Page 3 of Falling for the Hot Billionaire

“I'm sure you're right, but you have been in the coma for quite some time, so I'm sure she will want to rush up here as soon as she finds out,” I offered.

“How long?”

Now there was one of those sinking feelings that I knew was going to happen. Of course, he was going to ask those questions because who wouldn't? I told him it had been four months and he just kind of stared at me blankly. He probably didn't know what to say and I could really feel for him. He had woken up to find out that four months of his life had been taken away, though he would soon learn that it had kept going without him.

Tyrell took it about as well as to be expected. He had a grimace on his face, and he didn't look happy about it at all. Once again, I couldn't blame him. The circumstances he woke up to weren’t helping at all.

“I can't believe that much time has passed. What have I missed?”

“In what way?” I asked.

“You know, the news highlights.”

I sat down next to him on the bed. I needed to stare a moment as this was all so surreal. Hours ago, he was unable to talk or do anything, but now he was sitting here talking to me like he hadn’t been in a coma for months. Since normal conversation was a lot easier than the hard conversation if he’d kept asking questions about Monica, I gave him everything I could think of.

I tried to think of details that would be interesting, but since I didn't know much about what he liked, I was really just talking and shooting into the dark. He got tired after a short while because he had been through a lot, as had his body. I was surprised he lasted as long as he did. I knew that he needed rest.

I stood up to leave and he told me that he didn't want me to go. It clinched part of my heart because I didn't want to leave either. I had to though. I had to go make that call that I promised him I would make. I couldn’t have wanted to do it less than I did. I hated Monica and she didn’t deserve Tyrell.

Before I left for the day, I stuck my head in to tell Tyrell that I would be back the next day, but he was already fast asleep. Learning that his whole world had turned upside down while he was sleeping had to be a lot to take. He seemed to handle it pretty well, but I worried about how long it would last. How would he feel when he realized what kind of wife he’d really married? Or did he already know? Being around Monica for not long at all, I was able to see what she was all about. Tyrell was smart, he had to know. She was probably worse because of the horrible circumstances, which told me that he had to know.

It was none of my business, that's what I kept reminding myself, because it really wasn't. And because it was none of my business, I needed to stay out of it. I repeated that to myself multiple times as I was leaving the hospital, but it didn't change anything. I still felt protective of Tyrell and now that Monica was going to be back in the picture, there was a strange desire for me to tell him the truth. I never would, it went against so many ethics, but having said that, I wanted to. I didn't want to be that person who judged, but I was definitely judging her. Spending just a little bit of time with Tyrell, I think I was judging her even more. He was a great guy, and she didn't deserve him.

Why did all the good ones end up with nightmares like her?

3

Tyrell

My reunion with Monica did not happen quite the way I had planned. Even though I knew that the nurse who promised to call her had, I had gone to sleep, and no one had seen her. I saw her the next morning, close to the afternoon, as it was 11:30. She had shopping bags in her hands no less, so there didn't seem to be too much urgency to come see her husband. I knew that what I had with Monica probably wasn't true love, but I would have thought that there was something more there. She gave me a kiss and it was as cold as the expression on her face.

I think I knew then that marrying her may not have been the best decision. At this moment, it certainly did not feel like it. It felt like a mistake. Thank God she hadn't had the chance to get rid of me because I think she would have. I didn’t know why, but I had memories of dreams where she was ready to ‘pull the plug’ on me. That sentence just kept dancing in my mind, and I wondered if I had heard it while I was in the coma.

She pulled back from the kiss and told me that she was so happy to see me awake. There wasn’t a lot of real happiness to see me though. She said it, but it certainly didn’t feel like she meant it.

“It's good that you are awake. And you sound just fine. The nurse had me all worked up thinking that you would be an invalid when you woke up, but here you are, just as sharp and perfectly handsome as always. I don't know why she made such a big deal about it.”

I should have mentioned that I’d almost died, but I doubt she would have cared. Monica was all worked up, and I asked her who she was talking about.

“The nurse, of course, the one who’s been watching over you every time I came. You would think that she thought I was going to do something to you. I don't remember her name. The red head that isn’t so pretty, kind of plain.”

I wasn't completely sure if she was talking about Justine, but I had a good feeling that it was her, and it was nice to know that somebody was watching out for me while I was in the hospital. It would appear that my wife had not found it necessary to do it herself. I found myself getting defensive for the nurse and didn’t want to start a fight with Monica but told her that she shouldn’t say such a thing. I didn't want to hear her talking bad about Justine. From what I could tell, it seemed like Justine was the only one who had given a damn if I lived or died. She was a complete stranger and that should have told me everything that I needed to know. A complete stranger cared more than my own wife.

“I think you’re just taking it the wrong way.”

That was not the right thing to say. I knew it about five seconds later when her face crumpled up and she looked at me as if I had said the worst thing that I possibly could. She looked at me like I had betrayed her in some way, and I doubt that she was the one that should be mad.

“Why do you always take everyone else’s side? You don't even know this woman. How do you not know that it is exactly like I say? Why do you always think it’s me?” Monica started to whine.

She was being dramatic, and I said that I was getting tired. Her face wrinkled up for a moment and then she calmed, like she remembered that she didn’t want to be at the hospital anyway. That made two of us.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to stop you from getting better just because I’m selfish and want to spend time with you. I can do better than that. I will leave you to it, Tyrell. Get some sleep and we will talk about all of this tomorrow.”

She gave me a kiss and said that she loved me, but she wasn’t even looking at me when she said it, and I can say without hesitation that I wasn’t feeling the love at all. I felt a breeze of cold air leave the room with her and I laid back on the pillow. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Better question was why I hadn’t cared. I’d known what Monica was and I must have thought that I wanted her for something, though now it was hard to recall what that something was.

I went to sleep thinking about the kind nurse with dark auburn hair and green eyes, the one who protected me in my coma. She was the one that I felt this strange connection to, not my wife. Justine was the one that I thought about and hoped to see the next day. I didn’t care one way or another if Monica showed up, and as horrible as that sounded, I knew it was true.

Being on the brink of death had made me realize something. Life was short and if something wasn’t going right, I needed to fix it. My marriage was one of those glaring mistakes that I figured would be first on the list. Why I had stayed with her and married her, I couldn’t say for certain, but I was happy to waste no more time on the matter.

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