Chapter 54
KAT
Pain.
Rolling onto my side, I draw my knees up to my chest.
Pain.
I stretch out again, my hand clutching my stomach.
I try to sit up, but a wave of dizziness has me dropping back against the damp pillow.
How long have I been here?
Another wave hits. I groan, before rolling onto my side and drawing my knees up to my stomach once again.
My stomach roils, and I wretch into the bucket next to me, only this time there’s nothing left. The dry retching sets my stomach on fire.
When did I last eat?
I cough, the pain worsens, and tears leak from my eyes.
I close my eyes.
“Kat?” a voice from my dreams says. “Shit, Pen, she’s in here.”
Someone turns me, I protest as another wave of pain shoots through my abdomen.
“Jax?” I croak out.
“I’m here, angel.”
Hands that soothe follow, running down my face, pushing hair away from my eyes.
I’m dreaming again.
I turn into the hands, but this time they are still there.
I force my eyes open, but they struggle to focus. I bite my lip to stop myself from crying out.
“You’re burning up,” the voice that sounds like Jax says again.
It can’t be him, I sent him away, told him I needed time to think.
“Pen, call an ambulance.”
There’s a desperation in his tone.
“It’s on its way.”
Someone grabs my other hand and squeezes it tight.
I’m cocooned in strong arms. Lips brushing my forehead.
“Hang in there, angel. Help is on its way.”
Bright lights flash overhead.
Voices talking in sharp, harsh tones.
Everyone sounds so serious.
Someone presses down on my stomach. Groaning, I try to push their hands away, but they stop me.
“Sorry, I know this hurts,” a strange voice says.
Then stop.
I want to scream.
Voices talk in hushed tones around me. Some I recognise, others I don’t.
A familiar warmth spreads up my arm, soothing me, and I lean into it as my hand is encased in theirs. Firm lips touch the skin, another hand running through my hair.
A forehead rests against mine. “I love you, Kat,” the voice says, before their lips touch the tip of my nose.
I try to smile, let them know I love them, too.
A curtain swishes. Other voices join the mix, speaking too fast for me to follow, as their conversation flies backwards and forwards.
“Scans.”
“Ruptured Appendix.”
“Potential peritonitis.”
“Surgery.”
I allow myself to drift off.
I’m so tired.
The pain is finally subsiding, so I switch my focus to the hand gripping mine.
The door to my room opens, and I turn my head.
“Hey,” Gabriel says, stepping into the room. “You’re looking better.”
Smiling, I place a finger to my lips, pointing to the corner of the room where Jax has finally succumbed to sleep, although his neck is at an awkward angle.
Gabriel nods, stepping into the room. He drops a kiss on my cheek before placing a punnet of red grapes, my favourite, on the table next to the bed.
“Thank you,” I say quietly.
He drops into the chair Mum vacated not that long ago.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, his eyes darting to Jax.
“Is it your turn?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow.
“They are limiting us,” he chuckles. “I think the doctors and nurses are sick of us all. We were pacing the corridors for hours while you were in surgery.”
I grimace, the Frazer family en masse, in full-blown protective mode… I feel sorry for the doctors and nurses.
Gabriel holds up his hands. “In our defence, we’ve all written healthy cheques to the hospital. Apparently, they’re going to rename the family room they moved us to in our honour.”
“What? Pain in the arse relatives’ room?”
“Ha ha,” he says. “But really, how are you feeling?”
“Like I’m floating. Whatever they’ve given me is quite something,” I say truthfully.
Gabriel catches my gaze. “What the hell happened, Kat?”
I shake my head and shrug. My memory is a little fuzzy on the details.
“I remember going back to the apartment,” I say. “I needed somewhere to think, clear my head. I couldn’t do that with all those people in the hotel.”
“You should have come to us.”
I grip the hand he has resting on the bed.
“You know me. When I need to think, I need space. We’re no different, you and I.”
He takes my hand in his and gives it a squeeze.
I drop my head back against the pillow.
“I was trying to work out how to save the company. If selling the chain would work. So many people rely on us for their living. If FHG goes down—”
“Hey, stop,” he says.
Jax stirs in the corner, and I glare at my brother.
He holds up his hands in surrender before lowering his voice.
“You need to focus on getting better. The rest can wait.”
