SCARLET
My heart sinks as soon as the words leave Miranda’s lips.
The worst possible scenarios play in my head.
Was he shot?
What if the bullet got the vital organs?
Was he stubbed?
Was he involved in an accident?
Oh my God.
I married a mafia king.
It could be worse than anything I come up with.
A tap on my shoulder makes me jolt.
My world had suddenly stopped.
“Where’s he?” I ask Miranda.
Christina is on her way out of the room.
“Downstairs with Matias,” says Miranda as she follows Christina.
We find him in the livingroom, lying on the couch.
His white shirt is is covered with blood on the shoulder part.
I gasp and my hands fly to my mouth.
It’s a shoulder injury.
I’ve definitely seen worse in the hospital.
But this scene is horrifying.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in a situation where the man I just married is bleeding.
“Oh, my God, Devan, what happened? We need to rush him to the hospital,” screams Christina.
Devan struggles to sit up and lets out a painful smile that makes me want to scold him, but I’m too stunned to speak.
“This is nothing, Mother,” he groans, clearly in pain.
“Besides, no hospitals. Remember the rules?”
Forget the rules, what does he mean it’s nothing?
I quickly walk to his side to try and take care of the wound.
Matias holds my hand to stop me.
“The doctor will be here in a minute. I’ll take him to the underground basement.”
I blink in confusion.
What does he mean the doctor will be here?
Devan needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.
I’m a doctor.
Matias is aware of that.
Besides, “Underground basement?”
“Scarlet,” Devan calls me.
“I’m fine.”
I soft laugh escapes my lips.
“Clearly,” I say, looking at the red patch on his shoulder.
He looks at it too.
“Everything is going to be fine,” he assures me but his words do nothing to calm my nerves.
“Guess who’s here,” another male voice resounds in the air attracting everyone’s attention.
He has a grin on his face, with no sense of urgency.
That’s the doctor.
Doesn’t take a genius.
Does he even take his work seriously?
He looks down at Devan.
“Oh, shoulder injury. This won’t take long. Let’s get going.”
It takes a while for my mind to understand what he means by let’s get going.
Matias helps Devan up.
When I follow them, Devan suddenly stops.
“You’re not coming.”
“What?” I stare at him blankly.
“I don’t want you down there,” he clarifies.
I cross my arms in front of my chest.
“You’re joking right?”
“Scarlet, please.”
“He will be fine,” says the doctor.
“Let me give you something to eat,” Miranda takes my hand to lead me away before I can protest more.
Devan, the doctor, Matias and Christina walk away.
I can’t settle.
In the kitchen, Miranda offers me a seat.
I ignore it before I begin pacing.
My stomach is in knots.
My heart pounds so fast in my chest.
It’s just a shoulder injury, I remind myself.
He’ll be fine.
I don’t even know why I’m so worked up like this.
“He will be fine,” Miranda says, offering me a glass of water.
I take it and gulp the water in a few huge swigs.
“Try to breath,” she says.
I take in deep breaths for the sake of my nerves, even though it doesn’t solve anything.
But now that we’re talking, “What’s in the underground basement?”
Her expression falls, and I immediately know, I’m not getting anything here.
“Uhm, that’s Devan’s story to tell.” She walks away to wash the glass I just used.
“I’ll tell you this though,” she gives me a brief glance before refocusing on the glass.
My heart beats in anticipation as I wait for her to say it.
“Unless Devan shows it to you. Do not snoop. He hates it when people invade privacy.”
Oh.
My anticipation vanishes in thin air.
For the next hour, Miranda tries to feed me with everything that exists in the kitchen.
I reject all of them. The source of this chapter is g.com.
I can’t stomach anything.
That’s how I get when I’m nervous or stressed.
Sometimes my father worries that I might die from it.
And Miranda gives me the same look my nanny always gives when I eat a spoon of rice.
I wait in the living room.
It feels like eternity.
I’m tempted to find the basement, but it’s probably heavily guarded.
No one will let me in.
But I’m his wife.
If I tell them that…
I’m in the middle of the crazy thoughts when I hear voices approaching.
I quickly rush to meet them.
Devan is in a black shirt that’s unbuttoned.
I get a glimpse of his chest and it takes all the self control in me not to get lost in it.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“What do you think? He’s got the best doctor,” answers the doctor and I ignore him.
“My wounds have been dressed, I’m fine,” Devan replies.
“Nice to l meet you by the way. I’m Doctor Andrew,” the doctor introduces himself.
Before I can say anything, the turns to Devan.
“My work here is done. I’ll check up on you tomorrow. Take care of yourself, stubborn head.”
And then he walks away.
“You should rest,” Christina says.
“I’ll take you to your room,” I add.
“Miranda will bring you dinner,” says Christina.
Devan and I walk upstairs.
I open the door and lead him to bed.
He lies down and I sit next to him, eyeing his shoulder.
“Can I have a look?” The words roll off my mouth before my mind can process them.
Devan cocks a brow.
“You know you’re allowed to touch me any time you feel like it.”
I look away in embarrassment.
He takes my hand and leads it to his chest.
“I’m your husband now.” He says.
His chest is hard, and his words make butterflies flutter my stomach.
I can feel his beating heart.
For someone who works in a hospital, I didn’t know heartbeats could make me feel sparks all over my body.
But again, it’s the first time I’m touching Devan’s chest like this.
And I like it.
I look at his face.
His eyes.
Injured Devan is still hot.
I’ve only known him for a short while, yet my body reacts to his touches…his brief, simple touches in ways I can’t explain.
No matter how subtle I want to be.