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“Of course.” She nods and quickly writes down my blood pressure and pulse onto the paper on the clipboard. “If you need anything else, just push the call button.”
She scurries out of the room like she’s in a hurry to get away. I can’t help but wonder if something happened when I was passed out, but it’s most likely because of how intimidating he is. He commands a room, and it doesn’t matter where we’re at, that doesn’t change.
Thinking back on the first time I saw him at my father’s house, I was scared of him too. Of course, he was basically kidnapping me, so I had a good reason to be frightened. Looking at him now, I’m not scared anymore. I’m the opposite in his presence. I feel protected.
He might not be prince charming, but he always keeps me safe, and I know he’ll always give me what I want and need.
“You want to go for a walk?” Julian asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’d love that.”
Julian gets the wheelchair and transfers my IV to the pole attached to it. Then he helps me out of the bed, and by helps, I mean he picks me up and deposits me into the wheelchair.
“I might be injured, but my legs aren’t broken,” I joke.
“I know, but I don’t want to risk you falling.” He helps me get situated, locking the leg rests of the wheelchair into place. “You could injure yourself further, and after the last twenty-four hours, the thought of seeing you hurt again...”
There’s a faraway look in his eyes, almost as if he’s reliving whatever happened. My throat tightens, and my heart lurches in my chest when he reaches for a lock of hair and tucks it behind my ear. It’s such a small gesture, but it makes me feel warm all over.
“Don’t look at me like that.” The gruffness of his voice reaches down inside me and wraps around my body like veins.
“Like what?” I blink, trying to focus on anything but the warmth building in my core. I might be injured, but I’m definitely not dead. Turns out even in pain, he can still manage to make me weak with need.
Leaning forward, he gives me a half-smile. “Like you want me to fuck you. It’s not happening… at least not right now.” Those full lips of his brush against my forehead, and I shiver as he moves behind me, taking control of the wheelchair.
The warmth slowly seeps from my body as he wheels me out of the room and into the hall. His pace is leisurely like he has nowhere else to be. The silence in the hall is deafening, and I notice a few of his men trailing us. I try and ignore them, but that’s hard when I already know they’re there.
We pass a few rooms, but it doesn’t seem like there is anyone in them, I haven’t seen a single nurse or doctor pass by us. I haven’t spent much time in hospitals, but from what I remember, there are usually people milling about. I can already imagine him demanding that I’m put in my own private wing, away from everyone else.
“Did you scare the nurses and doctors into giving us our own wing?”
“Of course, I did. I picked the best doctor available to care for you, and two nurses are working eighteen-hour shifts to be there for any and every need you might have.”
“Why did you do that?” I croak, squeezing the arms of the wheelchair.
“Because you’re a Moretti and should be cared for by the best.” The deep growl he emits tells me there will be no arguments about this.
“I’m not your wife yet,” I whisper.
“You will be soon, and marriage or not, you’re mine. What happened changes nothing.”
What happened?
It occurs to me then that he never answered me. He never told me how I fell down the stairs. What was I doing that caused me to fall? Did he push me? Did someone else push me? Panic starts to bubble up, and the pressure on my chest mounts.
No. Julian wouldn’t hurt me, but someone else might have.
I recall the time someone tried to poison me. Did the same person come to finish the job? Different scenarios start to breed in my mind like cancer. I force myself to calm and take small shallow breaths, even though my lungs are burning, and my heart is racing out of my chest.
Staring straight ahead, I see we’re entering the atrium of the hospital. Huge trees canopy the air, and the sound of trickling water fills my ears. Sun shines in through the glass ceiling, making the space bright and airy.
Julian continues to push me into the massive area, and I calm a little when we reach a small seating area near a giant waterfall that drains into a shallow but large pond. Putting the brakes on the wheelchair, he moves slowly, sitting on the bench beside me.
