Return II

Chapter 18

Prince's POV

"Blanket!" I call for my brother from the bottom of the stairs, not expecting him to leave his room or answer me. I'm corrected when his voice travels through the hallway.

"What?" He calls. I begin to make my way up the stairs and stop when I hear his door open. Footsteps inch closer and closer to the top of the stairs. I look up at Blanket, and he looks down at me.

"Do you want anything to eat?" I ask and he nods, surprisingly. 

I haven't seen Blanket eat anything in the past few days; besides the snacks my grandma bought us at the hospital. Paris and I ate them without a second thought, but my grandma basically had to shove it down Blanket's throat. It kind of scared us that he wouldn't eat anything without being told, so I'm relieved that he is actually accepting my offer to make him something.

"What do you want?" I ask and he shrugs. "Can we order a pizza or something?" He asks and I smile. "What?" My brother asks, lowering his eyebrows. I shake my head. "Nothing. Where do you want pizza from?" I ask and he shrugs. "I don't care." he says and I raise a brow at him. He stares at me blankly. "Domino's?" I ask and he shakes his head with a disgusted look on his face. I laugh and he smiles. 

Blanket has always hated Domino's pizza for some reason. We never understood because everyone else in our family loves it. Every time we ordered from there, we had to order from Pizza Hut or some other place for him. I always tease him about it.

"Okay, okay. How about—"

"Papa John's!" Blanket interrupts me and I nod, smiling. "Alright," I say, grabbing my phone from my pocket. "A pepperoni pizza from Papa John's it is."

Blanket makes his way downstairs and turns on the TV. He flips through channels while I order the pizzas.

Michael's POV

A nurse walks into Natalie's room and looks around at all of us."We're so sorry to inform you that visiting hours are over." Everyone stares at her confusedly.

"What?" Taryn asks, and my mother repeats her. The nurse gives us all a friendly smile and tilts her head. "Policy. We cannot have guests stay for over three days in a row." We stay silent and continue to stare at her blankly.

After a few more moments of silence, the nurse opens her mouth to remind us again that we need to leave, but before she can, we all stand and make our way to Natalie. We kiss her forehead and tell her we love her. Everyone leaves except for me and the nurse stands in the doorway, staring between me and my daughter.

I turn to the door and my father stands just outside. "I'll be out in a minute." I inform and he nods. I then look at the nurse and she smiles, then walks toward me. She stands on the opposite side of Natalie's bed and glances up at me every few seconds. 

After a couple minutes of awkward silence, she finally focus's her gaze permanently on Natalie and I stand there gawkily. "I know who you are." She whispers, forcing my heart to stop. "What?" I question nervously. She looks up at me, but I continue to stare at Natalie.

"Don't be so foolish. It's alright. I just overheard some conversations, and everyone here knows your kids, if you would. We are not a group of dumb doctors and nurses. We can put pieces together." 

I look up far enough to see this nurse's name tag, and it reads "Grace." 

I swallow hard as my eyes trail down her abdomen and back to my daughter's healing, yet beaten up face. I clear my throat before speaking. "How many of you know?" I ask in a quiet tone and I can feel Grace's smiling eyes on me. It makes me a little uncomfortable, but I ignore it.

"No one. I'm the only one. . .that I know of at least." Grace assures. My head shoots up. She giggles and I feel my hands begin to shake. 

"I'm just kidding, Michael!" She says a bit too loudly and I shush her. She smiles some more, her face turning red with joy and excitement. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Grace promises and presses her index finger and thumb together, bringing them up to her mouth and dragging them across her lips as if to zip them shut. I breathe in and out deeply, nodding, trusting her to be honest with me.

"I have to leave now. Please, please stay quiet until the time is right." I beg her and she nods, then pretends to zip her lips again. I press mine into a straight line and kiss my daughter's forehead before hesitantly waving at Grace and leaving.

Nothing is more nerve-wracking than trusting a stranger with one of your biggest secrets.