21. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Rory
" Y ou're honestly a life saver. Thank you for helping me with these!
" Lola says as I hand over the paperwork that we've been going through together while on our lunch break.
"I'm sorry for taking over your time, and I promise, tomorrow, I'll treat you to a cheeky Subway for lunch to make up for it. "
"It's fine," I reassure her, walking alongside her towards the staff room. "That's more entertaining than my past couple of hours have been."
"Well, maybe you should go back into his room and see if he's mood has changed yet? Maybe he wants some company?"
I shrug, standing by my locker as I wait for her to put all of her personal things away inside of hers.
"I think I'd rather go and sit with Mr Krill again. Maybe I'll take my Kindle with me this time so that I can read some more of the book I started earlier."
Lola laughs, walking over to the mirror and retying her hair.
"I thought reading was a thing between you and Mr King. I'm pretty sure he'd be mighty jealous if he found out you were reading your fucked up little books with another comatose man. "
The door to the staff room swings open, interrupting our conversation, and when we see Markus walk through the door, silence descends through the room.
Lola clears her throat and slips past our boss, excusing herself from the room.
When he closes the door behind him, I realise that he's here to talk to me, and my stomach plummets to the floor as my heart leaps into my throat.
"There's no need to look so alarmed," he says, chuckling as he steps over to one of the benches that runs along the length if the wall opposite me. "I was just looking for you so that we could talk about Mr King because I've just been to examine him and talk to him."
"Oh, okay," I say, breathing a sigh of relief.
"He's making amazing progress, and he's fully able to sit up by himself without causing any further injury. He can easily support himself and I'd like for you to work with him on that, possibly try to encourage him to focus on trying to progress with the lower half of his body."
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Brilliant," he says, smacking his hands against his thighs as he stands from the bench with a smile on his face. "I'll leave you to get back to work then."
I watch him walk out of the room and my shoulders drop once the door closes behind him and I'm back to being alone.
Grabbing my Kindle from my locker, I walk out of the staff room and towards Jaylen's room, secretly hoping that he's in a better mood now so that we can go back to our little routine of reading and talking until the end of my shift .
I'm sorely disappointed when I walk into his room to see him sat up in bed, leaning against the pillows stacked behind him and glaring at the windows that run along the wall.
I stand by the entrance of the room, watching him for a moment and then I heave a sigh and walk over to the chair at his bedside, purposely crossing his line of sight.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, sitting in the chair and placing my Kindle on my lap, waiting for him to respond.
He pulls his eyes away from the windows and looks at me, showing me his tortured expression.
The sadness in his eyes tugs at my heart and my lips pull down into a frown.
Instead of answering my question, his eyes flick down to my kindle.
"You reading something new?" he asks, his tone gruff.
"I'll take that as a no then," I mutter, before nodding my head in answer to his question. "Yeah, it's called Bound By Secrets. You heard of it?"
He shakes his head. "What's it about?"
"Well, I don't really know yet. I only started it this morning, but my friend recommended it and said that she thinks I'd enjoy it."
His brows raise in surprise.
"Your friend live here in London?"
"No, she's back in Ireland."
"So, that's where you're from?" he asks, making me realise that no one knows that piece of information I just let slip.
I clear my throat and my eyes dart away from his, focusing on the Kindle as I pick it up.
"Not exactly, no. "
"What does that mean?"
"You seem awfully talkative now. Does that mean you want to tell me what's got you in such a sour mood?" I ask, hoping to throw him off of this topic of conversation.
Unfortunately, it backfires and when he smirks at me, I realise I've made a grave mistake.
"Let's make a deal," he says. "I'll answer any questions you have, if you answer any that I have."
I bite down on the inside of my cheek, nervously glancing around the room.
"Come on, Rory. If I ask something that you really don't want to answer, I promise to switch the question."
I look up at him and hesitantly nod my head, only because I'm intrigued as to why this upbeat, joyful man has all of a sudden turned into a grumpy bastard.
"So, where are you from?" he asks.
"Well, I moved here from Ireland, but I'm not originally from there."
