6. Nakyra
Chapter 6
Nakyra
M y day-to-day routine had been the same for the past week. I spend most of my day at the hospital. Rome was still in a coma and showed no signs of waking up. His condition didn’t seem to be improving or getting worse. The doctors assured me things like this could take time due to how sensitive the brain was. It still had me on edge every time I came here and didn’t hear he was close to waking up.
“Hmph.” I grunted when my body collided with another.
My eyes shot up, startled. “Oh sorry, I was lost in my head and—” I started.
“You should really pay more attention to where you’re going!” the woman spat. Her eyes were swollen and red as if she had been crying. Her light cheeks were flushed. She turned her nose up and pushed past me, bumping my shoulder in the process.
“Bitch,” I mumbled, grabbing my shoulder and rubbing it. It was clear she had gotten some bad news and was upset but that didn’t give her the right to be rude.
Continuing down the hall to where Rome’s room was, I was confused seeing his mom being held by his dad while they spoke with the doctor. She looked upset and kept wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.
“What’s going on?” I asked, cautiously stepping into the room. I didn’t like how it felt inside. The air was suffocating and dreary, as if I was walking into a funeral or something.
Ignoring me, Deacon continued his conversation with the doctor. My jaw clenched and I stepped forward.
“I want the head of the department in here today! I don’t care if he’s out. It seems you’re incapable of making sure my son is taken care of properly and that won’t do. If we need to move him to a more efficient hospital, then that can be arranged too. You’re dismissed.” Deacon flicked his hand and curled Marisol into him more. Both faced Rome, giving the doctor their backs.
It was clear the doctor was upset but he didn’t put up a fight. He turned and made eye contact with me before stalking out of the room.
Not bothering to try and speak with the Thorntons, I followed the doctor.
“Excuse me, Doctor!” I called out, rushing up to him. He paused but didn’t turn around right away. “Can you explain what’s going on with my fiancé?”
This time the doctor gave me his attention. He wasn’t the normal doctor I saw coming in and out of the room so I wasn’t familiar with him.
“Mr. Thornton suffered a stroke last night due to an infection that caused his blood pressure to spike. We managed to get his blood pressure under control and started him on antibiotics.”
My chest tightened as he spoke.
“Is he okay?” I choked out.
“He’s not out of the danger zone, but he’s stable enough.” His voice lacked any emotion, as if he was discussing the weather. “If you’ll excuse me.” The doctor didn’t wait for me to say anything else before he turned and walked off.
I was stuck in place, processing what I’d just heard. If this was going on I wondered why I wasn’t notified right away. Suddenly my shock turned to anger. My body grew hot and my stomach knotted.
Spinning on my heels, I stormed back into Rome’s room.
“How come you didn’t call and let me know Rome had a stroke?” I blurted out the moment I stepped back in the room.
“We knew you would be here at some point today, so we saw no point,” Marisol answered, not bothering to give me eye contact.
“I’m his fiancée. That’s something I should have been called about immediately!” I poked myself in the chest as I spoke.
“If my son wanted you to be the first contact concerning anything medical, he would have made you his emergency contact and over his care if he’s unable to make choices himself. But he didn’t. Me and his mother will decide when things are dire enough to make such calls.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as my nostrils flared while pushing out a heavy rush of air. “So what’s the plan now? The doctor told me they got his blood pressure under control and put him on medicine to help the infection.”
“The plan is to get the best doctor to come in and handle my son’s care. We’re paying too much money to have anyone but the head of the department overlooking his wellbeing. If relocation is needed, then so be it.”
“But is relocating needed? I mean doesn’t stuff like this happen sometimes, regardless of the hospital?”
“When we need another insight then we’ll ask for it. As for now, just worry about supporting our son.”
By his body language I could tell Deacon was done with the conversation. I gripped my bookbag strap tightly. I was told we should be positive and bring good energy around someone in a coma because they could feel it, so I was trying to keep things civilized with Rome’s parents, but they didn’t make it easy. It bothered me that they spoke to me like what I had to say didn’t matter.
Moving to the other side of the bed, I removed my bookbag from my shoulder, set it next to my feet, then stepped closer to the bed. Reaching down I grabbed Rome’s hand and gave it a slight squeeze.
“I need you to wake up. I miss you,” I whispered. My eyes went to his face. He had a tube in his mouth. His skin was pale. “You would hate that your facial hair is growing like it is.” I touched his cheek.
In the next couple of weeks we were due to meet with the wedding planner to finalize last minute details for the wedding. If he didn’t wake up by then, everything would fall on me. I wanted the two of us to make the choices together. Rome had been busy during most of the planning but he promised he would be here for the final choices. I needed him to keep his promise and wake up. While I tried to keep up a brave front, it was lonely without him around.
