Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

I ’m in court. It’s a preliminary hearing—thank God, because all I can focus on is Shardonnay. I know she keeps saying she’s fine, but she’s not. She’s pale; she looks like she’s in pain. I should have been more insistent on her staying home. I should have worked from home today. That way, she’d have to stay there too.

My phone vibrates with a text from Nathan. I don’t open it. I go back to listening to the cocksucker prosecutor on the other side of the courtroom. He’s dead set on sending my client to jail for the maximum sentence. It’s a DUI offence, first time. This kid will be getting off with a slap on the wrist. I don’t usually take on these cases, but he’s the son of a very influential politician. That means favours are given and owed.

My phone buzzes again. This time it’s from Alistair. This has my brows drawing down. They both know my schedule, and they never text me while I’m in court. I open the message and my body freezes.

Alistair:

Shardonnay is okay, but she’s been taken to the ER. She passed out, came to, and made a fuss about being fine. Nathan made her go get checked out. He’s with her.

“Permission to approach the bench,” I call out over the top of whatever the prosecutor was saying.

The judge glares at me. “Permission granted,” he says. Covering the microphone with his hand, he looks me in the eye. “Is there a problem, Mr Christianson?”

“Yes, Your Honour, I need an adjournment. There’s a family emergency,” I say.

He must see something on my face as he stares at me. “Permission granted.” he says. “Court is adjourned until further notice.”

I pack my papers into my briefcase as quickly as I can. “I’m sorry, family emergency,” I tell the kid as I jog out of the courtroom. I dial Nathan on my way to my car.

“Xavier, she’s fine. Don’t freak out,” he answers.

“Where is she?”

“We’re at The Royal. She’s in with the doctor now,” he says.

“I’ll be there in five.” Hanging up, I pull out into traffic. I’m grateful they aren’t far.

I stop the car in front of Emergency, jump out, and run into the waiting room. Nathan stands from his plastic seat and walks over to me.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“She’s back there with a doctor. She didn’t want me to go in with her,” he says.

“Thanks, can you park my car for me? It’s just outside the doors.” I hand him the keys.

“No problem.”

I walk up to the triage nurse. “I’m looking for Shardonnay Mitchell.”

“Are you a relative?” she asks, barely looking at me.

“She’s my wife,” I lie.

This has her eyes shooting up. “Your name? She didn’t list a next of kin on her paperwork,” the woman replies.

“Look, you can either let me in those doors now, or I can call up Dr Greggory and tell him just how inefficient his staff is.”

“Okay, sir, you do that,” she mocks me.

I pull out my phone and find the contact for the hospital’s chief. My father golfs with him; my family also donated a whole fucking wing to this hospital.

“Xavier, what can I do for you, son?” Dr Greggory answers.

“Doc, my wife’s been brought into your ER, and your triage nurse is refusing to let me in to see her because of a mistake on the paperwork,” I rush out, barely taking a breath.

“Right, I’ll sort it.”

“Thanks, appreciate it,” I say, hanging up.

Within seconds, the triage phone rings. The nurse answers it, and her face pales as she nods and repeats a few “ yes, sirs ” before looking up at me. “You can head in, Mr Christianson. She’s in room seventeen, on the left.”

I would thank her. But she’s kept me out here, away from Shardonnay, for much longer than was necessary. I jog down to room seventeen and find Shardonnay sitting up in a hospital bed. She still looks pale, and she’s hooked up to an IV.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, babe. I got here as soon as I heard.” I rush to her bedside. “Are you okay? What happened? Why isn’t there a doctor in here?” I ask, frantically searching the room as if one will just appear from the air.

“Xavier, I’m fine. Calm down,” she says.

Calm down? She can’t be serious. “I’ll calm down when I know what the fuck is going on and why you’re currently in a hospital bed,” I growl.

“I fainted. Nathan overreacted and made me come here.” She rolls her eyes.

“Shardonnay, you’re hooked up to an IV. You’re not fine. What’s in it anyway?”

“It’s just fluids. The doctor said I was dehydrated or something. Honestly, I feel heaps better now and I just want to go home.”

“I should have been there.” I sit on the edge of the bed.

“You can’t be around me 24/7. That’s ridiculous.” She entwines her fingers with mine.

“Who called you?” she asks.

“Nathan… and Alistair.”

“Right, I hope you weren’t too attached to them because I’m going to kill them. I told them not to call you, not to disturb you,” she huffs.