"That's not exactly an answer is it, darling?"
I roll my eyes and shake my head, making him chuckle.
"I was born in Manchester, but I was shipped off to Ireland when I was twelve to live with my aunt because my parents died."
"Oh, damn. Well, I wasn't expecting that answer… I'm sorry," he says, cringing.
"It's okay. It happened so long ago now, and I'm perfectly okay talking about it. Anyway, it's now my turn to ask a question, right? "
He nods, scooting his body around slightly so that he can lean on his arm against the pillow as his eyes scan across my face and cause my cheeks to heat from the attention.
"What's made you sad recently?"
His eyes connect with mine and we stare at each other for a moment before he sighs and leans his head back, staring up at the ceiling.
"My sister, I guess."
"Well, that's not really an answer, is it?" I throw back at him, laughing when he playfully glares at me for copying what he said to me.
He smiles sadly at me and his brows draw together as his eyes drop to where my hands rest in my lap.
"When she was in here the other night, she got a lot off her chest, and honestly, everything she said makes complete sense to me.
I realised that I haven't been a great brother to her in recent years because I've constantly been watching after Sophia.
I guess I'm just disappointed in myself for not realising that Jess felt pushed aside and felt like she couldn't come to me anymore. "
"That sounds tough, and I know I have no right to say anything because I don't really know any of you, but you're appointed as Sophia's bodyguard, right? So it makes sense that you've had to focus on her throughout the years. Although I do understand how Jess could've felt left out."
"Used to be, yeah," he sighs.
"Huh?"
"I used to be Sophia's bodyguard," he says, looking back up at me now. "That's the other reason I haven't completely been myself. Earlier when I was speaking to Sophia about everything with Jess, she delivered another blow to my already bruised chest. Not literally."
He pauses and shakes his head as a glossy film covers his eyes.
"She explained to me that Leo has taken up my position as Dom's second whilst I've been in the hospital and he'll continue to do so until I'm back to my usual self.
Also, I'm no longer really needed as her bodyguard now that she's with Kaleb.
I know she didn't tell me with the intention of hurting me, but honestly, my heart dropped to my stomach. "
"Why?"
"Because for as long as I can remember, it's all I've ever known.
I grew up, knowing that when Dominic took over for Michael, I'd be his second in command, and once I took on the role of Sophia's bodyguard, I thought it was a set thing.
I felt important, you know? I felt like I was needed, and that I had a purpose, and now, I don't know, I guess I feel lost."
A tear drips down his cheek, and I reach forward to brush it away.
"Sorry," he mutters, wiping his own hands across his face to wipe away any remaining tears that started to fall.
"You don't need to apologise, Jaylen. It's okay to be upset," I tell him.
I gently place both my hands on either side of his face, cupping his jaw and turning him to face me.
"It's understandable for you to feel upset and to feel lost. You've had multiple bombs dropped on you while you're already in a vulnerable state, and I understand why you'd now be questioning everything, because as you said, everything you've ever known and planned for has now changed and I guess you don't know what to do to change it, right? "
He shakes his head.
"Do you want to hear my suggestion?"
"Yeah. Hit me with it."
"You're probably not going to like what I have to say."
"Darling, no matter what you say, I'm going to like the sound of it because your voice is like music to my ears."
I blush and try to hide the smile that creeps onto my face.
"I think you need to focus on the things that you're capable of changing at the moment. Focus on what you currently have control of, for example, getting yourself better and healing. Alongside that, you can focus on mending your relationship with Jess."
"I don't know if that's possible."
"It is," I tell him. "Firstly, she's your sister. No matter what happens or how many times siblings fall out, there's always a way to fix things, and I know that you're determined enough to figure it out. It might take some time, but if you really want to sort things out, you'll be able to do it."
He smiles at me and rest his hands on top of mine that are still cupping his face.
"Thank you," he whispers, his eyes dropping to my lips for a moment before connecting back with mine.
It's that slight movement that makes me realise how close we are and I quickly pull back, my hands dropping from his face.