My Protector

Chapter 33: Don't give up

Loren's POV

I was 1 week short of 2 months of being trapped in my own body. I had noticed that I was spending more time conscious but I still had a difficult time expressing this.

Every now and then I would manage to twitch my thumb which sent Killian over the moon. The first time it happened he yelled so loud the nurses ran in because they thought something was wrong.

He had stayed by my side day and night which, if i'm being honest, was quite surprising. I had expected him to leave back to the states so that he could man his business but apparently Adam had it all taken care of. Well at least that was what Killian told me.

The machine beside me continued to pump air in and out of my lungs as I listened to the rapid taps over a keyboard. They suddenly stopped as the door to my room walked in and I heard a few pairs of footsteps hurry in.

My main doctor introduced one of the women as another doctor who would be helping on my case. Apparently they had something important to discuss. Killian didn't sound too thrilled to talk to them.

"If you are coming here to talk to me about what I think you are, the answer is already no." He spoke without expression.

"Mr. East, it has almost been two months... People don't usually recover past this time. All we're asking is that you consider-"

"No" Killian harshly interrupted the woman. "You are going to trot in here and ask me to pull the plug on her, right in front of her. Yet this whole time you were also telling me that there is a large chance that Loren can hear everything around her?"

Nothing but silence and tension filled the room.

"Is that not correct?" Killian persisted until my main doctor responded.

"Yes"

"Okay so why would you come in here and ask me to kill every chance of her life in front of her?"

"Mr. East, the chances of her hearing anything are extremely low at this point. We have plenty of reason to believe that she is almost brain dead" The woman responded

"Almost brain dead? Except almost all of her neuro tests are normal and she's slowly become more and more responsive?" Killian scoffed and paused. "Get out" he seethed. The foot steps slowly made their way out of the room and once the door closed I heard Killian let out a huge sigh. "Fucking imbeciles. If I owned this hospital I'd have fired them already"

I couldn't help but laugh at this. I hadn't heard the Killian I remembered in a while. He always stepped away when he got a work phone call or something else remotely stressful. I still couldn't see obviously so I was left to imagine what had just happened. I laughed even more at the picture of the doctor's faces when Killian told them to get out. And the way that they obeyed! Without a single word. Good to know he still holds the same power that he did before.

My chest shook as I thought more and more about what had just happened. I don't even know what was so funny but I couldn't stop myself.

"Loren?" Killian interrupted me.

I stopped laughing once I realized that I was ACTUALLY laughing. It wasn't in my head anymore. My body was physically shaking from it. My muffled laugh blocked by the tube shoved down my throat. Killian grabbed my arm and my eyes slowly opened, blinded by the lights of the room.

"Nurse!!" Killian yelled out for somebody. Within seconds multiple nurses ran into the room followed by who I assumed to be the two doctors that had just spoken with us.

My eyes adjusted to the light of the room and roamed over the different faces of the room until they finally landed on the most familiar. All of their eyes wide as they digested what was in front of them. The girl who was out for nearly two months, who the two doctors had just given up on, was coming back.

My eyes never left Killian's as he stepped forward and grabbed my hand which squeezed his back ever so slightly in response. The female doctor also stepped forward, watching every one of my small yet momentous achievements. She let out a soft chuckle as if she was almost surprised at what she saw. "She's back" she smiled.

Killian's face had aged what seemed like 10 years. Dark bags fell beneath his eyes. Just as I had suspected, a full dark beard covering his jaw and chin. His hair was no longer slicked back but fell freely, pulled back from running his hands through it one too many times. He wore a grey sweatshirt and dark blue jeans.

"Hi baby," He whispered. My sight started to blur as I realized I had finally done it. I was awake.

The doctors seemed to know just what I wanted to do next as before I could even move my mouth to speak, they stepped forward and informed me that due to the tubes in my mouth, I wasn't able to.

They dismissed the nurses and proceeded to ask me to perform several tasks which I was able to complete with difficulty.

***

Several days passed before they were able to take the tubes out of my throat. I was finally able to breath on my own. Within a week my feeding tube was removed and I could eat again. Killian made sure to bring me the most exquisite pudding in London. He was careful not to overstep but wasn't afraid to speak up and make sure I got the best of everything.

Within a day of me being cleared to fly home, we did just that. We went straight from the hospital to the airport which I didn't really want to do but as Killian said, it would be better to get home than spend another day reminded of our trauma. The doctor seemed to agree as well. Getting back to our normal would help me improve the most, whatever that meant.

I settled into cushioned leather chair farthest in the back and stared out the window as we prepared for takeoff. I was still weak and became tired from even the slightest of activities.

I looked up as Killian walked towards me carrying a thick blanket. He wrapped the blanket around me and proceeded to squeeze himself into the chair, bringing me over his legs in the process.

"how are you feeling" he asked as he wrapped his arm around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Tired" I replied shortly. I wasn't happy that Killian was making me fly all the way back home the day I got discharged. Couldn't we just leave London and go to, I don't know, Italy? The thought of a day long flight already drained me.

"Listen," Killian grabbed my frail hand and ran his thumb over my knuckles. "I know you aren't happy that we're going back home so soon but I also want you to be understanding that I've been away from the office for three months already. And I made sure to wait until the minute your doctors were absolutely sure you were ready to go home."

"Okay but you didn't wait for me to be sure I was ready to go home" I pulled my hand away and looked away from him so he couldn't see my face.

With a sigh he swiftly stood up with his one arm supporting my back and my legs draped over the other.

"What are you doing?" I asked

"You need to get some rest and to think about how rude you're being right now" he spoke as he brought me to the back cabin and set me down in the bed. Instead of walking out of the cabin he joined me in the bed and pulled me close to him until my head rested on his chest. "As a matter of fact we both could benefit from some rest" he sighed softly and closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the pillows. "I have a lot of shit to take care of when I get back".

I looked up at his aged face. He still wore the beard he had grown during my absence. The wrinkles surrounded his eyes but disappeared as his face relaxed. The bags under his eyes were still present and his jaw, as always, was clenched shut.

***

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