thank God. Thank you so much for not leaving my phone there. There are so many photos of my daughter there, I didn't even hope to see them again," Corey answered with joy in her voice, "When can I meet with you so that you can return it to me?"

"W-what?" Rick asked, his consciousness could not recognize the combination of the words 'meet' and 'you' correctly. "I asked, when can I meet with you? Oh, sorry, I'm probably distracting you from work?"

No one has yet spoken to him in such a benevolent tone. It felt very unusual for Rick and … very nice.

The man looked around, checking whether someone was watching him, and he caught himself thinking that this was impossible. Only he was so crazy to sit on a steep roof without any insurance.

"No, I'm at home," he replied, and winced at the word 'home.' Although he did not have a home, he knew for sure that this place was very far from this concept.

"Oh, ok," Corey hung on for a second, she felt a little confused, as if she was kind of forcing a stranger to talk to her. But it was her phone in his hands, so such persistence was normal, right? "You didn't answer where and when we could meet?"

"Um, I'll find you myself in three days," Rick squeezed a whole sentence out of him, and without waiting for Corey to answer, hung up the phone.

. . .

Corey heard the ringing tones in the phone and looked at the display, which blacked out after the call was over. "And what does it mean? How is he going to find me?" She put the phone aside and closed her eyes. The voice of an unfamiliar man was still sounding in her head, again and again, they were so alike.

Their voices, this man's and Rick's.

The girl was sure that she had forgotten this timbre long ago, but as soon as she heard his 'Hello', the image of Rick surfaced in her head, as if it were him. Corey shook her head and rubbed her temples. "So, Williams, if you continue thinking in this way, nothing good will come of it. All right, that's it, break. Enough. Six years is enough time. It's time to move on."

"And where are you going to move with such a fighting spirit, my love?" Daniel entered the woman's ward with several containers in her hands. "Will you take me for a company?" The man winked and gave Corey a charming smile. She once again thought that this guy was always irresistible, no matter what he did.

Daniel set the bed table on the girl's lap and laid out small plates with different dishes in front of her, "I didn't know what you would like to eat, so I took just a little bit of everything," he put the flatware next to the table and threw a napkin around the girl's neck so she wouldn't get dirty.

"God, Daniel, you are looking after me like I am a little child," Corey replied, embarrassed, and put a piece of lettuce in her mouth.

"No, dear, I am taking care of you since you are my beloved woman. And if you let me, I'll show you what else I'm capable of," the man winked playfully. He had made similar hints more than once, but Corey could not decide to deepen their relationship.

Daniel noticed a bright blush on the woman's cheeks and decided to turn away so as not to embarrass her even more. In the end, it was more important for him to make her eat well and be healthy, other things could wait.

Silently, Corey continued to eat her lunch, 'yes' and 'no' were fighting in her head. She glanced at the man sitting in the next chair and thumbing a magazine. His profile was so attractive that it caused a wave of goosebumps in the woman, the goosebumps that were ready to dance the cancan dance. Daniel felt a glance directed at him, lifted his head and smiled.

Corey froze and closed her eyes, 'Ah, headshot. No, this is a heartshot indeed." Daniel looked at the girl with a misunderstanding, her reaction was not as usual.

"Em. Daniel," Corey squeezed the cover on her lap with her fingers to gain a little more courage. He always raised this topic with such ease, but when she decided to propose it herself, she was covered with fear. But the girl was not going to retreat. "Let's go on a date together?"

Daniel's eyes lit up with joy, "Of course, with great pleasure! When?"

Corey hesitated, and how she did not think about these details? A list began to form in her head, the list of things that she needed to prepare in advance — lingerie, beautician, clothes, Ashley. Oh, so many things! No, if she spends too much time with all that, she will get scared again and give everything up. One day should be enough!

With these thoughts, the girl took a deep breath, "In two days. I want you to invite me to your place. And," her perseverance faltered a bit, "And, if you let me, I want to stay with you for the night. Here, that's what I wanted to say," the girl breathed out with relief. Phew, said it.

She looked at Daniel in anticipation, but the man just froze with his mouth open, the information received was too unexpected for him. "That is, you want to say that you-"

"Damn, yes! That is what I want to say! So don't repeat it out loud!" Corey was red to the ears, if Daniel had voiced her thoughts from his mouth, she would probably have a heart attack.

The man was silent for a few seconds, slowly closed his mouth and his lips parted in a contented and seductive smile, "Oh, Miss Williams, then I will wait impatiently."

Corey felt that her end was already close, if she were a cartoon character, she would blow steam out of her embarrassment from her ears, "Oh, you are a sly fox, don't look at me like that! Do you even know how nervous I was offering it?!" She pulled the pillow out from under her back and threw it at Daniel.

The man easily caught her innocent 'shell' and laughed happily, "Ahaha, okay, I won't!" Daniel walked over to Corey's bed, tucked her pillow back behind her and kissed the woman on the forehead, "I will smoke and come back," he said and left the room.

Closing the door of the ward, he leaned on it and covered his face with his hands. He didn't want people in the hallway to see an adult man smile shyly as a fool and shine with happiness.

Corey looked at the closed door and turned away to the window, her cheeks were still pink, and there was a joyful smile on her face, "Silly, you don't smoke."

. . .

Rick clicked on the phone screen, scrolling through the menu icons, he clicked on the gallery icon. A list of photos and videos appeared on the screen. He clicked on the very first and began to examine each of them with interest. Most of the photos were the photos of Ashley, but there were also her photos with her mom, and with other people he saw in the hospital.

'Beautiful,' Rick thought to himself, and Corey was laughing in the photo. He himself did not notice how he smiled in response to her smile.

The man turned the image over and hit the video by pressing the play button, he immediately plunged into the world of the little princess."Hello! Here's Ashley with you again, and I am shooting another video until my mother finds out that I took her phone," the girl was sitting in a beautiful room on a bright bed and was smiling happily.

'Apparently, this is not the first time,' Rick thought, continuing to watch the video.

"Tomorrow is my mother's birthday and I decided to make a surprise for her. But it will be tomorrow, and now I will say one thing: Mom! You are my best! I love you!" Ashley was radiant with happiness and Rick could not help smiling, the brightness and warmth coming from this girl were the weapons that made him helpless before her. He rested his cheek on his fist and waited for the show to continue.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ashley climbed on the next table, took the frame and unfolded it on the screen, "Mom, I saw daddy in the dream today, and he also congratulates you! Happy Birthday! We love you!"

The video ended, but Rick continued to sit with a stony expression on his face.

"Just…," he pressed the play button again, and the video started over.

"Mom, I saw daddy in the dream today-"

Rick stopped the video and looked at the screen. He rubbed his eyes several times, unable to believe what he saw.

In the video, the girl was holding a photograph of a smiling man in her hands, and this man was…

… him.

Rick felt nausea rolling up to his throat, he threw the phone aside and bent, his stomach cramped in wild spasms, but despite his wishes, it was empty, and only bitter bile froze on his tongue.

The man clutched at his chest, trying to soothe the wild pain that was tearing at his heart, his fingers were scrubbing the cold surface of the roof in panic.

He felt as if he was choking as if his body was refusing to function.

The picture in front of his eyes became vague, the man touched the phone with the last bit of his strength, pulled it closer to himself and lost consciousness.