Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-One
Kelley’s eyelids fluttered and he blinked a few times before the ceiling came into focus. He tried to swallow and felt the nausea rising. Kelley’s hand rose to his face and he felt the tube going down his nose. Instinctively, he gagged and pulled the adhesive band from his nose.
He started pulling slowly and swallowed the nausea down. The tube seemed never ending and when the last bit popped out of his nose, he gagged again. The beeping noise was low in his ears but irritatingly there. Kelley turned to look at it with a frown and then he switched the machine off.
He ripped the patches off his chest and stumbled to the bathroom. His hand was against the wall because his balance was up to shit. He felt weak and slightly disoriented. Something was trailing on the floor behind him and he felt for the light switch and stepped back as his reflection appeared in the mirror.
“What the fuck,” Kelley whispered at the reflection that stared back at him.
He looked down and saw the bag half-filled with urine. ‘Why the hell do I have a catheter?’ he thought to himself as he picked it up and placed the bag on the counter. His head felt fuzzy but he wasn’t in pain at all.
His skin was sallow, his hair shorter than he remembered, his eyes were bloodshot and he frowned as he turned to the side and looked at the name inked on his ribs, below his heart, he traced the letters with his fingers and a slight smile appeared on his face. He filled the glass on the counter with water and swallowed it down.
His throat felt thick and he couldn’t remember ever feeling so thirsty. Four glasses later he walked out of the bathroom and opened the bedroom door. The woman’s hand was lifted like she’d been about to open the door and her eyes widened but no sound came from her open mouth.
“Can you remove this?” Kelley asked her. She was clearly a nurse, given her uniform and the cardigan she wore over it. Kelley held the urine bag in his hand and he looked down at it.
She nodded her head and Kelley took a step backwards as her cheeks reddened and she shuffled past him. He closed the door softly and made his way back to the bed. The woman cleared her throat and Kelley almost smiled as he pulled the boxer shorts down that someone had put on him.
“How are you feeling?” The woman was busy removing the pipe from his bladder and he tried to look everywhere but down there. When it was done he exhaled in relief and pulled the boxers up before standing. His bedroom looked the same minus the medical equipment and he took note of them all.
“What happened to me?”
She pushed him back down to sit on the bed and checked his vitals, listened to his heart and lungs before nodding her head. “You fell down the stairs and hit your head pretty hard. It was miraculous that nothing else was broken.”
“You looked very surprised to see me awake. How long have I been out?” Kelley’s gaze was cold, his eyes boring into hers. She shivered involuntarily at the coldness she saw there.
“Five weeks.”
Kelley rubbed his hand over his head and stood up again. He walked inside his dressing room and exited again two minutes later sporting sweatpants and a t-shirt. The woman hadn’t moved and she looked at him with big eyes.
“I should call Dr Drummond,” she said softly.
Kelley simply nodded his head and walked out of his bedroom. His study looked the same but it felt different. He felt different but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what had changed. His laptop still stood on his desk and his phone was there too although the battery was dead.
Kelley plugged it into the charger and sat down on his chair. He leaned back against it and then his eyes found the drinks cabinet. He carried the glass of Scotch back to his desk and opened the laptop. He had over three thousand emails. His gut tightened at the number but he also knew he wouldn’t sleep again until he’d checked every last one.
“You can’t drink!” The woman squealed as she rushed into his study and grabbed the glass from his hand, spilling the Scotch onto the tabletop.
“Are you a doctor?” The mask was in place again, the cold eyes unforgiving.
“You had brain surgery! Twice!”
Kelley’s hand lifted to the side of his head and his fingers traced the scar there, underneath his hair. His eyes found the nurse again and she looked down. “My name’s Kelley Alexander, I’m twenty-six and this is my house. If it’s been five weeks then the date should be the last day of February. I’m fine.”
“I’m still not letting you drink,” she said and walked out of his study with the glass in her hand. Kelley smirked. She should’ve taken the decanter.
He picked up the landline on his desk and dialed one of two numbers he knew by heart. The phone rang twice before it was answered.
“Connor?” his voice asked.
“It’s Kelley.”
The seconds ticked by and Kelley started to smile. Mason’s breathing changed and Kelley knew he was crying. He didn’t know how he knew, but he just knew. “Mase …”
“I’m on my way,” Mason said and the call ended.
Kelley went back to his bedroom and got into the shower. He felt dirty even though he knew someone would’ve washed him. He sported a day’s growth of stubble on his face and he felt almost ridiculous washing the short stubbles on his head.
He dressed in fresh clothes and he could hear Mason’s footsteps on the marble stairs just as he exited his bedroom. Mason’s eyes were red and he grabbed Kelley in a bear hug and squeezed tightly. Kelley huffed out a laugh as he clasped his arms around Mason.
“You can’t ever do that to me again, you can’t ever die like that again,” Mason said, sounding half hysterical.
