My Billionaire Stranger (4 page)

Chapter 7

I knew it would happen on my night off, damn it! And he’s yelling for me! 

“Imani!! Can you hear me?”

“Yea, yea, what’s going on?” I hear a man yelling in the background… and he’s yelling
my
name… shit what’s going on?

“He just opened his eyes and starting trying to get out of bed, he’s been yelling for you for 20 min straight; he won’t shut up, security is here trying to keep him in bed, please can you come?!”

“Uh, yea of course; I’ll be right there, don’t let him hurt himself!”

“Oh thank God, I’m gonna hang up and tell him you’re coming maybe he’ll calm down,” She sounds relieved.

I’ve been moving since I answered the phone, the girls are yelling behind me…

“Hey!”

“Imani! Where are you going?”

“Gotta go, he’s awake,” I call over my shoulder; they don’t even know who I’m talking about but I don’t have time to explain right now. I have to get to him, he’s awake and he’s screaming for ME…me… he must have heard me, I wonder if he could feel me touching him too? I shake that thought from my mind as I run out the door of the bar. I’m trying so hard not to speed but I’m still over the limit by 10 mph; I’ve recently had a drink, and I’m a nurse! I really don’t need to be pulled over, that will just waste the precious time I need to reach Marcus. I pull into the parking garage at a dangerous speed, swing into a spot and jump out of the car, not bothering to lock it.

I’m running, running in these heels.
Shit! I don’t want to fall and break my leg or I’ll end up in a bed next to him!
Ok so that wouldn’t be so terrible…
I fumble for my badge and flash it at the security guard by the door as I fly by. The poor guy looks confused initially but then he recognizes me. He’s used to seeing me in scrubs not dressed in a barely there skirt and stilettos. I punch the up button a million times before it opens. Jumping in it starts moving and I start to hear him I’m still two floors away from the ICU. His voice is deep, loud and panicked. I can’t make out what he’s saying, but I feel his desperation and it pulls at my heart. When the doors open I stumble out and race to his room. At his door I stop abruptly, I’m shocked at the scene before me.

Sheila is standing at the foot of the bed with her arms extended motioning and begging Marcus to lie back down. She’s trying to reason with a madman, which is a funny sight because she’s about five foot 2 inches and 100 lb. He dwarfs her several times over. Four security guards are at his bedside attempting to restrain him unsuccessfully while he thrashes and screams.  Adrenalin can make a person temporarily superhuman and that’s what he looks like at this moment,
super human!
Gown torn off, chiseled chest exposed, hair wild and sexy; yep, he’s super in my book any day.

The security guards turn briefly to see who is entering the room, each one with their own personalized look of shock, mouths gaping, wide eyes, one even dropped Marcus’s arm that he had been attempting to restrain. It takes me a second before I realize what they are gawking at, it’s my outfit, or lack thereof.

Not exactly appropriate hospital attire, I didn’t even grab my sweater at the bar. That’s a lot of skin exposed under the harsh hospital lights of the ICU. The staring only lasts a second before Marcus begins to struggle again and they turn their focus back to him. The guards grip him tighter after their moment of negligence and the atmosphere in the room is chaotic. I’m frozen in the doorway; I don’t think he’s actually seeing me. But then again he’s never actually seen me, I need to speak to him, that’s what he knows…my voice.

I succumb to the familiar magnetic draw; it’s always been there for me, I wonder if he feels it now too? He continues to struggle with the guards and as I cross the room. I speak to him. “Marcus hey it’s me… Imani.  I’m here now, right here, do remember me? I’ve been talking to you, waiting for you to wake up,” I remind him in a calm voice, I feel like I’m talking to a cornered wild animal. He stops struggling immediately at the sound of my voice. Emotionless empty green eyes stare back at me, the security guards continue to restrain his arms and his one good leg; they steer clear of the casted leg, he would no doubt use it as a weapon if given the chance. He looks at me for what feels like an eternity… his eyes move slowly from my face down over every single inch of my body. He lingers at my breasts and bare legs for an uncomfortable, inappropriate amount of time. He makes me feel naked; much more exposed than this outfit did only 15 min ago.  He’s not just looking at me he’s leering now… holy shit… this man has violently returned from a coma less than an hour ago and he’s stripping me down, undressing me with his eyes, what kind of man have I summoned? Elena said he was ‘difficult’ could this be what she meant? He continues to silently rake over my body with his eyes.

