3. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Rory
M y hands tremble slightly inside the pockets of my scrubs as I stare at the people standing before me, hoping that they can't see how nervous I am to be in this room with them after being told who they are by Lola – one of the other nurses here.
As I silently berate myself inside my head for being so nervous around them, the older woman stares at me, her brows drawn down into a frown as her eyes scan my face.
I gnaw on the inside of my cheek, praying that the make-up I applied to my face and neck this morning is still covering the fading bruises scattered across my skin.
"Of course we have no issue with you being his nurse," she says, gently placing her hand on my arm and smiling at me sweetly. "All we care about is Jaylen getting better and I'm sure you'll do everything just as well as Rayna did."
I nod, agreeing with her.
"Well, you'll probably be seeing a lot of us during your time caring for him, so let me introduce myself. I'm Louise, Jaylen's aunt. It's nice to meet you," she says, pausing as she waits for me to tell her my name.
"Oh, I'm Rory. Rory Daniels," I tell her, releasing a shaky breath as the unfamiliar name seems to echo around the room .
She nods, her smile still plastered across her face as she turns to the man beside her.
"This is my son, Dominic, and this is Jess, Jaylen's sister."
I glance over at the man beside her and gulp when he stares at me blankly. Lola's voice swims around inside my head as I stare at him.
He's only recently become the leader of the organisation, so there's really no need to worry about him. He seems like one of the nicer ones.
Nothing about him seems nice to me. His dark eyes, plus the blank look on his face, and the clean, perfectly tailored suit he's wearing has me wanting to cower in a corner and give in to the nervous tremors breaking free across my body.
The whole look is too familiar and it's causing my anxiety to spike.
My gaze moves over to the blonde woman that's clutching onto Dominic's arm, and she smiles at me with teary eyes.
"Well, we best get going," Louise announces, nudging Dominic in the side. "I'll most likely see you again soon, Rory."
I step to the side, letting them pass me and as soon as I hear the door shut, I sigh in relief and take my sweaty hands from my pockets, smoothing them down the trousers of my scrubs.
In through your nose. Out through your mouth.
I repeat that in my head a few times as I breathe deeply, following the instructions in my head until my heart settles back to its normal rate inside my chest.
Once I've calmed down, I shake my head and scoff at my own reaction.
"Get a fucking grip, Rory," I hiss, squeezing my eyes shut as I talk to myself. "We're meant to be moving past this. We're perfectly fine, and we're safe here. "
The chime of my phone causes me to jump and my eyes snap open as I hurriedly pull it from my pocket.
Chrissie:
How's your first day going so far, honey?
Rory:
It's going okay. Almost had a mini heart attack a minute ago though because of a patient I've been assigned to.
Will call and update you later.
I smile down at my phone as I re-read the text from Chrissie before pocketing it.
Christine was my old boss at the hospital I worked in before coming to London. We'd become best friends during the five years that I worked with her, despite the fact that she was my superior.
She's the sweetest woman I've ever met, and she took me under her wing as soon as I started. She taught me everything I know, and after spending almost every day with the woman for years, we became close.
She also knows about everything that was happening back in Ireland.
As soon as she found out about my situation, she helped me. She managed to transfer me to this hospital without leaving a trail, she also helped me legally change my name, found me a place to live, and then she moved me here without anyone knowing.
I guess things like that are easy when you're married to the consigliere of the Irish Mafia.
Christine saved my life and I'll never be able to repay her for that .
I run my fingers through my hair, take another deep breath and then turn my gaze to the man lying in the hospital bed in the middle of the room, taking in his partially bruised face and dishevelled, unruly blonde hair.
He lies so still, and despite the fact that he's probably in pain, his face looks so peaceful.
I step closer, my eyes scanning his face, and my lips tilt up.
He looks sweet, like the kind of man that would compliment you every day and shower you with gifts every chance he gets. He seems like he'd take care of the people he loves.
He doesn't look like the kind of man that would ever cause anyone any harm.
I shake my head, tearing my eyes away from his handsome face and walk over to the end of his bed, grabbing his chart.
He may look like he's sweet and kind, but I know looks can be deceiving.
Besides, he's part of the Mafia, and if Lola was telling the truth earlier, then Jaylen King is the new second-in-command to the new boss.
I know what Mafia men are like.
I wasted years of my life with one.
Breaking out of my thoughts, I read through the notes on his chart and then flip the paper over to see when he was last checked on and what needs to be done before I can move on to the only other patient they've assigned me to.
Seeing that his daily checks haven't been done yet, I put his chart back and then walk over to his bedside and pull down the blanket that's tucked around him .
