Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
He had been in the hospital for three days and they were a regular sight, along with a rotation of the same three nurses who took care of him. Since his arrival, his care had been superb, and he wasn’t sure how much of that was because the crown prince was bouncing between his room and the emperor’s.
As far as he could tell, Jin was spending only a few hours a day at the palace. According to Qin, the crown prince would change clothes and hold a handful of brief meetings, then return to the hospital, where he was checking on both West and his father.
Thankfully, the emperor’s donor heart had come in late last night, and they’d rushed him into surgery. West wanted to believe that with the emperor on the mend, Jin would get some rest in his own bed, but he knew better. Jin had no intention of leaving his hospital for longer than necessary until they discharged West. And the last update from the doctor said that wasn’t going to happen for another three or four days at the earliest.
West sighed and rubbed his dry eyes with his left hand. He was getting better at not trying to lift his right. After that horrific night, West had found himself in surgery, where all his various new holes were sewn shut. The injuries to his organs were minimal, but the doctor had already warned him that he was going to need several months of physical therapy to get full mobility back in his shoulder. That was fine with him if it meant he could hold his lover tight in his arms.
A gasp cut the silence of the room and West’s eyes jerked over to see Jin surge upright, his eyes wide and blinking, but he didn’t seem to actually see the room.
“It’s okay. I’m right here. Everything is safe,” West said in a low, calm voice.
Jin squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again to focus on West. Another nightmare. They were also a new, frequent thing since that night. Jin appeared to be getting only a couple of hours of sleep at a time before he lurched awake, thanks to his brain replaying and twisting those horrible events. It was as if the years of nightmares West had suffered had been handed off to his lover, and that just wasn’t fair.
“Did I wake you?” Jin inquired.
“Nope. Woke up a few minutes ago when a nurse checked on me.” He lifted his left arm and tilted his head toward the open space in the extra-large hospital bed. “Come here. I miss you.”
As he expected, Jin’s sleepy expression softened. He grabbed his blanket off the cot and walked around the bed to climb carefully in on the left side. After settling the blanket over both of them, Jin rested his head on West’s good shoulder and released the most contented sigh.
“I heard your dad came through surgery with flying colors,” West murmured as he pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
Jin snorted. “That feels like a bit of an exaggeration. I got to see him for only a second. He was still out of it, but he’s so pale with so many tubes running through him.”
“What did the doctor say?”
The crown prince huffed, his warm breath sneaking past the edges of West’s hospital gown to brush his skin. “That he did great. The surgery went smoothly with zero problems. That my father is strong for a man his age. They will continue to watch him closely over the coming weeks as there is always the chance for complications, but right now, everything is looking good.”
“There. Everything is going to be fine. The doctors have him on the road to recovery. I’m on the mend. You need to take care of yourself now, or you’re going to find yourself in a hospital bed next to mine.”
Jin made a dismissive sound. “Why waste the bed? I can just share yours.”
West rolled his eyes, but the smile still clung to his lips. “And who’s going to take care of me when they release me? You’re going to be too sick and tired to do it.”
“I have people for that,” Jin mumbled against his chest, but he was pretty sure he could feel his evil grin.
People for that…
Spoiled little prince.
He wasn’t wrong, though. Qin had already paid him two visits for the sole purpose of asking him his preferences in terms of assistants and nurses. Clearly, the second he was out of the hospital, there was going to be a nurse on call to help him throughout the day. Qin also explained that when he officially took his position as boyfriend to the crown prince, he was going to have many new duties and obligations, which meant he would need an assistant.