Page 50 of The Wrong Husband

"Yes. But she needs rest and proper care."

Chapter 15

Emilia

Iwoke up to voices.

"They forgot her birthday?" A male voice said. I focused on it and felt my heart beat a little faster. Damian was here.

"Yes. And she kept waiting all day at work. She came home and painted two days in a row. I was traveling so by the time I returned she was already in pretty bad shape. Not like this time." Moana sounded both angry and dejected.

I felt bad for putting her through this. I hadn't meant to collapse. My arm hurt and that's when I saw the IV. What the foxtrot?

I needed to pee, so I got out of bed. My legs were wobbly, and I almost fell but found my balance against the bedside table, crashing the little flower vase on it with an orchid onto the floor.

Who put that here?

Two very worried people were by my bed within seconds.

"I need to use the bathroom. Why do I have this?" I pointed to the IV.

"Because you exhausted yourself and you weren't awake to eat," Moana clipped.

"Can you take this off?" Like hell I was going to be able to take the IV contraption into the bathroom, which was tiny. It was so small that I could put my leg on top of the closed toilet to shave while I took a shower.

Before I could yank the offending needle off, Damian took my hand in his. "Em, let me."

He carefully removed the needle from the port in my arm where the IV was inserted. Then he gently peeled away the adhesive tape securing the IV catheter in place.

"Moana, can you get me one of the gauze pads the doctor left?" he instructed as he held the port steady with one hand and slowly and steadily pulled the needle out with the other. A small spot of blood appeared at the site, which he quickly covered with the sterile gauze pad Moana handed him, applying gentle pressure to stop the bleeding.

"How do you know to do this?" I asked, marveling at how comfortable he was.

"I volunteered as an EMT one summer during college," he explained, surprising me. Though I shouldn’t be because the truth was I knew nothing about Damian. And, yet, what I felt for him was so big. How was that even possible? I didn't believe in that soulmate, instalove nonsense…right?

"Hold this." He placed one of my fingers on top of the gauze. Then he found a small piece of adhesive bandage and used it to secure the area. "All done."

By the time I came out of the bathroom, I felt better. I had brushed my teeth and taken a shower because I felt about a hundred years old.

I stuck my head out of the bathroom. "Moana, can you find me something to wear?"

I waited and saw Damian bring me sweatpants and a T-shirt. "Where's Moana?"

"It's two in the morning, love, I sent her to get some sleep."

I shut the bathroom door and put on the clothes. He'd forgotten underwear but I was okay with that. I didn't give a shit that my breasts would be jiggling around him. He probably wouldn't even notice my tiny titties.

Despite the shower that had been refreshing, I still felt enormously tired.

Damian was waiting for me right outside the bathroom door.

"I'm fine," I muttered. "You should go home and get some sleep."

"Not going anywhere without you, darling."

Love. Darling. Em. What was up with my future ex-husband?

I went into the kitchen, filled a glass with water and drank thirstily. I did that three times, and after felt almost human.