Page 8 of Ma Belle Marguerite (Hidden Secrets #1)

Alexander

W hat is all that beeping? It hurts to open my eyes. Why is it so bright in here? For fuck’s sake, did I drink too much last night? I am going to kill Josh; this is the last time I am drinking with him! It never ends well when you party with Josh, I am getting too old for hangovers.

“You’re in the hospital, boss. How are you feeling? Better than my Corvette, I hope.” I hear a voice beside me. Is that Josh I’m hearing? What does he mean in the hospital?

“You’re talking out loud, boss man. Yeah, it's, Josh. You got in an accident with my car last night. Do you remember anything?” he asks me. The volume of his words is overwhelming.

I try to open my eyes, but the lights make my head pound. “Can you turn the lights off?” My voice sounds shaky. Things slowly start to come into focus despite the brightness.

“On it!” Josh says loudly while practically sprinting across the room. “Feeling up to drinking some water? The nurse said you should when you woke up.”

“I could use some quiet. My head is pounding.” I reach up to rub my temple, but wince as I feel the tug of an IV.

“I feel nauseous, and I just want to go home.” My voice sounds so weak, even to my ears.

Then, it’s like something clicks in my brain.

“Wait, you said I crashed your car. But didn’t you drive us to the bar? ”

“You left the bar early last night. I gave you the keys to the Vette, and I was going to stay in one of the rooms at the bar. You don’t remember?” Josh looks at me with a curious expression. He seems to be acting cautious with me.

“I don’t remember much after leaving my place,” I mumble. “It’s all a blur.” Did we even make it to the bar?

“I was still at the bar when you called me, but the line was dead, and when I tried to call back, your phone went straight to voicemail.” He’s talking so fast that he needs a moment to breathe before he continues.

“So, I looked up your phone’s location. That’s when I noticed it wasn’t moving and you were close to the bluff you visit frequently. ”

What happened at the bar? Why was I going to the bluff? That was our spot. I usually only go there to clear my thoughts. This is hurting my head; it's all so confusing.

“So I grabbed one of the sober guys, and we drove out there and found you still in the Corvette. It was smashed into a tree in the ditch, and you were unconscious.” The way Josh looks at me, I can tell he is trying to hide his feelings from me.

I saw the look of sadness pass quickly on his face before he could mask it; I’m guessing for his car.

“Get D to bring your car to my place so we can look at it, and I can fix it immediately. I’m sorry I wrecked your baby.” I just want to go to sleep in my bed and wake up when my body feels less like it’s trying to kill me. “Can we leave now?”

“Don’t worry about it. The car is not important right now. I’ll go see if I can find the doctor.” Josh leaves the room. Something about how he kept eyeing me has me uncomfortable, like he’s hiding something.

I must fall back to sleep, because after what feels like only seconds, I hear the door to my room open and people talking. Do people ever shut up in this place?

“Unfortunately, between the severe bruising of his ribs and the grade three concussion, Alexander will have to be admitted for about a week for observation. We need to make sure that there is no lasting damage from his head injury.” Who is this doctor? He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“I’m fine. I can rest at home. Just sign me out, Josh.

” I’m not staying here . I try to give him my best angry face, but it is difficult with my eyes closed.

I don’t want to have the lights make my head pound again.

He is so lucky that it hurts to move. Otherwise, I’d just punch him in the face and walk out.

“Sorry, Alexander, the safest option is to keep you here, especially until we know what caused the accident.” God, this doctor is making his way up my shit list .

“You haven’t even opened your eyes to talk to me.

Plus, your father will kill me if I let you leave and something happens to you.

” There is genuine fear in his voice as he mentions my father.

I struggle to open my eyes so I can glare at the doctor. “I will have you know, I was just relaxing my eyes and could have opened them if I wanted to. I’m fine .”

Who turned the fucking lights on again? I squint at Josh, and he just raises his hands in surrender.

“Sorry, boss man. The big boss agrees with the doctor here.” Josh's look of amusement doesn’t match his tone. “Also, do you know what fine means? Fucked up. Insecure. Needy. Emotional.” He takes a small step away so he is out of my reach.

