20. Chapter 20 Its Anyones Fault.
Chapter 20: It's Anyone's Fault.
Madison
He's not answering.
I place my ear on his chest, and there's the beating of his heart.
I want to take him to his hospital right away. But he didn't come with his car, and none of the construction workers did, so I call 911.
"Serves him right, hahaha," Steven, who has already been suppressed and tied up by the workers, continues to piss me off.
"Shut up!" I yell and try to focus on wrapping Killian's wound with his shirt, hoping it's enough to keep him stable until the ambulance arrives.
"Don't yell at me," Steven says. "I'm not the one who isn't man enough to survive a knife wound."
"He's more man enough than you'll ever be," I shoot back.
"Yeah, right," he chuckles.
"This is all your fault. You pathetic low-life piece of shit with no future nor important things, "I curse at him.
"So, you are capable of speaking that way? I wish I were naked right now so you can see for yourself what your words are doing to me," he teases in a disgusting voice.
"I'm just going to ignore you. The police will be here soon, and they'll take you away," I say to him and focus on my Killian. "I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, you better apologize to him. And me too, while you're at it," he says. "After all, this all happens because of you. If only you had responded to me properly in your DMs, or if you had followed me at that club rather than hanging out with that rich bastard, none of this would have happened. Mocking me in my face while kissing him just to toy with me was a bad move. If you had chosen me, then he wouldn't have died."
"Shut up!" I yell as I pick up the knife we took from him and make my way to him with the intent to get him out or cut off his disgusted tongue.
Someone holds me from behind. "Madison, stop," a familiar voice says.
I turn and see Nathan standing behind me.
"Nathan, what are you doing here?" I ask. I didn't call him, and I don't think Killian would have.
"That's not important right now," he says to me and turns his attention to one of the workers. "Help me get him into my car."
I watch as he and the worker get Killian's body into the car.
"But what about him?" I ask as I point at the disgusting filth that is Steven.
"Is he the one who did this?" Nathan asks.
"Yes."
"Does anyone else know what happened?" he asks.
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," a police officer says as he joins the scene.
Fortunately, he is one of the officers who are aware of the Steven case.
He sees Killian in the vehicle and looks at me. "Both of you need to get to the hospital. You can handle the questioning after."
"What about me? I have a bleeding leg, you know? The bastard stabbed me," Steven complains.
"Just be quiet, sir," the officer says as he cuffs Steven and drags him to his feet.
"Stop gawking and get in the car!" Nathan calls, bringing my attention back.
I thank the officer and join Nathan.
***
We arrive at Killian's hospital, and a female doctor rushes to meet us.
"I'm Dr. Stuart," she says. "I'll handle this." Then she turns her attention to the nurses, who are visibly worried to see their boss in a roughly bandaged state. "Someone call Dr. Ramone."
I attempt to follow Killian, but a nurse stops me.
"Let me through; I need to be with him," I insist as I try to walk past her, but she doesn't let me.
"Ma'am, you also have an injury; let's look into that first," she says as she tries to calm me down.
"The wound isn't that bad anymore. Let me see him," I plead.
"Stop making the nurse's work difficult and let her check your injury," Nathan scolds me.
"This isn't the time to…" I stop as I notice the look of worry on his face.
"Please," he pleads. "I couldn't do anything in Mom and Dad's case. This isn't nearly as bad, but still… I almost lost both of you today. So please, let her do her job."
I haven't seen him make such a sad face since the time that Mom and Dad died.
I give up and let the nurse take me to the room.
***
After patching me up and forcing me to an hour of bed rest, I'm finally free to go see Killian, who is still unconscious.
As I leave the room, I see Nathan making his way to my room.
He stops and looks at me and lets out a sigh of relief. "The nurse said you'd need at least three hours, and I told her that you'd only want to stay in there for an hour. I should have bet some money."
"You should. Would have made us a few bucks richer," I sigh.
He keeps a straight face, and so do I, until I burst into laughter; soon after, he joins in as well.
He hugs me.
Has Nathan always been this big?
I hug him back. I haven't hugged him in years, and this is the first time I'm doing so in many years.
It's a different kind of warmth compared to my hugs with Killian.
It's one of the family bonds.
"I'm sorry for being so stubborn and a handful," I start apologizing. "You've done so much for me. And I keep making it difficult for you to trust me. I'm really sorry."
"I'm sorry for being stubborn as well," he also apologizes. "I don't think I have been the best big brother. I should have treated you as a grown-up earlier."
"Don't blame yourself," I say to him as I pull away. "I didn't make it easy for you."
"You definitely didn't," he sighs. "Let's go see him. And tell me everything that happened while I was away. I mean everything."
"Fine, big brother," I say with a smile.
***
"That happened?" Nathan looks at me in disbelief before turning his attention to his friend lying still and breathing softly. "Why didn't you both tell me?"
"We didn't want to bother you. I thought I could handle it alone, but it got worse, and this is the result," I reply.
I told him everything about the Steven incidents. From the first night in the club to when I kissed Killian to get Steven off my back and other things that happened. Except for the sex scenes.
I just wanted him to know everything.
"I still can't believe you two kept it from me," he sighs. "I think the relationship makes a lot of sense now."
"Were you partly upset because you have some kind of grudge against Killian?" I ask.
"What grudge?"
"Like how he couldn't help you get a new job despite his connections and wealth?" I explain.
"Oh… about that. Killian actually tried to get me to work with him several times, but I refused," he replies. "He wanted to give me top positions in his hospital or pull some strings and get me a big position in any hospital of my choice."
"Then why didn't you accept it?" I ask. "You could have dedicated your time working there instead with a more comfortable lifestyle, whatever that means for a medical practitioner."
"Because I don't believe in using something just handed to me without me working hard enough to prove my worth," he explains. "Now I've created my own pharmaceutical drug. And Killian is investing in it."
"He is? How?" I ask.
"The building he's constructing is a branch of his hospital, but I'll be the CEO," he answers. "It's part of why I went to Singapore, so I could learn how to properly manage an entire hospital."
"I didn't know," I admit as I turn my attention to Killian. "I guess I have something to apologize to him for that and him laying down his life for me."
"About that…" Nathan starts to say and clears his throat. "I don't want to look or seem like the bad guy, but… I'm sorry about hitting him in your presence. There's something about seeing your sister half-naked with your best friend. That just does something to you."
While I feel like I want the ground to open up and swallow me up due to the embarrassment, I think what he has just said makes sense.
I mean, if I walk into Nathan and Gwen having sex, I'd want my eyes bleached.
"So, you're no longer upset about it?" I ask.
"I'm not. I just need to know for sure, do you love him?" he asks.
"With all my heart," I answer without hesitation. "And if the roles had been reversed in what happened today, I wouldn't have hesitated to lay down my life for him as well."
"Then, that's enough for me," he sighs. "I guess l don't need to ask him how he feels about you."
"I don't think you need to either," I respond with a smile as I caress his head.
I am at peace.
My attention returns to Killian.
I thought I lost him completely.
When Steven blamed me for Killian's near death, I only got angry because I thought he was right.
If I had not posted those contents in real-time.
If I had been more careful with how I moved around.
If I had involved Nathan and Killian much earlier.
Then, none of this would have happened.
I don't want to accept it, but everything that has happened so far is my fault, and there's nothing that would change that.
I can't help it, and I burst into tears.
"I'm sorry, Killian. I'm so sorry," I start apologizing as Nathan rubs my back to soothe me a little.