Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (9 page)

“So what does that mean for my dad?” Dylan asked in a shallow voice.

“It means we will need to wait until his chance for survival increases. The way it stands now, he has less than a thirty percent chance of surviving the surgery. By keeping him medically induced, we are increasing his chances,” Dr. Chazan elaborated.

Tears began falling down Dylan’s face as Rade pulled her tightly next to him. “Dr. Chazan, do you know how the accident happened?” Rade asked as he held on to Dylan.

“I’m not sure of the specifics, but I know that he fell more than twenty feet. The incident happened at the power plant where he works. One of his employees called it in,” the doctor confirmed. “I know it doesn’t seem like reassuring news, but he’s lucky to be alive. He is a strong man and in otherwise good health. He has that on his side. A few prayers would go a long way as well.”

The doctor left the room, letting Rade and Dylan know he would be back in the before noon to check on her dad’s progress. Dylan thought it was too long to wait, until she realized it was already near five in the morning. In an hour it would be exactly twenty-four hours since she slept. With the lack of sleep her body had already endured, she was beyond exhausted.

“Dylan, there isn’t much we can do here. How about we get you to the hotel so you can rest and come back in a couple of hours?” Rade suggested as he took her in his arms.

Even though Dylan wanted to stay, she knew she wouldn’t be doing her father or herself any good by staying. “Okay, but only for a little while.”

As Dylan headed down the hallway to the restroom, Rade stopped Dr. Chazan at the nurses’ station to request a prescription for Dylan to help her sleep. The doctor wrote out a prescription for
Xanax
and informed Rade to make sure Dylan got at least seven hours of sleep. Rade assured him she would.

*****

Frank pulled up in front of the hotel less than fifteen minutes later. Dylan was glad that the hotel was close to the hospital in the event they needed to get there quickly. Frank grabbed the two bags from the truck while Rade assisted Dylan out of the SUV. It had been a long eight hours since Dylan heard the news of her father. She was thankful that she at least she knew the status of her dad’s condition, even though she would have preferred hearing better news.

Entering the hotel, Dylan’s exhaustion set in. Checking in was a complete blur as Rade spoke to the front desk clerk. The only words that registered with her was connecting suites. She didn’t even care about the room. All she wanted to do was soak for an hour in a bath filled to the rim with hot water and a massive amount of bubbles. As they headed to the elevators the bellhop was close behind with their luggage. Dylan thought how silly it was that the bellhop was pushing a luggage cart with the two small bags when they could have easily taken the luggage up themselves. She thought to herself,
This must be how the other half lives.

When they reached the room the bellhop slipped the key card into the slot and pushed the door open. The room was magnificent. It looked more like an apartment than a junior suite. Dylan could see that there was an adjoining door, which was already propped open. Rade handed the bellhop a bill, which looked to be a hundred, and sent him on his way.

Rade led Dylan through the adjoining door and settled her bag on the settee at the foot of the bed.

“Let me draw you a bath. It will help you relax,” Rade said as he moved in front of Dylan and kissed her gently on the forehead.

“That sounds good,” Dylan said as she stood and watched him exit to the bathroom.

So many things were going through Dylan’s mind as she looked out the window across the golf course.
How could her life change in such a short period of time? How could so many bad things happen to one person?
She was thankful that Rade was here with her and especially grateful that her dad was alive. One thing she couldn’t understand was how he could have fallen so far. She was under the assumption that because of his age and his recent testing, he was only allowed to work on the inside of the plant repairing the generators. When her father applied for the position, he was required to go through extensive testing to make sure they put him in the right position. He didn’t pass the test for the jobs that required a lot of climbing. Through the testing they found that he had height vertigo, which was triggered when his body was a certain distance from the ground.

Rade stepped back into the room, letting Dylan know that her bath was ready. He could see that she was deep in thought. Standing beside her, he took her hand and lightly rubbed his thumb across her soft skin.

“Your bath is ready, Sweetness.” Dylan pulled her hand away and turned towards the bathroom.

“Dylan,” Rade said in a hushed voice as Dylan stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Your dad will make it through this.”

“I know,” she softly replied

Dylan slowly undressed and slipped into the water. Her body began to unfold as the stress from the day began to escape. Her body relaxed, but her mind was still wheeling. Seeing her dad the way she did caused the tears to start pouring out. All she could think about was how lost she would be without her dad. She had no one other than him. Sure, she had aunts and uncles she hadn’t seen since she was little. Her mom had two brothers and a sister. Shortly after her mom passed away, they stopped going to visit them. It was too hard on her dad. That and the fact that they lived so far away. Dylan could barely remember them anymore. If she were to pass them on the street, she would never be able to recognize them.

Dylan had been lounging in the tub for nearly an hour when she heard a soft tap on the door.

“Yes,” she said softly

“Dylan, are you okay? I’ve ordered some food. I thought you might be hungry,” Rade said as he imagined how lovely Dylan looked in the tub with her body covered in bubbles.

“I’ll be right out,” she said as she lifted the lever to drain the water.

Dylan wasn’t sure where her mind was, but she somehow forgot to grab clothing to change into. Wrapping a towel around her body, she noticed that a hotel robe was hanging on the back of the door. She pulled the robe off of the hook and slipped it on. Opening the door, she could see that Rade was seated at a small table for two next to the window overlooking the golf course. Quietly she walked to the small table and sat down. Looking down, she could see a plate filled with fruit, eggs, bacon, and two slices of toast. In front of the plate was a glass filled to the rim with orange juice, along with a little blue pill.

Holding up the pill, Dylan looked at Rade with confusion. “What is this for?”

“I requested Dr. Chazan prescribe you something to help you sleep,” Rade said.

