Page 29 of Beneath Submission
~Twenty~
The only sound that filled the room was the “beep, beep, beep,” of the heart monitor. My eyes only focused on the lines, which indicated that his heartbeat was strong. The doctor said it was a good sign. It had only been an hour since they had removed the ventilator; another indication that he was getting stronger.
One week, two hours, and twenty minutes, Xavier had been in intensive care. Every day my father came to check up on me, worried that I might be exerting myself by not getting enough sleep. I told him that this was the only place that I wanted to be. There was no way I would ever leave Xavier’s side and I wasn’t about to go home to rest. The hospital had been very accommodating and provided a room where I could rest and shower while Xavier was in intensive care, and with the change of clothes that my father had brought me, there was no reason to leave him.
With the police protection outside the door and at the staircase and elevator, Mr. Sakai or any of his men would need to be invisible to get on this floor. For once in a long time, I felt safe. There were even two detectives milling around waiting to talk to Xavier about what had happened. I had already told Detective Wallace and Detective Sloan what had happened, but they seemed to think that there was more to what had happened than just my interpretation.
I began to get worried when the detectives began to question me about Xavier and how well I knew him. I didn’t feel comfortable telling them the intimate details of our relationship. I may have been a little rude when I told them that it was none of their business, but I really felt that it had nothing to do with what happened at Mr. Sakai’s mansion.
Wandering down the hall to stretch my legs, I immediately turned around when the nurse flew from her chair and headed to Xavier’s room. My heart fell to my stomach fearing that something bad had happened. Running in the direction of his room, I entered the room to find that he was trying to get out of bed and the nurse was trying desperately to stop him from standing.
“Mr. London, please, you need to remain in the bed. Any movement could cause your sutures to open,” she demanded as she willfully tried to get him back to bed.
I was surprised that he was awake and trying to get out of bed. He was stubborn, and that part didn’t surprise me when he tried to get the nurse away from him. Feeling like she needed some reinforcement, I walked up beside her and gave Xavier a stern look. “Xavier, listen to the nurse. You need to remain in bed.”
I had never seen a look like the one he was giving me. He scooted back onto the bed, holding his hand to his side as his teeth gritted together. He was in pain, but he really shouldn’t have tried to get up. Giving me a smile, the nurse left the room, leaving us alone.
“How long have I been here?” he asked, concerned.
“One week,” I answered, unsure of what to say next.
I could feel his eyes penetrate mine as though he could see the exhaustion beneath them. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“There’s no way I could ever leave you, Xavier. I was so worried about you,” I replied, trying to justify my presence.
“Well, well… Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up.” I knew the minute his voice sounded that Detective Wallace had entered the room.
Turning to face him. I stepped over to where he had rested his body against the door and asked in a low voice. “Can you please wait to talk to him tomorrow? He has really been through a lot.
Looking over my head, he acknowledged my request by saying, “I’ll let you rest, but I will be back tomorrow. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
Closing the door to the room after Detective Wallace left, I pulled a chair beside Xavier’s bed and placed my hands on my lap. I wasn’t sure if this was the right time to ask, but I knew sooner or later it would come out. “What do you think he wants?”
Taking a deep breath, Xavier leaned his head against the pillow and then slowly blew out the breath he was holding in. Staring at the ceiling, he said, “He probably wants to know what I was doing at Sakai’s home and what my affiliation is with him.” Moving his head toward me, his eyes began to close as though what he was about to say next would tear him apart. “I’m so tired of hiding from people. I’m so tired of keeping secrets. It’s time that the truth came out. I need to take responsibility for what I’ve done.”
My eyes fell to my lap to hide the tears that were beginning to form. In a hushed voiced I said, “Xavier, if you tell him everything, it would tear me apart. I can’t lose you again.” Standing to my feet, I walked over to the bed and took his hand in mine. “Please, Xavier. Don’t tell him what you did, at least not the truth about who you are and what you did that led you to LA.”
~*~*~*~
Xavier insisted that I go home for the night with my father where I could get a good night’s rest and return in the morning. I think it was his way to tell me nicely that he wanted some time to himself. He had a lot on his mind and with me being there, it would just get in the way of what he had to do. As much as I protested about leaving, he finally convinced me that I needed to go. When my father showed up and mentioned that Aiko wanted to see me, there was nothing I could do to change his mind.
As we left the hospital, I realized that I was being selfish, and that Xavier had to do the right thing. I was being a hypocrite telling him not to tell the truth and it was wrong for me to ask him. It was his decision. In my heart, I could see that telling the truth was the only way he would be able to move on, even if it meant that he would be spending his time away from me.
Sitting back, I tried to enjoy the ride back to my father’s home. Aiko would be waiting for me and I was excited to see her again. Gazing out the window, my father took hold of my hand and squeezed it gently. Looking over to him, sadness filled my heart and I was pretty sure by the expression on my face, he could see it.
“Tessa. Please don’t worry. Everything will be okay with Xavier,” he said reassuringly.
“How can it be, Papa? Xavier is going to tell the detectives everything. There is no way that he won’t go to jail for a long time,” I cried.
“I’m sure that the detectives don’t want Xavier. I’m pretty sure they want Colin Gates and Lee Sakai. If they can stop their operation, it would give them more satisfaction than putting Xavier behind bars. I bet after this is all done Xavier will only have community service to contend with,” my father countered.
“I hope that you are right, Papa. No matter what bad things that he did, he is a good man.”
When we got to the house, Aiko was already waiting by the front door for us. Jumping to her feet, she headed toward the car before it came to a stop. I had never seen her this excited before. She was happy, another thing that I had never seen before.
My father stopped the car and before I could open the door, she had a hold of the handle opening it for me. I wasn’t even out of the car when she leaned in and gave me the most heartfelt hug I had ever received from her. Feeling like she was cutting off my air supply, I finally got out, “Aiko, I can’t breathe.”
Her arms released their grip around my neck which allowed me to get out of the car. As I reached my feet, Aiko backed away from me a couple of feet so that I could close the door. Grabbing hold of my hand, we walked together to the house with my father following close behind with the small bag I had kept at the hospital.