I shake my head, and the lump that seems to have taken up permanent residence in my throat presses down. My eyes fill. FHG is my second family, as it was my father’s. We’ve let them down.
“I can’t ignore it. I have to update the board and give them a heads-up, at least. I need my laptop. I can video call in, warn them of the shit show that’s about to descend.”
“There’ll be no video calls,” he says. “According to Pen, the discovery of the files is currently on a need-to-know basis. The board don’t need to know.”
I open my mouth, but Gabriel interrupts. “Nothing is going to happen yet. If that changes, Mum will arrange a board meeting with Cal and update them if you’re still recovering. Until then, everyone has been told to forget what we know.”
I struggle to sit up, but groan as pain radiates from my surgical site.
Clearly, everyone in the family is in the know.
“Will you stop!” Gabriel hisses, pressing a hand down on my shoulder. “Pen and Elijah filled us in on everything. It’s all being taken care of. Concentrate on recovering, will you?”
I drop back, panting against the pain.
“Bloody hell, Kat, I thought I was a workaholic, but you win hands down.” He runs a hand through his hair. “You nearly fucking died, sis. If Lottie hadn’t mentioned your apartment, no one would have thought to look there.”
“Lottie?”
“She overheard Pen and Jax talking about the last place you would go. Lottie said your old apartment.”
I grimace and offer a weak smile. “It is the perfect place to wallow. Remind me to take her shopping when I’m back on my feet. I’m sure there are some additional art supplies she’d like, or maybe even a new wardrobe. She is a teenager after all.”
Gabriel rolls his eyes.
“What happened after you got there?”
“I remember a pain in my stomach when I arrived. I put it down to the stress of the day, or thought maybe I pulled something when Jax and I dismantled the wall.”
Gabriel raises an eyebrow, and I shrug, grimacing as it pulls my stitches.
“Anyway, it lasted a couple of days, and I didn’t think anything of it. My mind was a little preoccupied. I went to bed. I woke up in the night, and the pain was worse. I took some painkillers, but then it suddenly subsided, so I went back to sleep.”
“Let me guess. By the time you woke up, the pain was a thousand times worse?”
“According to the doctor, that was probably when the appendix ruptured.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t develop sepsis.”
I flick the intravenous line, dripping high levels of antibiotics into me.
“It was a close call,” Jax’s tired voice says from the corner. “The infection was spreading throughout the abdomen. It’s going to take her a while to recover, according to the doctors.”
I harrumph. “I don’t have time to simply lie around. I have a company to run.” I say, looking between them both.
It’s like they’ve forgotten what I do.
Sadie will be having a field day with me out of the way.
“Elijah has stepped in as interim CEO. He’s handed Frazer Cyber Security to Kris now. He’ll hold down the fort while you recover. Cal is by his side, so is Mum.”
“Great, so you all want me to simply sit on my hands.”
“Yes,” they both say together.
“Actually, what we want is for you to give your body time to heal.”
I harrumph again, followed by a chuckle from the doorway.
Looking up I find my sister-in-law standing there.
“Leah, please talk some sense into these two.”
“I wish I could, Kat, but I’m with them on this one. I want my children’s aunty fit and well. You gave us all quite a scare.”
The worry lines around her eyes tell me exactly how much.
I cover my eyes with my hands and groan.
“You as well?”
“Afraid so.”
She moves towards the bed and drops a kiss on my cheek.
“It’s no different from how you would be if it were one of the others. Look at you with Harper.”
“Does Harper know?”
The last thing I want is my baby sister worrying about me.
“She’s been on the phone every day wanting updates. She was here in the room on a video call while we waited for you to come around after the operation.”
Gabriel pulls out his phone.
“Are you with her?” Harper’s voice comes over the line.
“I am. Want to speak to her?”
“Duh!”
Gabriel chuckles and hands me the phone.
“Hey, rebel,” I say, as my sister’s face appears on the screen.
“Don’t you hey, rebel me.” Her voice catches, and she sucks in a breath. “You have scared me half to death.” Her eyes begin to fill.
“Rebel,” I say quietly.
“I’m not going to cry any more. But don’t ever do that to me, us again.”
“I’ll try not to,” I say, placing my hand over my heart in a silent promise, as she has always done since being a little girl.
“I’m holding you to that,” she says, making me chuckle and frown.
