The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

42 | a broken soul

• [ a b r o k e n s o u l ] •

♥ gabriel ♥

IF I WAS connected to a lie detector and said my nurse was ugly, the machine would be beeping like it was on steroids because she most definitely wasn't. Shanice was quite the opposite. I'd been watching her for the past fifteen minutes since the doctor had left following his consultation where he attempted to tell me in five different ways that I was still in Australia.

With corkscrew black ringlets and warm espresso skin, she was the definition of cuteness and couldn't have looked any better when she was hooking me up to some more morphine.

The only problem was that all girls seemed unappealing apart from one and it was truly a damn shame.

Dude, if somebody found out how much you dreamed about her, they'd put you in a mental institution. No joke.

I persuaded myself that it wasn't my free will. I mean, who could control their thoughts when under general anaesthetic? Nobody. Those painkillers sure knew how to mess with my head and loved to get stuck on repeat like a damn casset whenever they saw a sexy woman.

After squeezing my eyes shut, I blinked three times before looking at the numerous bandages on my chest and abdomen. I whistled lowly at the sheer number of wounds I had before lifting one heavy hand - that wasn't connected to wires - to poke at one.

It was completely numb.

"It's the painkillers. You won't feel anything for the next few days and you really don't really want to," Shanice said, looking through my records.

The white cloth had been wrapped around my naked chest again and again like a roundabout but some blood had still seeped through. Thankfully, I'd been knocked out when they changed the dressing and cleaned the wounds, otherwise, I was sure I'd have been screaming like a baby.

I'd be doing the same thing right now if I wasn't injected with chemicals to numb the pain.

"Rise and shine, Mr Reid. I've heard you've had a tough couple of days."

I thought it had been a couple of hours since I'd been at the Opera House. Memories of what happened resurfaced as I thought about those hooligans. I must have passed out at some stage.

"Days?" My voice came out as a painful croak.

Wow, how attractive Gabriel. Would make anyone want to rip their clothes off.

The nurse gave me a pitiful smile. "Yes, days. Today is Friday. You've been unconscious for two whole days. Christmas is in three days time," Shanice added for emphasis, her eyes shining in expectation.

I nodded unsurely, not wanting her to hear my terrible sounding voice again. My head was still spinning from waking up and hearing her say the word 'days' so many times seemed to have made it ten times worse.

Just as she went to leave my room, Shanice halted. "Police will be here to take your statement soon but in the meantime, your grandmother has been waiting since Wednesday to speak to you."

Nanna was here? The corners of my lips tried to lift into a smile but were still cut up from the attack.

"Gabriel?" I heard a familiar voice say as Shanice stepped to the side.

My eyes lit up as did Nanna's whilst she walked towards me, sitting down in the chair beside my hospital bed. "Nanna, you're here," I said falling quiet as her wrinkled hand rested on mine.

She let out a little sigh, her reading glasses dangling around her neck, "Of course, I am Gabriel. I'll always be here. You can't get rid of me that easily, you nutter."