Chapter nineteen

The morning sunlight filtered through the hospital blinds, casting pale golden streaks across the bed. Rosa stirred, blinking slowly, and found Damon still in the chair by her side. He hadn’t left. Not once.

He looked tired…disheveled, a far cry from the prim and proper, composed billionaire she was used to, but he was still handsome and devilishly appealing despite his disheveled state.

“You stayed” she wanted to ask but it came out as a statement, her voice still hoarse from the sleep.

Damon glanced at her, his gaze so soft she could melt under his green eyes. He straightened in the chair and offered a smile.

“Yeah. You were muttering in your sleep. Something about punching me if I ever let you go through this alone.”

Rosa laughed and rolled her eyes. “Sounds like me.”

“Storm dropped by” Damon stated, I called her. “ I figured she’d want to know whatever happens”

“Where’s she?” Rosa asked with such urgency. It would be amazing to see her best friend after all this time apart.

“She left, for work….will be back soon as she gets off.”

Storm was gone, having slipped out early that morning to give them space…or maybe to avoid throwing hands. Either was possible.

It was no news that she hated Damon and his guts. Asking her to come to the same hospital he was in was hard, almost like dragging a horse to the river and forcing it to drink.

Rosa hated that she missed the drama between them when she came in, it must have been epic. She was sure of that.

They both sat idly and their eyes wandered to each other. Rosa’s brown ones were filled with warmth, the kind that your eyes fill with when you bite into your favorite warm donut or when you have a lick of your favorite ice cream.

Her warmth was slowly radiating to him and he could tell because all he wanted to do at that moment was hold onto that gaze, for as long as he could.

His gaze was almost cold, but not quite. It held something she still could not phantom. The same thing if held the first time they’d met, the first time she had flirted with him from across the bar.

The knock on the door disrupted the small moment they had. Rosa beamed inside, it was good they got disrupted, she could not risk bringing back the thoughts of that night, not now,not ever.

Things would never be like that again between them, he made that clear enough.

“Hello RosaLina, hello Damon.”

“Hello,” Damon said with a steady voice.

“Hello, doctor Adam,” Rosa said with a smile as the doctor walked in. Relieved that he has a smile on today.

Last time she had seen him he didn’t look approving and she’d woken up with no immediate recollection of what had happened.

“Your blood pressure is back to normal and your body seems stable so we’re going to discharge you.” Dr Adam’s said glancing at the writing pad in his hand.

“Ow, that’s a relief,” Rosalina said letting out a sigh she didn’t even know she was holding.

“You’ll have to stay off your feet a lot, bed rest is crucial in your condition.”

“Okay,” Rosa said calmly her hands tracing against her belly.

“I’ll make sure of that,” Damon said his eyes holding hers while his hands traced her arms lightly.

Rosalina walked into the penthouse with hesitant footsteps,the ride home had been silent. Not the heavy uncomfortable one, the silence made her think, clear thoughts.

Everything was exactly as she remembered…sleek, cold, luxurious. The kind of place that didn’t feel lived in, but rather, displayed.

She thought she had gotten used to the place but obviously, that was far from the truth, she still had a long way to go and lots of getting used to it.

Damon followed behind her silently, watching her eyes scan the place. He wondered what went through her mind.

“I had the guest room on the ground floor cleaned and furnished properly,” he said. “I figured it’d be better to stay downstairs considering your condition.”

“Thank you, that’s very considerate of you,” Rosa said, her voice soft as she walked towards the room.

His hands on her waist did something to her but she pushed whatever feelings to the back of her mind. He opened the door and Rosa let out a soft gasp at the sight. It was beautiful.

She didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on her stomach, now rounded and prominent beneath her loose cream sweater.

“How’s she doing?” he asked.

“She kicks a lot. Especially when I eat strawberries,” she said with a small smile.

He chuckled. “I’ll stock the kitchen with crates of them then.”

For a moment, they simply stood there…two people who once shared a night of passion, now tiptoeing around the weight of the life growing between them.

“I’ll get out of your way,” he said at last. “Let you settle in.”

“Damon?” she called just before he turned.

He paused, glancing over his shoulder.

“Thank you. For taking me to the hospital. For staying.”

He gave a small nod. “Don’t thank me yet. I’ve still got a lot to make up for.”