Always | Protector 3.3 (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Jerome

       My eyes slowly began to open, but my vision was a bit blurry. I had to blink a few times to clear up my vision, though I was still feeling very tired, not to mention my side was feeling very sore.

       I looked around the room, seeing I was in a hospital. And I had no idea how I ended up where.

       There was a nurse in the room, looking at something on the monitors when she noticed I woke up. "What happened?" I asked, my voice sounding a bit weak without me meaning it to.

       "That depends on what you last remember," she said.

       I had to think for a bit, trying to remember the last thing on my mind. "I was at a meet and greet," I said. "For VidGalore. The details are a bit blurry. I just remember a bunch of us staying since it was the last stop on the tour."

       "There was a shooting," the nurse said. "Someone came in with a gun, open fired, and the bullet hit your side. Fortunately, the bullet missed all of your important organs, so it will be no problem recovering."

       I was shot? I guessed there was a bright side of not remembering what happened, because I definitely did not want to remember how it felt.

       But why was I shot? I didn't even remember being in any altercations. I just remember standing there, talking to Nolan.

       Nolan....

       "Can I get up?" I asked, and without waiting for the nurse's response, I tried getting up only to be greeted with a sharp pain in my side.

       "No, you have to stay rested," she said. "Why do you want to get up?"

       "I need to see my husband," I said. "I have to make sure he's okay."

       "I'm sure he's fine," she said. "You were the only one injured."

       "No, you don't understand," I said. "He's not fine mentally. He could be having a full out panic attack right now. I need to make sure he's okay."

       "There's a doctor currently talking with those who came here for you," the nurse said. "I'm assuming he's one of them, so he should be here any minute. I'm all done checking you over for now and you're doing fine, but please don't move too much. You need to let the wound heal properly."

       The nurse left, and I was tempted to get up, but my side was in way too much pain.

       Thankfully, I didn't have to get up. Nolan soon showed up and as soon as he saw that I was awake, he hurried over to me and wrapped his arms tightly around me. It did hurt a bit, but I didn't care right now as I hugged him back. All I cared about right now was Nolan.

       "I was so worried," Nolan said, tears staining his eyes as he dug his face into my neck. "I thought....I t-thought I was going to lose you. I don't know what I would have done."

        "I'm okay," I said. "How are you?"

        Nolan pulled away and looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. "What?"

       "Are you okay?" I asked.

       "You were the one who was shot, and you're asking if I'm okay?" Nolan asked, wiping his tears away.

       "I'm alive," I said. "My side hurts, but that's pretty much it. You, on the other hand, are probably not doing so well mentally."

       Nolan shook his head and looked down, the tears flowing faster. "I was just thinking the whole time about what I would have done without you. I wouldn't have been able to cope. I wouldn't have been able to raise our son alone. I couldn't even handle staying with my family while you were on the tour. I-If you died...."

        "Hey," I said softly, lifting his chin up so he was looking at me. I wiped his tears away before leaning forward and giving him a lingering kiss. "I'm okay. You didn't lose me, Nolan. You'll never lose me, I promise."

       I pulled him into another hug, and we stayed like that for a while I may have been the one who was shot, but I knew it was going to be Nolan who had to recover more. Yeah, I had to recover physically, but that was nothing compared to how much Nolan was going to have to recover mentally.

       Little by little, those who came to the hospital for me came in the room to visit. Orchid, Atticus, and Alan were first, and Orchid brought in Kingsley. After they left, minus Kingsley, people from the tour came to make sure I was doing okay.

       Surprisingly, Dirk was one of the ones coming to make sure I was okay, and I was later told that he and Atticus were the two taking care of my wound while the ambulance was on its way.

       After everyone was done visiting, it was time for the fun part. The police statement. Thankfully, it didn't take too long since I didn't have much to tell them; just that I was talking to my husband, and according to Nolan hugging him, when it happened.

       The police left and Nolan sighed. "I really hope they find the person who shot you."

       "Me too," I said. "I mean, who would want to shoot me? I'm amazing."

       I mainly said that just to make Nolan smile, and it thankfully worked. It was a small smile, but one nonetheless.

       "Nolan?" I said.

       "Yeah?"

       "Promise that if you have a hard time moving on from this, you'll talk to me, okay?" I asked. "I want to make sure you're able to move on from this before I do."

       "Why?" Nolan asked. "I'm not the injured one."

       "I think we both know the reason why," I said. Nolan could hold onto this for a long time, without even being meaning to. He had way too much going on in my mind, and I didn't want this traumatic event holding him back even more.

       I had to make sure he was okay before I was.

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This is why I love Jerlan so much, and they'll always be my favourite couple. They're always putting each other first, even if they're the ones who are hurt.

JEROME WAS SHOT AND NOLAN WAS THE FIRST THING ON HIS MIND. cx True love. <3

I pushed myself to write this even though I suddenly feel sick and I have a headache so now, I sleeps.