After the entire ordeal, Roman needed to spend a few days in the hospital to entirely heal. I would go and spend the days with him, just waiting for him to get better. It wasn’t easy seeing him in the condition that he was in. I felt guilty that his injuries and his state right now were because of me.

I also knew that he had made choices, we both had, and it was those choices that had brought him there. I just went to his bedside every day and hoped that he would recover. Roman and I were two different types of people who had ended up in the same situation

However despite all these tricky situations that had been thrown at us the passed few months we had managed to overcome them together.

I brought food with me to the hospital each day that I went. He was getting better. The doctors and nurses all assured us of that whenever we spoke to them, but I still worried. I couldn’t help it. I had seen him lying on the ground. I had seen him bleeding out. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the images out of her head.

I also knew that no matter what they told us, I would only really be assured once he was out of the hospital and completely out of danger.

For now, I visited him in the hospital.

Some days, I found him asleep when I came. Some days, he wouldn’t wake up. But the doctors still assured her that he was doing better. His falling asleep and being unable to wake for long periods of time was actually good for his body. It meant that it was healing itself.

So I was patient and waited.

This was his second time in the hospital in the past week, so I was a little used to this feeling already. I waited for him to wake up on the days that he was asleep, and I waited for him to get better the days that he was in hospital.

It had almost become a comfort to me just sitting and waiting.

Some days, I found him awake and ready to talk.

"I’m tired of being here in the hospital," Roman complained as soon as I came in one day.

I glanced around the room. The hospital had taken every possible measure to ensure that Roman was not only cared for and comfortable but also that everything had been kept to the exact standards that he was used to. The bed was more comfortable than anything I had seen, and everything was in rich, muted colors.

There was almost no way to tell that he was in a hospital room.

But I knew that it wasn’t that. It was that he was stuck there that bothered him. He wanted the freedom to move and do what he wanted. He wanted to get back to his work, and his life.

I knew that was something that would drive him insane just the same. I tried to be mindful of what he was going through. After all, he was partly in the hospital because of me.

"Hello to you too," I greeted, putting the container of food that I had brought for him that day down on the table at the foot of his bed.

I had brought Salisbury steak and potatoes. I knew that though the hospital food he was given was specifically prepared, and a thousand times better than what they were serving in the common wards, it still wasn’t exactly up to his taste and standard.

I had cooked him a different meal each day that I had come to him. He was always grateful, and it made the effort worth it every time to see his face light up.

"Any news on when I can leave?" Roman asked, pushing himself slightly up.

I noticed that he still had the IV needle in his arm that connected to the morphine drip. I guessed that he was still in a lot of pain and still needed a lot of medication to manage it. I wasn’t sure if taking him out of the hospital would be the best thing to do right now.

"Not yet." I shook my head.

Truthfully though, I hadn’t even asked anyone. I just assumed that they would tell me if and when he was ready to go home. I just assumed that because no one had offered to discharge him yet, or even spoke about it a little, that he simply wasn’t ready.

They might also just decide to keep him until all of his wounds were healed entirely. I had no idea.

"You look beautiful today," Roman said, staring at me as I moved around the room.

"Thank you," I said, turning to him smiling. "You don’t look too bad yourself for someone with an IV in their arm."

"Since I’m stuck here for a little longer..." Roman said. I heard the change in his tone of voice.

There was a little dip that made him sound so much younger when his voice took on a note that was just a little playful. I found that I liked this part of him when he wasn’t being so serious.

"How about you lock that door so you and I can have some fun for a bit?" Roman suggested, winking at me. "Just to pass the time."

I shook my head, but I knew myself well enough to know that I was actually happy. If he was joking like this, then I knew that he was back to being his old self again. He was well on his way to feeling much better.

"Hmmm," I pretended to think about it. "I mean, you do have so much privacy in this room. I suppose..." I let my words trail off.

I saw Roman’s face falter a little and his eyes widen just an inch. I almost couldn’t believe that I had managed to trick him, even if just for a moment.

Realizing that I was joking, Roman huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

"You know," I said, placing my hands on my hips "the doctors have been telling me that you’re getting better, but I just couldn’t believe them entirely. Now that I see you’re capable of speaking, you sound very much like your old self. You’re clearly getting better."

Roman just grinned. He was clearly still under heavy drugs, not that it was surprising. The doctors wanted to keep him happy, as well as healthy. The best way to achieve that would be to make sure that he had no pain.

"So, can I go home then?" Roman asked though he sounded much more lucid when he asked that question.

I considered it for a moment. He just needed to rest. He just needed for his body to heal and recover. There was no sickness in his body that needed him to stay in the hospital. He just needed to heal from his injuries.

I didn’t think there would be any harm in taking him home. The healing that he could do from the hospital could just as easily be done at home. I would double-check with the doctor though, just to make sure.

"Let me find out from the doctor," I told him, my voice a little more serious. "I’ll be right back."

I went to the nurses’ station and found the closest nurse, who directed me to the doctor that was in charge of caring for him. He was on the same floor but a few halls away, so the nurse took me to the doctor’s office and left.

Slowly, I knocked on the door to the doctor’s office. Once I heard him call out, I went inside.

"Good morning, Doctor," I greeted as I came into his office.

The doctor held out his hand to one of the chairs in front of him, offering a seat. I walked toward it and took the offered seat, settling myself in. I had a feeling that this was going to be a conversation. I very much doubted that the doctor would be so willing to just let Roman go, not after all the precautions they had taken with his care so far.

"Good morning, how can I help you today?" Dr. Richard answered.

Dr. Richard was the head doctor of Roman’s team. Even though it wasn’t such a severe case, Roman’s wealth and reputation demanded that the hospital place extra care on him. There was no way that the hospital could afford to have the wealthy turn away from their hospital because they weren’t cared to at the standards they expected.

"I wanted to discuss maybe taking Roman home today," I began tentatively.

The doctor didn’t look too impressed with that idea, but he pursed his lips and folded his hands on the desk in front of him. I supposed that I would just have to convince him.