Page 27 of Coral Prince Conundrum (Runaway Prince Hotel #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Daryl

Fuck, I’m in so much pain . I sense a team of doctors and nurses removing a breathing tube from my throat.

There are lines coming out of my chest, my arm, and probably my penis if I could see underneath the thin hospital blanket.

The medical personnel are telling me all sorts of information, but I can’t absorb it all.

I’m overstimulated by the beeping and the bright lights of the ceiling.

It hurts to blink.

But as the nurses help me cough and give me some more meds, I try to gain cognizance. I don’t remember much, but gazing around at the multicolored machines, one thing is clear to me: based on the accents of everyone, I’m back in America. I’m definitely not in the Coral Kingdom anymore.

Seero !

“S…Seero,” I say with a croaky voice. That was a mistake because more pain shoots up my chest and to my throat.

The doctor tells me not to talk, but he disappears, and the nurse who stays behind calms me down.

She explains how it will take time for me to fully recover and slowly wean off each of the tubes that do something, but I’m allegedly doing better.

Not bad for a dude who was just on life support.

I nod and look around, but I don’t see anyone I recognize in this private hospital room.

The last thing I remember is being in an underwater castle and water flooding my lungs.

I grasp the nurse’s hand because she’s the only one with enough empathy to stay by my side.

While I feel like multiple trucks ran me over, my heartache is somehow worse.

Where is Seero?

I go to sleep for probably twenty more hours, then wake up to a familiar voice. “That snake man better not mess up the café, I swear,” she mutters.

“Layla?” I ask. My voice is stronger, and I’m grateful to be able to sit up right. There are fewer tubes in my body, so that’s another good sign, I hope.

“Mr. Tishman!” Layla puts away her phone and smiles fondly at me. Then, she moves close to my bedside. There are no nurses in sight, but having her here is a lighthouse in a stormy sea. “You’re awake! How do you feel?”

I groan and touch my ribs. I don’t even have the strength to roll my eyes, I’m in so much pain. “Like a moldy fish stick,” I grumble.

Layla sniggers. “That is to be expected,” she says.

“How long has it been?”

She takes a deep breath and looks away. “It’s been…a rough six days. For both you and your dad.”

“My dad’s here?” My chest pangs in pain as I try to sit up again.

“Relax, Daryl,” she says, touching my hand. “I sent him out to get some coffee and like, chill. Of course, the one time you wake up and are lucid, he’s not around, but he’s been by your side nonstop.”

“He has?” A fondness blossoms in my chest. Dad has never paid that much attention to me, save for our awkward family lunches.

“Of course. How do you think you can afford the fanciest hospital room in all of Princedelphia?” She lightly laughs and looks around. In addition to the life-saving machines, there is a TV and several leather chairs, perfect for guests to lounge on.

After a beat, Layla hands me lip balm. “He was so worried about you. He didn’t even know you went to the Coral Kingdom.”

I feel how dry my mouth is and liberally apply the waxy goodness to my lips. “Yes, well, it wasn’t exactly a planned vacation.”

I hand her back the stick, but she makes a shooing gesture. I guess this is mine now. “No, it was not.”

“It turns out I’m not particularly popular there. One person actually tried to, um…”

Layla shakes her head with a smile. “Please, the less I know, the better. I don’t want to start more of an international incident. The gods know I had to talk your dad down from waging war.”

“What?”

She chuckles. “Relax. He was just worried. When I called him to connect him with literal royalty over the phone, he was horrified and furious—understandably so. Then I managed to get him to think clearly, and he arranged for the medical helicopter. They got you back here pretty quickly.”

“Wow.” So that explains how I ended up back in the States. I recall seeing Seero before I was slammed with water pressure and blacked out. He looked so distraught…

As if reading my mind, Layla grins and tucks my ankles into the blanket. “You know, according to your dad, he and Seero…spoke.”

“Huh?” My pulse picks up. What did they say to each other? I completely forgot that Seero hates my dad and his company.

Layla looks around, then leans in. “Seero let your dad have it,” she whispers. “And by it, I mean a stern talking to about the environmental detriment of his company.”

I grin. “Really?”

“Yeah. According to him, as they hooked you up to the helicopter, Seero talked about how much better you are than your dad and his work. Apparently, he told your dad that Tishman’s Fishery ought to be ashamed of the damage it has done to the sea.

” Layla laughs. “But you were one of the good ones. He talked about how you were a hero with all your wisdom and selflessness with marine wildlife. Your dad got to witness firsthand how much the Coral Prince cares about you, Daryl.”

