Blended (Redemption #1) (26 page)

“Good evening, Miss Rye. If you will both excuse my intrusion, I needed to come by and check on your long list of injuries. Your nurse seems to be impressed with your recovery thus far.”

“Very well,” I tell him, knowing full well that he’s going to shed light on my paralysis.

“I’ll start with your lungs and work my way down.”

He gets to work as a nurse joins us. She takes my vitals while my girl stays by my side. I won’t let her move. I have her hand locked in mine, and I refuse to let her go.

“Your lung seems to be healing well thus far,” he says, and he moves the sheet off of my lower body, revealing my legs. He presses against my ribs, and I flinch each time that he does it.

“As I said before, the two ribs that were injured will take a minimum of six weeks to heal. I’ll keep my nurses administering drugs to make it easier to take deep breaths.”

I nod in acknowledgment.

I glance up at Hadley, who is watching Dr. Heath intently as he moves the sheet off of my feet. He walks to the end of the bed and lifts up my left foot. I watch him press his thumb against the sole of my foot.

“Mr. Brass? Are you able to feel that?”

I shut my eyes for a brief moment before opening them and stare into Hadley’s eyes. She looks frightened and grief-stricken.

“No,” I tell him honestly.

Hadley’s hand flies up to her mouth in an attempt to hold back a sob that escapes her lips regardless. I squeeze her hand in apology. This is not how I wanted her to find out.

“Don’t go,” I ask her quietly as the doctor moves his hands up my calf.

“What about now, Mr. Brass?”

“No. Nothing.”

“All right. Try flexing your ankle for me.”

I attempt to force the movement, but nothing comes of it. I cannot even figure out where the movement should start.

“Wade?” she asks as she wipes a tear away.

“Swear to me that you’ll stay, Hadley.”

The doctor looks up at us and clears his throat. “I’ll be out of your way in a few minutes, Mr. Brass. Please stay with me.”

He sets my left leg down and then starts with my right, going over the same routine he has done multiple times since he first met me.

“Dr. Heath?”

“Yes, Miss Rye?”

“Oh, just Hadley, please. Would you mind if I asked you some questions of my own?”

My eyebrows shoot up, surprised that she’s still holding onto my hand, let alone that she wants more information regarding my paralysis.

“Of course, Hadley. What would you like to know?”

“Will he ever be able to recover from this? I mean . . .”

The doctor smiles and sets my right leg down on the bed. “It really depends. I have had many patients suffer through multiple surgeries with no results while others have made a full recovery. To be frank, I’m not certain as to his condition yet because I have not been able to operate on him while his lung recovers.”

“Oh.”

“Luckily for Mr. Brass, I do not believe that the nerve was directly injured in the accident, which would have caused a spinal cord injury. I’d like to believe that the paralysis that he is experiencing is caused by compression of one of the lumbar nerves. In his case, the underlying cause seems treatable, but the prospects for his recovery are the same as they are for anyone else. The likelihood of a full recovery is slim if I’m unable to perform surgery soon.”

“Oh my God,” she says under her breath and squeezes my hand.

“Nothing is impossible. Keep that in mind.”

“Thank you, Dr. Heath,” she says as they shake hands before he notes a few things on a device and exits the room.

“Rye?”

“Yes?” she looks down at me with worry marring her face.

“You haven’t answered me.”

“Wade,” she exhales, “I’m not going to leave you. I ran because I thought we were over and because you wouldn’t give me a chance. I’m not a cold-hearted bitch, and an injury isn’t going to change the way I feel toward you.” Her eyes seem to widen at her own words as if she hadn’t realized what she was saying.

“I’ll have to be here for a while, Hadley. I understand that you’ll need to fly back to Chicago. Isla needs to get back to Blended once the week is over.”

“How long did they tell you that they’d keep you locked up in this place?”

“A minimum of two months. I’ve been trying to convince them to at least let me go back to the hotel where I’ll be more comfortable.”

