Beneath Your Beautiful: A Neighbors to Lovers Romance [COMPLETED]

31 - Just give me a reason

For a few moments, it was as if the three of them were suspended in time, just staring at each other, unsure what to say or do.

The past half hour flashed before Noah's eyes.

They hadn't been able to find Jaya anywhere, so checking the emergency rooms in the area had been the next logical step. But because there hadn't been a Jaya Lahiri admitted anywhere, Gus decided to run a check on any Jane Does that came in over the past two hours. And got a hit—there was an unidentified woman under observation in the maternity ward. So Gus had told Noah to stay in the waiting area while he went to find out if Jane Doe was, in fact, Jaya.

The wait had been excruciating.

Noah had sat there, raking his hands through his hair, when Gus's text lit up his phone. The wild thing was when he dialed Gus's number, a phone rang down the hall. The ringtone was a dead giveaway. As mad and scared as he was, Noah couldn't help his smile as he followed the melody of "Fly Like An Eagle" down the hall. It was a song from the 1996 sports comedy Space Jam, which starred two of Jaya's basketball heroes: Muggsy Bogues and Michael Jordan.

It came from the second room on the left, where the door stood open, but a curtain blocked his view. Still, he could hear Jaya begging Gus not to take his call.

So he rolled his shoulders, took a deep breath, and pulled the curtain aside.

Jaya hid her face behind her hands. But at least she was in one piece—no casts or bruises as far as he could see.

There had been a moment when he'd contemplated saying fuck this, I'll raise the baby by myself, but he couldn't imagine Jaya truly wanted that. Despite her many attempts to push him away, there had always been something in her eyes (or touch) that told him she didn't want him to let her go. And he knew Jaya wasn't doing this to hurt him. She had a mental health condition that made her prone to panic and impulsivity.

Gus came up to Noah and patted his shoulder. "Be kind, okay? The baby is fine, but Jaya's not."

After Gus closed the curtain and the door behind him, Noah remained standing where he was. He had no idea how to approach her. Would she welcome his touch, or push him away? Was she hurting? And what was wrong with her, why was she in the hospital?

Jaya didn't say anything either. Her gaze remained on the window; its drapes were open, showing the palm trees swaying in the breeze.

Noah decided to go with his heart. He walked over to the bed, sat on the edge of the mattress, and then pulled Jaya into his arms, breathing her in as she sagged against him.

He held her for a long time, just inhaling her scent, grateful to have her back.

"You okay?" he asked eventually.

She didn't reply but hugged him tighter, burying her face against his neck.

"Why are we here, Jaya? What's wrong?"

Noah hated feeling helpless, but knowing what they were dealing with gave him something to do. He could research, make sure she had the best care money could buy, and plain old pray she got through this as quickly as humanly possible.

"I don't want you to know because you'll worry," she mumbled into his sweater.

He let out a sigh, took hold of her shoulders, and put some space between them, so he could see her face. "I'm already worried, so you might as well tell me."

She shook her head just as the nurse joined them.

"Oh, so lovely to meet your husband," the older nurse with stunning light-gray dreadlocks greeted him with an elated smile on her face. "I'm Nurse Diahann."