“Imani?” he whispers,.

“Yes, it’s me; your nurse says that you’ve been asking for me…” I say quietly.

“You are Imani… you said you were waiting for me…” his voice trails off and he sounds hurt, like a boy instead of this massive powerful man. It’s like he has turned into a completely different person, this has me considering brain damage. 

I need to figure out what he wants right now and get him settled down. Beads of sweat cover his forehead, his muscles are wound tight and the sheet covering him is trembling with anger or fear. His eyes seem to change again so suddenly that it’s disconcerting; I’ve never seen such a severe swing in personality outside of my psych rotation in nursing school.

“You do not look like a nurse…” A smoldering sexy man looks at me now with a smirk on those perfect lips of his. With one side of his mouth pulled up and his eyes slightly narrowed and a barely-there wink I’m officially a goner. Zero to one hundred in a split second, he’s gone from vulnerable boy to sexy, sensual predator. 

“I was out with my friends, I’m not working tonight,” I say.

“Out with who?” he asks accusingly as if he has some sort of claim on me. “Girlfriends.” I answer 

It’s none of his damned business who I’m out with but I’ve been called here to diffuse the situation, so I appease him with reassurance that I’ve been with friends and not on a date.

“Oh…” he says confused. Now he’s coming around, relaxing he looks at the security guards as if he has just noticed them standing there.

“Guys, I think I’ve got it from here, you can let him go,” I say.

One of the guards looks at me sideways with doubt. “You sure Ma’am, this guy’s been going nuts for an hour.”

“Yes I’m sure, let him go,” I snap. It’s obvious he’s calmer now and that guard is kind of pissing me off; who is he calling ‘Ma’am’? I know he’s just trying to do his job but that irrational part of me that lays claim to this stranger wants to protect
him
, not me. All four of the men let go slowly with apprehension and take a step away from the bed.

I step in close to Marcus and switch places with Sheila.

Placing my hands gently on his shoulders, I ease him down onto the bed until his head is against the pillows. I feel his eyes on me but I avoid eye contact.

“See, he’s fine, I’ll call if I need help, don’t worry I’ve got this.” I surrender my eyes to his I am hypnotized.

“You’ve got this…” he says, inaudible to anyone but me. “You said that to me didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. And I’m here now ok?”

Everyone slowly files out the door and into the hall. Sheila the nurse who called me is standing outside the door, eyes wide with bewilderment. I move to close the door and shrug; I don’t know what’s going on any more than she does.

“Just give me a few minutes to talk to him.” She puts her hand on the door stopping me from closing it.

“Imani, are you two…. I mean do you know him…from before?”

“No, just as his nurse, but he won’t hurt me.” I feel it somehow and I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.

“He’s dangerous Imani, you can’t be in there alone with him!” she hisses.

I’ve decided to go with my instincts; he may have brain damage but I’m willing to risk it. I have no facts to back up my unexplainable, illogical, strong feeling of safety and actually that makes me kind of nuts too

“Ok, put on the emergency light if you need us,” Sheila says, voice full of doubt.

“I will, I promise,” I softly close the door and turn to Marcus, who is now lying back in bed quietly staring at the ceiling. I approach carefully and take his hand in mine; he slowly turns his head toward me. “Where is Megan?” he asks.

“I don’t know who Megan is Marcus; is she someone I should call for you?” I ask. I can see the effort he’s making to sort out the details of his accident.

