radicalducati 30
30
Alex’s POV
The doctor comes back after two hours to give her the antibiotics she needed and check on her. She still had a slight fever but it was manageable.
My mom also comes to check on us and stays next to her as she pats on her hair gently. And Jennifer seemed to calm down a bit by those tender gestures.
My hand would stop just a few inches from her hair as I try to do the same thing my mother was doing to comfort her, but I withdraw it every time, I had no right to do it, to comfort her, when I was her biggest source of fear for the past few days. Plus, she did threaten me about touching her while she’s asleep and I didn’t want to do something she warned me not to do.
I stayed next to her the entire time, not leaving her side as she stayed asleep, murmuring nonchalantly every once in a while due to her fever.
I noticed her phone silently getting multiple calls from a person called Megan throughout the day.
Lucas comes at one point to talk to me. We had a smuggling operation in a couple of hours and I was supposed to lead them. I shocked myself by telling Lucas to go without me. I realized I didn’t want to leave her side for one second before I make sure she is totally ok.
By four p.m., whoever this Megan girl was, became insistent as she kept calling her phone nonstop.
I found myself having no choice but to answer her phone, to find out why the girl was so adamant.
“Hello” I answered in a deep firm voice.
A few seconds of silence stretches before a girl speaks in confusion “Who are you? And where is Jenny?”
“I’m Alex, Jenny is sleeping right now”
“I have been calling her since this morning. What’s wrong with her?”
“She attracted an infection, but she is being treated and she should be feeling better by tomorrow”
“So she’s in the hospital right now?”
“No she’s home”
“I’m coming to check on her” she says determinedly.
“Like I said she is sleeping, I’ll make sure she knows you called when she wakes up” I said with finality.
“No, I’m coming to your house right now to check on her and if you don’t let me in, then that means you’re hiding something else”
“Like what?“ I asked amusingly.
“Like maybe you did something to her” she said fiercely.
Wow, that’s fucking bold.
“Who am I talking to exactly?”
“I’m Megan Cullen, her best friend”
Victor Cullen’s daughter, the one who visited their house yesterday.
“Jenny is perfectly safe with me Megan” I said gently.
“No offense Alex, but I’m not going to take your word for it. I know who you are but I don’t know you personally. I want to see Jenny, it’s not a request”
God she’s insistent.
“Fine” I said curtly.
“I’m on my way now” she asserted before hanging up the phone in my face.
Great, can’t wait.
I message Mathew to let a certain Megan Cullen through the gate and into my room once she arrives.
Megan kept true to her word. Ten minutes later, she’s knocking impatiently on the door of my room.
I get up and open the door for her. Without a second glance in my direction, she sprints into the room and as soon as she sees Jennifer, her tears start falling.
She slowly sits on her right side as she inspects every inch of her with horror printed on her face.
I go back to sitting where I was before, on her opposite side.
I don’t know why, but I felt the need to defend myself “It was her uncle. She didn’t say anything about it until this morning”
“That heartless monster” she whispered sadly as she shook her head.
She doesn’t seem surprised by that news at all.
“You knew what he did?” I asked incredulously.
She looked at me for the first time as she answered grimly “She told me, but hearing about it and seeing it is a totally different level of disturbing. I had no idea it was this brutal. How the hell she was able to stand up to him until the end is beyond me”
I find myself unable to contain my curiosity any longer. I was burning to know the reason. Not to mention that I was half certain Jennifer wouldn’t tell me if I asked her directly.
“Megan, why did she let herself go through all that pain and suffering? Why would she prefer death over getting married? Why did she allow things to escalate to such extremes?”
She looks at me uncertainly as she says “I think those questions should be answered by Jenny alone. It’s not my place to discuss her private life with you”
“Was there someone in her life? Was she in love with someone? Is that why she fought so hard?”
I have no fucking clue why, but the thought of her in love with another man, made my heart race. I reckon it’s because she is considered my wife now. I don’t have feelings for her but I also can’t allow another man to fight for her. Is it twisted? Maybe.
Megan inspected me for a while. Prolonging her answer only made me more agitated by that possibility.
“No, she wasn’t in love with anyone” she finally said firmly.
I found myself relieved by that confirmation.
“Then why? I need to understand her reasons, Megan. I don’t want to ask her because she will most probably never give me a straight answer. But I need to understand so I can help her get past this. I want her to start adjusting to her new life and accept us as her family now that her mom is gone” I said desperately.
