Temptation

17 - Madden

The doctor comes out to tell us that he has managed the bleeding in his brain and he was able to stich the gash across the back of his head. "He's resting right now, and he could be in a coma from the severe concussion, but we have to wait. I cannot know for sure right now." Mara asks if we can see him and the doctor brings begins to walk us towards his room.

DJ calls Markus and Luke to come to the hospital to stay outside of the room. I guess Hero has a whole team of bodyguards travelling with him for whenever he needs them.

I stay back in the waiting room, but Mara grabs my hand and brings me to follow her. Entering the room, I get a wave of anxiety hitting me, remembering the last time I was in the hospital. I stare over the bodies of my mother, father and sister, all burnt, and the pain numbs my entire body. My feet stop moving before I cross through the door, seeing Hero lying there, a white bandage wrapped around his head and a black eye forming on his right eye, in a hospital gown, unconscious is giving me an unsettling feeling. I take one last look at Hero and run out of the room. Once I'm in an empty hallway, I slide down the wall to sit on the floor and bring my knees to my chest. I'm heaving for air and then someone touches my shoulder and sits beside me. It's Mara. "Sweetie. Are you okay?" She shouldn't be worried about me; she should be with Hero. "I'm fine, I just—" She stops me before I can come up with an excuse for my behaviour, as they all seem to do; "I don't know you and I don't know your past, but I do know Hero. When he comes into work with a smile on his face and he's happy then I know something is up with him." I stop her before she continues, "My name is Madden," she smiles. "I want him to smile more and I think that it's important you are here. Please, come to the room with us?"

Her words bring me back my breath and I'm not longer gasping for air. I wipe the tears from my eyes and Mara takes my hand to help me onto my feet. As I stand up, I realize I'm still in my pajamas, also seen to Mara as Hero's own clothes. Mara doesn't seem bothered by it. This woman stands in front of me and she is beautiful, she cannot be older than 45 years old, her eyes have few worry lines, her nose and cheeks have scattered freckles, her green eyes are very bright, and her hair is a very dark brown. Her words brought warmth and soothed me from my anxieties and her lack of judgement for my attire makes me feel much more relaxed.

I sit at the chair by the bed, while DJ and the other two large, muscular men stay outside the closed door. Mara has left to go discuss the accident with the movie executives, director and producer, leaving me the only person in the room with Hero. I pull the chair closer to the bed, grab his hand and rest my head on the bed. Hero's warm body brings heat throughout the bed and his hand wrapped in mine feels right. As I am waiting for him to wake, I find myself falling asleep. My body and mind are exhausted from the events that have happened today.

Three hours later, I am woken by a squeeze to my hand. I raise my head to look at my hand and then to Hero's face. His green eyes are barley open but he's awake. The idiot in me asks him if he's okay. He gives me a very soft laugh and makes a face as if he is in pain from the laughter. I start to get up to go get the doctor but with little to no strength he attempts to pull me back to his side. "Don't leave," he says groggily. "I'm coming back. I'm just getting your doctor," I whisper back to him. He lets my hand go and gives me a joking pouty face, quivering his bottom lip.

I come back within minutes with the doctor following behind. He explains to Hero that he has a severe concussion and they had to stop his brain bleed and finishing it off with 10 stitches. He explains that he is not to work for at least a month and after the month he is absolutely not to do any stunts. "Do you have someone who can stay with you and wake you up every 3 hours?" He asks and he looks between Hero and I. Hero says that he does, and I assume that he's talking about Mara. The doctor tells Hero he will be spending the night here and he will be released in the morning. As soon as the doctor leaves the room, the nurse comes in with some Tylenol to help with his headache. Hero tells them that he doesn't want any pills and refuses the medication; he chooses to suffer through the pain.

When the nurse leaves, Hero asks me to lie with him in the bed. I hesitate just because I don't want him to move and cause himself more pain. Because of my silent refusal, he is waving his hand at me and patting the space beside him constantly, so I couldn't resist. He didn't really give me a choice.