Contract marriage: My billionaire’s cure

“She’s awake” The voice was distant and fuzzy as I woke up. My vision blurred momentarily, the blinding white fluorescent lights burning my eyes.

Slowly opening my eyes, I woke up to Marcus holding my hand while resting his head on the bed. I scanned the room and frowned in confusion.

I was on a hospital bed and a nurse was squealing in delight as I opened my eyes. I tried to get up but leaned back again as I felt a throbbing pain in my head.

I glanced over to Marcus as he stirred slightly but he didn’t wake up.

“What happened?” I asked, rubbing my eyes to clear my vision.

” You were hit on the head. You have been in a coma for the past two days and Mr. Anderson has been furious with the hospital. We are thankful that you finally woke up. I thought that I was going to lose my job” she touched her chest and exhaled dramatically.

“He has been here?” I stroked Marcus’s hand with my fingers as he stirred again.

“Oh he hasn’t left your side since he brought you here. He has been here all this time worrying about you”

Her words surprised me. He was worried? Didn’t he tell me to get out of his life?

“Well I’m gonna get the doctor now ” she clapped her hands giving a huge grin and ran out the door.

“Marcus” I whispered.

He opened his eyes ever so slightly and squinted at the light. He leaned back as his vision cleared.

He blinked a few times in shock after seeing me awake.

“Oh my god Camilla are you okay? Do you need anything? ” He quickly stood up and cupped my face in his hands.

Utterly dumbfounded weren’t the right words to explain how I was feeling at that moment. I pinched myself to check whether I was dreaming.

“Um can I have a glass of water?” I asked him, still in shock.

“Oh sure, here”

He helped me sit up as I drank the water. His hand was still holding my shoulder, steadying me. I leaned into his touch slightly, feeling comfortable after a long time.

My head started throbbing in pain again. I touched my forehead only to feel a bandage wrapped around it.

“I’m so sorry, it was all my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go. I was foolish enough to think that you would be safe if I let you go” Marcus said hesitantly looking down.

“Who was that man?” I asked as I recalled the memories of that night.

“We are still looking into it. I have many enemies and he must be one of them. I’m sorry that you had to go though this”

I nodded my head , accepting his apology. I couldn’t comprehend what to say and what not to say. I had many questions which I knew he wouldn’t be willing to answer. He was a box full of secrets which I had to unravel slowly. Someday, I wished that he would open up to me willingly, that he would trust me.

“I want you to come back with me” I looked at him to see his eyes pleading.

“Marcus, just a few weeks ago you told me to leave. Just because a man attacked me doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to let me back in. Don’t do anything that you don’t want to do.”

He sighed loudly and looked at me with those green eyes which compelled me to do what he told.

” I’m sorry I said those things to you. I didn’t mean it, really. I said that so that I could protect you. And I was wrong. Please give me a chance.”

My brain was telling not to but my heart betrayed my brain.

I sighed and closed my eyes, nodding a yes.

” Thank you ” he suddenly leaned in and kissed my cheek.

My eyes fluttered wide open in shock. I wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating as I looked at him.

Marcus noticed me tensing under his touch. He quickly leaned a few inches back, his breath fanning my cheek. There was an awkward silence between us for a couple of seconds before the doctor came in.

I released a breath of relief as the doctor came in, chirping how grateful he was to see me awake.

Marcus scrambled back a few steps, distancing himself from me. I could see that he had been as shocked from his actions as I had been. My eyes caught a slight blush creeping up his cheeks as he looked away, clearing his throat.

The doctor looked back and forth between me and Marcus but continued to examine me, ignoring the tense air around us. After a few check-ups, I was released from the hospital and Marcus drove me back to his house.

“My things are in the penthouse” I said, trying to break the awkward silence in the car.

“I’ll tell my men to bring it all” he said, not glancing at me even once. I knew that feeling. He was feeling embarrassed for what he did earlier.

Him feeling embarrassed suddenly made me laugh out loud. After realizing what I just did, I bit my lip trying to control my laughter and Marcus looked at me confused.

