[Twenty-five minutes ago]
Bzzz-Bzzz
Heath’s eyes cracked open and he took in a lungful of air as he stared at the white ceiling above. His brows furrowed in confusion before he looked around. It took him a few moments to realize that he was in a hospital room. And it looked familiar.
Footsteps approached the outside of the room he was in and to his surprise, his brother, Declan entered. Heath stared at him with a blank expression as Declan wore a grin on his face.
“Finally awake, huh? Took you long enough.” He walked to the side of the bed and sat in the chair that was next to it.
“Finally?” Heath repeated as he sat up on the bed. Now he realized that he was in a hospital room, and it looked familiar because Declan had donated a lot of money to this hospital as financial support when it had first started out. “What are you talking about? How long have I been asleep?”
“A few days. Nothing to worry about.”
“A few days?” he said with alarm as he raised his hand to touch his forehead. He originally thought he had been asleep, but now Heath knew that that wasn’t the case. “What happened?”
“A little accident.” His brother answered nonchalantly. “You bumped heads with a crane.”
“Crane?” Heath thought about the word for a second. “I knocked heads with a bird?”
Declan burst out into laughter and wouldn’t calm down. Heath continued to stare at his brother in confusion until he finally said, “Not the bird. The machine that’s used for construction.”
His mind was still fuzzy and he still couldn’t understand. “I don’t…”
Finally, Declan sighed and explained what happened. Apparently, he had gotten into an accident on the new Bishop Lodgings construction grounds. He pushed some workers out of the way of a falling beam and ended up hitting his head because of it. He blacked out and hadn’t woken up since.
It all came rushing back to Heath and he sighed in exasperation. He had never allowed himself to neglect work for so long. He needed to quickly catch up once more as soon as possible.
“Oh, wait.” Declan suddenly said and Heath looked at him. “You actually did wake up once. It was when we first got you transferred over here.”
Heath remained silent for Declan to say something more, but a look of realization suddenly crossed his brother’s face. He pursed his lips before tilting his head to the side at a small angle in thought.
“Actually, should I be telling you this?”
“Why?”
Declan glanced at Heath and saw that he was completely clueless. He really didn’t remember what he said and did to Claire. Oh, the agony.
“Do you really want to know?” he asked in a secretive tone. Of course, it would’ve been easier if Declan just let him know, but playing around with his little brother wouldn’t hurt. Besides, he was having fun. He hadn’t teased Heath in a while.
Heath stared at Declan for a few seconds before he turned his head to look out the window and saying, “No. Now go away.”
“Alright, alright.” Declan quickly rushed forward. Heath was never one to be patient enough for jokes. “Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s about Claire.”
Right away, Declan got his younger brother’s attention again. “What? What about Claire?”
“You remember her, right?”
“Of course I remember Claire! Why would you even ask that?”
How could he not remember her? Dear God, the most important thing he had to get back to wasn’t the construction site or his work, but Claire Sparks! What was he doing in a hospital bed? They had left off badly and Heath needed to get back to her as soon as possible. Today, even.
“You do?” Declan snorted. “And here I thought you could’ve gotten an easy way out.”
“What are you talking about?”
Declan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “You really don’t remember, huh?” Heath was still giving him a confused look, and Declan finally decided to tell him. “Clarissa.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. You’re the one who said her name first.”
Heath pondered about the name…but came to no conclusion as to who she was. “The name doesn’t sound familiar.”
“Even though that’s what you called Claire? I thought maybe it was just another name you called her, but by the look on her face when you said it, I guessed otherwise. But…” Declan nodded his head in realization. “Now I see.”
“Wait…” Heath’s head couldn’t immediately process his brother’s words. It seemed he had knocked his head harder than he thought. “…what did you say?”
“Claire came to visit you.” He said, surprising Heath. “And when you woke up, you looked at her and called her Clarissa.”
Heath made no comeback. No denial, no rebuttal, nothing. The room went completely silent as he sat in his bed with a blank look on his face. There would be no reason for Declan to lie about such a thing, so Heath could only believe that it was the truth.
“So?” Declan asked. “Who is she?”
