How to Destroy a Rich Boy

Chapter Forty-Five

A chilly breeze brushed past my skin, and I groaned before rolling even further underneath my covers. I breathed softly for a few seconds before I heard a persistent and even beeping sound echo around the room. 

What the hell was that? 

Curiosity soon got the better of me, and I slowly opened my eyes, rubbing them a little to wake myself. Blinking to clear my vision, I found myself staring at a white pristine ceiling of an unfamiliar room.

Fulling spreading my eyes open, I took a proper glance around the room. It was a fairly simple room with a large open window to my side and a little table beside me on what rested a heart monitor machine.

Shit – I was at the hospital.

I got my confirmation when I glanced down and found thousands of different wires sticking out of my hand along with a thin, little hospital gown coating my body.

Confusion aside, my panic started to set in, and I felt my heart start to pick up. I couldn't be in hospital; I just couldn't. I promised myself I'd never go. In the middle of another shaky exhale, my ears latched on to a sound that I hadn't notice up till now. It was the sound of light, gentle breaths. 

My eyes drew to where the sound was coming from, and I blinked rapidly in shock as I found Nathan sound asleep on a chair. He had tucked his head up in an uncomfortable position on the armrest, and even from here, I could see his dishevelled hair and the dark circles under his eyes. He looked unmistakably ill.

"Nathan?" I croaked out, my voice coming out a little weak. He stirred a little but soon came back to rest. 

"Nathan?" I said a little louder. 

"Hmm," Nathan hummed lowly as he slowly sat up. He ran a tired hand through his hair, and his eyes half-opened, so he could stare at me through groggy and disorientated eyes.

"Sophie?" he said weakly. His eyes scanned softly over my figure before suddenly widening. He lurched himself into an upright position and continued to stare while I watched him all the while with furrowed brows.

Before I could even spit out another word, he tossed himself off his chair and met me in two long strides.

 "Nathan, I-"

 He robbed me of my words as his arms seized hold of me and enveloped me into a hug. His arms tense and shaky held me tighter than I even thought possible like he never had any intention of ever letting me go.

I stilled, so confounded by confusion. Nathan was hugging me. The boy who couldn't stomach calling me his friend was hugging me. He buried his head deeply into the crook of my neck before peppering relived kisses to my skin, all while repeating nonsensical words of thanks.

Finally, he managed to pull away, breathing raggedly as he did. His lips lifted into the most vulnerable of smiles, a stark contrast against the exhaustion burning through his eyes.

"Sophie?" he whispered for a second time.

My heart felt as though it was being pulled in a thousand directions as I stared into his broken eyes. Nausea ran through me as I wondered how long he'd been like this.

"N-Nathan, what-" I started to cough before I could fully get my words out, my breaths coming out panty and rough.

"Crap, you need a drink. I should have got you a drink," Nathan chided himself as he hurriedly marched over to the bedside table to pour me one. His hands shook considerably as he poured the glass, making me feel all the more anxious.

He rushed back over to me. "Okay, here, drink this," he said as he gently held the rim of my glass to my lips.

Even as I took the glass from him, he kept a firm grip on the end as though terrified I couldn't bear the weight of it alone. I drank half of it in three long gulps, not realizing how badly thirsty I was until now. Once I had enough, I pulled it away from me and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.