Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(67)
“I hate you,” she seethed at David and instantly regretted it. God, what an ugly thing to say…
His eyes widened in genuine hurt. Then his open, clownish face took on a sharp, incisive look she had never seen before. “You think you’re the only one who cares about him?” He snorted. “You’re so selfish. You don’t even know how lucky you are.”
“I know exactly how lucky I am,” Natalie said, “and if you’ve ruined it…”
“And what about what you’ve ruined for me?”
Natalie sat back in her chair.
David’s scorn was potent. “Oh, hadn’t occurred to you, had it? That maybe there was an entire other dynamic going on that you know nothing about?”
“He doesn’t…I mean, he likes women…”
“Do you honestly think it’s all about sex? A man like Julian? He thinks on different levels. He sees people and not just gender. I’ve always had hope…” David’s eyes filled with tears and Natalie found her heart softening against her will. He wiped his eyes and took a breath. “But you’re here now and it is what it is. I’m just the employee again, except you hate me and will tell Julian to get rid of me and so I can’t even have his friendship.”
“David…”
“And now I’m supposed to sit here, while Julian is fighting for his life, and worry about what I’ve ruined for you.” He snorted. “Yeah, that’s fair. That’s all kinds of fair.”
Natalie swallowed, her fingers plucking the ratty upholstery. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. I never looked at it from your perspective. I apologize.”
David wiped his nose with his sleeve. “Apology accepted.”
They sat in a tense silence, the worry for Julian hovering over them like a dense, black thundercloud and they waited to know if it would break open and sweep them up into a terrible storm or blow over.
Finally, a doctor—a blond woman of middle years—approached. Her face was kind but passive, Natalie couldn’t read it. Please…oh, please…Her breath was locked in her chest with her pounding heart.
“I’m Dr. Cannon. Are you here for Mr. Kova??”
“Yes,” Natalie and David said in unison.
The doctor smiled. “He’s going to be fine.”
Natalie closed her eyes as a deep and forceful relief swept over her. “What was wrong with him?”
“Severe dehydration, likely brought about by the flu. The excessive vomiting and diarrhea can trigger it, and muscle cramps make it difficult to take in fluids later. But the IV fluids are already stabilizing him. Fortunately, he is showing no signs of kidney failure or cerebral edema—swelling of the brain, to be more plain—though I have to say he’s fortunate you brought him in when you did or I might not have been able to give you such an optimistic prognosis. He’ll have to stay the night, of course, while we run some tests...”
“What kind of tests?” David asked at the same time Natalie said, “Can I see him?”
The doctor smiled at her. “Of course. Room 114, curtain D.”
Natalie hurried to the hallway, hoping her lack of inclusion would make David take the hint. Apparently it did, as he remained behind, and she forgot all about him as she entered the small room where ER patients were held before transferring upstairs.
Julian looked wan under the sheets. A tube fed oxygen into his nose. Another dripped saline solution into his veins. His eyes were closed, his head tilted to the side. Natalie approached, torn between letting him rest and forcing him to wake up and make him speak coherently; his earlier delirium had been so frightening.
She sat beside him and took his hand—the one not punctured and laden with needles and tubes—and kissed his fingers. He opened his eyes and smiled drowsily at her.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she said, tears choking her throat.
He glanced around, his brow furrowing—all of his movements were slow and tired. “Hospital?”
“Yes.” Kidney failure, brain swelling...She plastered on a bright smile. “You’re going to be just fine.”
“What is wrong with me?”
“Nothing serious,” she said. “You were just dehydrated. From the flu.” But it didn’t sound right. It didn’t sound like enough. Not coming from the kindly doctor and certainly not from David.
Julian nodded and drifted off again. Natalie curled up beside him on the bed, one arm over him, like a shield, and watched over him as he slept. Something isn’t right about this, she thought, listening to the beep beep of the machine that monitored Julian’s pulse.
Not right at all.
Chapter ThirtyOne
David left the hospital without speaking a word to anyone for fear he’d burst into tears. He saved that for the privacy of his car. He tore out of the parking lot and pulled over onto 22nd Street. There, he leaned his head on the steering wheel and sobbed for a good fifteen minutes.
I almost killed him.
Yes, agreed another voice, and the hospital is going to run some tests. When they do they’ll come to the same conclusion.
David was thankful he’d had the foresight to incorrectly fill out Julian’s hospital admissions paperwork but it didn’t matter. The guilt and pain of Julian’s suffering overshadowed everything.