30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rory
W hen we pull up at the hospital and I see Dominic standing at the entrance of the car park leaning against his car, I look over at Leo in confusion, and a spike of worry shoots through my body.
"Why's he here?" I ask.
He shrugs. "Beats me, princess."
I grimace at the nickname, and he raises a brow at my reaction.
Leo pulls up beside Dominic and rolls down his window.
A shiver passes through my body when Dominic leans down and stares at me through the open window before his attention moves over to Leo.
"I need you to follow me to my father's," he says.
The lack of an accent in his voice has me breathing a sigh of relief, but my shoulders remain tense, and my eyes are still glued to his face.
He looks too much like him , and my body is on high alert because of that fact.
"Why are you here?" Leo asks.
Dominic glances at me, then back to Leo.
"Had to drop something off for Jay."
Leo turns to me and smirks.
"Happy now? "
I nod, and a smile tugs at my lips, realising that he asked because he knew I was curious.
"Thank you," I mutter, collecting my stuff and letting myself out the car.
Rushing across the car park and into the hospital, I spot Lola walking towards the elevator and sidle up beside her.
She notices me next to her and immediately begins to tell me about some gossip that she's found out about some other nurses in another department as we get in the elevator and move up to our level.
When we reach our ward, we both hurry into the staff room, and although I am trying to listen to what she's telling me, I can't help but be distracted by my thoughts of Jaylen.
I think about him an unhealthy amount.
Even when I'm at home, he infiltrates my mind.
He's lit a fire inside of me, and he makes me feel things that I haven't felt before.
It's dangerous, and scary, but I can't find it within myself to care.
"See you later," Lola calls out, breaking me from my thoughts.
She leaves the staff room and I remain standing by my locker with a blush on my cheeks.
Quickly putting my things away, I make my way to Jaylen's room with excitement bubbling inside my stomach at the thought of simply seeing him, as if I don't get to do that every day already.
When I walk into his room, he's already sitting up in his bed, and instead of the usual hospital gown he's been wearing, he's dressed in a black fitted T-shirt that clings to his body, showing every sculpted muscle, and a pair of grey jogging bottoms.
"Morning, darling," he says, drawing my attention to his face .
His eyes coast down the length of my body as a smile spreads across his face, making a dimple appear on each side, giving him a cute boyish charm.
"Morning," I reply, completely captivated by how handsome he looks.
He runs his hands through his messy white-blonde hair and clears his throat.
"I got you something," he says, reaching over to the table beside him.
My curious gaze follows his movements and I gasp when I see a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his water jug.
He grabs the jug and pulls it closer to him, and I take a few steps towards the side of his bed, my eyes never leaving the stunning arrangement.
"I didn't know what flowers you liked," he states, looking nervously between the flowers and me.
"I thought you can't really go wrong with roses, and then I had some forget-me-nots added because of the first book you were reading since you've been taking care of me, and you mentioned that your favourite colour is light blue. "
A smile graces my face the more he talks.
The fact that he bought me flowers, remembered my favourite colour, and also linked them with the book I was reading warms my insides and has tears forming in my eyes.
"They're beautiful," I tell him, taking the jug from his hands and admiring the flowers through my blurred vision. "I love them, Jaylen. Thank you."
"Are you sure? I can get different ones if you—"
"No. I really do mean it," I add, cutting him off. "They're perfect."
He sighs and chuckles. "Thank God for that. I was worried I'd get something that you hated."
I shake my head, place the jug of flowers back down and then reach over to wrap my arms around him, giving him a tight squeeze as a tear trickles down my cheek.
"You did a good job. I really do love them," I tell him.
His arms wrap around my back and he pulls me impossibly closer to him.
When I pull away from him, wiping at my eyes to rid the tears that were threatening to fall, he frowns.
"They're happy tears, right?"
"Yes," I reply, laughing at his worried expression.
"Okay good, because I'd hate to have to hurt myself for making you cry."
I shake my head, laughing at how ridiculous he can be sometimes.
"So, what's on the roster for today?"
"Well, considering you're adamant that you're progressing well and seem to want to try walking, I thought we'd give it a go. So we're going to walk around your room, but you're going to allow me to help support you."
He smirks at me.
"I like when you get a little bossy," he says, pushing himself to sit up properly. "It's very sexy."
I look down to hide the fact that I'm blushing.
"If you can, swing your legs off the bed," I instruct him.
Slowly, he moves so that his legs are over the side of the bed and his feet are planted firmly on the ground .
"Okay, that's good. Now, you can either have me as support, or I can get you a pair of crutches for you to use."
"I'd much rather use you, darling."
My gaze flicks up, my eyes meeting his, and my stomach swirls with butterflies when I see the heated, hungry look in his icy blue eyes.
"Are you flirting with me?" I ask, stepping towards him.
His knees bump against my hips and he places his hands on either side of my body.
"Of course I am."
I laugh at him and pull his hands away from my waist.
"Enough of that. We need to concentrate. Now, I'm going to put my hands under your arms and I need you to hold onto either my shoulders, or the top of my arms, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
He does as instructed and easily moves to stand up, barely putting any weight on me at all.
"I'm here to offer you support," I tell him, looking up at him and desperately trying not to notice how close we are now that he's standing up. "Lean on me if you need to, Jaylen."
He sighs, but I feel a slight amount of pressure on my shoulders and I smile up at him, grateful that he's not trying to do this without any support.
"Okay, good. Do you think you're balanced enough to take a step?"
Instead of answering, he moves one foot forward and then the other, pressing his body closer against mine.
I move back a step, creating space between us again and continue looking down at his feet so that he can't see how flushed I am in this moment .
Having his hands on me is already hard to deal with because his touch sends sparks through my body, so I can't cope with having his body pressed against mine as well.
I wouldn't be able to think with him that close to me.
Clearing my throat, I nod my head.
"That was good," I say, blowing out a breath before looking up again. "Have you got it in you to do some more?"
His tongue darts out of his mouth, drawing my attention to his lips as he wets them.
"I could easily do about ten more," he says in a cocky tone.
"Show me what you've got then," I challenge.
Every step he takes towards me, I take one back, and we move around the room seemingly well, only taking a couple of breaks here and there for him to adjust and catch his balance.
After he's walked around his entire room, I can tell that he's starting to get tired and achy, and he's also leaning on me a lot more than he has been, so I move us back towards his bed.
When my grip tightens on his arms when he wobbles slightly, he groans in annoyance and shakes his head.
"I can do this part by myself," he grumbles as the back of his legs connect with the side of his bed.
Although he seems confident, I keep hold of him as he lowers himself down.