I pull the stethoscope from around my neck and put the earpieces in my ears. I untie one of the straps from the hospital gown at the top of his shoulder and pull the material down until his chest is revealed to me.
My eyes drop to the faint bruises scattered across his skin and the thick bandage wrapped around his body, and my teeth sink into my bottom lip to keep my emotions at bay so that I can focus on my job and not get lost inside my head.
"This might be a little cold," I say, lowering the chest piece onto his skin.
When I realise I just said that to a comatose patient who most likely has no idea what's going on, I can't help but giggle at myself as I move the stethoscope around his chest, listening to his heart and lungs.
"Jesus, Rory. You're losing your mind."
Once I conclude that his breathing is fine, I wrap the stethoscope back around my neck and then move his gown pack into place, covering his chest before pulling out my penlight and gently lifting his eyelid, shining the light at his eyes whilst checking his pupillary responses.
"Is there any change?"
A shriek escapes me, and I jump away from the bed, swivelling towards the doorway of the hospital room to find a blonde woman staring at me in shock.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you!" she rushes out, walking over to me with her hands stretched out in front of her.
"It's fine," I tell her, holding my hand against my chest as I try to calm my racing heart. "I must've been wrapped up in my head because I didn't hear the door open. "
She smiles softly and stops at the bottom of the bed, her eyes drifting away from me and to the man laid in the bed beside me.
She stares at him with sadness in her eyes and I notice her hands twiddling together in front of her.
"I'll only be a few more minutes and then I'll be out of your hair," I say, feeling like I'm intruding.
She nods and moves over to the chair beside the bed, placing her handbag on the floor and resting her hands in her lap as she stares at Jaylen with concern.
I wonder who she is to him.
A relative? Possibly a girlfriend?
It's not of your business, Aurora.
Shaking my head, I grab his chart again, writing down my notes and then I carefully walk around the bed and check his IV.
"You're the new nurse, right?"
I turn to face her, nodding my head as I see her blue eyes curiously scanning my face.
"My mum called to tell me you'd been assigned as his new nurse," she states, smiling at me again. "I'm Sophia, Jaylen's cousin."
Okay, so she's a relative… Interesting.
"I'm Rory," I tell her.
My fingers awkwardly fiddle with the line in my hands as I glance back and forth between her and IV bag.
"Rayna's going on maternity leave this week, so other nurses have been appointed to care for her patients whilst she's gone. I've been given the responsibility of looking after Jaylen, but as I said to your mother, if it's an issue, I'm sure something else could be sorted out for him. "
She shakes her head and chuckles softly.
"There's no issue. In all honesty, if Jaylen could see how beautiful you are, I'm sure he'd be praising the doctor that chose for you to take him on."
My cheeks heat and I face away from her, checking the line in his arm and busying myself with taking off the tape and replacing it seeing as it hasn't been done for a few days.
"Is there any change today?" she asks, reminding me that she already asked that question, but I didn't answer because we were both side-tracked by her making me jump.
I shake my head and feel a pang of guilt shoot through me when she frowns.
"As far as I'm aware by looking at his charts and assessing him, there's no—" I pause when I feel something grip my hand and I look down to where it's resting on the side of the bed to see Jaylen's hand wrapped tightly around mine.
Sophia gasps and stands from her chair, staring at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
"That's something new," she whispers. "That's a good sign, right? That's classed as movement, right?"
My heart beats wildly in my chest and panic begins to rise when I attempt to pull my hand from his grip but find that I can't release his hold from me.
"Should I get a doctor?" Sophia asks, her eyes frantically darting between the door, my face, and mine and Jaylen's connected hands.
I immediately nod my head and watch as she hurries out the room in search of a doctor .
My chest heaves as I allow my panicked breathes to flow freely out of me whilst I quickly try to dislodge my hand from his grip, still to no avail.
Tears prick at my eyes, and I squeeze them shut, digging my nails into the palm of my hand that isn't in his grasp, trying to calm myself down before Sophia returns.
It's my first day on the job, I can't be seen by a patients family member or a staff member when I'm like this. They'll realise that I'm an emotional wreck and then they'll probably have questions about why, or they'll think I can't do my job and then I'll be fired.
What am I meant to do if I get fired?
My eyes snap open when I feel Jaylen's hand lightly squeeze mine and when my gaze crashes with his, a ragged gasp escapes me and every muscle in my body freezes up.
His eyes are open.
He's staring at me.
His deep blue eyes are burning into mine, seemingly dragging me into the depths.
"Jaylen?"
Surprisingly, my voice is strong and clear when I say his name.
A tremor moves through my body as he continues to stare into my soul, unmoving and unresponsive.
"Jaylen? Can you hear me?"