He’s lucky it hurts for me to move right now. Chicken shit.

“Well, I’ll let you two discuss things. We’re getting a room ready upstairs for you. It will be private and more comfortable. A nurse will come and get you when they’re done.” The doctor rushes out the door before I can say anything.

I just want to go home and be comfortable. Is that too much to ask?

Josh is pacing around this tiny room and driving me crazy. “What is your problem? You need to sit still. You’re making me nauseous.” I close my eyes so that I don’t get sick. “Do you need your laptop or something?”

He moves to sit in a chair in the corner of the room. “Sorry, I’m just trying to process everything. Something isn’t sitting right with me.” His brows are furrowed.

“Well, go pace in the hallway and come tell me when you figure it out. I need quiet.” I lay back and try to relax. This pounding in my head needs to go away so I can get up and get out of here.

I hear Josh mutter what sounds like, “Still an asshole.”

“Call me an asshole all you want, but if you felt how I do, then you would understand.” I say this even though I actually like Josh. I would never want him to feel this way. At this moment I don’t really care, though.

He just sits in the corner, quiet and pensive. He’s usually the smart ass cracking jokes. Something is definitely bothering him. It is rare to see this side of him.

“Josh, if you are upset about your car, you know that you can talk to me. I’m your friend, not just your boss.” I can’t open my eyes much to see his face, but I have a feeling I know what it looks like: angry. “I’ll buy you a new Corvette if I can’t fix this one.”

Josh just grunts. He obviously isn’t listening and is in his own world looking at his phone. I don’t have the energy to deal with this right now. I know he loved that car, but he should know I wouldn’t have damaged it on purpose.

I lie back and try to remember what happened last night. It makes my head hurt the more I try to force myself to remember anything.

“Hey, boss. I have something to tell you. You aren’t going to like it, but just wait for me to finish talking,” Josh mumbles while still staring at his phone.

“What? Not like I can do anything about it at the moment.” I point to my ribs. Just that slight movement has me flinching.

“I wouldn’t put it past you to jump out of that bed and try to beat the crap out of me if you really wanted to.” His voice is full of apprehension.

Maybe he is more intelligent than he acts.

“Turn the fucking lights off, then tell me.” God, those lights hurt. It’s like someone is using my head as a drum from the inside. It’s like the banging and throbbing is bouncing around inside my skull.

He hurries to do as I ask and looks back at me. “So when we arrived, I had to get your health card from your wallet. And there’s a new girl working in the front registration area.” He starts fidgeting with his bracelet as he looks away.

Most girls here know who we are and just wave us on to the nurse without bothering to register us. I still don’t see why this matters or what has him so anxious. Annoying and inconvenient? Yes. Is it my problem? No.

“Okay, and so far, I’m not hearing anything I won’t like,” I quip impatiently. “Just get to the point already!” This pounding in my head is going to be the death of me.

“Okay, so, you know the picture you keep in your wallet?” He pauses. “Well, it fell out as I was getting your health card. The girl picked it up before I could get it, and her face went white. When I looked to see what would make her react like that…it was her.”

I turn my head too fast in his direction, causing a sharp, shooting pain. Holding my fingers to my temple, I ask, “Bella? Are you sure it wasn’t just someone who looks like her?” This is too much for me right now. “She has family that still lives here, maybe a cousin or something?”

“Yes, I’m sure. It looked just like Isabella.

A bit older, but the same.” Josh grabs a weird, kidney-shaped thing and places it beside me before he continues.

“Her name tag also said Isabella Moreau. So, she either changed her last name to hide from you, or she’s married.

” My heart sinks. I guess she found someone else while she was exploring without me.

Was anything we had even real? Did she just use me to pass the time until she could escape this town?

I feel Josh’s hand on my shoulder.

“Boss, you okay? You’re not looking so hot.” The concern in his voice matches the look in his eyes.

“Yeah, just give me some time. It’s hard to think with all this pounding in my head.

” I take a moment to let the feeling subside.

“Find out where she lives and whatever else you can drag up.” I want to just run out there and see for myself if it really is her, but I don’t think my body or emotions could handle that at the moment.

