Page 74 of Protective Love

"You don't get it," I scoff, shaking my head. "Something's going on. She's distancing herself, I can feel it already, and now she's agreed for me to be discharged? It seems like she's trying to get me out of the way, which means she's probably in trouble and trying to protect me in her own way. So no, Soph, I probably won't see her outside of this hospital."

Silence descends around us as she takes in what I've said, and then she slumps back against the chair she's sitting in and huffs.

"So, what are we gonna do?" she asks, leaning forward in her chair.

I shake my head and shrug.

"I don't know, Soph. I need to see her first. I need to try and see if she'll tell me what the hell's going on. If she doesn't, then, I guess I have to let things play out how she wants them to."

"So, we just leave her unprotected when we know she's in trouble?" she scoffs.

'"Of course not!" I shout. "You know that's not what I'm saying. I'd never leave her unprotected. I'd be with her every second of every day if I could to make sure that she's never hurt again, but I'm not going to make decisions for her and take her choice away from her. If she thinks that what she's doing is the right thing, then I'll respect that, and I'll follow her lead, but I want eyes on her at all times from now on."

"Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"You personally? Nothing. You're in no condition to be involved with any of this."

"I'm pregnant, Jaylen. That doesn't automatically make me a liability or mean that I can't do anything."

"I would never put you in a position where you could be hurt," I state. "I never would've before, and I certainly won't now."

She huffs and rolls her eyes, probably fed up with hearing Kaleb say similar things to her lately.

"What you can do is talk to Dom. Tell him that Leo needs to be watching Rory whenever he has the time spare, and if he's not available, then it has to be Charlie. They're the only two people besides myself and Kaleb that I can trust to keep her safe and out of harm's way."

She nods, stands from the chair and pulls her phone from her back pocket.

"Yeah, okay, I can do that. Anything else?"

"No. That's all I want you to do, Soph. We'll all handle the rest."

"I'm gonna go insane if people keep acting as if I'm fragile now," she snaps, glaring at me.

"You kind of are fragile at the moment."

"Shut up."

I chuckle, which seems to annoy her further because she practically growls at me.

"You know, I was gonna come here and tell you that we're planning on throwing you a welcome home party tomorrow with a feast prepared by Myra, but now, I think I might cancel those plans."

I gasp and bolt upright, shaking my head.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I take it back. Please, don't deprive me of Myra's food for even longer. My stomach has been begging me for weeks to have some good food, Soph. You can't deny me that any longer."

She arches a brow, pops a hip, and crosses her arms.

"I'm sorry. I swear I am."

She smirks, as I continue to plead with her.

"Okay, okay. I won't cancel the party, but that's purely for selfish reasons because I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I announce my pregnancy to everyone at said party."

"Announce whatever you want to, just promise me that I'll get some food," I tell her, desperate for her to say yes.

"Okay, deal," she says, holding out her hand and waiting for me to shake it, which I do.

Chapter Thirty-Eight