Chapter 56 Chapter 56
“What did you do, Maxwell? Where were you and Thorne?” she asked, the pleading look in her eyes catching him off guard. She looked ready to fall over again, her face ashen and fingers trembling as they clutched the blanket.
“We took care of something in hell. Demon business. I didn’t kill anyone, though,” he said truthfully. Her posture relaxed, shoulders sinking a fraction.
“That’s a relief,” she breathed.
He scrutinized her with a dark look in his eyes, attempting to find out what was going on with her. She wasn’t herself today—she had changed a lot after he had last seen her this morning. The woman on the bed appeared like a ghost of her former self, and he didn’t understand how she could change so much in three or four hours. He regretted leaving her alone.
“You’re keeping something from me,” he said. “I doubt that you would just faint for no reason. I know that there’s more to it.”
“I was nervous because of the interview and everything,” she said evasively.
“Do you expect me to believe that? I have never felt such a painful emotion from you before. Don’t try to fool me, Valerie.”
She fell silent and stared at the white blanket that covered her. Telling him about her encounter with Uriel was the last thing she wanted. It would only lead to problems and not do anything to help her at all. However, one look in Maxwell’s blue eyes sufficed for her to know that he was stubborn about this. He wouldn’t let her off the hook easily, but right now she didn’t want to deal with all this. Heck, she had barely been awake for ten minutes and was already confronted with so much stress.
“You must have imagined it,” she mumbled quietly. The corners of his mouth turned down instantly, and a dark scowl appeared on his face.
“I did not imagine it,” he countered, raising his voice at her.
“Maxwell, please. I can’t take this right now,” she whispered and closed her eyes tiredly. He didn’t reply, and the ensuing silence made her wonder what he was thinking about. She heard his steps nearing the bed and lingering next to it. Unexpectedly, she felt the mattress shift and opened her eyes to see him sit close to her, watching her with furrowed brows. An emotion flickered through his eyes, but it was gone before she could name it.
“How did the interview go?” he asked, surprising her since she hadn’t expected him to change the topic himself. It was unlike him to listen to her.
“It went well,” she said and smiled faintly. “I was glad that I could meet Jackson. He was nice and answered all the questions I had for him. I was a bit shy at first, but it was fine after a while. We got along great.”
“I take it you’re looking forward to the next interview, then,” he replied, leaning back and supporting himself with his arms as he looked at the ceiling with a hollow expression.
Valerie froze and stared at him with wide eyes. The next interview. How could she have forgotten about that? She would have to go there again and soon, too. The thought alone made her turn white as a sheet. She visibly cringed. This was very, very bad writing about Jackson and Regal Enterprises was a huge opportunity, and she didn’t want to let it slip just because her ex got in her way again. He couldn’t always ruin everything.
“I’m going to accompany you next time,” Maxwell suddenly said without even looking at her. His eyes were steely and slightly red.
Valerie let out a breath and relaxed. “Thank you.”
His head snapped around, and he looked at her with surprise written all over his face. “What? I would have expected you to make a fuss over it.”
“Well, I’m not,” she mumbled.
“Strange,” he uttered, raising his eyebrows in suspicion. He knew that something was up, but he didn’t know what it was, and it irked him. However, seeing how pale and tired she looked, he knew it wouldn’t be very wise to keep pushing her, so he reluctantly let it go for now.
“How long do you have to stay here?” he asked.
“How would I know? I just woke up… I’m guessing you chased everyone responsible away when you arrived earlier,” she said sarcastically.
“It was preposterous of those lowly humans to try and stand in my way,” he huffed. “They should be thankful I didn’t blast holes through their hearts.”
She gawked at him. “Um, don’t ever do that, please.”
He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, muttering something about how weak humans were. The arrogant sneer on his lips was something she had gotten to see quite often already. “If you need a stupid nurse before you can leave, I’m going to get one for you,” he said and got up to walk to the door.
“Wait. At least be polite, okay? Don’t scare them,” she called after him, but she wasn’t sure if it would make a difference. He was gone in seconds and left her alone. Judging by the distant yelling she heard, he wasn’t exactly subtle about what she wanted.
There was a commotion in the hallway, and not long after, a nurse came into the room. She had a clipboard in her hand and kept sneaking glances at Maxwell, who was walking after her. The woman was scared, and Valerie felt bad for her since she knew all too well how creepy that demon could be.
“Valerie?” the nurse asked when she came to stand in front of the bed.
“Yes?”
“I was informed that you just woke up,” she stuttered, visibly uncomfortable with Maxwell in the room. “Do you remember what happened? I was told you had a panic attack before you fainted.”
“Yes, that’s what happened,” she answered with reluctance.
“Did you by any chance drink alcohol or take medication recently?”
“No.”
“Do you have a heart or a lung disease?”
“No,” Valerie repeated.
“Does this kind of thing happen often?” the nurse asked and seemed slightly worried. She sent Maxwell a cautious glance before she went back to writing something on her clipboard.
“It hasn’t happened in a long time, and I haven’t fainted before either,” Valerie answered, hoping to get this over with soon.
“Are you done asking questions?” Maxwell snapped impatiently, causing the nurse to wince. She almost let go of her clipboard when she was hit by his smoldering glare.
“I… I… um…” she stumbled over the sentence and forgot what she wanted to say, flinching back suddenly. “Yes,” she squeaked, and Valerie had the strong suspicion that she just said it to get away from him sooner. “We will discharge you,” she said and hurried outside, her white coat flying after her.