She looks at me skeptically “So now you want to help her? After what and why? Just because you found out the circumstances she was put through to marry you? You knew from the beginning that she was forced into it. But you didn’t bother with the details as long as you got your peace. She didn’t tell me everything going on between you, but from what I gathered, you made it pretty clear that you don’t care about her, so why now? Do you know what her mom said to me when I dropped her off at the airport? ‘Take care of her Megan. You’re the only one left who cares about her in that town’ and she was right. You need to know her reasons because you feel guilty for what she went through, because if it wasn’t for you she would have never found herself in this state right now, and you just want to clear your conscience that’s all”
Her words hit me deeply but I refused to let it show.
“So maybe I didn’t care about her at first because I only saw her as a possible threat to my family that I needed to contain. Maybe I prejudged her before I gave her any chance to show me who she really was. But is it so wrong to start caring now that I know everything she went through because of me? And let me make it pretty clear that I would have never allowed her uncle to torture her just for the sake of asserting peace had I known his intentions when I asked him to get her agreement. What he had done was off limits. I want to make it up to her from now on and if you’re truly her best friend, then you need to help her by helping me understand her reasons”
She seemed to consider it for a while before shaking her head “I can’t be the one to tell you this. She’ll tell you when she is ready to confide in you, when she is ready to trust you. Just know this, if you really want to make it up to her, if you want to earn her trust, I suggest you start by treating her well and showing her that you trust her, that you realize that she is nothing like her father because she isn’t”
She adds sadly “I will let her mom know her condition, she’s worried sick about her especially when she didn’t answer her phone”
With that, she bends down to give her a kiss on her forehead then leaves the room.
I sigh loudly as I look at Jennifer. How the hell am I going to earn the trust of a girl who wants nothing to do with me?
I periodically check her temperature every hour to make sure it doesn’t go above 38, and apply a cold washcloth on her forehead when it does.
At some point she starts shivering and whispering in a low voice “It’s cold… so cold”
I check her temperature and find it at a normal range, so I cover her with the thick blanket to keep her warm.
I receive a text message from Lucas that everything went smoothly and they were transferring the products into our warehouse.
I leave her with Sara and go to have something to eat.
I find everyone; except Lucas, gathered around the table eating the cinnamon rolls Jenny made yesterday.
There was only one piece left in the trey. I sit down and claim it for myself.
“How the hell did you eat so much in two days?” I ask in a bewildered tone as I take my first bite.
Damn, it was the most delicious cinnamon roll I’ve ever tasted before. She is talented, I’ll give her that.
“Ask Lucas man, he devoured half the trey in just one sitting yesterday” David said amusingly.
My eyebrows reach the top of my forehead in shock “Lucas?“
“He said he needs to make sure it is safe for everyone to eat before anyone tastes it, then one piece led to another and here we are” April said sarcastically with a smile.
It was the first time I’ve seen her smile since dad died, and it felt so damn good to see her getting back to her old self.
“Cinnamon rolls were always his favorite after all. Nothing can make him resist them, even a tiny possibility of having food poisoning” I said slyly giving my mom a pointed look that said I was on to her.
She purposefully asked Jenny for that dessert in an attempt to break the ice between them.
She gave me an innocent look as she ate her last bite and asked “How is Jennifer doing?”
“She’s better. Her temperature finally broke down. It’s normal now. And she’s still asleep” I said lightly.
“Good that’s great news. I hope by tomorrow she will be back to her old self again and have breakfast with us” my mom said hopefully.
I finish my piece and savor that heavenly taste in my mouth as I go back to my room, prepare for bed and shut the lights without locking the door this time.
As soon as I lay on my back, Jenny astonishes me by turning on my side and hugging me in her sleep. She places one leg on top of mine, her hand hugs my torso snuggly, and her head lays at the top of my chest.
I had removed the pillow between us earlier when I was applying the cold washcloth to her forehead to bring her fever down, and forgot to put it back.
I freeze in my place waiting for her subconscious to realize what she’s done, but she seems quite comfortable in her position and doesn’t seem to be willing to change it any time soon.
I find it rather calming and comforting. The last time it was Melanie laying on top of me like that, but somehow, Jenny’s embrace seems different.
There is a certain warmth and innocence in her hug. Her hair smelled like lilac, a very pleasant and relaxing smell.
She wasn’t hugging me out of passion or love, it was like she was seeking warmth and safety in my arms.
I found myself returning her hug, giving her all the warmth and protection I had a sense she was never shown before, by any one except her mother. I wrap one arm around her back and the other one rests on her slim waist.
Problem is, I’m pretty sure that come tomorrow, she might end up kicking me in a certain sensitive part for intentionally touching many parts of her.
Well, it will be worth it. Giving her what she needs right now is worth paying the price tomorrow.
I drift to sleep easily as her sweet lilac smell relaxes my body and mind.