Keith stormed into the emergency room, finding James sitting down with his head in his hands. He got the call just minutes ago and raced in the middle of the night to be here when James told him Janessa was in the hospital.
He couldn't believe it; he'd spoken to her just minutes before and now she was in the emergency room?
He almost broke his wrist when he punched the wall. It was all his fault again. If he hadn't been so mean towards her then she wouldn't have ran off in tears. It had been one complete year without any interaction with her and he thought he was doing okay.
Sure, he thought of her every minute and his dreams were plagued with the beautiful image of her face but other than that he was fine. His company was now one of the most successful international shipping hubs in the United States and the United Kingdom. He was featured in Forbes' 50 under 50 most influential CEOs in America. To be honest, he thought he was doing pretty damn good without her.
But when he got that call... his heart sank faster than he ever thought imaginable. A weird feeling spread across his chest and then he realised he was hyperventilating— struggling to grasp the reality of the situation. The reality of losing her.
He remembered when he was just a kid, taking his daily beatings and curses from his step father, Carter, when he vowed he would get out— become something and change his life. At the age of eighteen, Keith moved out without so much as a packed bag and never looked back.
He stayed at his friend's house for a few nights before he got his first job washing dishes at some diner. He never went to college— despite his football scholarship he had lined up. Keith was too eager to start his life and too eager to start making money.
Two years into the job and he was promoted to assistant manager. Then, a few days later he saw an opening at some fancy shipping company that needed someone to organize their files. He was skeptical at first but when he saw that the pay was much better than what he was getting now, he applied and luckily he got in. Something about being an assistant manager gave him an advantage.
He met James shortly after and the rest was history.
"How is she?" Keith asked once he sat beside his friend.
"The doctors are still with her," his eyes were red with tears. "I couldn't even tell Priscilla. She's so close to going into labour and I just couldn't tell her."
"I don't blame you. This would have only stressed her out."
"I pray to God she's okay."
They sat in the waiting room for what felt like hours before a doctor came up to them. "Hello, my name is Dr Nancy Valdez. Your daughter's fine but she hit her head pretty badly. Thankfully, we caught the bleeding before it could do any serious damage."
"Bleeding?" Keith choked out.
"Yes, there was a small amount of bleeding in the brain but we caught it and repaired it. She made a full recovery and is awake now if you want to see her."
James nodded and turned to Keith. "Do you want to see her?"
"I'm sorry, only immediate family." Nancy apologised.
"He's practically her uncle," James tried to reason with her as Keith winced at the title.
"No, it's fine James. I'm just glad she's okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
_________________________
Janessa followed the little light the doctor shone into her eyes. Her head hurt like a son-of-a-bitch but other than that, she felt fine. She remembered everything, despite the doctors worrying about memory loss. Her father entered the room just then and immediately she tensed up.
YOU ARE READING
Deadly Temptation (Book 3)
General Fiction"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." - Oscar Wilde (Book 3 of the Deadly installments. I would recommend reading the other two books first but I'm working on making this book a stand alone if you don't want the hassle of readin...
