Chapter Thirty-Six
ChapterThirty-Six
Riley
Rhys’ mouth crashes down on mine and my heart swells with so much love, I feel like I could burst. He breaks the kiss, extracts the tiny trinket out of the box, and tosses the box onto the bed. He grabs my hand, placing soft, delicate kisses on the inside of my wrist before turning my hand around and sliding the ring onto my finger.
“A perfect fit,” he whispers. His mouth fuses to mine, and he pushes his tongue through my lips, and they dance together. His hand slides up my face and tangles into my hair. A deep clearing of the throat rumbles behind us, and we hastily break the kiss. My father is standing there, looking like he’s ready to kill Rhys. There’s fire burning behind his eyes, his face is red, and his arms are locked together across his chest.
“Uh, Mr. Jaimeson, sir. I didn’t see you there,” Rhys stutters as he clambers to his feet. He sticks out a hand for my dad to shake, but he just looks at Rhys’ hand and scoffs. Rhys turns to look at me, silently asking me what to do, and eventually lets his hand drop. The nurse walks back into the room, cheerily talking as she enters.
“Well, Riley! I’ve got news about your friend —” She skitters to a halt. “Oh, you’ve got another visitor. Well, nice to meet you.” But I’m no longer paying attention to anything else. I perk right up.
“What about Elissa?” The nurse looks from Rhys and my family to me and her face softens a bit. My heart drops to my feet.
“Well, she’s okay. She’s in the ICU. She has a few bruised ribs, but she hit her head hard a few times, and there’s…well, there’s some swelling. The doctors had to induce a coma to give her brain time to heal.”
My world stops.
Elissa’s in a coma?
Bile travels up my throat, burning my esophagus as it comes, and I try to swallow it down. My stomach churns and my breathing increases; I feel lightheaded.
“It’s perfectly normal for patients who have major brain swelling to be induced. It gives them the best chance of recovery. They’ll lighten up on the medication in a few days and see how she’s doing.” Her words do nothing to calm me down.
“I need to see her,” I say, struggling to get out of bed, throwing my legs over the edge. The nurse rushes to my side and presses me back into the bed.
“Riley, please calm down. You’re going to distress the baby again. You can see her tomorrow. We can’t move you right now; you’re on strict bed rest.”
“Baby, please lay down,” Rhys begs. “We need you to take it easy. Please.” I relent, letting my body crash back into the bed, but folding my arms and huffing. They better let me see her tomorrow.
“Does her mother know?” The nurse gives me a smile.
“Yes. Her mother is here and sitting beside her right now with their family friend, Lana.”
“We brought Lana with us,” my mom chimes in. She steps forward and places a hand on my leg. “Don’t worry. Lana will keep us updated.” I don’t know what Rhys is doing — when I look over, he’s slyly backing out of the room, pulling his phone out of his pocket. But there’s too much going on in my head right now for me to focus.
“So, Elissa is stable?” The nurse nods her head. Phew. “Okay. But tomorrow I’m going to see her.” The nurse nods her head again and covers me back up before leaving the room.
My mom and dad leave for the night to get some rest. I gave them the keys to the apartment so they can stay at my place. Rhys snuggles into my bed, curling up beside me with his hand laying protectively across my belly. He presses sweet kisses into the side of my jaw and hairline. His kisses rain down across my face, full of unsaid words and emotions. Months’ worth of longing is spoken with every brush of his lips. He strokes my hair, and it feels so good to be tended to, to feel loved. He laces his fingers with mine and gently twists my hand so the ring is facing me. It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. I stare at our connected hands and allow myself to fall asleep.
···
The next morning, I spring awake and am slightly confused when I notice it’s still dark and gloomy outside. For a moment I think it might be too early, but then a new nurse walks in the room, turning on the light and bringing me breakfast. I shake Rhys awake and he mumbles something before waking up and sliding off the bed. He kisses my forehead and tells me that he’ll be back in a little while, that he’s going home to shower and change. He smashes his mouth to mine in a soul-stealing kiss that leaves me wanting more. When he breaks free, I notice the nurse is staring awkwardly at the ceiling and her face is beet red, clearly embarrassed by our passion.
“Sorry about that,” I mutter. “We just got back together after months apart.” The nurse giggles.
“No worries, I just wasn’t expecting that when I happened to look over at you guys. Anyway, here’s your breakfast. Let me know if there’s anything else I can get you.”
“Thank you,” I say as she leaves the room. I dig into my food, inhaling the bland hospital food like I’ve never eaten before. Baby is hungry today. I chuckle to myself, rubbing my stomach.
“You hungry today, little Kiwi?” I muse to my stomach, wondering if he or she can hear me. “Momma’s so sorry about the accident. I’ll never let anything hurt you.”
After I finish eating, the nurse comes back in with an ultrasound machine and clears the tray away. “The doctor will be with you in a few moments to do a scan.”
“Actually, do you mind having the doctor come in an hour, if you can? My fiancé just stepped out for a bit, and I’d like him to be here. This will be his first time seeing the baby.” Oh my God. My fiancé! I can’t believe he’s my fiancé! The nurse smiles sweetly.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she says.