The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 51

Orion

I was at her bedside before I realized I'd moved, my hands reaching for her face, then stopping just short of touching her bandages.

"What happened to her?" I demanded, turning to the doctor who'd followed me into the room.

The woman consulted her chart, her expression professional but concerned. I caught a glimpse of her name tag—Dr. Sarah. 

"Vehicle collision with a guardrail. She has a severe concussion, some internal bleeding that we've managed to control, and multiple lacerations. The good news is she's stable and we expect a full recovery."

"Stable?" The word exploded from my mouth with a violence that surprised even me. "She's fucking unconscious! How the hell is that stable?"

Dr. Sarah took a step back, clearly startled by my reaction. "Sir, I understand you're concerned, but—"

"Concerned?" I felt something snap inside my chest, a carefully maintained control that I'd prided myself on for years suddenly crumbling. "She's lying there like she's dead, and you want to talk to me about being concerned?"

The raw emotion in my voice was foreign to me.

"I don't care what it costs," I continued, my voice getting louder with each word. "I don't care what resources you need to pull from other departments. You will make sure she recovers completely, do you understand me?"

Dr. Sarah was staring at me with growing confusion and what looked like dawning recognition. Her eyes flicked between my face and Aveline's unconscious form, clearly trying to piece together our relationship.

"Of course, Mr...?" She paused, waiting for me to fill in the blank, then her expression shifted as something clicked. "Wait. You're... you're Orion Blackwell, aren't you? CEO of Blackwell Industries? I've seen you on the news, on financial television!"

The change in her demeanor was immediate and dramatic. The professional detachment evaporated, replaced by barely concealed panic.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "I'm so sorry, sir. I had no idea you were... I mean, we didn't realize you were connected to this patient. We didn't know..."

She was clearly struggling with how to address the situation, her eyes darting between Aveline and me with obvious confusion.

"Is she... are you... I mean, is this your wife? Your girlfriend?" The words came out in a nervous rush. "I'm sorry, sir, I just need to understand the relationship for our records and treatment decisions..."

"Stop fucking speculating about relationships that are none of your damn business," I cut her off, my voice going quiet and lethal. "She is my son's teacher. That's all you need to know. What you should be focusing on is the fact that she is now the most important person in this building. Do you understand?"

"Absolutely, sir! Right away!" She was practically babbling now, her panic palpable. "We'll treat her as our highest priority. I'll page the head of neurosurgery myself. We'll clear the best operating room, get her on our most advanced diagnostic monitoring systems, we can have specialists flown in if we need to—whatever she needs, she gets!"

I wasn't listening to her anymore. I stalked to Aveline's bedside, the chaos of the ER fading into a dull roar. Without thinking, I reached out and took her hand. It felt fragile and cold in mine, her fingers limp. I leaned in close, my lips brushing the shell of her ear, my voice a low growl meant only for her.

"You'd better wake up, and soon," I murmured, leaning closer so only she could hear me. "Because you and I are far from done."

I straightened, placing her hand gently back on the gurney, a stark contrast to the violence in my heart. The medical staff had gone dead silent, their fear a scent in the air. I let my gaze sweep over them, each one shrinking under the weight of my stare. They were finally taking this seriously.

"My name is Orion Blackwell," I said, my voice quiet but carrying the chilling weight of absolute power. "That name should mean something to you. It should mean that if she does not walk out of this hospital, perfectly healthy, none of you will ever work in one again. I will not just sue this institution into a crater; I will personally dismantle your careers, stone by stone, until you are begging for scraps on the street. Am I clear?"

Nods. Wide, terrified eyes.

"Good," I stated, my voice dropping back to a calm, terrifyingly final tone as I took one last look at Aveline's pale face. "Then it's simple. You will save her."

I turned my back on them, not needing to see their frantic rush to obey. "Don't fail me."

And with that, I turned and walked toward the door, leaving them to scramble in the wake of my ultimatum.

When I stood in the hallway, my mind was a chaotic storm of rage and a fear I refused to name.

The sharp ring of my phone sliced through the haze. I glanced at the screen—Grandfather—and answered on autopilot.

"Orion, my boy!" his cheerful voice boomed, completely out of place in the hushed tension of the corridor. "Just calling to check in. How did the divorce meeting go? Did your mystery wife turn out to be as grasping as you expected?"

The reminder of my original plans for the day felt like a lifetime ago.

"The meeting's canceled, Grandfather," I said, my voice heavy with emotions I couldn't name. "Something more important came up."

"More important than ending that ridiculous marriage? What could possibly—"

I hung up before he could finish the question, not ready to explain something I didn't understand myself.

*What the hell is happening to me?*