Chapter 44
Max
“Fuck,” I muttered, opening my eyes the slightest bit.
The bright fluorescent lights blinded my eyes.
My chest and stomach stung with tiny bees, pinching their stingers all over my abdomen.
I groaned at the agonizing sensation. Fidgeting in my bed, I realized my clothes were gone.
I looked down at the hideous white gown covering my body.
“Where the hell are my pants?” I whispered.
I glanced around the room, catching a blur of a color and a silhouette sitting next to my bed.
“It’s alright,” my mother’s voice cooed. Her hands, soft and familiar, lay on my arms. “Don’t move too much. You’re safe now.”
Blinking to clear my vision, I met her teary gaze. “Mom,” I murmured, my voice scratchy from my dry throat.
Noticing the cracks, she grabbed the blue pitcher from the small nightstand beside me and filled the matching cup with water. “Here,” she said, holding it to my mouth. “Drink this.”
The cold water soothed my aching throat as I gulped it down. I asked Mom for more and downed that one too. When I woke up, I hadn’t realized how dry my mouth was. It was like having a mouthful of cotton. Even with the water, my tongue still tasted awful.
Mom offered a cup of chocolate pudding before I could ask for food. “The doctor said you can only have soft foods for a few days,” she explained before I could complain.
I was too hungry to argue. I graciously took the pudding cup and dug in.
Mom was quiet while I ate. She sat in the chair with an upward crease between her brows and a soft frown on her lips.
I hated that I’d worried her. There weren’t enough apologies in the world for all the stress I put her through. Still I opened my mouth to offer her one.
“Don’t,” she said before I could get a word out. “I know what happened, and it’s nothing to apologize for. You did the right thing, protecting Jayden.”
“Is he…is he alright?” My already sore chest tightened at the thought of Elias’ men catching Jayden and giving him the same treatment - or worse.
She nodded. “He’s come by to see you a few times.”
“A few times? How long have I been out?”
“You’ve been in and out for a couple days. Usually, you’re high as a kite when you’re awake. This might be the first time I’ve seen you lucid.”
“Is he still here? Can I talk to him?”
“He was discharged yesterday, but he said he’d try to get back up here today.” She cast a wary glance at the closed door. “Hopefully your father’s men let him through.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
She answered my question with a sharp turn of her mouth and the arch of her brow.
Right. Because even after all this, my father still considered him an outsider.
The door opened and one of the nurses poked her head in. “Oh, you’re awake!” She said. “I’ll go grab the doctor!”
Moments later, she returned with a man in a white coat. Together, they checked my vitals, assessed my pain levels, and administered more medicine through my IV.
By the time they were finished, the door was opening again. This time my cousin was the one waltzing inside.
“You look like shit,” he commented after the medical staff left the three of us alone.
I smiled. “I feel like it too.”
Chuckling, he joined my mother at my bedside. “Don’t worry. That new bag of medicine will knock you out.”
“Not soon enough,” I muttered. “Where’s Rafael?”
“Errands,” he replied simply. “He wasn’t too happy I carried out a few for him.”
Mom smirked. “But, I sure am.”
My brows rose. “Wait, you two already took care of the situation?”
“No. I just reminded them what happens when they fuck with our family. Nothing works better than a few warehouses of dead bodies.”
“And Elias?”
“He’s alive - for now. I know you’ve got a bone to pick with him, so I’ll let you handle that.”
Good, I thought. It was about time he paid for his sins.
I yawned as the pain medicine settled into my system, relaxing my muscles and slowing my thoughts. My eyelashes grew heavy, and I didn’t have the energy to keep them open.
“Get some rest,” Adrian assured me. “When we catch that asshole, you’re going to need all the strength you can get.”