Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 53233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Hassan texts me back and I look down at my phone.
Hassan: I’ll keep your afternoon clear. Reminder that you’re flying out early tomorrow for a board meeting in NY.
Me: Okay, thanks.
I reach the office building my meeting is at and climb the concrete stairs, opening the door and holding it for an older woman. She thanks me and is about to step inside when I feel a sudden, crushing pain in my shoulder. My phone goes flying and I’m suspended in midair, time seeming to stop. It doesn’t last, though. I crash into something hard, the world around me instantly going dark.
Chapter Twenty
Daphne
“Just take me to him, please.”
My voice breaks with emotion as I beg the ICU nurse to bring me to Olivier. It’s been more than two hours since I found out about his accident, and every minute has felt like an eternity.
I was making calls to find a homeless man a rehab center when I got a call at the office from Olivier’s assistant, Hassan. He told me Olivier was injured this afternoon in a freak accident—a large chunk of stone from the top of the older building he was walking into crumbled off of the building and fell onto Olivier.
The stone hit his shoulder and arm, causing him to fall down several concrete stairs and hit his head. That was all Hassan knew when he called, and he told me to meet him here as soon as I could.
“This is Mr. Durand’s fiancée.” I hear Hassan’s voice and turn around to see him a couple steps from the ICU floor’s front desk. “He would want her to be with him.”
It’s a lie, obviously, but Hassan is a genius. It’s probably the only way I’ll get in to see Olivier. I’m desperate to know how bad his injuries are.
“We’re still assessing his injuries,” the nurse says. “Please be patient.”
Olivier’s driver Ben approaches the ICU desk, his arm around a teenage girl with red, swollen eyes. He meets my gaze, looking worried but unsure what to say.
“Giselle,” I say softly.
She’s a pretty girl, with long, light brown hair, hazel eyes and braces. When she meets my eyes, I’m pulled closer to her by a force I can’t explain. I know it’s not okay to hug people you hardly know, especially when they’re probably in shock, but I can’t help myself. I go to her and open my arms.
“Daphne?” she says tearfully.
“Yes.” I hold her and she cries, which makes me start crying, too.
“What’s going on?” she asks when we pull apart. “Is my dad okay?”
“We’re trying to find out what’s going on.” I take her hand and go back to the desk, clearing my throat. “When can we expect to find out how he is?”
The nurse gives me a sympathetic look. “Soon. I’m sorry I don’t have an answer for you yet. Let me show you guys to a private waiting area and I’ll go check on him right now.”
As soon as the nurse shows us to a room with a couch and several chairs, I sit down and cry some more. This is a cruel twist of fate. I finally, finally managed to get out of my own way and was about to tell Olivier I want to be with him. What if I never get that chance?
Is he in pain? Is he permanently injured? I have so many questions, but for Giselle’s sake, I have to stay strong. Olivier would want that.
Hassan and Ben sit down, both of them looking shell-shocked.
“Has anyone seen him?” Giselle asks. “Was anyone with him?”
“I was,” Ben says solemnly. “I didn’t see it happen, but I was waiting in the SUV close by and went to see if someone needed help when I saw the crowd.”
“Was he awake?” Giselle asks, wiping under her eyes as more tears fall. “Did he say anything?”
Ben meets my eyes for a brief second and then shakes his head.
It’s bad. I can see it all over Ben’s face, but he doesn’t want to say it in front of Giselle.
“Was there…” Giselle chokes her words out. “…blood?”
“Hey,” I say softly, putting an arm around her. “He’s alive, and he’s a fighter. Let’s see what they say when the nurse comes in to update us, okay?”
“Yeah.” She looks down and intertwines her fingers. “I had just talked to him. I called him. I just can’t…”
She covers her eyes, trying to cry quietly.
“You cry as much as you need to,” I tell her. “I had to have a coworker drive me here because I was too upset to even call an Uber.”
The door to the room opens and we all look over hopefully, expecting the nurse with an update. Instead, Anton Petrov and Luca Campbell from the Blaze walk into the room.
“What the hell happened?” Anton asks, his gaze dark and his worry clear.