Page 35 of Protective Love

I'm here for a fresh start, and I'm here to make a new life for myself.

I don't want to be alone and isolate myself any longer.

"I'll meet you in the cafeteria at one then, yeah?" I ask as I backpedal towards the door.

"Yeah, for sure!"

Chapter Eighteen

Rory

"Morning!" I chirp, walking into Jaylen's room. "I just need to check your vitals and then Markus wants me to work on testing out your strength and mobility to see if there's any further improvement."

"You mean like this?" Jaylen mutters from across the room, his voice quiet and subdued.

I turn to him with a frown, confused by his comment and the tone of his voice.

When I see him partially sat up in his bed, leaning on his elbows as he shakily holds the upper half of his body away from the mattress, I gasp and rush over to him, placing my hands against his back to help him support his weight.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I needed a drink, and I couldn't reach the remote," he says, leaning some of his weight against me and gesturing with his hand to where the remote with the assistance button is laying on the floor. "I got fed up of waiting for someone to pop their head in, so I decided to try and get myself a drink and that's as far as I managed to get."

I help lower him gently back against his pillows and then I walk around his bed, grabbing the glass from the little side table and fill it up with water.

"Well, although it's impressive that you managed to move almost your whole upper body, as well as apply weight onto your arms and hold yourself up for a short manner of time, it's also really stupid," I tell him, moving the cup towards him.

When he lifts his arm up and takes the glass from me, drinking it himself without any assistance, I stare at him in astonishment.

"You need to let yourself heal, Jaylen. You shouldn't be moving this much already, especially with the stitches you have along your abdomen."

He hands the glass back to me and his eyes drop from my face to where his hands are now resting in his lap.

When he remains silent and continues staring at his lap, I place the glass on the side and move closer to his bedside, trying to gain his attention so that I can try and get an understanding of what may be wrong, but he doesn't look at me.

"Jaylen, are you okay? Are you in any pain?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

"Hey," I say, reaching my hand under his chin and nudging his head up until his blue eyes clash with mine. "Are you okay?"

He stares at me for a moment, his usual bright eyes now dull, and his lips downturned, evidently showing his emotions.

"I'm fine," he mumbles, tearing his gaze away from mine.

My brows furrow in confusion, but I drop my hand from his face.

"Okay, well, uh, I'll give you some time alone and I'll come back to check on you in an hour, okay?"

He nods and then closes his eyes as he allows his head to drop back against the pillows behind him.

I reluctantly walk out of his room, worried about the way he's acting and wondering what could be affecting him.

When I realise that it may be because he's in pain and is too stubborn to admit it, I walk down the corridor in search of Markus.

Spotting him at the nurses station, chatting to Lola, I slow my pace, waiting for them to finish up their conversation.

As he piles up a load of paperwork, tucking it into his chest and turning away, I jump into action, following after him as he strides down the hall.