Chapter 54
There was a quick rap on the door again and this time, the doctor entered the room without waiting for a response from them. He was a middle-aged man with a small tuft of greying brown hair on his balding head. "Morning, Miss Lane, Mr. Fraser," the doctor greeted them. "I reckon you'll have to inform your bodyguard that doctors have unrestricted access to see their patients whenever needed."
"Of course," said Derek with an apologetic smile. "I'll let him know."
"Great. I'm Doctor Kelly, by the way. It's good to see that you're awake now, Miss Lane. How are you feeling?"
"Tired," Rachel replied with a weak smile.
"That's normal. How's your breathing?"
"Ok. I think I feel pretty good now," she said confidently. "When can I leave?"
"For now, we'll place you under observation just to make sure that you are truly ok," said the doctor, "and if your vitals remain steady for the rest of the day, you'll be discharged this time tomorrow. How's that?" Rachel shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
"Awesome. I'll send in a nurse to check your vitals and update your chart. The breakfast menu is on the bedstand. Feel free to let her know what you'd like to eat and it will be sent up right away." "Thank you," she smiled.
"We could swap that hospital meal for some gourmet breakfast instead," said Derek after the doctor left. "What do you say?" "Wouldn't that be breaking the hospital rules?" she asked.
"We don't follow the rules, remember?" he replied mischievously, making her laugh.
"Now that I think of it, I'm feeling ravenous and I think a three-course breakfast is an answer to that,” she joked.
"That's what I'm talking about!"
Rachel laughed. It felt so good to have Derek here with her. Her world seemed complete except for Zoe who wasn't with them.
"I wish Zoe was here," she mused. "We would all eat together and watch her make a huge mess with the food."
"And we'd piss off the doctors and everyone else in the hospital with our loud peals of laughter," Derek added playfully.
"Man, I can't believe I ever thought it was possible for me to live the rest of my life without you and Zoe in it. I feel so blessed to have you both in my life, Rachel. I mean it."
"I know you do," she said and put her hand over his beside the bed.
"I am looking forward to living the rest of my life with you," he said sincerely. "I can't wait to live happily ever after with you."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't believe in all those mushy stuff?"
Derek grinned at her. "You have made me a believer, Rachel Lane. And now I can't wait to live the rest of my life with you."
"Aww... you're going to make me cry," she gushed.
Derek leaned forward and kissed her deeply. "I can't wait for us to get out of here," he said against her lips. "I've got plans for you, you know."
She giggled. "You're being a very naughty boy, Derek Fraser. Simmer down."
He laughed. "I love it when you get bossy with me like that."
"Then get ready to be bossed around from now on."
"I would love nothing more," he said. "Now, how about that three-course breakfast? Kissing you has made me very hungry."
Rachel laughed. This kind of playful, happy banter was what she signed up for and she couldn't wait to experience more of it in the days to come. Derek was her happy place and she was extremely delighted to finally have him in her life again.
*******
Renovations on Rosemary's house began the following month. In the meantime, she lived in the apartment that Derek gifted her in his building.
Meanwhile, Rachel, Zoe, and Elaine lived with him in his penthouse. The past month has been a period of slow recovery for Rachel after surviving that disastrous fire inhalation incident.
Derek has been the perfect partner, doting on her 24/7 and making sure she got everything she needed until she finally felt like her normal self again.
Rachel got to see a different side of him. It made her believe that he was truly in their relationship for the long haul just as he had told her at the hospital. Things were moving smoothly between them and she couldn't be happier. "I think it's time for me to finally get back to normal life," she told Derek one evening after dinner.
They'd spent the entire day at her mom's apartment, watching TV and playing board games until late in the evening.
"What do you mean by normal life?" Derek asked.
"You know, my work," she explained. "I haven't uploaded any content in months and my YouTube channel is practically dead. Let's not even talk about my other social media accounts." "Hmm..." he pondered.
"My followers have grown tired of asking me where I've been," Rachel continued, "and to be honest, I miss creating content. It was something I thoroughly enjoyed doing and the money that came from it was just a bonus for simply having fun."
Derek chuckled. "I understand that. Running my businesses feels that way for me too. I love the feeling I get when I close a new deal or triple our annual income. There's a rush that comes with doing something you love and getting paid for it too." "So, you get what I'm saying. I need to get back to work because I miss it."
