Chapter 34 Adeline
Adeline’s POV
The hospital becomes my entire world for the next two weeks. The white walls of the hospital become very familiar to me, and the rhythmic beeping of machines becomes a normal thing to me. The one thing I refuse to get used to, though, is the awful smell of antiseptic. At the beginning, it was comforting, but now it's so suffocating that it seems to seep into my pores.
The good thing in all of these, though, is my man, Percy. He is the constant in the chaos.
He refuses to leave my side even after countless begging for him to go back to work.
Once, we even had an argument about him missing work for me, and I told him how disappointed his father would be in him. It was the wrong thing to say, but I would say it anyway so I could stop feeling guilty about letting him miss work. That morning, he had walked away, and I sighed in relief, thinking that he had gone to work. Only for him to return hours later with a cot.
"I'm not going anywhere until you get better. I don't care what needs to be done. The world could be burning, and I would let it as long as it doesn't touch you." There was nothing I could say to that. I only smiled gratefully and accepted his kisses, so there he was every night, folded into an uncomfortable shape, just so he could be there if I woke up in pain, which was often.
He did listen to my plea because the next day, he turned the corner of the room into a makeshift office. I watch him from my bed, taking calls in hushed tones, running his empire while keeping one eye on my monitors.
It’s intimate in a way our relationship hasn't been before. There are no fast bikes, no expensive dinners, and no hiding in elevators. Just him, me, and the secret growing inside me, and somehow, that was better than any of the relationships we've ever been in.
"Eat," Percy says, sitting on the edge of my bed, holding a spoonful of green jello.
"I hate lime," I grumble, though I open my mouth anyway. I always do as he says.
"It’s good for you," he counters. "And the baby needs sugar."
The baby. We talk about it constantly in whispers, usually late at night when the nurses aren't around and the hospital is quiet. We talk about names. We talk about nurseries. We talk about a future that feels both terrifying and perfect.
Sometimes, I feel like we're moving too fast, but when I look around, he's beside me, and I realize that he's the biggest support system that any woman could ever hope for.
We don't have new pictures or sounds to hold onto yet, it’s too early, and the doctors don't want to disturb my body with unnecessary scans while I'm healing, but we have the promise, and right now, that promise is the only thing keeping the darkness of the accident at bay.
"You think it's a girl?" I ask him one night, my hand resting over his on my stomach.
"I think it's a fighter," he whispers back, kissing my forehead. "Just like you." He also knows the right things to say.
My mother visits too, of course. She comes every afternoon. She brings flowers and cries over my casted leg, one would think she was the one in the cast. She rants about Richard and how she’s going to sue him for emotional distress.
"Once you get better, you will help me sue him, that bastard." She would say, and I indulge her every whim because I don't want her to cause any issue with Percy, who is usually sitting quietly in the corner.
"I don't know why he's still here," she whispers to me one day when Percy steps out to get coffee. "It’s inappropriate, Adeline. He’s your boss, and he’s his son. I want him gone, Adeline. I don't want him to report back about me to his father. I know Richard put him up to this."
"He’s my friend, Mom," I lie. "He feels responsible because the accident happened after we met up."
"Well, I wish he would leave," she sighs. "I can't look at him without seeing Richard. It makes me sick."
Her words cut me, but they also confirm that I made the right choice. Telling her the truth about the truth of our relationship now would only make things worse. She would feel betrayed and guilt-trip me into leaving him.
So I keep my mouth shut and let her vent.
At the end of my two weeks there, the doctor comes into my room with a hopeful smile.
"You’re being discharged," the doctor announces.
I sit up straighter, wincing slightly as my ribs pull. "Really?"
"Your internal injuries are resolved. Your blood work is stable," he says, glancing briefly at Percy with a knowing nod regarding the pregnancy markers. "But the leg..." He gestures to the heavy cast encased around my shin. "I mean it, Miss Volkov. You are not to put any weight on it for at least six weeks. That includes lifting or stairs and absolutely no motorcycles."
"Understood," I say.
Percy packs my bag and moves with a giddiness that makes my heart melt.
"I’m taking you to the penthouse," he says.
"Percy, my apartment..."
"Is a fourth-floor walk-up," he interrupts. "You heard the doctor. He gave strict orders not to use stairs. You are coming to the penthouse, where there's an elevator, a very comfortable bed, and staff to cater to every need."
Honestly, the thought of going back to my lonely apartment makes me want to cry. I want to be with him, so I don't argue with him.
The drive to the penthouse is almost too much to handle. I clutch the door handle, flinching every time a car gets too close. Percy notices, so he slows down. He drives like a grandmother, slow and steady, with his hand resting on my knee the entire time.
When we get to his building, he scoops me up in his arms, carrying me through the lobby, into the private elevator, and straight into his penthouse.
He lays me down on the sofa, propping my leg up on a mountain of pillows.
"Welcome home," he says softly. He has made some changes to his space so it has a feminine touch. I guess he wants me to feel more comfortable in his penthouse. My bag is on the floor, and my meds are on the coffee table.
He sits on the floor in front of me, resting his head on my uninjured thigh.
"We’re safe here," he murmurs. "Mason is gone. Tiny says he’s ghosted completely. The police are looking for him for the hit-and-run."
"Good," I whisper. I run my fingers through his hair. "Percy?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for not leaving me."
He looks up at me. His eyes were fierce.
"I told you," he says. "I’m in this with you till the end. Now rest. I’m going to make you dinner, and no, it won't be green jello."
I smile. For some reason, this is more than enough for me.