The Billionaire And The Waitress (gxg)

58 - a strike

"YOU'RE so lucky you came out of that alive." The paramedic pressed an ice pack to Muse's ribs. "I've heard from the marine crew the ocean current's been unusually strong the past few days."

     Adrien thought of the white-haired captain aboard the ship. There was something he'd said about the weather, but she couldn't bring it to mind. She didn't care, anyways, not when Muse was lying on a stretcher like that, looking so vulnerable. She suddenly wished she'd gone to med school. 

      She would study every trade in the world if it meant she could fix any one of Muse's problems.

      "CPR has such a low rate of success," the paramedic continued. "You did a good job, Mrs. Vitale. I'd hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't jumped in after her."

      "Honey, did you have to break one of my ribs, though?" Muse rasped out. Her eyes captured Adrien's, something soft and teasing in them. 

      "I'm going to put you in swimming lessons as soon as we get back home," Adrien promised. "And I'm still waiting for my thank you for saving your life, darling." 

      The paramedic grinned. The doors to the back of the ambulance opened, and a familiar face peered in, eyes alight. 

      "No way!" Theo exclaimed.

      Adrien resisted the urge to throw something at his head. She didn't care that he was just the anemic, teenage nephew of the resort manager. There was something off about him she couldn't place. It might have just been the fact that she'd found him in their hotel room, but Adrien had a feeling he was hiding something―that he knew something they didn't.

      If Grey and Cai, the resort manager, were somehow in league, what were the odds that Cai's nephew wasn't also in on their plan? 

     But it was hard to despise him entirely, not when he rambled in the same way as Muse: "Oh, man, I heard someone fell into the ocean on the scuba diving excursion thing, and then I was like, Whoa, that's wicked, who was it? And then one of the crew guys was like, It's this curly-haired girl, and her wife jumped in and saved her, and we had to endure like half an hour of them bickering over drowning. Then someone said, Their last name is Vitale. And I was like, Whoa, I know them! I, like, cleaned their room one time. And then I found out you guys were in the ambulance truck, and I wanted to see you guys and make sure you were okay."

     "We're okay, Theo," Muse said, wincing as the paramedic adjusted the ice pack over her ribs.

     "I heard you broke one of your ribs. Is that true?" Muse and the paramedic both nodded. Theo's eyes brightened. "No way! That's so cool! I mean, it's not cool. It obviously hurts. But, like, how does it feel? I've never broken a bone before. You're such a badass." 

     "Talk to my wife," Muse said dryly. "She's the badass who saved me. I just happened to fall in the ocean without knowing how to swim."

     "That's so heroic, wow. You guys should totally play in a movie, and there's like a love story, and you're the two main characters, and you guys meet because you fell in the ocean and then she saved you, and then you bond and fall in love and get married and have nine kids and name them all Theo I, Theo II, Theo III, Theo IV―"

     Adrien could barely hear him. Her chest had warmed at Muse calling her a badass. She tried―and failed―not to grin as she interrupted with, "We're already married, Theo. I'm not sure how much Muse wants to carry nine children, though."

     It occurred to Adrien they'd never talked about having kids. She didn't even know if Muse wanted any. Not for the first time, it struck her how unconventional their situation was. A fake relationship, a fake marriage. Falling in love and then becoming just friends, all in the same breath. They'd never had real dates. They'd never gotten to know each other the way an ordinary couple would. And Adrien knew about Muse's past from her private investigator, but Muse had never opened up to her fully.