Three's A Crowd. (Now Published On Amazon)

Chapter Thirty Four.

Cole

"He needs close monitoring and care for at least three months before he regains full control of his body." The doctor's brow furrowed as he scribbled down the prescription for some meds. "It was not a massive stroke so the impairment of some of his abilities may simply be due to a mental block. It's temporary. Sometimes, it has more to do with morale than actual physical incapacity."

I rubbed a hand over my face, taking in every word the doctor said. Stroke. Jasper had suffered a stroke. It was so difficult to accept that but I had to. My lover was currently lying on a hospital bed just a few feet away from me. Shit.

If I hadn't rushed home when I did...

By some miracle, Jasper had accidentally dialled my number or maybe he had managed to do so on purpose before losing consciousness completely. I had not asked. I had been too busy trying to recover from the shock and processing the sudden turn of events.

When Jasper did not speak upon my answering his call or pick up when I disconnected and tried calling him back instead, I knew something was wrong. Of course that meant I could not concentrate on work and Armaan had noticed me fretting. The guy told me to go home and find out what the problem was immediately.

I sucked in a painful breath. I had not been too late to save Jasper who had been lying on the floor like a limp giant but if I had arrived sooner, the damage would not have been so great. The doctors had managed to revive him but he would need months to fully recover and constant care and encouragement. Knowing Jasper, how proud and arrogant he was, how he insisted on being the caretaker every time, I had a feeling there were tough times ahead.

I could not even think about Skye. The truth was so devastating. It would break me into pieces and right now, I could not afford to fall apart. Jasper needed me.

"Mr. Sawyer?" The doctor, Stransend his name was, peered at me. "Are you all right?"

I felt wetness on my cheeks and wiped them on my shirt sleeve. "Yes, yes. I'm fine. What else does he need?"

Stransend gave me a kind look and cleared his throat. "We found traces of alcohol in his system. Was he drinking today?"

I frowned in puzzlement. "He...I..I don't know. He had been the night before."

Stransend nodded. "The alcohol concentration in his blood suggested he had been drinking just a couple of hours ago before he suffered a stroke. If he has a problem, I advise total abstinence."

I swallowed hard. Jasper had been drinking more than usual lately but I never saw him drunk except the previous night. Fuck. This was all my fault. He had been drowning himself in alcohol because of what I was responsible for putting him through and I hadn't intervened.

"I'll do my best," I croaked, hating how weak I sounded. Everything was going completely wrong. How was I going to be able to cope with this setback? The two people who anchored me; one of them had almost died and the other had just...left. I held myself accountable for indirectly causing both those situations.

The doctor continued to fill me in on Jasper's treatment plan which included physical therapy sessions and hospital visitations. Jasper would remain under observation for a few more hours and then I could take him home.

In a freaking wheelchair.

How was I going to do this without Skye? Jasper needed her too. I had seen the note clutched in his fist and I knew what had triggered his stroke, sent him over the edge. How could I have been so fucking selfish?

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(This is sort of like a bridging chapter so do forgive me for keeping it short. The next one will be much longer, I promise.

Also, I'm going to try my best to tackle the subject of stroke as accurately as possible in context to this story in the upcoming chapters. Someone close to me was a stroke victim, so I derived many of the symptoms and behavioural changes from my personal experience with her. I just wanted to explain this in case this is a trigger for any of you. I mean no offence.)