Page 23 of Chained to You (Dark Billionaires 6)

He nodded. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m here. Everything is fine now.”

I felt his lips against my forehead, and it gave me a sense of relief that he was kissing me, that I felt his warm flesh against mine.

“Don’t leave me,” I said between sobs. “I’m scared, James. I’m scared.”

“Shh…” James said. “I won’t leave you. Don’t be afraid.”

I didn’t know how long I clung to him and cried in his arms. When I finally stopped, I was exhausted and fell back asleep, James by my side.

Chapter 11

Mia

The next time I came fully conscious, it was to a rattling noise near me. I groaned and slowly fluttered my eyes open. The moment bright lights greeted me, I squeezed my eyes shut again.

“How are you doing, love?” A female voice came my way. I felt a warm hand about my shoulder as the woman continued. “Is there anything I can get you? Water? Tea? Coffee?”

I nodded with my eyes still shut. “Wa-water,” I managed to articulate, my throat dry and scratchy. It hurt.

“Sure,” the woman said. “Just hold on a second.”

As I heard her footsteps moving away, I tried opening my eyes once again, and this time, I got used to the bright light that shone into the room.

With my vision still a little blurry, I searched about the place, wondering how long I had been asleep.

When the woman returned with a glass of water, I asked, “How long?”

She helped me sit up and then guided the glass of water toward my lips.

She must have understood my question because she said, “You’ve been in and out of consciousness for three days now. But it’s only to be expected, considering your injuries.”

I greedily swallowed the cool liquid as it smoothly went down my throat. God, I had never been this thirsty in my life, and it was so good just to have water soothing my throat. It felt heavenly.

Once I was done, the woman asked, “Hungry?”

I nodded along with a weak smile. “Yes,” I said. “Very.”

She chuckled. “I’ll get you something to eat, then. I’ll just be a few minutes, all right?”

I nodded, having just realized she was actually a nurse. When she was gone, I rested back against the pillows and turned my eyes to gaze out the window.

The scenery outside was indeed beautiful. From here, I could almost see the whole city of Los Angeles, with buildings and hills and mountains in the distance, along with small dots of cars moving along roads that intertwined intricately within the city.

So I had been in and out of consciousness for three days? I must have been quite exhausted after what had happened.

Suddenly, I wondered about Andy and Matt. Had they already returned to Vegas? I hoped not because I wanted to see Andy and…

James. It was then that I remembered last night when James had been here with me. Then again, was it really last night? Or the night before? I didn’t know, but I did know that James had been here with me, comforting me, and it made me happy.

I was grinning like an idiot, thinking about James and how he came to save me like a hero in a movie, when the nurse returned with a tray of food.

She said, “I’m glad you’re smiling. You must be feeling a lot better, right?”

I nodded, suddenly realizing my body wasn’t as sore as it had previously been. It was probably the painkillers they had given me, of course.

“Wh… what’s yo-your name?” I asked, surprised that I could almost speak normally now, considering my throat was still a little sore. I was surprised, too, that my mouth and jaw didn’t hurt all that much. After all, I was sure I had a broken jaw when Herbert had hit me. But of course, it had been three days since, so it might have healed? I didn’t know. Or maybe I never had a broken jaw in the first place.

“Nancy,” the woman said. “And here’s your first meal of the day.” She placed the tray in front of me and made a show of lifting the cover as if she were a chef and the food was from a five-star restaurant, which amused me.

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