Page 59 of Battle with a Billionaire

“She did well. No complications. She’s stable, breathing on her own.”

Kyle’s shoulders relaxed at the news.

“Can we see her?” Grant asked.

“Yes, you can see her. She’s not awake yet…” He hesitated for a moment, a slight wince twitching his lips.

“Do you know when she will be?” Grant asked.

The man pressed his lips together again, setting his hands on his hips.

“She had some swelling around the brain. We have her in a medically induced coma. We’re doing everything we can. The next forty-eight hours are critical.”

“Derek? What aren’t you saying?” Kyle asked.

He let his chin drop to his chest. “I’m a little concerned that it’s not a matter of when she’ll wake up…but if.”

Grant’s stomach turned over at the news. Julia had survived the surgery, but she may never wake up. Even if she’d lived through the worst of it, he may still lose her.

CHAPTER 14

JULIA

Rhythmic beeping filled her ears, the only thing tethering her to the world in a void of darkness. In another instant, pain also tied her there.

She struggled to understand what had happened, her mind desperately searching for answers. But none came. Only an endless maze of questions, none of which she could answer.

The scent of antiseptic filled her nostrils, reminding her of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Dizziness swept over her, disorienting her even further as she seemed to float on water.

The lapping of waves filled her mind, but it all seemed unfamiliar. Images that made no sense swept through her mind, colliding with nothingness and sending her spiraling through a nonsensical world.

Another breath brought a sharp pain across her ribs. She gasped, her eyes fluttering open.

She stared at unfamiliar surroundings in the dimly lit room. Ceiling tile stretched above her. Tubes and wires snaked from her to monitors that beeped and bloomed with a variety of colors.

The disconcerting display made her head swim and ache even more than it already did.

Concerned faces hovered over her. They spoke, but she couldn’t hear them over the blood rushing through her ears.

She squeezed her eyes shut again to stop the room from spinning. Someone rubbed her forearm, and she realized that hands held both of hers.

Voices floated through her mind, echoing but making no sense. The sudden urge to vomit washed over her as salty saliva filled her mouth. She bit back the bile creeping up in her throat as lights burned through her eyelids, stinging her still-closed eyes.

The hands let go of hers, leaving her floating on the sea of nothingness again.

A voice finally broke through the haze. “Julia?”

She fought to steady herself enough to open her eyes. The room still spun in a dizzying array. She moaned as she squeezed her eyes closed again.

The voice called out an order. “Give her more anti-nausea.”

Cold liquid rushed into the crook of her arm. In a few moments, the sickness settled, though the pounding at her temples remained.

She swallowed hard as she allowed her eyes to pop open again. She scanned the now-well-lit hospital room as her brain tried to sort through the shock. The sterile expanse of white and gray coupled with the beeping monitor made her uneasy, though the constant, steady beep reassured her. The sharp smell of antiseptic threatened to overwhelm her again.

“Hey,” a dark-haired man said with a smile. “Feeling any better?”

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