“Is something funny?”

“Oh what? Oh no no” I waved my hand. “Just remembering something funny”

After I got discharged, I went straight to my bedroom as I was beyond exhausted. Marcus told me that Madeline had taken a leave to calm herself down as she was mad at Marcus for letting me leave.

I smiled at the thought. Madeline had always been nothing but kind to me. I liked her company in this empty house. She always cheered me up when I was feeling down.

I opened my door to see a disarranged bed. I looked around to see if someone had broken in but everything else was in place.

It looked as if someone had slept on my bed. I quickly strode toward my bed, taking my pillow and sniffing it.

I noticed Marcus’s honeysuckle scent on my pillow. I frowned, confused. Why would he sleep in my bed?

The door creaked open and I looked behind me to see Marcus. His eyes widened as he saw my bed and me holding the pillow. He scratched the nape of his neck in embarrassment.

“You slept on my bed? ” I asked with my eyebrows raised.

“I -uhh” he stuttered, trying to give an answer.

“You like my room? Did you sleep in here before I married you ?” I bombarded him with questions, trying to figure out why he had slept here.

” Yes yes I like your room. The trees are visible. Can see a nice sun set. The balcony is big. Bathroom is nice. The-uh the tiles have a nice color.” He looked around pointing at everything in my room.

I laughed at his remarks. I quickly closed my mouth with my hand, trying to stifle my laughter but failed miserably.

He looked at me and gave a small smile while blushing furiously. It was nice to see a man embarrassed. You don’t get to see that a lot.

“You can take this room. I’ll go to another one”

“What? No no you don’t need to. Stay here. It’s your room” He said in a rush, afraid that I would disappear.

“Okay. You want dinner?”

“No you need to rest. I’ll cook”

“No. I’ll cook this time” Before he could reply, I made my way to the kitchen, trying to find something to cook.

I stood on tiptoes , trying to find the spaghetti in the kitchen cabinet. My hand wasn’t long enough as the spaghetti was at the end of the cabinet.

I felt Marcus’s presence behind me, his chest pressed to my back. I felt his breath fan against my neck as we were only inches apart.

His long hands reached out, grabbing the spaghetti. I quickly turned to get away but he stood still, our chests pressed together, feeling each others wild heartbeats.

“Let’s cook together” he whispered bringing me out of my wild thoughts. His lips curved into a smile when he saw me furiously blushing.

“O-okay” I stuttered and cleared my throat in embarrassment. He slowly backed away, allowing me to breathe.

I scooted further away into the kitchen as I unpacked the spaghetti from it’s packaging. He took some vegetables out of the fridge and started chopping.

I took the meat out, earning a disgusted look from Marcus. I chuckled quietly knowing that he was a vegetarian.

We both cooked the meal together and sat down at the dining table, facing each other.

“Your mother invited us to their house”

“My mother? When?” I was confused as to why my mother didn’t reach out to me. Oh, I’d almost forgotten that she hated me for moving out. Whoops.

“Does she know that I moved back in? ”

“Yes I told her ”

Noticing the worry in my eyes he quickly added .

“But I didn’t tell her about the attack”

I released a huge breath in relief as the words left his mouth. My mother would have chained me in her room to keep me safe if she knew what had happened.

“When are we going?”

“This Saturday”

Involuntarily my hands moved to the bandage around my forehead. She would definitely ask questions if she saw this.

“Don’t worry. The doctor said that we can remove it after two days. You don’t need to have that on Saturday”

I nodded in relief. My mother is over sensitive when it comes to her children. A simple scratch on our hands would make her worry the entire day.

We ate in silence for sometime, devouring the delicious meal we cooked together.

“I’m sorry” Marcus mumbled as he stared at his plate.

“For what?”

“For everything”

I looked deep into his eyes, recognizing the sincerity behind his words. I didn’t want to believe him as he betrayed me earlier when he pushed me away. But the persuasion in his voice softened me, begged me to forgive.

“It’s okay”

His face lightened, pulling the corners of his lips into a smile.

“Thank you”