Slowly, Heath shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? The name even sounds familiar to me.”
“If she sounds so familiar, then tell me who she is.” he asked.
Declan shook his head. “Don’t try to pin this on me. I’m not the one going around calling a girl by my ex’s name.”
“I’ve never dated a girl named Clarissa before.” Heath said flatly.
“Then where did the name come up from?”
“I don’t know.” He answered frustratingly. “The name doesn’t ring a bell to me at all besides that fact that it’s slightly similar to Claire’s name.” Heath realized that his temper was rising, so he calmed himself down from his irritated state. Then he took a deep breath and asked, “What was her reaction?”
Declan raised an arrogant brow. “Do you really want to know? Just think about it for a sec and I’m sure you can guess how any woman would react to a situation like that.”
Heath sighed. “I need to see her.”
“Right now? You’re not authorized to leave yet. We first have to check and make sure everything’s okay with you.”
“I feel fine.” He snapped.
Declan laughed at Heath’s behavior. “You’re more irritable than usual. If it makes you feel any better, Claire was actually here last night.”
He looked at Declan in surprise. “Last night? What was she doing here?”
“Apparently, visiting. But from the look on Dad’s face, I wasn’t too sure.”
“Why do you say that? What did he look like?”
“Well…” Declan said nonchalantly as he stared out the window in thought. “He had that confused look on his face.”
“From what?”
“From Claire.”
Heath was about to ask his brother why, but decided on another question instead. “Was he there when I called out the name Clarissa?”
Declan gave his brother a flat look. “He, I, Mom, and a doctor and nurse were there. Believe me, we were a crowd of witnesses.”
From that information, it didn’t surprise Heath that his father had been confused from Claire’s visit. Even Heath was confused. Why had she come to visit him after what he did to her? And it had even been in front of his family. She must’ve been utterly humiliated. Yet, she still came to visit him…
Heath groaned to himself and buried his face in his hands.
“Don’t be too depressed. Her visiting you should mean something, at least.”
He muttered, “What if she came to break up with me? A one last visit thing?”
Again, Declan laughed humorously. “Wow. We definitely need a doctor to check up on you. First you’re irritated, now you’re getting depressed all by yourself?”
Slightly, Heath raised his head and glared at Declan before he dropped his hands. “Bring the doctor in. I need to get out of here.”
“Fine, fine.” Declan pulled out his phone and checked the time.
Heath spotted it and he was suddenly reminded of what had awoken him in the first place. It had been a buzzing sound…like a phone.
His phone! That was what he had gone back to the construction site for! He wanted to find it in case Claire decided to call him. And that was when everything happened. The buzz that woke him sounded just like his phone.
“Where’s my phone?”
Declan looked at him in confusion. “What?”
“My phone. My personal cellphone.”
“How should I know?”
“I heard it. It should be in the room somewhere.”
The two of them stared at each other as the seconds ticked by, and finally, Declan got the message.
“Wait…are you telling me to look for it?”
Heath simply raised an eyebrow at him.
Declan laughed incredulously. “You’re such a demanding person. I don’t know what Claire sees in you.”
And I don’t know what Nora sees in you, Heath thought, but he decided not to voice those thoughts aloud.
Heath watched as his older brother dialed a number in his cellphone before simply holding it in the palm of his hand while the two remained silent to listen for any noise in the room. After a couple of seconds, there was a vibrating sound coming from the couch by the wall near the TV.
Declan got up and went to it before he searched for the phone. Heath saw his hand disappear into the couch between the cushion before he pulled out the familiar silver cellphone.
What was it doing in there?
“Here.” Declan said before he tossed it towards Heath. It landed in his lap and Heath picked it up and looked to see if there were any missed calls or text messages. There weren’t any missed calls, which had slightly disappointed him since that meant Claire hadn’t called him since the last time they spoke.
However, there was one new message. And it was from Julia.
Heath contemplated whether or not to open the file since it would most likely be just like last time. He would get angry, he would get jealous, and he would confront Claire about it. But he wanted to believe that he knew better. That even if he did see the photo, he wouldn’t be affected by it.
