Alpha Billionaire Series

MADII

Creeping through the hospital, trying to hide from Gavin, was the worst feeling in the world, but it was what I had resigned myself to doing. Today was the day Drew was headed home to be with his parents. Gavin and I hadn't spoken since that night at his place when I had left him in silence. Eleven days total we had been separated without so much as a call or text message.

I would have been a liar to say that I wasn’t curious how he was doing, but part of me felt a huge weight off my shoulders without him pressuring me daily. I hadn't exactly forgotten how much I loved him though, and nights without his goodnight messages or cute snaps on Snapchat were difficult. I hadn't been sleeping well. Violet noticed how I hadn't been eating either and sternly reminded me that I'd already been through mourning for Drew once, tha I shouldn't “lay another man in the grave before his time.”

That had ended in a horrible argument, and she had gone to Mom and Dad's house. And I had cried myself to sleep that night. Despite the toll all of this was taking on my physical body, I had determined to be there for Drew. None of this had been his fault and he was suffering like a trooper, and on this, his day of release, I had to have a brave face. So, there I stood, waiting until Doctor Gavin Carpenter walked away from the nurses station before rounding the corner to go to Drew's room.

When I thought the coast was clear, I headed down the hall, the heels of my shoes clicking on the floor. But I heard his voice echo down the hall and almost leapt out of my skin. The closest thing to hide behind was a tall rolling cart that held trays of food, and I ducked behind it before he made his appearance, walking out of what looked to be a break room or something.

I stood there surrounded by the aroma of crappy hospital food with my back to the hall. And trying not to eavesdrop on his conversation with another doctor about something, I kept my head down and waited for him to walk away. It was one agonizing moment after another until the conversation faded out into just white noise. My eyes locked onto a tiny corner of wallpaper that had peeled up from the wall; I wanted to pick at it, but I kept my hands folded together in front of myself.

The nurse came and pulled the cart farther down the hall, closer to Gavin and nearer to the center of my panic, and I followed cautiously. Thankfully the nurse did not see me and question what I was doing, but someone else did. Before Alice and Henry saw me, I heard them. She was talking so loudly, I thought maybe the entire hospital heard her.

My eyes flicked to Gavin's face as the loud chatter neared. His calm expression—professional and polite—instantly shaded darker as they approached, and when they caught sight of me and Alice squealed with delight, Gavin looked in my direction.

“Madii!” Alice charged toward me, holding her arms out like she was going to hug me. “Oh, today is such a good day. My baby boy is coming home!”

Inside I wanted to smile, but even after Alice had captured me and took me into a tight squeeze, my eyes remained fixed on Gavin. Anger washed over his face, and he turned away from me, but I lingered there, wilting. My heart felt paralyzed, like the moment in the boat when Drew wasn't breathing, and they were cutting his wetsuit off of him. I stared until Henry put his arm around me and ushered me away from the spot.

A glance over my shoulder proved Gavin had gone, but he'd taken my heart with him. The happiness I should have felt in that moment vanished and was replaced by an intense need to run to Gavin, to explain what was happening. To make things right. But Henry's firm arm held me right next to his side as we walked to Drew's room. I couldn't breathe or think. My feet felt like lead, and it were as if my senses stopped functioning. Alice spoke to me, but I didn’t hear her.

It wasn't until someone snapped their fingers in front of my face that I came back to myself. Blinking rapidly, I lookec around to see Alice, Henry, and Adam watching me. Drew was nowhere in sight, which confused me, but I was glad. I needed a bit of space in that moment anyway. I wouldn't have wanted him to ask what was going through my mind. I was bad enough that Alice was giving me her concerned mom look.

“Are you okay, dear?” She took my hand, patting it. “You don’t look so good.”

My hand felt like ice in hers, and I noticed how it was shaking a little. I hadn't even realized that Henry still held me up, pinning me against his body like a sentry guarding my balance.

“Are you okay, Madison? Do you need to sit down? Have you eaten recently?” Adam took my other hand, pressing twc fingers to my wrist and watching his wristwatch.

“I'm okay.” I tried to pull away, but they held me there firmly.

“Pulse is thready and weak... You seem a bit dehydrated. Let's get some water.” Adam let go of my wrist and pushed the nurse call button as Henry guided me to the couch at the end of the long narrow room. Just as I sat down, the door to the private bathroom opened, and Drew appeared, wheeling himself out in a wheelchair.

He instantly looked concerned and headed my way. “What happened?”

“Oh, Madii just had some sort of episode.” Henry told Drew as he took a few steps out of the way.