“Would you like for me to say something?”

The thought of her going out of her way to help me settles the war zone in my head a bit.

“Not exactly. Isla contacted my lawyers, and they are working on it as we speak.”

“Your lawyers? Would they have that kind of power?”

“Money has as much power as the man who accepts it.”

“I suppose,” she says as she looks toward the door when it opens again and Isla walks in.

“How are you holding up, brass balls?”

Hadley lets go of my hand and steps back, allowing Isla to lean over my torso and hug me. She brings her lips to my ear and whispers, “Does she know about the paraplegia?”

“She does,” I tell her so that Hadley can hear me as well. Isla stands up and turns to my girl. I watch the two of them comfort each other because of my injury. My stupidity. If I hadn’t taken action and steered the boat into the rocks, I would be walking out of this hospital room with Hadley tucked under my arm.

“Isla, what have my lawyers found out?”

“Oh! That’s what I came here to tell you. I honestly didn’t expect that you would be awake at five in the morning, but I figured I’d come anyway.”

I raise my eyebrows at her as anger heats my soul. “Tell me, Madden.”

“Cool those balls off, would ya? They came to an agreement with the hospital and your doctor. They will be moving you to your hotel suite at nine this morning, where you will have an around-the-clock nurse. Dr. Heath will remain your primary doctor and be on call as well as be around to check on your progress once a day until he deems you fit enough for surgery.”

I lean my head back on the pillow and shut my eyes, grateful for the team I have behind Brass Global. “Very well. I’ll need to arrange a web conference call when I’m back to finalize the properties in Sydney. Have Adriana arrange it. I may need you to fly her out if I’m going to be stuck in a fucking bed for two months.”

“Right. I spoke to her this morning, and there have been multiple media outlets calling into the office, asking for an update on your situation. You’ve made international news after your accident, Brass.”

“Nobody needs to know to what extent I’m injured. Have the lawyers draw up non-disclosure agreements in addition to the doctor- and patient-confidentiality agreements for all of the doctors and nurses who have worked with me during my stay here.”

“Yes, boss,” she says sarcastically, “so much for our vacation, huh?”

“You know where my credit card is, Madden. Don’t let me hold you back.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Brass. Look . . .” she sighs. “I’m sorry that came off in a negative way; I’m just as distraught as anyone else over this.”

“I think I need two fingers of something spicy, clean, and going to burn,” Hadley says from her seat beside me.

“I like your thinking. I’m sure that Isla can find something unique to Australia while she hits the stores.”

“I sure can. Bourbon, rye, Tennessee, Canadian, Scotch, or Irish?” she asks, and it gets us all to laugh.

“Something strong,” Hadley replies as I reach for her hand. She glances up at me and gives me her shy smile. It’s odd how my feelings for her have intensified since she left. Everything that she says and does is of extreme interest to me. For the first time, I don’t mind a woman being around me when it’s not just about sex. Hadley seems to accept me for who I am and doesn’t have this need to change me. Meeting her was fate and chasing her was ultimately my decision, but falling in love with her was entirely out of my control.

This love, the emotion, and the passion that I feel deeply for her have made me temporarily insane. The desire I have to be with her at all times is overwhelming and all-consuming. I refuse to let this feeling burn away, regardless of my physical state. This may have all happened rather quickly, but I refuse to fight it because my accident made me realize just how quickly life can be taken from us.

The next time I open my eyes, Hadley is running her hand through my hair in an attempt to wake me. The smile that she gives me when I blink and look up at her is ravishing. She may be wearing the same outfit that I saw her in a day ago, but her beauty doesn’t go unnoticed for a minute.

“You’re like my personal shot of caffeine, Rye.”

The blush that kisses her cheeks is beautiful, and it’s one of the reasons why I cannot seem to get my fill of her.