____
I was lost in thought, working on my latest illustration. My aids were off and I was in deep concentration.
Bella’s paw on my leg gained my attention. “Hold on, girl.” I spoke while continuing to focus on my current image. I had managed to get all my commissioned work done and was finally working on personal things. The next installment of my children’s book series was almost done, and after the day I had, it was the only thing calming me.
I was currently in the middle of shading when an hand landed on my shoulder, causing me to jump.
“Shit!” I dropped the stylus.
Turning around, my eyes widened, now seeing Creed in my office.
“Oh that’s why you tried to get my attention,” I said to Bella. Reaching up, I pressed the button on each ear to turn my aids on.
“My bad. I wasn’t aware your aids weren’t on. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He glanced down at my desk. “Oh, I messed up your drawing.”
“It’s an illustration, but it’s fine. I needed a break anyway.” I rubbed my eyes. It wasn’t until now that I realized how tired I had grown. Checking the time I realized I had been in front of my tablet for almost three hours now with no break.
“This what you do for work, right?”
I nodded. “Yep.” Stretching my limbs, I yawned and rolled my neck in a circle.
Creed stepped closer to me and glanced over my shoulder. “Nice. You’re talented. I can barely draw a stick figure and you managed this.”
I checked the current page I was working on. I had made great progress with it and was happy with the turnout.
“Illustration was something I’ve known I wanted to do for a long time. It’s one thing to draw, but it’s different bringing a person’s vision to life, especially when storytelling’s involved.”
“This for a client?”
“You can say that.” I tucked my lips into my mouth and averted my eyes.
“What’s that mean? You mind?” I glanced up and Creed was pointing at the tablet.
I shook my head and reached for my tablet to hand it over. “Damn, you’re really good. The way you started from a few lines and sketches to get the full picture is amazing.”
His compliment caused heat to rush to my cheeks. “Thanks.” Normally the only time I would let someone see my in between stage was when I sent the sketch to a client before starting the finalization. My personal work, however, I never let anyone see beforehand. I was a perfectionist and needed everything how I envisioned it before other eyes saw it, so I was on edge now.
When Creed handed me the tablet back, I locked it and set it on my desk. “I got so lost in work that I didn’t get to cook. Do you like pizza? There’s a good place close that delivers.”
“That’s cool with me. I need to shower first, but go ahead and order.”
Nodding, I reached for my phone. “Anything you want in particular?”
“I’m a simple guy. Just pepperoni is good with me.”
“Okay.”
Unlocking my phone, I was pulling up the pizza place’s number when Creed called my name. “You good?” he asked when I looked up at him.
“Why do you ask?”
He licked his full mahogany lips and shrugged. “You just don’t seem like yourself.”
Clenching my phone tightly, I rolled my shoulders back and sat up straighter. “Today was rough.” I went on to tell him about his brother. “Sorry I didn’t call you sooner and tell you. I just was so angry with your parents that I jumped right into work and got lost. They’re such assholes!” My eyes widened. “Sorry.”
He chuckled. “You’re good. They are assholes. Have been my whole life.” His shoulders lifted and fell again. “It’s fucked up that they didn’t think to call you and keep you informed. Rome’s gonna pull through this. He’s too damn stubborn not to.”
I sighed and my shoulders fell forward. “You’re right about that, but still it pisses me off that I’m about to be his wife, yet your parents don’t seem to give a damn about that.”
A gasp left my mouth when Creed grabbed my chin and forced it up. “Don’t let my parents get to you. They thrive off intimidation and power. They’ve been bullies my whole life and the best way to beat bullies is to not show them they bothered you.”
“I know that, but still. I hate when my voice is taken away. They should respect me more.” My grip grew tighter.
Creed’s stare was warm and comforting. It caused me to feel weird and my stomach to twist oddly.
“The reason my parents get along so well is because they’re just alike. They’re stuck up snobs and narcissists. They believe flashing their money around gives them the right to treat other people however they want. Growing up I’ve seen them easily disregard someone once they held no use to them. Rome is their golden child and when it comes to him they have tunnel vision. No one is gonna get through to them when it comes to him. If you keep letting it fuck with you, you’re gonna be miserable until my brother wakes up.”
Creed released my chin. “I know you want a say in Rome’s treatment but one thing you don’t have to worry about is him not getting the best care. My parents would empty their bank account if it meant making sure he makes it out of this a hundred percent.”
My brows furrowed as Creed turned to leave. The way he spoke about his parents was so impersonal, but I knew he was right. I had never seen parents doting over their child as much as the Thorntons did. As much as I would love to be involved in the decision making, I could at least be at ease knowing he would be getting the best care money could buy.