My Client the Rockstar (Book 2 Steel Wolf Collection)

Chapter 74

A knock on the door awakens me from sleep and for a second I'm disoriented. The sounds and smells around me are not of my bedroom. My eyes flutter open and Ryder's hospital room comes into view. The memories of the last few hours flood in. Ryder tightens his hold on me when I try to separate from him.

"No," he mutters in his sleep.

"Ryder someone is at the door and I'm not sure how they will feel about us sharing the hospital bed." I try to reason with him.

"Don't fucking care," he growls.

I give up and remain on the bed. The doctor from before enters the room. He smiles when he sees me cuddle on the bed with Ryder. "I had a feeling you were the girlfriend." Hearing him call me Ryder's girlfriend has me stiffening in his arms. Am I his girlfriend? Sure we seem to have reconciled, but we never actually talked about getting back together. So technically we aren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

Ryder sensing me stiffing in his arms frowns at me and with his eyes searches mine for answers. I was not about to have this conversation with him in front of the doctor so I shake my head and mouth the work later. He nods his head.

The doctor continues as though he never noticed our awkward exchange. Glancing at the papers he was holding he speaks. "So the blood work we ran, other than the obvious, came back clean. So there are no further concerns of your kidneys." I squeeze Ryder's hand and he smiles. "The tests I ran on your heart also came back normal." Tension leaves my body hearing all of the positive words from the doctor.

"But," he says erasing the smile from my face. "we've noticed your blood pressure is still higher than I would like. Still not in the danger zone, but not what I would say as being normal. We are going to start you on some blood pressure meds and see if we can't lower it. If this works than I'm going to recommend you continue to take the medication and follow up with your primary. You were very lucky Mr. Clark."

I nod my head in agreement and kiss his forehead. "Yes you were." Ryder rolls his eyes making me worry he wasn't taking any of this seriously and we would be back at square one.

Then the doctor says something I wish he would hold off on. " I'm also going to recommend some rehab locations with a thirty day program."

Now Ryder tenses next to me hearing the word rehab. Yet another topic I haven't had a chance to approach him about. I had hope to have the conversation about a rehab clinic before someone else brought the idea to light. The last time we got him was a battle and I wanted to put my boxing gloves on first.

The doctor noticing the tension in the room makes a hasty retreat. Coward. Leaving me alone with the lion. He's the one to open the can of worms and should deal with the fall out. Not long after he left a nurse slips in with Ryder's pills. She stares at us with disapproval.

Right when she goes to speak Ryder cuts her off. "If you were about to demand Aubree get off the bed don't. Currently she is the only reason I'm not turning into the patient from hell. So if I were you I would chose your battles wisely. I'm not in the best moods." There was a dark tone to Ryder's voice I haven't heard in years. Seems the withdraws were starting. Grand.

Wordlessly the nurse hands him the cup with a pill and watches him swallow the medication. She checks his vitals, mutters her explanation of how we have to wait for a hour to see what happens and scurries out of the room. I bet a different nurse will be following up with us. Ryder has chased away this one.

Ryder closes his eyes and rests his head against the pillow. I push slightly back against him wanting some space between us for the conversation we are about to have. The overdose must have given him the power to read peoples minds because he says. "Yes you are my girlfriend. End of story. Yes we still have our issues to work though, but so does every other couple." He pauses for a moment and sighs. More quietly he says, "And finally yes I will check into rehab. But," he says open his eyes, "only if the program is for thirty days. I refuse to spend more time away from you than absolutely necessary."