Chapter 167 Chapter 167

Chapter 167 Chapter 167
Kai finished most of the soup before he set the container back on the nightstand. He didn’t rush it, he ate slowly, the way someone did when their body was still catching up to being fully awake, and Mia stayed where she was beside him, her shoulder against his, the boot carefully angled so it wouldn’t knock into his leg. The room was quiet except for the soft sound of the spoon and the distant hum of the house. Afternoon light had shifted across the floor by the time he was done. He leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes for a second.
   “Your mother can cook,” he said.
  “She can.” Mia watched his face. “How much of the last few days do you actually remember?”
   Kai kept his eyes closed. “Pieces, coming back from the track and being tired in a way that felt heavier than usual. Then Veronica at the door. I remember her talking about sleep and stress and how I looked like I was running on nothing. I remember taking what she offered. After that it gets soft around the edges. Victoria’s voice and someone checking my pulse. Your name a few times and then longer stretches of nothing.”
   “She shouldn’t have been in this house.”
   “I know.” He opened his eyes and turned his head toward her. “Security has already had that conversation with me. Victoria had it louder. It won’t happen again. The protocols are different now. She doesn’t get past the outer gate for any reason.”
   Mia nodded, but the tension in her shoulders didn’t fully leave. “I kept calling, the first day you were offline I told myself it was nothing. By the second day I was checking every hour. Sophia finally made Victoria send someone to the house because I was sitting in my parents’ kitchen losing my mind.”
   “I know that too.” His hand found hers again on top of the blanket. “Victoria told me when I was clear enough to understand it. You were stuck in a storm with a broken leg and I was here under something I shouldn’t have taken, that’s not a version of events I like.”
   “It’s not a version I liked either.”
They sat with that for a moment. Outside, a bird called once and went quiet. The mansion felt unusually still, as if the staff had been instructed to give the upstairs a wide berth.
   Kai’s thumb moved across her knuckles. “Tell me about the leg.”
   “We went hiking on the last full day. My dad, my mom, Sophia, me. It was good and easy. We were coming back down and I stepped wrong on loose dirt. The boot is temporary and the break is clean. It’ll heal if I don’t do anything stupid.”
   “Like opening the front door in the middle of the night to a stranger because you thought it was me?”
   Mia’s head snapped toward him. “How do you know about that?”
   “Sophia.” The corner of his mouth moved. “She texted Victoria a short version. Victoria told me this morning when I asked why you looked more tired than a broken leg explained. You thought a man outside your parents’ house was me and you went out there alone.”
    She looked away, heat climbing into her face. “I was half-asleep. I saw a silhouette and my brain filled in the wrong answer.”
   “You were worried enough that a shadow looked like me.”
   “Don’t make it sound soft. It was stupid.”
“It was both.” He waited until she looked at him again. “I’m not going to lecture you. Your father already did that part. I’m just saying I understand why it happened. And I’m saying you don’t have to carry the whole stretch of those days like you were the only one waiting for the other person to surface.”

Mia exhaled slowly. The confession sat between them, less sharp now that it was out. She shifted slightly against the pillows, careful with the boot, and let her head rest a little closer to his shoulder.
    “My parents were good to me,” she said. “Even when I was snapping at everyone the morning after the lipstick thing. Even when the storm trapped us. My dad read us old stories during the thunder, my mom kept making food like it was the only problem she could solve. Sophia refused to leave me alone with my own head for too long. It helped. It just didn’t stop me from wanting to be here instead.”
   Kai’s arm settled along the back of the headboard behind her. Not fully around her, but close enough that she could feel the warmth of him. “I kept coming out of the sleep and reaching for the phone,” he said. “Half the time I couldn’t make my hands work the way I wanted. The other half I’d get as far as your name and then it would pull me under again. It’s an ugly feeling. Knowing people are trying to reach you and not being able to answer.”
   “You’re answering now.”
   “I’m trying.”

A soft knock sounded at the door. Victoria stepped in without waiting for a reply, tablet in hand, eyes moving quickly over both of them as if conducting a quiet inventory.
   “The doctor called,” she said. “He wants another check-in this evening to confirm the last of the medication has cleared. You’ll need to be available for that. Mia, the medical team on the property can look at the boot and the swelling if you want a second opinion while you’re here. I’ve already told them you might ask.”
   Mia nodded. “Maybe later.”
   Victoria’s gaze flicked to the empty soup container. “I’ll take that and I’ll have proper food sent up in a couple of hours. Nothing heavy.” She paused. “The calendar is clear for the rest of today. Tomorrow we reassess, no appearances, or calls you don’t specifically approve, and no visitors. The house stays quiet until both of you are actually steady.”
   Kai’s voice was dry. “Appreciated.”
   Victoria almost smiled. “I’ll be downstairs. Use the intercom if either of you needs anything.” She left, closing the door most of the way behind her. The quiet returned, thicker this time. Mia stared at the closed door for a second. 
   “She’s being careful with us.”
   “She’s being practical, tired people make expensive mistakes. She’s seen enough of those for one week.” Kai shifted so he was facing her more fully. “How bad is the pain? Honestly.”
  “It’s there, It gets louder when I’ve been on it too long. Sitting helps, and elevating helps. I can manage.”
   “You’ll manage better if you stop trying to prove you can walk through the whole house on the first day back.”
   “I’m not planning a tour.”
  “Sure Sure.” His eyes moved over her face, slower now. “You look like you haven’t slept properly in days.”
  “You’re one to talk.”
   “I’m serious.” He reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek with the back of his fingers. The touch was light, almost testing. “Stay here this afternoon and sleep if you can. I’ll be right here doing the same thing. We can deal with the rest of the world when we’re both less wrecked.”
Mia looked at him the tiredness still sitting in his features, the steadiness underneath it, the way he was watching her like she was the first clear thing he had managed to hold onto since the medication started to lift. The anxiety that had followed her through the gates had settled into something quieter. 
   “Okay,” she said.
   “Okay.”
She carefully adjusted the pillows behind her and settled lower against them, the boot resting on a folded blanket he pulled into place without being asked. Kai stayed beside her, close enough that she could feel the rise and fall of his breathing. For a while neither of them spoke. Mia closed her eyes, and she slept before she meant to.