“Don’t laugh,” she says. “That’s going to hurt. Are they treating you all right, or do I need to come over and kick some butt?”
“I’m okay,” I say truthfully. “I’d love to see you, but a lot has gone down.”
Her face drops. She closes her eyes, inhaling deeply. My chest constricts, and I want to wrap her in my arms.
“Mum and Pen explained.” She stares into the phone. “At least…” she coughs. “At least I know it wasn’t my fault.”
I close my eyes as my throat thickens.
Despite all the counselling and support she’s received, she still blames herself, and I’m not naive enough to think my discovery won’t have opened a lot of old wounds.
I open my eyes and smile. “Well, you can stop worrying about me. I’m on the mend and have a lot of people nagging me to behave.”
“Good,” she says, her fingers reaching out towards the screen. I repeat the action, as if our fingers are touching.
“On a lighter note. How’s your job going? Have you won your grumpy boss over yet?”
Harper grunts, making everyone chuckle, but she doesn’t quite meet my gaze.
Interesting.
“Oh crap. I’ve got to go, or I’ll be late. I don’t need to give the grumpy arse any more ammunition. Love you, sis.”
“Love you too, rebel. Take care of yourself and speak soon.”
“You too.”
She disconnects, and I hand Gabriel back his phone.
Leah disappeared halfway through the call.
“She’s gone to get us some decent coffee,” Gabriel explains.
My stomach does a somersault.
“Fantastic,” I say.
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but the stuff they serve here has no punch, or flavour for that matter.
Jax chuckles. “You’re such a Frazer. You and your coffee.”
“Fine wine and good coffee, it’s what makes the world go around,” Gabriel says. “I’m sure that’s why Caleb is besties with Tristan. He delivers the best wines.”
“He just needs to befriend someone who owns a coffee plantation,” I say. “Tristan’s now supplying to the hotels you know.”
“No work,” they say together.
I growl.
“What else is there to talk about?” I say.
“Please, sis, that’s just sad,” Cal says, bursting into the room. “If the only thing you can talk about is work, you seriously need to get a life!” He turns to his friend in the corner. “Jax, you need to do something.”
Jax coughs and Caleb flinches, as he realises what he’s just implied. Gabriel chuckles.
Men!
“It’s not the only thing,” I say defensively.
“Name me one thing then,” Caleb says, folding his arms over his chest and lifting his chin.
“Running,” I say, mirroring his pose. I grimace as pain shoots through my stomach my hand moving to my stitches.
Caleb frowns.
My mind goes back to this same conversation I had with Jax.
“Oh, running, such an interesting and stimulating topic of conversation,” Caleb says with an exaggerated yawn. “Have you been running anywhere interesting lately?”
I throw a grape at him, which he catches with ease before popping it into his mouth.
He grins. “Thanks.”
Leah returns with a tray full of rich-smelling coffee. My mouth waters as she hands me the first cup. I cradle the dark liquid in my hands.
“Books,” I say. “I like to read.”
Jax chokes on the mouthful of coffee he’s just taken.
I shoot him a questioning look before remembering the book he caught me reading in the Maldives.
“That was a one-off,” I hiss.
“If you say so.”
“What am I missing?” Caleb asks his friend.
“Nothing,” Jax says, but his smirk speaks a thousand words.
“Was my sister reading a romance book?” Cal’s voice sounds incredulous.
“My lips are sealed.”
I glare at them both.
“For goodness sake, I picked it up in the hotel library,” I lie, shooting Jax a look that tells him not to contradict me.
He grins, running a finger over his lips, sealing them shut.
I scowl at him. “I couldn’t concentrate on the audiobooks I’d downloaded,” I add for extra clarity, making the others laugh.
Luckily for me, the doctor takes that moment to arrive, offering me some respite from their teasing.
“Ms Frazer, how are you feeling today?”
“Like I’m being picked on,” I say.
The doctor chuckles.
“In terms of your pain levels?”
My siblings take that moment to stand, each kissing my cheek before moving to the door.
“See you later,” they all say in unison.
I look at Jax, who hasn’t moved. I smile, and he smiles back, my stomach fluttering as my pulse picks up. But gone is the tension, the stress from before.
It’s then I realise with Jax I feel safe, whole, for what feels like the first time in forever.