Temptation

70 - Hero

My eyes slowly open and I am not familiar with the room I'm waking up in. It's very bright in here, and there is something down my throat stopping me from talking which is very fucking frustrating. What even fucking happened? Where the bloody hell is Madden?! I start to jerk around the bed and am stressing about the tube down my throat.

The doctors come rushing in because my jerking around in the bed is unplugging all the cords. The beeping, my anger and the rush of doctors and nurses wakes Madden and Tom up. I didn't even know they were in the room because I couldn't look around from the restraints of the tubes. The doctor is shouting, "Sedate him!" I hear Madden in the back, but she is very faint then all of a sudden, her small voice becomes powerful, quieting everyone in the room. "Don't sedate him. Just give me a fucking minute!" The doctors move out of her way, and as I see her small stature in front of me, I stop moving my body. She sits beside me on the bed, leaning over my face. "It's going to be okay. You need to relax. I got you." She places her small hand over my heart and her touch immediately relaxes me. I move my right arm slowly, pointing to the tube in my mouth and she turns over to the doctors, "Can we remove the tub?" She asks. The doctor nods his head up and down and signals the nurses to get his tools so that he can do as he's told. If I were him, I wouldn't try fighting her because she always gets his way so he was smart to listen.

The doctor does whatever he has to do to begin the process of pulling out the tub. He pulls it as quickly as he can from my mouth, and I have never experienced pain like this before. It feels as if they are pulling out my intestines from inside me and through my mouth. I'm gagging as he tugs at it and when it's finally out, I have a coughing fit. The nurse hands Madden a cup of water to give to me; I probably freaked her out from before, so she rather not come near me. Plus, I don't want anyone touching me other than my fiancé right now; I need her familiarity. Madden hands me the small cup; my dry throat craves the water as it hits the back of my sore throat and I chug the whole thing. The surgeon explains the operation he had to perform on me, tells me I flat lined, which is when Madden squeezes my hand and then tells me that he will be back in a few hours to check on me. The crowd that filled my room is now minimized to Madden and Tom.

I look over to make sure the door is closed before I ask any questions. Knowing that the door is secure and that no one else is in the room, that is when I start speaking. My voice is raspy, and my throat hurts a bit from the tub, "What happened?" Madden shakes her head no, as if she cannot relive the moment so I turn my head to Tom. "Mate, you were shot—Josephine shot you." I look to Madden for confirmation but because she cannot look me in the eye, I take that what Tom is telling me is the truth. Not that I thought Tom would even think to lie to me about this but the events he's speaking of are so unbelievable. "You don't remember anything?" He asks me. "All I remember is watching Madden take photos, some screams and Madden crying." Being told of the events reminds me of a random woman shouting at me, Madden was screaming at me and when I turned around, Josephine was standing there. Josephine did not look herself at all and I'm more than shocked that she isn't in the rehab centre I called in London. How did she get out?

Madden tells me the things I was saying to her when I was shot, trying to lighten her own mood. I have to laugh at the silly things I said to her but laughing hurts my side, where I was shot so my laughter is cut short. Now that I'm awake and talking, Madden tells Tom he may go back to his hotel and get some rest. Tom insisted on staying but I can tell Madden is holding back her feelings because he is here, so I insist that he does as she says. Tom shakes my right hand and then goes to hug Madden, "Call me if you need anything at all," he whispers to her then he is on his way. Madden seems to think people pity her because of what happened because more than one person has told her to call them if she needs anything. I have to remind her that these people she's speaking of happen to actually be nice people, which is hard to believe because most my friends are not nice; so, them saying these things are not out of pity.

We watch Tom leave the hospital room, closing the door behind him. Madden turns her attention back to me and I know she wants to let out the biggest cry now, so I pat my right chest for her to rest her head. She does as I signal her and lays her head on me; her body is shaking while she cries but she's trying to hide her pain as much as possible by crying without sounds.

* * *

The surgeon sends us on our way, giving me the go ahead to fly back home to London and being out of the hospital after an entire week is a blessing. The fresh air feels so good on my skin and I can only imagine how happy Madden is to be out of there. I am happy that Madden is finally able to rest after all this on the flight home; she's been sleeping on a hospital chair and having a few hours in the tiny hospital bed with me so sleeping on the private jet is an upgrade.

In the silence of the flight between ignoring Mara who is trying to fix me, I relieve the events through footage that is given to us from the MET. This footage has been deemed confidential and if anyone from the MET releases photos or videos will be facing an intense and expensive lawsuit. I bet all new platforms are doing everything they can to get these photos and images,, unfortunately for them, I don't think people want to be millions of dollars in debt so getting anything on the topic will have to come from myself or Madden—that will not be happening. Watching these images, I see that this is not the Josephine I knew from our first film together. The police manage to locate her and detain her while I was in the hospital and being her friend once, I decided not to press charges. Instead, my lawyers and the police worked out a deal where she will be put into a rehab facility then afterwards sent to a psychiatric hospital in order to better herself. The Josephine I once knew is gone; stuck in her intoxicated state she made a criminal mistake. Bad decisions I can forgive because I have been there once or twice, but this was a mistake on a whole other level. I can forgive her for her words but shooting me I cannot. Apologies cannot fix the wound in my side and it cannot dismiss the memory of the gala from Madden's mind. Friendship or co-stars in the future with Josephine is out of the question and it will be very unlikely if we are in the same room together again.

"We are looking into getting you a personal trainer who can help you with your injury and get you—" I beg Mara to please stop talking so I can enjoy the silence of the flight. Her voice gives me a headache and I just don't need this shit right now. She takes the hint and quiets herself.

I cannot wait to be home with my fiancé and finally be able to celebrate our engagement. I want to move on from this.