CHAPTER 37

**CHLOE DUARTE**

I look at my hands where I find James' cell phone and car key, I turn on the phone trying to find some emergency contact to let him know what happened, but unfortunately the device asks for facial recognition to be unlocked.

I don't know what to do while I stand here waiting for news from him and his health condition, I think about calling his father and letting him know as soon as possible, but I don't have the contact details of the elder Mr. Colucci and I don't know if James would like me to do that.

I also think about his mother, but I remember that they don't get along well and this would only complicate his situation further.

I don't know exactly how long it has been since we arrived at this hospital, the doctor promised me that he would be fine so why all this delay?

I walk through the whole waiting room feeling nervous, countless messages arrive at every moment on James' cell phone, but the blocking of the device prevents me from seeing them all.

“Are you accompanying Mr. Colucci?", I turn around to find an older doctor this time.

“Yes, is he okay?", I approach him trying to calm the beating of my heart that is palpitating in my chest.

“He is already stable, but still needs to be closely observed, but if you want you can visit him now."

“What happened to him? This is not the first time this has happened, is it? He takes a lot of medication, what happened, doctor?", I ask, and the doctor seems to think carefully about what he is about to tell me.

“You seem to be very close to him and I can see that you worry a lot, but this is Mr. Colucci's will. He wishes the state of his health to be restricted and private, but I can tell you that his situation is very delicate."

“Okay, but will he still be fine?"

“Yes, that was just a symptom and relapse, but if he continues to follow my prescriptions and continues with his medication he will be fine, Miss?"

I nod my head unable to do anything else since this is James' will and I have to respect it above all, I continue following the doctor down a long corridor seeing several patients on the way.

My eyes can't stop noticing the luxury that the place represents, it is completely different from the public hospitals that have the heavy area. This place looks like anything else but a place where people live daily sick and with diseases that take their lives.

We stop in front of a closed white door, the doctor nods warning that he will be around if you need anything, I thank him once again before pushing the door open and slowly entering.

The room also has the same luxury as the rest of the hospital, but my eyes fixed on James who is lying on the bed, the blue eyes soon open when they notice my entrance.

James remains silent as I continue to approach him slowly, he is awake and conscious now, but I can tell that he is still very upset about what happened today.

“Have you come to tell me that the media is talking about me again? What are they saying this time? The powerful CEO is not that powerful and had to be carried out of a restaurant.", he says in a serious tone, but I deny it with a weak smile and hand him his cell phone.

“They still don't know or haven't published anything about it, just the lie from the night before is still going around...", I murmur with a sigh, sitting down in the armchair next to where he is lying now.

“The lie that a mysterious girl managed to win my heart of stone?", he scoffs at the same sentence.

“That's right, I just want everyone to forget about it!", I sigh again with my hands on my head.

“Does being seen as my girlfriend bother you that much?", I look at him, who has one eyebrow arched in my direction.

“Being targeted by the media is what bothers me the most, and don't pretend that you don't feel the same way, because I know you hate it too."

“You are right, when I get out of here the first thing I will do is take these photos out of circulation.", he says this with a serious expression on his face this time.

“You scared me for the second time, you have to stop this or I will be the one to kill you next time, James."

“I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't be your problem, Chloe. It won't happen again, I'll take care of myself, I promise!"

I look over to see that James is staring into the distance with a blank expression as if he is thinking of something that bothers him to no end.

“I'm glad to hear that, but are you okay now?"

“Yes, thank you for everything. You take the day off, you don't have to come back to the company today or tomorrow.", he says, but I quickly nod my head.

“No, the doctor said that you still need to stay for a long time under observation and I won't leave you alone here, even if you kick me out, I'm not leaving.", I say with conviction, drawing a small smile from him.

“I'm fine and stable, you need to stop being so stubborn and start doing what your boss asks.", he jokes trying to wipe the serious expression off my face.

“But it turns out that my boss is a pain in the ass and I don't follow orders from a pain in the ass, sir."

“I apologize for that...", I ask embarrassed, but surprised by his low laugh.

“You are right, I am a real pain in the ass, but you are lucky that I am in a good mood and grateful that you saved my life twice...", he says the last part without smiling and I soon notice the melancholy in his voice.

“What happened? I respect your decision not to tell me if you want to, but you can trust me. I don't know what happened to you, but I know you're not well and you're trying to hide it from yourself, James.", I say, leaving formality behind.

He is silent for a few seconds and with his head down, he sighs several times as if to expel some bad feeling from inside him.

“You don't have to be strong all the time, James...", he looks at me with a sad expression on his face when I say this.

“When you know the pain and suffering from a young age, you somehow learn to be strong, you may think that way, but you have to be strong all the time if you want to achieve something."

“But you don't have to do it alone, alone everything is harder.", I remark as I approach him, but he nods his head in denial.

“I've been used to pain and defeat for so long that they've become my only company, Chloe."

“But your father...", I remark, but James interrupts me before I have a chance to finish.

“My father has suffered enough with me and because of me, Chloe. He deserves to go on with his own life without worrying about me anymore, I'm big enough to deal with the problems in my life..."

I try my best not to ask or mention his mother in conversation, but I know that a part of me knows that he will be angry with me if I do that right now.

“Why did you ignore me after that? I know it was a mistake, but it hurt me when you completely ignored me.", I change the subject wanting to know the real reason.

“That was a futile attempt to stop thinking about you, I did it for me, to try to forget and forget what we did today."

“And have you managed to forget?", I ask, but he denies it with his head several times in a row.

“No, it seems impossible because all I see is you, Chloe. I think about you all the time, even when I thought I was going to die inside that bathroom you appeared in front of me, and for seconds I managed to forget the pain."

“There was only you in front of me, there was only your beautiful face that for an instant I forgot everything around me, my problems and the intense pain...", I remain silent just listening to him as he sits up in bed allowing me to see his hands with venous access and the veins punctured by the tests.

“Yes, everything we did was a mistake that could not be made again, but it is not just something carnal, now I finally realize that. Like the night before when you came and stayed with me, you sat by my side and waited for the pain to go away."

“You just need someone, James. You may even think that pain is your only companion, but you are completely wrong."

“Maybe, but only you have that power over me, Chloe. No one has ever cared for me the way you do so easily, your heart is filled with kindness and that makes you too good and valuable a person for this cruel world."

“And it's people like me who don't deserve you, I don't deserve you, I'm not worthy of such kindness.", I feel my eyes fill with tears for some reason when I hear him speak this way.

“That's why we can't have this closeness and let what happened today happen more often, I'm not blaming you because I know it was also my fault. But we can't be like that, Chloe."

“What are you trying to say?", I ask, noticing that his eyes are also shining.

“That this will only hurt you and I don't want that to happen, I know we don't have anything, but I know that this will happen too, so I need to fix it before it turns into something else."

“You're afraid that I'll fall in love with you, but that's not going to happen, James."

“We have no control over the emotions of our hearts, I'm not the right man for you and you know it, somehow if we let this happen it will only let this become something else, I've seen it before and I know perfectly well how it ends..."

“I will break your heart, at some point I will hurt you, I am somehow forbidden to you, there is no changing that, Chloe."