A knowing look passed between me and Alice. She had seen the expression on my face, and she had seen who I was looking at too. She knew this was because of Gavin, and she had to have known how I felt too. Alice knew I was engaged, how much I loved Gavin, how hard it had been for me to move on and leave Drew lying in that bed in a coma and just fall in love with another man. Her eyes, in that singular glance, communicated more than a thousand conversations could.

“I'm fine” I tried to reassure everyone, but honestly, I knew I wasn't fine. I felt lightheaded and Violet's harsh words about taking care of myself came back to haunt me. Adam stood behind Drew's wheelchair and opened a bottle of water—I assumed from a nurse who had brought it in.

“Drink,” he ordered, pushing the water in my face.

So I obeyed the doctor's orders, tipping the bottle to my lips and drinking deeply. It was cold and hurt my teeth, but kept drinking until half of it was gone.

“What did you eat today?” Adam handed me the cap for the water, and I screwed it in place as I thought about what I actually had eaten today.

The day had been a blur. I had been so worried about making sure everything was perfect for Drew and his bedroom was ready, I hadn't stopped to eat. After saying goodbye to his parents at their house, I went home to shower and change, and then came straight to the hospital.

I shrugged, unable to answer them.

“How often do you do this?” Drew's concern was evident. His voice simultaneously lectured me and comforted me at the same time. I felt drawn to him, but not the way I should have. I knew that connection was broken there, but I didn't know how to get it back. I didn't know if I wanted it back. I didn’t even know if I wanted any connection anymore.

“How often do you skip meals, Madison?” Alice sat next to me, laying a hand on my thigh.

“I don't know. I am just not hungry. I don't think about food.” I felt like I was on an episode of Intervention, where they circle up and confront you about your drinking problem or something. Lucky for me I was saved by the highly obnoxious red headed reporter.

“Hey! Today is the day!” She was overly happy, and bubbly and I wanted to cram her camera down her throat so she’ choke on her bubble gum. But I was thankful for the distraction because I didn’t want to have a showdown with Drew's whole family over my eating habits.

Adam was the first to turn around, then Henry. Finally Drew peeled his eyes off of my face and addressed the reporter. She wore a stunning green suit and emerald-colored heels to match. She'd gotten a haircut since I last saw her. Her pixie was complemented by stunning silver earrings and bright red lipstick. She looked more like a CEO thar a reporter.

“Ms.?” Adam extended his hand.

“Emily Gutierrez, Ten News. I'm doing a report on Mr. Heintz here and his fantastic recovery. My piece just wouldn't suffice without a few shots on his coming home day.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

I could have peeled her fake smile off her face like a sticker and plastered it on the front page of the paper. There were just some people who you knew were so fake they would never be believable. Drew had taken a liking to her, strangely enough, however, so I tried to stay out of it.

“I'm glad you got my message.” Drew turned his wheelchair to face her. “You never responded so I wondered.”

I noticed a spark of interest in Emily's eyes as she looked at Drew, draping her hand out like a wet rag for him to take He was such a dunce; he slapped his palm against hers and offered a manly handshake instead of the obvious gentle kiss to the back of her hand she was wanting. I didn’t know why the jealousy ran so deep considering I was the one who had effectively been cheating on Drew for months now, but I just hated that lady so much.

“Emily, can you get a shot of our whole family?” I stood and took hold of the handles for Drew's wheelchair and pulled him away from her, nestling in next to Alice. Henry grinned and Alice offered a bit of a shocked expression that dissolved into a smile.

I watched as Emily's plastic smile faded and she reached for her camera. After a few snapshots, she let the camera hang from her neck again and pulled a small notepad out of her pocket, poised with pen in hand to take notes.

It was gut wrenching watching Drew show interest in another woman, even if it was just because she wanted to do a story on him. I didn’t think for a second that her advances would amount to anything because Drew was set on me. Still, my gut reaction told me more about my feelings for this man than the past few months had, which only made the day more of a whirlwind, and my emotions more of a tangled mess.

While Drew and Emily talked, I turned to find my water bottle which I had dropped in my haste to keep the reporter away from Drew. She asked a question that Alice laughed at, and Alice started talking, which left Drew's attention free. He gave me a concerned look when I sat down, and mouthed the words, “What's wrong?”

I shook my head, forcing a smile. “I'm fine,” I whispered, trying to discourage his questioning while the reporter was around. I could play it off as being grumpy because I hadn't eaten, but I'd rather do that when Emily wasn’t around. So, I kept that smile on my face until he turned back to answer another question of hers and prayed that Gavin was not around when I left this room. I didn’t need another encounter like I'd had right before coming into Drew's room. That would really give me away.