Chapter 339
Falling
As Melody walked back to the car after being discharged, she braced herself for the fall she was about to stage and felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach.
Her eyes flicked toward the dark clouds hovering above the hospital. The soft drizzle had turned the stairs slick, and the water pooling on the ground shimmered softly, making it the perfect scene.. She smiled. Even the heavens wanted to help her. The wet floor gave her all the justification she needed and she wouldn’t have to overact or exaggerate. No one would question it. A simple slip due to the wet floor, and she’d be back in his arms.
Her lips curled slightly as she followed Adam down the steps, already feigning fatigue. In her mind, she had already played the scene a dozen times. She would stumble, he would catch her- his hands on her arms, maybe around her waist. Her face would be close to his. Perhaps their eyes would meet, and maybe, just maybe, when she groaned in pain, he would lift her up and carry her to the car.
“This way,” Adam said softly as he gestured to her to hold the railing while she was lost in thought.. She nodded obediently, heart thudding, but didn’t take the railing.
Instead, she waited until the moment felt right and then she let her foot slip from the edge of the stair. A small gasp escaped her lips as she flailed dramatically, her arm stretching out toward Adam. “Ahh—!”
She turned slightly toward him mid-fall, expecting the tug of his hand, the solid warmth of his chest, something, anything. But it didn’t come.
They missed.
Somehow, impossibly, they missed.
He had reached out too, but their timing was off. Maybe he had hesitated. Maybe she had leaned too far back. Whatever the reason, the contact she’d counted on never came.
And then- Thud.
With a terrible shriek and an even louder crash, she landed hard on the pavement. Pain exploded across her lower back and up her spine in a vicious wave, knocking the air from her lungs.
Her vision blurred, partly from tears and partly from the sharp sting of embarrassment. The cold from the wet pavement seeped into her clothes and onto her skin. She could barely move, barely breathe, and could only cry out as her body trembled from the shock of the fall.
Almost immediately, a flurry of movement surrounded her and a small crowd had begun to gather. Nurses, patients, bystanderst all rushed in, their concerned voices overlapping.
“Get a wheelchair!”
“Is she hurt?”
“She just got discharged, didn’t she?”
Hands reached for her, trying to lift her gently, someone putting a hand on her shoulder, another trying to wipe the rain from her face.
But through all of it, she couldn’t see him. She frowned. Where did he go all of a sudden?
Before she could make sense of anything, two strange men stepped forward and began lifting her carefully off the ground. She tried to protest, weakly wriggling in their grip, but the sharp jolt of pain in her back made her wince and freeze. Still, the feel of unfamiliar hands on her arms and waist sent a cold shiver down her spine this was not the kind of contact she had wanted.
“Please, I’m fine,” she murmured, trying to twist her body slightly, but they were already easing her into a wheelchair.
“Ma’am, we need to get you checked.” one of them said.
“No, really, I just slipped—”
She turned her head frantically, trying to spot Adam again. Why hadn’t he come closer? Why was he letting others touch her? Where was he?
The wheelchair jerked slightly as they started to wheel her back toward the hospital door and she could only try and stop them, while looking for Adam at the same time.. More faces had turned to look at her now as she tried to protest, causing her to turn red in embarrassment.
“Stop.” Adam’s voice finally cut through the noise and everyone froze. Melody looked up, feeling relief hit her..
He was standing a few steps away with his jaw tight as his gaze flicked briefly over the men and then to her.
“I’ll take it from here,” he said shortly. “You can all go.”
There was a pause, but no one questioned him about his authority.. The crowd slowly began to scatter, murmurs dying out and Melody breathed a sigh of relief.
He stepped forward, crouched in front of her, and finally met her eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked. His voice was softer now, low enough that only she could hear it.
She swallowed, heart fluttering again. This was it. The moment she wanted. She gave a small nod, biting back the sting of pain and discomfort, and managed to whisper, “Yes.”
He didn’t smile. He just nodded, stood and began pushing the wheelchair silently toward the car.
She gripped the armrests lightly, her eyes moving to him, stealing glances over her shoulder as he maneuvered them to the side of the car. He opened the door for her and then stepped back. She smiled and raised her head, waiting for him to help her into the car. When that did not happen, she raised her hand, expecting and hoping for him to help her up.
But by the time she looked again, he was already walking around to the other side.
It was the driver who stepped forward and offered his hand.
Her fingers clenched at the quiet rejection. Still, she let the driver help her in, the ache in her back now nothing compared to the sting that she felt. Why was Adam suddenly being so cold towards her? Had he guessed something?
As Melody wondered about what it could that had caused an about turn in his personality, she failed to see the ruthlessness in the man’s eyes and the cruel twist of his mouth as he looked away. She wanted him close to her, didn’t she. Soon, he will teach her a lesson…