One week later

I am still in the hospital recovering from the gunshot wound I received from my cousin. I've been going crazy with staying in the room, looking at the white walls, and out the window with patients sitting outside enjoying the sun. Looking at the chair beside the bed, I see Cole's eyes closed. "Cole,"

He opens his eyes and walks over to the bed. "Hey, Beautiful." Cole places a tender kiss on my forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Cole. I want to go outside and enjoy the sun. I can't be stuck in this room any longer." I move slightly on the bed and wince when the slight movement causes pain. "Ouch,"

Cole fluffs the pillows before helping me lie down. "You have to be careful, Julia. You're on the mend, and there are stitches where the gunshot wound was."

I know.

He steps away from the bed. "I'm going to talk to a Doctor about getting you outside. Just stay in the bed. I won't be too long." Cole walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Pulling my phone off the nightstand, I send Amalia a message.

Me: I need to get out of this room ASAP. Would you be up to organising a hospital escape?

Amalia: I would love to help. I'm getting the wheelchair now.

Me: Thank you.

The door opens a couple of minutes later, with Amalia pushing a wheelchair. She puts it next to the bed and helps me put it in. When I'm seated in the wheelchair, she pushes me out of the room, and we head in the direction of the lift. I push the button and wait for the lift to open. It opens, and Amalia pushes me in as Cole heads in the direction of the room with Doctor Spence.

I push the button for the ground floor, and the door closes. "Can you order something to eat? I don't want to eat any more hospital food. It tastes horrible."

She laughs. "I haven't been in the hospital that long to know what the food tastes like." Pulling out her phone, she looks at it. "I'll call my driver, and he'll bring something over for us. Is there anything in particular that you want?"

"How about pizza? I want one of them."

"I can do that for you. What kind do you want?"

"Meatlovers and get a supreme too. That's Cole's favourite pizza." The door opens on the ground floor, and I wheel myself out of the lift. Wheeling through the hall, I head in the direction of the exit. When I reach the exit, Amalia holds the door open for me. "Thanks,"

She smiles at me. "You're welcome. I just texted my driver, and he's getting the pizza. I told him to bring extra in case other people stop by to see you." She looks around the hospital grounds. "There's a good spot over there." She points to a table in the middle of the hospital grounds.

Amalia's phone starts ringing, and she looks at it. "Cole's calling me," she says.

"Answer the phone. We don't need Cole worrying about me." I laugh and look away. "I can imagine his face when he found me not in the room where I was supposed to be."

Amalia: Hello, this is Amalia. She puts the phone on loudspeaker so I can hear the call.

Cole: Julia's missing. Have you seen her?

Amalia: Yeah, She's with me.

Cole: She should have waited for the doctor. He wanted to see her before she could go out.

I take the phone from Amalia.

Me: I'm fine, Cole. We're sitting on the bench. If you want to join us, tell the doctor I'll see him when I return to the room. They've been checking on me every couple of hours, and I'm fine.

Cole: Alright, I'll be right down.

I hung up the phone and gave it back to Amalia. "Cole will be down shortly." Looking towards the parking lot, I saw Dad climb out of the car. Can you get it, Dad? I don't want him going to the room and seeing the empty bed. I'm afraid he'll think I'm gone like Mom."

Amalia hugs me. "I'll do that. Are you okay?"

I shake my head. "It's hard for me to deal with Mom's death. I put on a brave front, but I break down when Cole grabs a coffee from the cafeteria."

"You'll get through it, Julia. Losing both my parents was hard for me when I was younger. Having people that you care about around helps you heal. The pain will ease as time goes by."

"Thanks, Amalia. Now hurry up and get to my Dad. He's walking to the entrance to the hospital."

She runs over to my father and stops him before he enters the building.

I should have brought my phone down here.

A pair of hands cover my eyes, and a deep voice says. "Guess who."

"Hmm," I say. "Is it Leonardo DiCaprio from the Titanic era?"

He uncovers my eyes. "What's the go with girls loving him from that movie? He wasn't that good-looking."

Someone's jealous.

"He was, too. Let's ask Amalia when she gets back with Dad."

"Ask me what?" Amalia asks as she stops next to the table with my father.

Cole doesn't say anything.

"We were talking about how hot Leonardo DiCaprio was when he was on the Titanic?"

She starts swaying and gets a dreamy look in her eyes. "Leo was so dreamy in that movie. I've always wanted a Jack Dawson, but I got someone way better when I met my husband."

Cole laughs. "Have you told Julia how you met your husband?"

She looks away and then takes a seat on the bench. "I haven't had a chance to tell her this story, but it's the kind of story that belongs in our family."

"Yeah, it does," Cole says. "My story won't be that adventurous for my future kids."

I grab his hand and say, "It will have some adventure, though. Just nothing like the story I'm going to hear."

Amalia clears her throat before she says, "The day started like none other. I had breakfast with the men before preparing for a few family meetings. After getting dressed, an alarm goes off, telling me there's a problem at the house. I called the security team, and they told me someone had broken into the property. I went looking for the person that could have gotten through my security. All of a sudden, a guy held a gun at my face. He was about to pull the trigger when I beat the shit out of him first and then tied him to a chair. I demanded that he tell me what he was doing on my property. He told me he was a hitman, and his assignment was to take me out. I gave him a choice, and he took a job with me. Eventually, we fell in love and got married."

"That's a sweet story." Looking over at my father, I say, "Hey, Dad."

Dad walks over to me and places an around my shoulder. "It's good to see outside. You need it after spending all the time asleep."

"Do you need anything else sorted for the funeral?"

He shakes his head. "No, you're mother and I had everything organised long ago."