Page 158 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"Will she be okay now?" Professor Hunter asked.
"She needs to rest and build her strength back up."
"Can she leave today?" he asked.
"Let's keep the IV in for a few more hours to help with your dehydration. I'll be back to check on you soon. And if everything looks good and your heart rate stays down, you can head home."
"How long should she stay at home?" my mom asked. "She has classes." She looked at my dad. "I can take tomorrow off. I just need to call in."
"I'd recommend taking it easy for a few days. Definitely no classes on Monday. And just see how you feel on Tuesday. Don't push yourself. I'll be back in a few hours to check in." The doctor nodded at my parents and walked out of the room.
"Okay, let me call the office." My mom stood up and grabbed her purse.
"She can come back to my place," Professor Hunter said. "If that's okay with both of you, of course." He looked at my parents.
"A dorm room isn't the best place to recuperate from this," my dad said coolly.
"He actually lives in a nice apartment, Dad. It would be okay with me. I don't want to inconvenience you guys."
"It's never an inconvenience, Penny. Besides, James has classes. We can't ask him to miss them," my mom said.
"I can cancel them. I mean, skip them. Not a big deal at all."
"Well, if you're sure it's okay, James. And if that's really what you want to do, Penny," my mom said.
My dad lifted up his hand. "Nonsense. You'll be coming back with us, Pen." His tone was the same one he would use when I got in trouble when I was younger. It meant that it was the end of the discussion. He wasn't even giving James a fair chance. I was just about to protest when there was a knock on the door. Melissa burst into the room and ran over to me.
"Oh my God, Penny!" She threw her arms around me. "Have you been here this whole time? I thought you were okay." She turned to James. "Thanks for keeping me in the dark, James."
"I didn't know she was here either. I would have told you."
"Then where were you, Penny? I haven't heard from you since Friday night. I can't believe..." she let her voice trail off when she saw the expression on my face. "We can talk later." She squeezed my arm and walked over to my parents. "Thanks for calling me, Mrs. Taylor." She hugged both my parents at the same time.
My parents loved Melissa. Whenever they visited me at school they always took Melissa and me out to dinner. I was pretty sure they thought Melissa being my roommate freshman year was the best thing that ever happened to me. And they were probably right. Having a best friend that was outgoing and fun had definitely been good for me. And without her forcing me to go out all the time, I never would have run into James in the rain that night.
"Oh, I have someone I want you to meet." Melissa let go of her embrace and walked over to the door. "Hey guys, it's okay, you can come in."
Josh came in, followed by Tyler.
What the hell?
She grabbed Josh's hand and steered him toward my parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, this is my boyfriend, Josh." She looked up at Josh. "These are Penny's parents."
"Nice to meet you," he said and shook both of their hands.
My father didn't look nearly as cold when he shook Josh's hand. Maybe because he didn’t suspect that Josh had just had sex with Melissa. And he also lacked a black eye.
"And that's our friend Tyler." Melissa pointed over at him. He was hovering by the door. Tyler still had bruises around the inside corners of his eyes.
My dad looked at Tyler's face and then glanced over at Professor Hunter's. His brow furrowed.
"Nice to meet you both." Tyler smiled at them but didn't move.
My parents started talking to Josh and I tuned them out. I looked over at Tyler. He was staring at me. It looked like he wanted to come over, but he stayed where he was.
"Thanks for coming, Tyler," I said quietly. I was more than a little surprised to see him. But we were still friends. It was nice of him to come.
He glanced at Professor Hunter and then shook his head. He walked over to me. "Yeah, well, Melissa needed a ride." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "It's hard to say no to her."