“You’re my shot of whiskey,” she says against my lips as she offers me the breath she was holding, the very one that I needed to breathe. A feeling of peace comes over me as our souls breathe life into each other’s. The unpredictability of this kiss describes our relationship flawlessly. With this one kiss, I realize how every other one with every other woman meant nothing. We both seem to be communicating what neither of us is able to voice. I’m telling her the words that I haven’t said.

To hell with my rules.

Dr. Heath clears his throat, and Hadley pulls away from me suddenly. I realize that he must have been in here the entire time.

“Mr. Brass, we are set to transfer you back to your suite.”

“Good,” I tell him without breaking eye contact with Hadley.

She purses her lips, her physical sign to me that she’s contemplating what just happened between us. I thrive with the knowledge that she felt it as well, that there was more behind that kiss than the mere physical act of all the others that we’ve shared before it.

Four nurses walk into the room once I’ve signed my release papers and I’ve put my mother and Isla, as well as Hadley down as emergency contacts. The four of them transfer me from the uncomfortable hospital bed and into a wheelchair. They lift my feet and place them on the footrests before strapping them down. I’m assuming it’s to ensure that I don’t fall out of the chair rather than some sort of sexual bondage fantasy.

“Mr. Brass, my name is Madelyn Elyse, and I will be your live-in nurse,” says a tall, attractive brunette, introducing herself to me. I shake her outstretched hand.

“Thank you for agreeing to do this.”

“It’s no problem whatsoever.”

I wouldn’t assume that it would be a problem considering the paycheck that she will be receiving from me on a weekly basis.

She moves behind my wheelchair and starts to push me toward the hallway. “Rye?” I ask because I can’t find her in the crowded room anymore.

“I’m right here, Whiskey,” she says as Madelyn wheels me out into the hallway. I hadn’t even realized that she walked out of the room. When I take in her appearance, she looks utterly exhausted and spent from the jet lag and the hell that I put her through.

“You need to rest.”

“Are you insinuating that I look like complete shit, Waylon Brass?”

“I’m insinuating that you look tired. I’ve put you through a lot since we left the States.”

“I suppose that I’ll find some way to forgive your fancy-ass.”

“I wouldn’t give you another choice,” I tell her as I’m wheeled to the rear entrance of the hospital where Jacobs is waiting. He insisted on using this door to exit because of the crowd of media and paparazzi that are camped out front.

“Mr. Brass, I’m glad to see that you are well.”

“It’s good to see you, Jacobs.”

“Hi, Colin,” Hadley says, and she goes to hug him. He hesitates at first, but then he hugs her lightly in return. Envy sprints through my veins with the knowledge that I can no longer hold her like he is right now.

He must sense my mood because he steps aside to assist the nurses who are transferring me from the chair and into the vehicle.

Once Madelyn secures me, she walks around the vehicle and climbs into the seat beside me. I scowl at her before glancing at Hadley through the window. I watch as Jacobs opens the front passenger door for her and she climbs in.

“Why are you up front, Rye?” I ask her as she’s fastening her seatbelt.

“I, uhm, I didn’t think that it would be appropriate to sit between the two of you.”

“Bullshit.”

I turn to face Madelyn. “From here on out, you will be seated in the front with my driver instead of next to me where my girlfriend belongs. Am I understood?”

She flinches at my demand. “Yes, sir. I apologize. I was not aware.”

“It’s fine, Madelyn,” Hadley interjects and offers her a sympathetic smile. “I’m Hadley. Thank you for volunteering to do this for him.”

I raise my eyebrows at my whiskey in a teacup, daring her to overstep my authority. With an exhale, she undoes her seatbelt and climbs out of her seat before walking around to the backseat just as Madelyn gets out. I may be suffering through paralysis, but nothing will stop me from being able to touch her whenever I am able to.

Instead of sitting on the other side of the vehicle, she scoots into the middle seat and buckles up.

“Hi Whiskey,” she says as she splays her hand out on my thigh. My eyes drop to where she’s touching me, and I internally curse myself for not being able to feel that static electricity that hits my skin every time her body is near mine. “Is this better?”