I felt much better a few days later as I ended my call with Harper to let her know I was still alive, and that I was getting more physically stable every day.
Maybe I did need to gain a few pounds, but with my love of all things junk food, I’d regain the weight I’d lost. I was well hydrated with the help of IV fluids, and my brain was finally functional again.
Dropping my cell phone onto the bedside table, I mumbled to myself, “I need to get the hell out of here.”
There was nothing I hated more than hospitals, and I’d already been in the large medical facility in Istanbul much longer than I could tolerate.
Truth was, I wanted out of the Middle East. I wanted to be back on U.S. soil.
“Talking to yourself again?” Marcus Colter drawled as he strolled through the door of my hospital room.
I wished I could deny his claim, but I’d been completely alone until he’d walked in, and it was obvious that I was done with my phone call. Honestly, I did tend to talk to myself a lot since I was usually alone. “I’m bored,” I said. It was a lame excuse, but it was partly true.
I hadn’t been out of my hospital bed except to use the restroom since I’d been admitted to the hospital. I wasn’t used to being idle. My job as a foreign correspondent kept me traveling and extremely busy almost every minute of the day.
I looked up at Marcus as he stopped at my bedside, noting that he looked as handsome as ever in a custom suit and tie that almost matched the gray of his eyes.
“You’ll survive,” he drawled with very little sympathy. “You need to stay until your condition improves. You have to be strong enough to travel.”
As usual, I wanted to slap the smug look off his face. Unfortunately, I’d seen the exact same expression too many times in the past. Everywhere I went, it seemed like Marcus was there. If a certain area of the world was a hot spot, I never had any question as to whether or not Marcus would show up. He always did, although I had no idea why he always seemed to be in the most screwed up places in the world. Being a journalist, I had good reason for being wherever there was trouble. But Marcus was a businessman, and he no longer did any work with PRO. So why was it that he was always in the middle of anything bad that was happening on the planet?
“I’m better,” I argued. “I’m strong enough.”
Marcus lifted an arrogant brow. “You wouldn’t make it past the hospital door before you collapsed,” he observed. “You’re still too weak.”
I wanted to challenge him by getting up and walking out of the hospital, but I was still attached to the IV, and I already knew how much effort it took just to get up and go to the bathroom. I’d done it many times since they were pumping me full of fluids. I crossed my arms over my chest. “I want to go home, Marcus. If I have to, I’ll have one of my brothers come get me.”
I knew I was acting like an ungrateful brat, but the truth was, I was feeling really edgy and anxious. Fear was getting the best of me at the moment, and I couldn’t stop the nightmares I’d been having, or the feeling that the rebels might somehow find me.
He shook his head. “They wouldn’t do it. I’ve already talked to everybody in your family. Nobody is letting you out of the hospital until you’re stable. It’s a long damn trip back to the States. You need more time to get stronger.”
I let out an irritated sigh because I knew he wasn’t bluffing. Marcus wasn’t the type to not back up every word he uttered. If he said he’d talked to my family, I knew it was true.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure exactly how I felt about Marcus Colter now. My phone call with Harper had been intriguing. And it had let the eldest Colter brother off the hook for being an asshole to my sister, Harper. It was hard to believe it had been Blake, Marcus’s identical twin, who had slept with my elder sister and broken her heart over a decade ago. That had been one of the reasons why seeing Marcus unsettled me, but it wasn’t the only one.
Marcus could easily be the most stubborn, cynical, irritating ass I knew, and he hadn’t changed a bit since the last time I’d seen him.
However, he had saved my life.
Before, I’d always had a reason to dislike him over what had happened with Harper. Now, I wasn’t sure how to treat him. Yeah, he was still a jerk sometimes, but other than his overinflated male ego, I really had no reason to hate him anymore.
“So when can I go?” I asked in an annoyed tone. “I’ll go stir-crazy if I stay here much longer.”
“You just got hydrated. It’s going to be at least another week.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s just a plane ride to get back home.”
Really, all I wanted was to get out of the Middle East and back to the U.S. I’d feel safer, but I didn’t want to tell Marcus how nervous and tense I was feeling. Technically, I was in a safe place, and I didn’t want to sound crazy or paranoid.
The two of us had always had a fairly level playing field. This area was my turf, the place where I did most of my reporting.
Now, it was the setting for most of my nightmares.
He dropped a large bag he’d been carrying onto the bed beside my hip. “Here’s something to combat your boredom.”
I rummaged through the sack, finding some books I’d wanted to read, a deck of cards, some of my favorite junk food, and a small chess set. “You play chess?” I asked. “Obviously I can’t play alone.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“How did you know that I played?” I queried.
He shrugged. “Jett might have mentioned it.”
I smiled. “None of my brothers can even challenge me anymore.”
“I’ll win. I always do,” Marcus told me arrogantly.
I eyed him carefully as I opened a bag of chips and started munching on them like I’d been deprived. I let the salty taste flow over my taste buds, and I nearly moaned with satisfaction. He opened the small chess set and started setting up the pieces as I watched. Marcus radiated power, control, and a hefty dose of self-confidence, which was a nice way of saying he could be an arrogant prick. But that didn’t mean I could ever forget the fact that his mere presence filled the room with tension.
I’d done little but trade jabs with Marcus in the past, and I wasn’t sure quite how to interact with him now that I knew he wasn’t responsible for sleeping with Harper and hurting her so badly.
“Chips?” I asked, offering him the open bag.
He frowned. “No, thanks. I avoid processed foods and excess salt. That stuff is bad for you.”
I shrugged, pulling the chips back. I was only giving him one shot. I was greedy when it came to my snacks. “If I give up everything that isn’t good for me, life would be boring.”
After being deprived of food for so long, I planned on devouring every healthy and unhealthy bit of food I could get.
“Your brother, Jett, says the same damn thing,” Marcus answered in a disgusted tone.
“I guess it’s a family thing,” I joked.