Warmth floods my cheeks at her words . Seero still cares about me? Words surface in my memory of him telling me he loves me. But then again, the world was literally crumbling around us, and I wasn’t in the clearest state of mind.

My heart drops when I remember that I’m here now. I’m home, and I can’t go back to the Coral Kingdom—at least, not for some time. My body is one big injury, for crying out loud.

Layla squeezes my hand. “I’m just happy you’re alive.

Once you’re up and running again, have a matcha latte, on the house.

” We both chuckle, and she walks to the door.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to have a serious conversation with the prince of the Underworld.

See you!” She disappears before her words reach my brain.

“Prince of what?” I mutter out loud.

A minute later, my dad walks in. His suit is disheveled, and his eyes look sunken in. But he’s still my dad, and my soul feels lighter seeing him. “Hey, Dad.”

He pulls up a chair next to me, then leans his head on my hand on the bed. I can’t interpret what he’s saying because he’s…bawling.

“Oh, my precious baby boy,” he mutters against my hand.

I frown in discomfort. I get that I went through this whole ordeal, but Dad has never cried in front of me. He only shed a couple of tears when Mom died. Granted, they were already divorced, but still, he never cries. Now, here he is, pouring tears onto my hand.

I squirm out of his grip, then pat his head. “There, there?”

Looking up, he sniffs and wipes his eyes with his tie. “I thought you died, Daryl.”

My eyes prickle in sympathy. We may not agree on anything, but I don’t particularly like seeing my dad like this. “I’m…sorry.”

He catches his breath through the sobbing. “I’d be furious at you if I weren’t so glad you’re alive.”

“Then it’s a good thing I survived!” I grin, but he frowns.

“Daryl Tishman, I had to see your limp body as the helicopter touched down on this foreign island nation.” He shakes his head. “I couldn’t handle it. Seeing my boy, my only family…I still can’t take the memory.” He shakes his head and squeezes my hand again.

“Aw, Dad. I’m sorry to make you upset. But hey, I can talk now!” I wiggle my toes and grimace. “And I can feel my legs. That’s a good sign.”

“Oh, Daryl.” He leans forward and gingerly holds me. He hugs me, and I breathe in his scent. “I love you, son, and I’m so glad you’re awake and breathing.”

“I love you too, Dad. Thanks for getting me here.”

“What’s the point of making millions if you can’t airlift your son once in a while?” We both chuckle, and he sits down. His eyes are still moist when he continues, “That was my worst nightmare as a father. Seeing you, battered and bruised.”

“I don’t intend to have any more international adventures for a while.” I bite my lip and look around. “Do you wanna…watch a show with me or something?”

He nods. “Okay. But you are moving in with me during your physical therapy, that is final.”

My smile falls as he hands me the remote. “That’s fair.” My crummy apartment has too many stairs for the crutches I’m sure I’ll need. I turn on the TV to a news program of some mystical royal wedding that got cancelled a while back, but the volume is low. “So…you met the Coral Prince?”

Despite the bags under his eyes, he gives me an amused look. “You mean, the boy who’s very much invested in your well-being? The one who like-likes you?”

“Dad,” I whine.

He lifts his hands. “Hey, he insisted on paying me back for the medical helicopter. And apparently, he was putting you up in a mansion. He was obviously sweet on you.”

“He…doesn’t even…we just…” I have no idea how to finish that sentence. Seero and I had something real, but emphasis on the word had .

“Oh, son, I know that look.” He squeezes my hand again. “I barely shared it with your mother, but I know love when I see it.”

Love ? “Really?” I rasp.

Dad nods and looks down at his knees. “The prince…he looked as if his very heart was leaving his side when we flew away on the helicopter.”

My soul burns at his words. I want to sail back to Seero, but I’m in no shape to travel right now. I could call him, but what would I even say?

“A part of me wants to keep you locked away from the world to prevent…this—” Dad gestures at me up and down—“from happening again.”

I frown, but he continues, “At the same time, you have to pave your own way. The prince informed me in no uncertain terms that your knowledge is helping save the world. You’re making something of yourself, I see that now.

And if it somehow leads you to foreign boys who control literal sea dragons… ” Dad shrugs as his words trail off.

This is the closest I’ll be getting to approval from my dad. But assuming Seero still wants me—and that his sister doesn’t try to kill me again—how can I forge a future with someone so different from me, so royal?

“So, what did Seero say about the practices of Tishman’s Fishery?” I ask with a smirk.

Dad frowns and turns up the TV volume. I laugh so hard my ribs start to hurt again.