He was just curious. What had she been up to while he was in the hospital?
In the end, Heath opened the message and saw that there was a photo attached to it. So he opened that as well.
And saw the picture. And stared.
Declan saw the look on his face. “What?”
Without answering, Heath immediately tore off all the tubes that were on him before he stood up from the hospital bed. The quick movement caused his vision to blur for a few seconds, but he quickly got used to it and was able to stand in balance.
“Get me some clothes.” Heath demanded.
“Whoa, Heath. Calm down. I haven’t even called a doctor yet.” Declan cautiously said.
Heath glared at his brother. “Get me some damn clothes right now.”
Declan blinked at his sudden behavior, and knew that whatever he had seen on his cellphone had caused it. Heath was being serious, and would walk out bare naked, even if Declan didn’t listen. So he went to the nightstand and picked up a bag of clothes on the other side which Heath wouldn’t have seen otherwise. “Mom brought these just in case.” He said.
Immediately, Heath snatched the bag out of his hand and took off the hospital gown. Declan watched with raised brows at how calmly Heath was putting on the clothes. And yet at the same time, he looked frantic.
“What’s going on?” Declan asked as Heath pulled down the shirt over his body. “Where the hell are you going in such a rush?”
“Back to the hotel.” Heath answered swiftly.
“Work can wait.”
Heath finished dressing and stood in the room wearing a gray dress shirt, tucked into black slacks.
“This isn’t work-related.” Heath said in a gruff voice as he slipped his feet into the shoes. Then he walked past his brother and out the hospital room.
“Make sure to come back afterwards!” Declan called after him, not even having to contemplate whether or not to let him leave, even though he wasn’t authorized to. He would probably be stopped along the way out of the hospital if he was recognized by any of the doctors or nurses, but they wouldn’t be able to do anything. It was the most angry he had seen Heath in a long time.
Whatever, or whoever, he was going to Bishop Lodgings for had better be prepared. An angry Heath Bishop wasn’t easy to calm down.
>>>>><<<<<
It took Heath only ten minutes to get to Bishop Lodgings since the hospital and hotel were so close. The drive along the way did nothing to calm him down though, and neither did the walking. The longer it took for him to get to the hotel, the more irritated he became.
His thoughts were completely filled with the image from the cellphone. It was of Claire and Wyatt…again. Except this time, there was actual physical contact between them that didn’t look accidental.
Claire was hugging Wyatt and his hands were raised, as if to hug her back around the hips. The image burned into his eyes, straight to his mind.
And Heath was furious.
When he walked through the doors of Bishop Lodgings, everything looked normal. The hotel was functioning as usual. Immediately though, the employees recognized him and were shocked, but also welcomed him back at the same time.
Heath made his way to the front desk and noticed that his breathing was ragged from the rage and walking. His body hadn’t yet recovered fully yet, but he refused to stay in the hospital any longer. He needed to see Claire at that moment.
“Where is she?” he asked the receptionists.
Of course, they knew exactly who he was talking about and answered him. Apparently, she had gone through the hallway leading to the lounge and party rooms…with Wyatt.
Heath clenched his teeth and went in the general direction. He looked through the doors and saw that the rooms were empty, until he came across a door which was only opened a crack. Heath was about to slam it open right away, but he heard Claire and his rage slightly calmed from the sound of her voice.
She was speaking with Wyatt, of course. But her words made Heath’s vision blur and a ringing to buzz through his ears.
“Heath asked me what he was to me since I hadn’t broken off our relationship when he left. I didn’t finish my words, but I was about to say ‘There’s always a first for everything, but now I can see why long-distance relationships don’t work.’”
All along, he had wondered why she didn’t finish her words. And now he knew.
And it infuriated him. Heath was no different from the other men in Claire’s life. Just like her previous boyfriends, she had thought about breaking it off all along. So why didn’t she? Was it because she felt bad for him? Did she pity him? Did she see how much he wanted her, and that was why she stayed?
But now that he was gone, was she going to move on? Wyatt Simpson. It seemed as if he was always involved. Was he targeting Claire? Did he want her as well? And did Claire see that? Was she going to give him a chance just as she had with Heath?