“As exhausted as I am, I doubt I will need to take something to sleep,” Dylan said as she placed the pill down on the table.

“It’s a small dosage, Dylan. It will help you relax.”

Dylan took the small pill and popped it into her mouth, even though she was exhausted. She had heard that sometimes being over exhausted could prevent you from being able to sleep as well.

Finishing her meal, at least a quarter of it, she decided to give rest a try. Placing her napkin on the table, she pushed herself from the table and stood. She didn’t want to be alone, but she was afraid to ask Rade to stay with her.

Rade knew something was on her mind. “What’s the matter, Sweetness?”

Trying to get the words out, Dylan mumbled. “I wanted to know… I mean could you… would you…?”

“Just tell me what you want,” Rade began standing as Dylan finally said, “Would you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

Rade couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He would give anything to be near to her again. “You don’t need to ask, Sweetness. I would do anything for you.”

Rade and Dylan walked back to her room, where a king-size bed was waiting for them. Rade pulled the covers back. Dylan was about to drop her robe when she realized she didn’t have anything on underneath.

“Um… can you please turn around?” Dylan said shyly as she grabbed the two ends of her robe.

Doing as she requested, Rade turned his body slightly so that he was facing the wall at the head of the bed. Comfortable that she was out of Rade’s line of sight, Dylan walked to the end of the bed and lowered her robe. One thing that Dylan didn’t take into account were the small mirrored table lamps, which allowed Rade to get a perfect view of Dylan’s beautiful body. Never in his dreams did he think he would ever see her fully naked again. Smiling, he watched as she pulled a t-shirt and a pair of pick lacy panties from the bag. Just as he thought things couldn’t get much better, she bent over to pick up the discarded robe and walked behind him to the bathroom. If she only knew the effect she was having on him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Dylan returned to the bedroom to see that Rade had removed his shoes. The covers had been pulled back on the side where Rade now stood. Walking over to Rade, Dylan slipped beneath the covers and watched as Rade rounded the bed to the other side. Rade knew that if he slid underneath the covers with Dylan, she would certainly feel his arousal as he held her in his arms. Opting not to take any chances, Rade slid his body close to her on top of the covers. Pulling her close to him, he lightly kissed the top of her head as he felt her melt into him. She must have been extremely exhausted, or else the little blue pill was beginning to take effect, because before he knew it he could hear the soft breaths she took. Unaware of his own exhaustion, Rade also slipped into a deep sleep.

It was three o’clock by the time Rade woke. Dylan was still restfully sleeping. Rade slowly moved away from Dylan, careful not to wake her. As much as he wanted to remain like this forever, he knew that he needed to take care of some things. With Dylan asleep, it was the perfect time for him to do just that.

“Richard, I wanted to give you an update. Looks like Dylan’s dad fell at work. Doesn’t appear to be intentional. Just an accident. Any word yet from Peter?” Rade asked.

“Not yet, sir. Last I heard Mr. Stewart hasn’t left the island. Peter should be checking in soon. I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything,” Richard said as he looked at his watch.

“How about our other problem, anything new there?” Rade was concerned about finding the man and his associate who planned the assault on Dylan. Not hearing anything was making him lose his patience.

“Dane and his security are working on that. There were a couple of members who remembered seeing Dylan being led to the basement. They said it was odd, since most of the activities were either in the arena area or in the private rooms. Another thing they found odd was a gentleman with dark hair and a medium build followed them shortly after. Dane is looking at all the camera footage hoping at least one of the cameras caught a glimpse of the unknown man.”

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed that those cameras caught something. If we could get even a hint of the man’s face we could at least get a 3D model to reconstruct what the man may look like. Stay on it and let me know.” Rade knew the technology to identify someone with only a partial picture was out there and he knew the man who had access to that technology. Chris, whom he hired a little over a year ago, would be able to get him what he needed. Although he only worked in the IT department, his talents went way beyond that.

Rade finished his call with Richard and walked over to the mini bar. He poured himself a healthy portion of whiskey. It was close to four o’clock and Dylan was still resting. He knew she would be angry with him if he allowed her to sleep any longer. Placing his empty glass on the coffee table, he headed to her room. Once inside, he could see that she was no longer sleeping. Stepping to the bathroom, he could hear the water running from the shower. Opening the door a crack, he peeked in the room.

“Dylan, I’m going to order us something to eat. Is there anything special you would like?” Rade would have loved to see Dylan fully naked. He knew that he needed to approach his second chance with her, with care. The last thing he wanted was for her to be angry with him for invading her privacy.

Dylan turned her body slightly so that she was facing the door. She could see that Rade had only opened the door wide enough to be assured she would hear him. “It doesn’t matter. I can eat anything right now.”

Rade smiled, thinking how he would love the feel of her month on his shaft. “I’ll order room service then.”

Rade closed the door and left Dylan to her shower. Walking over to the phone to call room service, he noticed that the red light was illuminated, signaling that someone had left a message. Nobody had the contact information for them other than the hospital and Richard. Surely Richard wouldn’t have called and left a message on the hotel phone. Punching the button on the phone, Rade listened to the message.

“Ms. Adams, this is Dr. Chazan. Please contact me as soon as possible. Your father’s health has taken a turn. We were able to stabilize him. We need to discuss some options for your father’s care. Hope to hear from you soon.”

When Rade heard the message, he went immediately to Dylan’s room. He was thankful that she was already out of the shower and dressed.

“Dylan, we need to get to the hospital. Dr. Chazan called and left a message regarding your father. We need to leave now.” Rade walked over to Dylan, taking her by the hand as he led her out of the suite.