“I’m pretty attached, so you can’t kill them. And why the fuck wouldn’t you call me? We’ve had this conversation before, Shardonnay. If you’re in any kind of trouble, I want to be the first person you call.”

“You were working, Xavier, I’m not going to interrupt your court hearing.”

“You are more important than a court hearing. You are more important to me than any meeting or client. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

Her eyes water up. “I’m sorry. But I really am fine.”

Leaning down, I kiss the top of her head. “I’m going to get a doctor in here. I want to know what’s going on and when I can take you home.”

Before I can pull out my phone, Dr Greggory walks into the room. “Xavier, I see you found your wife.” He smiles.

“I did. Thank you, Doc.” I stand and shake his hand. “Why isn’t there anyone in here? A doctor? Nurse? I want to know what’s going on. Why’d she faint?” I ask.

“Okay, let me have a look.” He picks up the folder that’s at the end of the hospital bed.

“How are you feeling… Miss Mitchell?” he questions, giving me a knowing look.

“I’m fine,” Shardonnay responds.

“She’s not fine. She’s in a fucking hospital bed.”

“Xavier, lower your voice or I will have to have you removed.” Dr Greggory glares at me before adding, “Looks like she was dehydrated. Nothing else has shown up in any of the blood tests. She needs rest and plenty of fluids.” He turns to Shardonnay. “If you’re up for it, you’ll be able to go home within the hour, Miss Mitchell.”

“I’m up for it.”

“Wait… that’s it? Should I have a doctor come to the apartment? A nurse? What if she faints again?” I ask with a sudden sense of dread.

“She will be okay, but you’re at risk of an early heart attack if you don’t calm down,” Dr Greggory cautions. “Your parents are in the waiting room. I called your father because I thought he’d want to know that his daughter-in-law was in the ER.”

“Shit,” I curse under my breath. I should have known he’d call my father. The last thing I want to deal with right now is my parents.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Mitchell. I do wish it were under better circumstances.” Doc leaves the room.

“Uh, Xavier?” Shardonnay calls for my attention.

“Yeah?” I lower myself back down on the edge of her bed.

“Did I hit my head when I fainted?”

My eyes widen. Shit, does her head hurt? “I don’t know. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t remember getting married.” She frowns.

“Oh, that… I may have told a little white lie to get them to let me in here,” I tell her. “You need to start adding my name as your next of kin, Shardonnay. You left it blank.

“I used to… I used to write my mum’s name there. But when they asked, I didn’t… I don’t have any family, Xavier,” she says so quietly.

“Yes, you do. You have me. You have Lucy, my parents. Who are all waiting out there to see you.”

She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes like her genuine smiles usually do. I don’t know how to make her see that she has me. That I want her to lean on me.

An hour later, I’m walking out of the ER with an arm wrapped around Shardonnay. My parents are in the waiting room still. “Oh, my dear, how are you feeling, Shar?” My mum rushes up to us.

“Ah, I’m okay. Thank you, Shirley,” Shardonnay answers.

“I’m glad. Do you need anything? You should come home with us. Let me take care of you until you get back on your feet,” Mum says.

“She’s fine, Mum. I’m taking her home.” My voice is harsher than I intended it to be. But fuck if I’m letting Shardonnay go home with my parents and not me.

“Shar, I’m glad you’re feeling better. If you need anything, you can always call us,” my dad says, pulling Mum back a step into his arms.

“Thank you, but really, I’m okay. They just overreacted at the office,” Shardonnay says.

“Right, because fainting is a perfectly normal thing people do every day,” I say, sarcasm dripping from each word.

“They do when they have to work for the devil,” Shardonnay fires back.

I smirk down at her, relieved she still has that fire that makes my cock so fucking hard. Clearing my throat, and my head of thoughts of my cock, I tug her closer to my side. “I should get her home. Thanks for coming down but you really didn’t have to.”

“Well, it’s not every day you get told you have a daughter-in-law in the ER. Especially when you didn’t even know you had a daughter-in-law in the first place,” my father says.

“Ah, yeah, they weren’t going to let me in, so I lied. Relax, we’re not actually married.” I roll my eyes.

“Oh, well, that’s a shame.” My mum sounds disappointed.

“Mum, we’ll see you for Sunday dinner.” I lean in and kiss her cheek before walking Shardonnay out. Nathan is waiting at the front of the building with my car. “Thank you,” I say, taking the keys off him.