Hidden Motives

Room 812

My cheeks began turning red with anger and even a hint of embarrassment. I was embarrassed that Max had just made a fool out of me. Again. I turned back towards James and he said "I..I didn't mean to hurt you or upset you. I just saw him with her and.."

"James you didn't hurt me. He did. And he did it again. For the hundredth time. The only problem is that I know I can't escape him. I can't leave him. We are bonded. A purely toxic bond."

James looked at me with pity in his eyes. He felt bad for me. "Zara maybe it's not as bad as it looks. Maybe he..he is drunk or maybe she approached him."

"We told each other we weren't going to drink. We..we had plans after. And she was definitely the one who approached him. It's Scarlett. Kailyn's sister. Don't you know her?" I asked.

"Unfortunately I do. Umm tell you what. How about we get out of here. This isn't my type of setting and I'm not supposed to be here anyway. I hate the concept of fake ID's." James suggested.

"That would be great actually. Um, do you think you could take me to the hospital? I have a visit to make." I asked quietly. I didn't want anyone to overhear even though it was quite loud.

"Sure let's get out of here" James suggested as we exited the pub. I turned to look at Max once more. He was clearly occupied by Scarlett. He didn't even notice me leave. Waves of anger then sadness swept through me.

I walked outside into the fresh air. The cold hit me hard and it felt refreshing. Like a new beginning.

Once we arrived at the hospital I rushed inside. I had to talk to Maddox about Max. The woman at the front desk directed me to room 812 on floor 8. I took the elevator and saw the door. I took a deep breath before reaching for the handle. I had left James in the waiting room and he didn't seem to mind. This was something I had to do on my own. Someone I had to speak to on my own.

I opened the door and saw a hospital bed. I saw a body laying there. I got closer and saw that Maddox was still in terrifyingly bad condition. He heard me walk in and opened his eyes.

Tears rolled down my face at this sight and I said "Maddox how..how are you?"

He blinked again and said "Better now that I have my first visitor." He turned a bit and winced in pain.

"Oh my god..um I can help..don't move" I said while adjusting his pillow to a more suitable angle.

"Better?" I asked.

"Much better. Thank you" he sighed.

"No problem. Um, so how were your surgeries?" I asked.

"Successful. Ribs are recovering well after surgery and internal bleeding has been stopped. Now I'm left with some bruises and a nasty healing process, but I'll be fine. I'm lucky I made it out of there when I did. If it was a minute later I could've been dead. The internal bleeding was almost enough to kill. The broken ribs also were close to puncturing my lungs. That would've been an automatic death. It was just a bit hard to explain what happened. The story seemed far fetched" Maddox laughed. As he laughed it seemed as if his ribs were going to jump out, he was clearly in pain. It was hurting me to see him like this.

"Well, I'm happy you are still here. I can't help, but blame myself for what happened to you. When I saw you all beat up, I couldn't bare it."

Maddox smiled, "It's not your fault. When I signed up for the job I had to be prepared to risk my life for those who need protection. Protecting you is my job. As long your safe I don't care what happens to me."

I was going to respond, but my phone rang. I looked at the name. "Max" I sighed.