“She was with me in the car… I saw her hair floating around her face, she was so still, and so quiet we were under water.” Shit, he must be talking about the person in the accident who was DOA; I hadn’t thought to look up who was with him.

“Marcus, can I get you anything, are you thirsty?” I   attempt to steer the conversation away from his dead friend, or girlfriend, whoever she was. He doesn’t need to deal with that right now, especially with the signs of shock he still showing. He rolls his head back and returns to staring at the ceiling.

“Yes,” he says. Good, thank God, baby steps, we need to start with baby steps. Out in the hall I glance back at him twice to make sure he’s not going to freak out when I leave the room. My co workers are staring a hole in my back as I fill a pitcher of water. I feel ridiculous in my club clothes. When I make my way back to Marcus’s room, all of the nurses pause and stare curiously as I walk by. Just keep your eyes forward Imani; I feel like I’m the spotlight featured float in The Macy’s Day parade. I huff a sigh of relief when I slip back into his room and close the door

“Pouring him a glass of water I peek from the corner of my eye and find him examining me. Here, take a drink.” I offer him the cup and watch him pull a long drink from the cup eyes locked on mine.

“I heard you talking to me,” he says.

“What do you remember?”

“You said you would take care of me…  it pissed me off,” his voice is unexpectedly cold

“You were angry about that? Why?”

“I take care of
myself
, I always have; I don’t need anyone, for anything.” he spits back.

“Well you look like you need help now,” I snap, without thinking. I step back half a step and scowl at him.

“Mmm, a smart mouth, I didn’t see that coming, Nurse Imani.”

Oh so he’s going to be snarky now is he?

“Well you seem to be pretty ungrateful Mr. Castillo, I’ve just left a night out with my friends to come here because of your freak out episode.”

Shit, I need to knock it off, why is he making me react this way, I have better interpersonal skills than this, I need to pull myself together. Marcus looks smug, as if he has accomplished exactly what he set out to do, irritate, alienate and push me away.

“Look, obviously you were confused and you just remembered the name of the last person to speak to you when you woke up, I’m sure your irritable; let’s get you comfortable and I’ll be on my way,” I’m trying to show some compassion but he’s not making it easy.

His hand darts out tenaciously grabbing my wrist; every single muscle in my body seizes up. I lick my lips nervously and hold my breath waiting for what ever is coming next. My mind is instantly thrown back ten years when three men held me against my will in a dirty house that smelled of urine and mold. A layer of perspiration instantly breaks out on my body and I’v probably gone white with fear from the look on Marcus’s face. He eases his grip on me, but he doesn’t let go.

“Don’t go… stay with me Imani,” he says in his deep, quiet voice.

Slowly, I take my free hand and remove his from my wrist and step out of his reach. Any other time in my life I would have run and never ever looked back, but not today, today I sit down in the chair next to him.

“I’ll stay, but don’t grab me like that again.” I should be snapping at him but my voice remains calm. He looks confused for a moment but his face eventually relaxes and I see what a beautiful man he is when he isn’t volatile. This is
my
Marcus, the one I knew before he woke up and started terrorizing people.

“You are staying?” he asks, a touch of irresistible vulnerability making an unexpected appearance.

“Yes I promise, you should close your eyes and rest, I’ll be here when you wake up.” I say and against my better judgment I reach out to cover his hand with mine.

“I do not want to sleep anymore, how long have I been out anyway?”

“Eight days.” I answer

“Eight days?” 

“Fuck, I have a business to run, where is my phone, I have to find out what’s going on.” He snatches his hand from under mine and begins to panic again. His wild eyes scan the room for his phone as he clutches the sheets on either side of him.

“Hang on…let me see if I can find it for you, it may have been destroyed in the accident though.” His eyes lock with mine and I know he doesn’t want me going anywhere to search for his phone. No matter how badly he needs to contact someone at work, having me stay right here for some reason is a higher priority.