Page 241 of Hate to Love You
A knock sounds against the driver’s side window, my body flinching with the intrusion.
“Miss! I’m sorry, you can’t park here,” A short balding man exclaims, as he gestures wildly at the Lamborghini currently diagonally parked across the emergency bays.
“Oh! I’ll… move… I mean the car; I’ll move the car!” I flap flustered, my brain completely shutting down. “I just need to erm… I—”
“Want me to move it for you, Miss? I saw your husband run in with the dog. I’d be happy to help,” I glance back up at him, his eyes soft as he nods his head slightly.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he says gently. “Let me do it.”
I hesitate for a moment, knowing that the longer I’m sitting out here, the longer Roman is in there alone.
It doesn’t escape my notice that I didn’t correct him when he called Roman my “husband.”
I nod, my hand reaching for the handle.
“Please, I’m terrified of scratching the paint,” I say, with a slight chuckle.
He nods.
“Wait here. I’ll park it up for you and bring you the keys.”
He slides into the driver’s seat and the engine revs as he smoothly shifts it into gear and pulls away.
As the guy walks the keys back over to me, I pull in a deep breath, and look over to the entrance, noticing that the car I saw is gone.
What the fuck happened in that ‘meeting?’ And how did it go so badly?
“It’ll only take a couple of minutes.”
That’s how long it should have been.
My heart breaks as I close my eyes, remembering Roman stroking Caesar, whispering his encouragement and begging him to hold on.
I walk into the vet waiting room, my eyes scanning nervously for Roman, who I find leaning against the far wall, his leg bouncing up and down.
He suddenly pushes away and heads to the check-in desk and slams his hand down, making the frail receptionist jump.
“Update?!” He snaps darkly.
“Erm…no, Sir, it’s been fifteen minutes…” She replies, looking toward me with a pained glance.
“Well, what the fuck is taking so long?!” Roman roars.
I walk forward quickly, placing my hand on his arm, squeezing gently as his tumultuous gaze finds mine.
“Thank you,” I say, smiling at the receptionist gently. “Please let us know when you have an update.”
“Of course, darling.” she smiles, clicking her pen.
Roman huffs, stomping away. He slams himself down hard onto a waiting room chair, causing a woman who’d been sitting in a chair nearby with a cat carrier at her feet to get up and walk farther away from the scary brooding man.
I sit down across from him, giving him a moment as I scan the rest of the room. It’s eerily quiet in here, and besides the little old lady with the cat carrier, it’s empty.
After a few moments, I stand, and kneel in front of him, quickly pulling a pack of makeup wipes from my purse.
Avoiding his eyes, knowing exactly what I will find there, I slowly reach forward, grabbing Roman’s blood covered hands in mine.
Without saying a word, I slowly start to wipe the blood from his hands, taking my time to make sure I can get as much of it off as I can. I shuffle forward, standing on my knees, as I grab a fresh wipe, and gently remove the drying blood from his face.