The thought snapped Heath’s control and before he knew it, he had slammed the door open. It banged against the wall of the room and he saw that Claire and Wyatt had been sitting side by side on a table in the room. They looked so comfortable and at ease next to each other.
Soon enough, Claire stood up from the table and stared at him with wide eyes. Of course, she would be surprised to see him.
Heath stalked into the room and took hold of her wrist before he tugged her to his side. Then he glared at Wyatt. He was staring right back with eyes full of surprise, but he didn’t say anything. Neither did Heath.
His only purpose was to show Wyatt exactly who Claire belonged to and his look achieved that. So after one more second of glaring down the boy, Heath turned around and dragged Claire with him out the room.
It would take too long to go up all the way to the top floor, so instead, Heath just continued to walk down the hall, further away from Wyatt, further away from people, further away from everyone.
Claire kept up with him as her heels clicked against the hard floor.
“Heath!” she shouted, and it sounded as if she had been calling him for a while now, but he hadn’t heard.
The sound of her voice made him stop, but he didn’t let go.
He stared at the ground at his feet as his breath came out heavily. Again, his vision became blurry and there was a loud ringing in his ears, but he somehow remained standing still without falling over.
“Heath.” Claire whispered his name again.
After taking a quick breath, he said back, “You’re mine. I won’t let anyone else have you.” Then he turned around and pushed her against the wall before trapping her in between his arms as he stared her down.
Everything in his vision was blurry…everything but Claire. For some reason, her face was completely clear to his eyes. He could see that there were tears in her eyes and her freckles were still there, dusted across her cheeks.
He stared at them as he spoke. “Wyatt can’t have you. No other guy can have you. Do you hear me? You’re mine and I’m never letting you go.”
Claire stared into his eyes frantically before she raised her trembling hands. She settled them on his cheeks and touched him. “Who am I?” Heath gazed into her eyes, knowing exactly why she was asking that question. “Say my name. Call me by my name.”
“You’re mine, Claire.” He growled. “And I don’t want any other woman, but you.”
To Heath’s surprise, Claire got an angry look in her face before she tugged him down and crushed her lips against his. He could feel their teeth scrape against each other and he flinched from the pain that throbbed in his lips.
“Again.” She demanded.
He raised his hand and placed it behind her neck. “Claire.”
She buried her hand into his hair and tugged. “Again.”
Every time her name left his lips, a tingling sensation would linger on his tongue. Heath would call out her name however many times it took to convince her. “Claire Sparks.” he repeated for her before he properly pressed their lips together in a kiss, silencing her.
He swiped his tongue against her lips and she opened for him. Her warm breath flowed into his mouth and he tasted her specific flavor. She moaned against him and pressed her body against his as his hand against the wall clenched into a painful fist.
It was difficult keeping his control intact, especially since Claire was completely melting in his embrace. Their time apart wasn’t that long, but it felt as if Heath hadn’t seen her in years. But they were in the hallway of his hotel. They couldn’t carelessly do something there of all places.
When Claire began gasping for breath, he pulled back to stare at her face. Her eyes were still glistened with tears, but her face was now flushed and her lips were ripe and swollen from their rough kiss.
“God.” Heath murmured as he took in the sight before he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You’ve gotten more beautiful while I was away.”
Claire gulped and gazed into his eyes. But suddenly, she blinked and snapped out of her daze before she placed her hands on his chest. Then she shoved him away from her and he stared at her with wide, confused eyes. She looked up at him and he could see the fury in her eyes.
And then, she slapped him. Right across the face.
The force of it made his head turn to the side and Heath stood there in utter shock. Never would he have thought that he would actually get slapped by Claire. In fact, he didn’t even really fully know the reason as to why he got it. Sure, he might have deserved it, but what was the exact reason?
The burning sensation on his cheek increased in pain and he finally lifted his head to look at Claire again.
She was smiling.
“That felt good.” Claire shook her hand for a few seconds while blowing at it before she let it hang at her side. “Alright. Now we can talk.”