Page 22 of Protective Love

"Calm down," she says, gently patting his hand. "I just wanted to find out more about her, so Leo followed her home, and when he called me to tell me she took the bus home and walked down the streets by herself, I knew I had to intervene."

"Do all of you make it a habit to talk about people as if they're not in the room with you?" I ask.

Jaylen's eyes flicker to mine, his gaze swimming with amusement.

"It's a bad habit I seem to be picking up on," Sophia mutters, scrunching up her nose.

I shrug it off and choose to focus on Jaylen, considering he is my patient, and I'm meant to be in here doing my checks.

Placing the clipboard back, I walk over and wait for his eyes to connect with mine.

"Is it okay if I check your stitches and rebandage them?" I ask, wanting permission from him to do so in case he's not comfortable.

He stares at me for a moment, then glances over at Sophia.

I watch as she nods at him with an encouraging smile and a gentle squeeze to his hand.

His eyes move back to mine and then instead of blinking in response to my question, he jerks his head up and down, nodding at me.

My eyes widen and I'm pretty sure my jaw drops slightly as I stare at him in surprise.

"You nodded," I state, disbelief evident in my tone.

His lips twitch as they slightly tilt upwards and he nods again.

"Holy shit!"

I slap my hand over my mouth as soon as the words are out and Sophia laughs at me.

"Sorry," I mumble.

"It's a great improvement, isn't it?"

"It's amazing," I tell her, still staring at the devastatingly handsome man who's lying in the bed in front of me, watching every little move I make.

"I came in this morning and Markus told me that Jaylen has started to regain some more muscle movement. He can now control both his hands, his head, and he even started wiggling his toes."

My brows raise and my eyes drop to Jaylen's right hand that's resting on the bed beside me.

After a moment, his fingers twitch as he folds them inwards, scrunching his hand into a fist before relaxing them again.

The movement is slow, but it's definitely a huge improvement, especially considering it's happened over night.

"They're going to be working on his speech soon and sort out a physiotherapy schedule for him. My mum's wandered off somewhere with Markus to speak about it."

I'm not sure what to say or do in this situation, so I just smile and nod at her before my gaze rests back on Jaylen.

He's still staring at me. Honestly, I'm pretty sure his eyes haven't left me since I entered the room.

I smile softly at him before remembering what I'm meant to be doing, so I gently pull the hospital blanket away from his body, folding it down at his face.

My eyes flit up to his face as untie to top of the hospital gown, looking for any sign of discomfort.

He watches me with a crooked smirk painted on his face and I feel my cheeks heat when my eyes connect with his.

Jesus, Rory.

You shouldn't find your patient attractive.