Chapter 30: Lydia

Drake, Lydia, and the others had been on the island for a week now. Drake and Lydia were desperate for alone time, every minute of the day was spent either looking over wedding plans, avoiding Dianne, or talking with Drake’s publicist and other members of the paparazzi. Everyone wanted to get to know Lydia, they wanted her background information; who her family was, what school she went to, how her and Drake met, etc.


Lydia was exhausted, she didn’t know if she could handle the public spotlight. All she wanted to do right now, was visit her mom in the hospital, curl up in the uncomfortable bedside chair, and read “Hybrid Aria” out loud to her mother. Some doctor’s said that comatose patients could still hear what was going on around them, and Lydia was a firm believer that her mother could hear her, which is why since the day she’d entered the hospital, Lydia had visited every night, talking to her mother and letting her know she was still there. Lydia missed her mom dearly, wishing that she could go and visit her now, and let her know all the crazy shit that was going on in her life right now.


Lydia was in her penthouse suite at The Palms hotel. It was the first time she had a few hours to herself and she was going to make the most of it. She was running herself a bath in the jacuzzi tub, filled with citrus scented oils to boost her energy, and a chocolate scented bubble bath. She poured herself a glass of Rosé and grabbed her copy of Hybrid Aria, before submerging herself in the hot water. She grabbed her phone from the side of the tub and dialed the number to the hospital her mother was now staying at. Drake had moved her mom, to New York- Presbyterian, the most prestigious hospital in New York, he had told Lydia that her mother would receive the best care and attention there. He had told Lydia that if anyone could wake her mother from her coma it would be Dr. Mukul Verma who Drake had flown in from New Delhi, India to care for Lydia’s mother. New York Presbyterian had granted him privileges indefinitely since he was a world renowned Neurosurgeon, they had even agreed to pay half of his salary if he was willing to see other patients too. Drake had agreed as long as Lydia’s mother was still Dr. Verma’s number one priority.


The phone rang twice, before one of the nurses picked up. “Hey, it’s Lydia.”


“Miss Lydia,” The nurse exclaimed, “Congratulations of your engagement.”


“Umm Thank you.” Lydia responded hesitantly, not really wanting to discuss her upcoming nuptials. She was all wedding talked out and she hadn’t even gone dress shopping with Madilyn yet.


“How may I be of assistance today, Ma’am?” The nurse asked, returning back to her professional demeanor.


“I am just wanting to talk to my mother.” Lydia responded, her heart aching with the intense need to see her mother.


“Of course ma’am, she just got back from her CT scan, I’ll just place the phone on speaker, and give you some privacy, do you know how long you’ll be on call with her?” The nurse asked, likely to see how much privacy Lydia would need to be granted.


Lydia glanced down at her phone, noticing that she still had two hours left before she had to go dress shopping with Madilyn, she informed the nurse that she would at least be on the phone with her mother for an hour.


Lydia waited patiently for the nurse to put the phone on speaker, and walk out of the room, when she heard the door close, Lydia let out a soft sigh.


“Hey mom.” She said starting to talk into the phone. “I hope you’re enjoying you new hospital, Drake put you in the VIP guest suite, so you’d get the privacy and care that you needed. Speaking of Drake, you may or may not have heard already, but we are getting married in less than a month. I wish you could be there mom to watch me walk down the aisle. I never imagined that you wouldn’t be there when I got married.” Lydia could feel the tears slowly falling down her face.


“But that’s not why I called mom. I didn’t call to let you hear how much I missed you, I called so we could spend time together and I could read our book to you, like I did before life got chaotic.” Lydia responded, wishing with all her heart that her mother could respond back to her.


Lydia relaxed deeper into the tub, taking a long swig of her wine, before she opened up the novel and began to read to her mother. “Is Aria, usually late, does she have a phone?….”


Lydia read until her voice began to grow hoarse, from trying to hold back tears, and from talking nonstop. She looked down at her phone realizing their hour was almost up
.

“I’ll talk you again soon mom, I love you so much.”


“Miss Lydia, are you done talking to your mom, or do you need more time?” The nurse asked walking back into the room.


“No, I’m done, thank you. You have been a blessing.” Lydia responded.


“The pleasure is all mine, ma’am.” The nurse responded before disconnecting the line.


The bath water had grown cold while she was talking to her mother, and the bubbles had disappeared, Lydia swallowed the last of her wine, sighing before she got up pulling herself out of the tub. She really didn’t want to go dress shopping with Madilyn, but Drake was determined to keep up this farce. To Lydia it almost seemed like he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but she wouldn’t let herself think like that, determined to keep her heart intact, not wanting to fall for the billionaire stud and end up getting her heart broken. She wasn’t Cinderella, and this wasn’t a fairy tale. It was the real world, and Lydia had already learned if you dreamed to high, you would end up getting burned.