The soft shuffling noises of a nurse moving about my room wake me early, and I'm surprised by the heavy weight of an arm around me as I lay stiff on half my tiny hospital bed.
Walter still cuddles me protectively. The closeness of our bodies brings equal parts comfort and confusion. I shift and stretch, lifting Walter's arm from my side as the nurse begins to address me.
"I'm just here to take your vitals Miss Dietrich, I promise I won't be long. Unfortunately, your boyfriend will have to move back to the chair, so that I can check your blood pressure."
Walter is a light sleeper. He stirs at her quiet voice, quickly pulling himself from the bed without any further prompting.
My early morning thoughts are filled with grief and indecision. My mother's words and promises still run through my mind and I'm pulled back to Alex's broken expression as he held me. Then, of course, my mind drifts back to the soft words Walter spoke as we lay in bed last night. Words that should have been a balm to my aching soul, but instead fuel the chaos and confusion that hijack my thoughts like a stormy, consuming tidal wave.
"How are you feeling this morning?" The pleasant nurse interrupts my spinning thoughts with a gentle smile.
"I feel better after my sleep, thank you," I respond robotically. She nods and finishes with practiced movements, pulling the Velcro sleeve of the blood pressure monitor free, then pinching the small heart monitor clip to remove it from my finger.
"The Doctor should be in to see you in a couple hours...I'm glad you're feeling better." She gives a soft, motherly pat to my arm and a departs with a smile.
The moment she steps from the room I want to call her back, because I'm left alone with Walter and our giant elephant. The three words from last night that still hang in the air like deflating helium balloons and questions about what is expected of me after I leave the hospital are both discussions that I'm content to leave unattended.
Thankfully, Walter chooses this moment to stand. He places a small kiss to my forehead before speaking to me. "I need to make some calls and clean myself up a bit. I'm going to head out for a couple hours, but I'll be back as soon as I can, alright, Angel?"
I nod my head in response, releasing a sigh of relief as he leaves the room. The minutes roll by without reference as I silently rest in my bed and absorb the calming white noise of the hospital traffic. The hospital has its own unique heartbeat that ebbs and flows from room to room with a steady rhythm that rarely rises or falls. Instead, it gurgles and whooshes with a calming frequency, in and out.
"Morning, Princess," a soft voice breaks through my daze and I lift my head to meet familiar jade eyes. It feels strange that I'm not unhappy to see his face for the first time in nearly five years. The familiarity of his face brings me a baffling sense of comfort and my lips turn up in a tiny smile before I can remind myself to scowl at him.
His returning smile is like a breaking sunrise across the Pacific Ocean. Sparklingly beautiful, sudden, and bursting with the promise of a new day. The traitorous butterflies that take flight in my gut refuse to settle despite my condescending self talk and my breath sticks in my throat. It feels like I haven't seen that smile in a lifetime, and it consumes me like a burning fire, a reminder of everything I spent years fighting to forget.
For the first time since our argument in my apartment, I'm alone with Luca and he seizes the moment by seating himself in the chair beside me and placing a rough, warm hand over mine.
I suddenly remember to breathe again.
"Walter send you in?" I ask quietly, refusing to meet those jade eyes that make all my thoughts flee.
YOU ARE READING
Secrets, Love and Lies (18+)
ChickLitBeing in love with the sworn enemy of your family gets pretty complicated when your security detail is the ex that broke your heart...and he reports in to your fiancée. Add in a controlling and powerful father who is losing his grip on reality and a...
