Page 129 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

I walked back into the room. And for the first time since seeing her at the party tonight, I felt a little more relaxed. Because her eyes still trailed down my abs the same way they always did. I climbed back on the bed beside her and handed her the ginger ale. “Drink this.”

"I'm so sorry," she repeated.

"Please stop apologizing. All of this is my fault." I looked down at my watch. What was taking Dr. Ridge so long? "Where the hell is he? He should have been here by now."

Penny reached up and grabbed my chin, slowly turning my face to hers. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine, baby. I'm fine." I removed her hand from my face and kissed her palm. The last thing she should be doing was worrying about me. I just wanted to take away her pain. I brought her hand to my lap and stroked my thumb along her palm.

"No." Tears started to stream down her cheeks again as she stared at my face.

I must have looked pretty rough. "You should see the other guy." I tried to smile, but I could tell it looked forced. And I was pretty sure she could tell too.

"Was this my fault?" she asked.

Not in the slightest. I continued to rub my thumb against her palm. "No. It's mine."

A buzz sounded through the apartment. "Finally." I climbed off the bed. "Don't move." Not that I was worried she’d try to after almost falling a minute ago. I walked over to the elevator just as the doors dinged open.

“James,” Dr. Ridge said. “What is going on? Ian said that some girl was unconscious?”

Some girl? Penny wasn’t just some girl. But I was relieved that Ian hadn’t gone into too much detail. I tried to keep my voice low so Penny couldn’t hear. "Thanks for coming, Steven. She’s awake now. But she just threw up.”

"Has she been drinking?"

"Yes. But that's not why I'm worried."

"How much?"

I didn’t think the alcohol was why she couldn’t remember what happened. But maybe she’d had even more to drink than I realized. "I don't know."

"Let me see her."

"Steven, she fell. She hit her head hard. She's disoriented. She doesn't even remember what happened."

“Where is she?”

“In my bedroom.”

He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything about it. “And what’s her name?”

“Penny Taylor.”

He nodded and walked past me toward my bedroom. "Miss Taylor, I'm Dr. Ridge."

"Hello," she said. Her voice was so quiet and scared.

It’s going to be okay, baby.

"Can you tell me what happened tonight?” Dr. Ridge asked.

She shook her head.

"How did you hit your head?"

Penny looked up at me. "I…fell?"

That's what I’d told her. But she clearly didn’t remember. She was just repeating what I’d told her.

"Do you remember falling?" he asked.

"No."

"Have you been drinking?"

"I don't...I don't know." She looked so confused. "Yes. I think so."

"How much alcohol have you consumed?" His tone was accusatory, but I bit my tongue. I was just as curious about the answer.

"I don't know. I don't remember." She started blinking fast like she was going to cry again.

Dr. Ridge walked around the bed and put his bag down on the floor. He pulled out a small flashlight and pointed it to her eyes. "Follow the light with your eyes," he instructed.

She did what she was told.

"Please stand for me."

I stepped closer in case she fell again.

Penny slid off the bed and onto her feet. But her legs were definitely wobbly. Dr. Ridge put his hands on her arms and helped her back onto the bed.

"You have a concussion. Sit back for me."

I swear I stopped breathing. She had a concussion. Because of me. I clenched my jaw.

Penny leaned back against the pillows as Dr. Ridge grabbed something else from his bag. He blotted her forehead.

"You need stitches,” he said.

She had a concussion and needed stitches? It felt like there was a knife in my chest. Ian was right to accuse me of hurting her. I had. This was all my fault.

"Shouldn't I go to a hospital?" Penny asked.

"I'll fix you up better than any emergency room doctor at this hour. Close your eyes. This is going to sting, but then you won't be able to feel anything."

I ignored the look on Dr. Ridge’s face as I climbed onto the bed beside Penny and grabbed her hand.

Penny closed her eyes as Dr. Ridge pulled a syringe out of his bag. But I kept my eyes open the whole time. I needed to see this. I needed to see the pain I’d caused her.

It was easy to forget that my actions had consequences when I was drowning. When all I could think about was coming up for air. But I’d done this. I’d caused it.

Penny squeezed my hand as the needle jabbed her forehead.

"Keep your eyes closed, Penny," I whispered. I stroked her palm with my thumb, hoping I could distract her from the pain.

I watched each stitch that Dr. Ridge made.

And I vowed to never hurt her again.

Not in a million years.

I’d protect her. I’d put her first. I’d be better. I’ll be a better man for you. I will, I swear.

“You’re all set,” Dr. Ridge said when he finally finished.

Penny slowly opened her eyes.

"Take it easy for a few days.”

"Thank you," she murmured.

Dr. Ridge nodded and gave her a small smile. But I could tell there was a lot more he wanted to say. I squeezed Penny’s hand one more time before following him out of my bedroom.

"What about her memory?" I asked when we were out of earshot.

"She's just in shock. She should be fine in the morning. Call me if she's still having trouble with her memory."

I nodded. "Thank you for coming out, Steven."

There was an awkward pause. "Did you want to tell me what happened tonight?"

Not really. And I knew that wasn’t really the question he wanted to ask me. "A sequence of unfortunate events is all."

"I see.” Another awkward pause. “How old is she?"

And there it was. I didn’t need to defend my relationship with her to him. "Old enough."

"Does Isabella know?"

For Christ’s sake. I walked him closer to the elevator, further away from Penny. “Isabella and I are divorced, Steven.” Almost.

“That’s not what I’ve heard. I thought the two of you were giving it another go?”

What the hell was Isabella telling people? “It’s over. And you shouldn’t believe anything you read in tabloids.” I hit the button for the elevator and the doors dinged open. I was grateful for him coming out in the middle of the night. But I was seconds away from shoving him onto the elevator.

He shrugged. And instead of stepping onto the elevator he opened his bag. “Put this on her forehead.” He lifted up a Ziplock bag full of bandages. “And have her take these. They’ll help with the pain.” He handed me a container of pills and the Ziplock. “I’m assuming you don’t want anything?”

“No, I’m good.” I knew better than to take any pills. I’d taken enough in college for five lifetimes.

"Put some ice on that eye, James." He stepped onto the elevator.

“I’d appreciate your discretion with this.”

“You already have my signature, James.”

The doors slid closed behind him and I exhaled slowly. I honestly didn’t even know when I’d made him sign an NDA. Probably one of the many times I was high out of my mind.

I sighed and stared down at my wrist. It was still red from my rubber band.

I needed to take my sessions with Dr. Clark more seriously. I’d do whatever he told me to do. I just wanted to be better. I didn’t want to be sick anymore.