Spoiled By A Zillionaire

Just wake up

Lola had just joined Melisa, the king and queen at the castle hospital when the doctor came out of the operating theater to give them an update on Shane’s condition.

All Lola’s bravery was suddenly gone, only fear remained. Her heart hammered like a drum. She held on to Melisa with her hands shaking. She planned to never let him close to her heart but discovered at that moment that Shane had long trespassed her defenses.

Her brain constantly flashed back to the blood in the courtyard, Shane’s blood. She had insisted on cleaning it up herself despite the maids offering to do it. It was a lot of blood.

“Breathe, Dear,” Melisa urged with a shaky voice. She was just as terrified. Losing Shane was her worst nightmare.

“Your Highnesses, Madam Foster, Dutchess…”

“How is Shane?” Lola cut the doctor short. Her chest was already getting tight because she could not read the doctor’s expression.

“The Duke is alive. Fortunately, the bullet missed his heart by an inch…”

“But?” Lola urged. It was easy to tell that the doctor was telling them the good news to lay the foundation for the worst.

“He…he…”

“He what?” Melisa asked, getting impatient.

“The bullet exited very close to his spine. We…we don’t know the extent of the damage yet.”

Lola took deep breaths, her heart slowing down. “He will live, right?” she asked, suddenly calm. Death was all she feared. Anything else she could deal with.

The doctor nodded, alleviating all her fears.

“He might not be able to use his legs if the damage is severe,” the doctor continued to where Lola had interrupted him.

Melisa was the opposite of Lola. She slumped on the nearest chair with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Mel?” Lola enquired, her mother-in-law’s reaction taking her aback. The doctor said Shane will live. She was wondering if Melisa heard that.

“He might not be able to walk,” Melisa repeated the doctor’s words.

“I heard that. He is alive, Mel. Shane is alive.”

“He might be paralyzed, Lola,” Melisa repeated slowly.

“It does not matter. We are here. We will be there for him. He is alive. That is all that matters,” Lola insisted.

Melisa wiped her tears and stared at Lola. She saw no deception in Lola’s eyes, prompting her to ask, “You really don’t mind?”

Lola frowned at that question.

“You don’t mind having a paralyzed husband?” Melisa rephrased her question. Part of her devastation was seeing her son hurt, but also him losing Lola. She had not seen her son as happy as he was in the past few days and that was because of Lola. He had not said it, but losing Lola would devastate him.

“Shane is my husband, Mel. I will die for him. How can you ask me this?” Lola was deeply hurt by the question, while Melisa pulled her down and embraced her.

“I am sorry, Dear. I have been surrounded by selfish people most of my life,” Melisa confessed.

Lola completely understood her. Having met the Foster clans, she was certain that she had never seen so many egocentric people in her entire life.

“I understand. We are in this together. I swear to you that Shane will never lack love from me no matter what the outcome of those tests,” Lola vowed, meaning every word.

Melisa could only nod her head.

“He values his independence. He will be devastated if he can’t walk. He tends to shut down and push people away when he is.”

Lola nodded. She did not care what it would take, but she will be there for Shane. For the first time since their contract arrangement, she had accepted that their two years will be till death. That was something she was strangely fine with.

“You have fallen for him, like he has for you,” the king pointed out. He had the same fears as Melisa when the doctor motioned the possibility of Shane being paralyzed. Exactly like Melisa, he had never seen his friend as happy as he was the night before.

Lola swallowed her saliva and nodded her head. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought that she could have prevented his accident had she just confessed her feelings to him the night before.

Five hours later, she and Melisa quietly sat next to Shane’s bed.

“Go and rest, Mel. I will let you know when he wakes up,” Lola suggested to Melisa, who hesitated.

“I promise to let you know the moment he wakes up,” Lola pressed on. Melisa looked exhausted. The two of them just sitting there was not necessary.

“We still don’t know the mastermind behind his shooting. He is…” Melisa halted, refusing to think what could happen if that person managed to get to her son again.

“I know, Mel. I will be by his side every minute. I promise,” Lola vowed. She had no intentions of ever leaving Shane’s side.

“Okay then. I will bring you something to eat in the morning,” Melisa finally conceded.

She had just left when Lola spoke to the unconscious man in front of her.

“Listen here, Shane Foster. Our contract said nothing about being a widow. You know that your family is crazy. How can you be in a coma and leave me to deal with them? You better wake up right now,” she commanded before shaking her head and letting out a sigh. Deflating and trying to make a joke of the nightmare was not making her feel better. She emptied her heart instead.

“I had accepted that I would die in prison when you showed up. I married you for revenge on Mike and Samatha, but barely two days in, you had completely changed that. You have this terrifying aura yet entrancing personality. The more I spend with you, is the more I am pulled in and mesmerized by everything you say and do. I am a woman of her word, Shane. Well, I thought I was until I met you. I fell in love you despite my vow never to. When you confessed your love, I was scared to do the same. I was scared to utter what was in my heart. You are just so perfect it is terrifying. That is what I thought, until you got shot. That is when I knew what real terror was. Just wake up, okay? I will confess my love to you every day if you just wake up.”

Settling on the couch next to Shane’s bed, Lola made herself comfortable. It was past midnight when a nurse she did not recognize approached Shane’s bed. Lola was on high alert when the nurse started scanning around as if to ensure that she is not seen. She had just taken out an injection to inject Shane when she reacted…