Chapter 24

Sally had left the room while we were in the midst of our embrace and returned with a tray filled with food. She interrupted our synced cry-athon and had us sit down to eat. My hands shook as I lifted the spoon to my mouth, unable to part my lips without tempting my eyes to water.

I left the spoon in the plate and looked to Donna to see her suffering through the same thing. She passed me a wobbly smile, munching on it for my sake while I failed to develop an appetite after everything that was happening around us.

"He's going to be fine dear, you should eat. He wouldn't want you to go without food."

Donna spoke softly, leaving the spoon in her plate as she caught my hand in hers. Despite the shakiness of her eyes and the sadness in her smile, she decided to give me hope.

"...I c-can't, not when I'm not sure if he's going to be okay."

Donna nodded, letting me know that she understood, Sally put the food aside and covered it with foil to avoid making it cold. We remained in silence, sitting frozen on our spots knowing that sooner or later someone would come with news.

I didn't know which one I wanted it to be, the sooner I was told of his condition the sooner I could relax but with the chance that he might not make it, I wanted to prolong this moment filled with anxiety for as long as I could.

A knock on the door interrupted us and my heart sank as a man walked in, his face looked rather grim and I could only guess the worst from such a negative expression. Donna looked at him expectantly, yet in her eyes I saw how badly she wanted to ignore all the signs of bad news he gave.

"The boss lost a lot of blood..."

He trailed off as I covered my mouth with my hands, unable to stop myself from crying out loud.

"His wound was terrible with bits and pieces of wood present in it."

I remembered the branch he had pressed himself against and sniffled as a rush of tears came running down my cheeks.

"He was barely keeping his eyes open when we started on him, if immediate first aid had been given to him maybe it wouldn't have been like this."

Donna broke first while I sat still in denial.

"We have transplanted blood and stitched up the wound, he's in his bedroom right no~"

"Oh thank god!!"

My hands covered my face as I cried out in relief.

"Couldn't you have said that before!"

The man stiffened, lowering his head slightly to avoid my watery eyes as I glared at him. Definitely not looking even remotely threatening.

"I'm sorry Donna, I thought you'd like to hear what was wrong before I told you the outcome."

I sighed, letting myself slump on the headboard to relax my racing heart. Giving Donna another hug, I had the man lead me to Severus's room.

He left me at the entrance and I slowly creaked the door open. The room was cold and it took me a minute to adjust to the darkness and spot a body laying on the bed. Closing the door behind me I walked in the direction of the bed, holding out my hands to feel the edge of the bed before I crashed into it and crushed my pinky.

I luckily felt the edge before it hit my foot and let myself stare at the figure laying on the bed. His chest rose and fell slowly as I sighed in relief and wiped away my tears. Sniffing slightly before smiling widely as I noticed he had left space for me beside him.

The side that was empty was opposite to his injured shoulder and I was grateful for that. I didn't want to hurt him in his sleep. Slowly I let myself slip in to the side, my hand brushed his elbow and almost instinctively, he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer.

I snuggled into his unwounded side and smiled as his hold on me tightened, his breathing was normal as we lay in the cold and dark room that felt more homey than it would have in any other situation.

Severus had hissed a few times in his sleep and I couldn't manage to let my eyes drift close because I didn't want him to get worse due to me.

_______________________________

"You need to eat that before you take your medicine Sevvy."

Was I whining because my husband refused to rest? Yes, yes I was. It was definitely incredulous that even the thought of doing something besides work repulsed him. Donna and Edward had been ahead of us in this case and had locked the study with all of the documents, that he had been using ever since he had first gained consciousness.

His men weren't allowed in this area because they couldn't ignore his orders. And if he told them to bust down the study door or get him the documents, they would agree without another thought.

"I will...soon."

He replied. Did locking up his study keep him away from the documents? No, not at all, in fact he just used his laptop and received all the files from a member of Edward's team.

"You said that an hour ago."

I pouted as he continued scrolling down, reading a random page that had caught his attention. While I stood there with a furrow between my brows and my hands at my hips.

I pulled off the laptop from his lap, and he opened his mouth to argue but quieted down as I replaced the device with myself.

"You need to eat sevvy."

He sighed, leaning his head back against the arm rest and wincing as his shoulder moved. I leaned down after him, letting my lips caress his gently, he wrapped his good arm around my waist and tried to pull me closer but I backed away.

"First the food."

He gave me an accusing and unimpressed look, pulling me down and closing the few centimeters distance between us. I sighed against his lips and gave up trying to pull myself up, not like I didn't want this either.

The horrifying thought of him hurting himself while trying to pleasure me, made me jump off him with a heavy heart. He frowned from his position, looking at me with a confused expression.

"...The food, right."

He sat up again and thankfully ate his food. I gave him his medicine along with a glass of water, it knocked him out within a few minutes. Finally letting him get the much deserved rest he had been refusing for himself.