“D is already on it, boss. He said he’d have a file ready when I meet him for the shipment later.” Returning to the corner he says, “Then I will look for whatever he missed once we get you out of here.”

I would be lost without him. He’s always on top of things, a vital part of my organization.

After looking at his phone for a few minutes, Josh gets up and says, “I’ll see when your room will be ready. The doctor said you can sleep. If you feel like you’ll be sick, use the bowl the nurse put beside you. They gave you anti-nausea and pain meds that may knock you out.”

“Okay, thank you.” I can feel myself nodding off, even though a million thoughts run through my mind. Where has she been? Is she actually married? Do they have kids? Does she want to come and see me? She’s just on the other side of this room; is she avoiding me?

The next time I open my eyes, I’m in a new room that is far quieter than the emergency department. My head is throbbing less now, too. As I look around for my phone, I see they set up a cot for Josh in the corner, and he is fast asleep.

It looks like this is usually a room for at least two people, but they made it a private room for me. There is a drawn back curtain in the middle of the room beside me and what looks like a set up for more monitors on the other half of the wall just past that. Sometimes, our family's name pays off.

I finally find my phone charging on the table by the other side of my bed. I decide to Google Isabella and see what I can find with her new last name. I’m too impatient to wait on Darryl. I should have done this sooner. Fuck my father and this damn life. Why did I ever listen to him?

An obituary for Adrien Moreau comes up. I open it and try to read it, but looking at my phone's screen hurts my eyes. I force myself to read far enough to see that Adrien was, in fact, Bella’s husband, and they had children together.

She moved on without me. Did she cheat on me with him? What made him so much better than me? What did he give her that I couldn’t? She is mine! How could she let someone else touch her?

I toss my phone to the side. I can’t look at his face anymore. I would have given her the world. I just needed a little more time. I know she said she didn’t want me to follow her, and it was an easy excuse to listen to my father, but fuck, I’m an idiot.

D barges through the door, and it hits Josh’s cot in the corner.

“What the hell? I just fell asleep,” Josh grumbles. “Is it time to go for the shipment?”

“Soon, I just wanted to bring this file to the boss before we left,” D answers while placing a manilla folder down on the table beside the bed. “I don’t have much information yet, but my guys are on it until Josh can take over.” He looks at me hesitantly like he is afraid I’m going to snap.

Looking at Josh, I ask, “Has it already been a full day in here?” I feel so lost.

Josh nods his head sleepily while he stretches out. “It has. You slept a lot, which is good.”

“Is there anything I need to see now?” I ask him. I’m not sure if my eyes could focus right now if I wanted them to.

D clears his throat. “Well, so far, we found an obituary for her now-dead husband.” He pauses and seems to be gauging my reaction.

Trying to get him to hurry up, I tell him, “I saw that much on my phone before you came into the room.”

“Okay, well, we also found that they have twelve-year-old twins. A boy, Remi, and a girl, Brielle.” He takes a deep breath before continuing.

“She moved back here about a week ago. She’s living in a house her father bought from auction not long ago that is just a few minutes from here. That’s all we have for now.”

“Shit! D, it’s already eight. We gotta go if we’re going to get to the meet-up before everyone else,” Josh butts in as he jumps up off the cot in a rush.

Looking back at Josh, Darryl says, “Right, let’s scope the place out.” He turns to me, “Need anything before we go, boss?”

“No, I think I’m going to sleep. Can you tell the nurses not to let anyone that isn’t you two in, please?” I’m not in the mood for visitors. I just want this pounding in my head to go away, since they won’t let me leave. “Oh and turn off the lights on your way out.”

“Got it, Boss. Get some rest. We’ll come back once we are done delivering the shipments.” D says as he walks out the door behind Josh.

I carefully move to try and find a comfortable position as I open the file to see what appears to be a recent photo of Bella, Adrien, and two children.

It’s hard to see with just this small, dim table lamp on, but it is easier on my head.

I keep looking until I find a photo of just Bella, and I fall asleep looking at her beautiful face.