"Yeah... but we can't have Zoe participating in those videos anymore," he said seriously.
"Sure. I'm happy to run a one-woman show from now on."
Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you're on Ñe5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now!
"Good."
"And... that brings me to another topic."
"Which is?"
"Moving out of here."
His eyebrows shot up. "Why?"
"I've been thinking about moving back to my apartment in Atlanta. Plus, Zoe's daycare is there, and returning to a familiar territory would give her some stability, you know?"
Derek sighed. "Zoe has stability here, Rachel. I don't know why you would want to take her away from a place where she is surrounded by family and take her to Atlanta because of her daycare. She can be homeschooled here, can't she?" Rachel knew he had a point but a nagging voice at the back of her mind kept telling her that living with Derek was a temporary arrangement. The sooner she moved out and returned to being in her own space, the better it would be for her peace of mind.
"We can't stay here forever," she said.
"Why not?"
She shrugged. "I had an entire life before you came into the picture, Derek. Am I supposed to just throw that away and continue living in limbo here? Isn't this a temporary situation?"
"It doesn't have to be. This is not just my home anymore, it's yours and Zoe's too. Don't you feel comfortable living here with me?"
It was a difficult question to answer. Rachel did feel comfortable living in the penthouse with Derek but she would be more comfortable if her stay there were permanent. But... she wasn't about to get into that conversation right now. "That's not it, Derek. You have a nice place and living here for the past month has been a heavenly experience. But... I want to... I want to feel at home. I feel like a guest here."
He was quiet for a while before he asked, "Can you do me a favor?"
The unexpected question caught Rachel by surprise. "Huh?"
"Can you do me a favor?" Derek repeated.
"What is it?" Rachel asked tentatively.
"I need you to hold off on your moving plans for now."
"Until when?"
"Next month."
"Why?"
"It's my 33rd birthday on the 5th of next month. I want you and Zoe to be here to celebrate it with me."
Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you're on Ñe5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "Aww..." she said, moved by his sentiment.
"So? Will you wait until then before you move?" he asked expectantly.
"Yes, Derek. Zoe and I will remain here and celebrate your birthday with you. Do you have plans for that day? Will you be having a themed party too?"
"I don't know yet. Maybe you could help me out with that," he said with a grin.
She laughed. "I'm not the best when it comes to planning parties, so I'm going to enlist the help of Taylor and Rob to pull it off."
"Sounds good to me," he said and got to his feet. "Wait here, I'll be right back."
Rachel wondered what he was up to but she honored his request and remained on the sofa where they'd been sitting throughout their conversation. Derek returned shortly after and presented her with a black Centurion Amex card. “Here, this should cover all the expenses for the party and whatever else you need for yourself and Zoe," he said. "Knock yourself out, baby."
She reached out, took the card from his hand, and stared at it. Rachel didn't even want to imagine the limit on the card or if it had any. She was just amazed to have this card with unlimited funds at her disposal.
"I'm going to get you your own card soon, but this one's yours for now," Derek said. "I barely use it anyway."
"I don't even know what to say," she laughed nervously, knowing that she was literally holding millions of dollars in her hands right now.
Derek smiled knowingly at her. "Don't worry, you're going to get used to it," he assured.
"Now that we have that sorted out, how about some TLC before we call it a night?"
Rachel chuckled, knowing what he was asking for. They hadn't had sex in weeks because of her recovery from the fire incident. And then she'd had her period in between and it had seemed to go on forever for reasons she couldn't explain. But now, she was in good health again and the coast was clear. So, why not?
"I was thinking of a nice hot shower to end the night," Rachel said suggestively.
"Ah...yes," Derek agreed. "I love hot showers especially when there's a hot woman involved. Let's do it."
He bent down and scooped her off the sofa, making her giggle as he carried her upstairs to his bedroom. Once there, he wasted no time in undressing her.
"Someone's hungry for some sugar, I see," she teased him as he started to peel off his clothes in haste.
"I know, right? I feel as if we haven't made love in years!"
Rachel laughed and followed Derek into the bathroom. He turned on the shower at full blast and dragged her into it.
They spent the first few minutes kissing passionately under the spray of hot water. Rachel broke the kiss, grabbed the bottle of body wash near the shower, and squeezed out a generous amount of the soapy liquid into her palm.
She replaced the bottle in its place and rubbed the soap on Derek's body, working up some lather as she did so. This bath time was about to get intense...