He was right, of course. My digestive system needed to restart before I fed it an entire pizza, a steak dinner, any of the other things I was madly craving.
“I’m going to hold you to that, and I take my coffee with cream, no sugar,” I said matter-of-factly, and then popped the pills in my mouth, and tipped the container up.
I’d learned that the best way to get something done that I didn’t want to do was to plow right through it. The pills went down awkwardly, and I drank until the liquid was gone, and the container was empty. My throat was still sore, and it wasn’t easy to swallow, but there was no sense in prolonging something unpleasant.
“Here,” I said, holding out the drained container to him. “It’s gone. Where’s the coffee?”
Hudson looked amused as he obligingly took it without a word, and left the room.
He came back moments later and handed me the smallest cup I’d ever seen. It looked even tinier than an expresso mug. Honestly, it was probably more suitable for a doll than a human. “When you said small, you really meant it,” I grumbled right before I caught the aroma of the contents.
I held it up to my nose, closed my eyes, and just took one long breath after another. I felt my eyes water with happy tears that were threatening to fall, but I blinked them back.
A few days ago, I thought I’d never catch a whiff of good, freshly made coffee again.
Now, I savored every damn second that I could relish the scent.
“Are you planning on drinking that, or snorting it?” Hudson asked, sounding entertained by my actions.
I opened my eyes slowly. “I didn’t think I’d ever smell good coffee again,” I informed him. “I’m taking my time.”
“So you demolish the unpleasant stuff in seconds, and take forever when you like something?” he asked, like he was trying to figure me out.
I raised an eyebrow as I lowered the coffee to my mouth. “Life is a whole lot better when you approach it that way, and I’m a coffee lover. What can I say?”
I started to enjoy the tiny amount of coffee as he said, “Do you want to talk about what happened, Taylor?”
I got exactly three sips from the miniature cup before it was gone.
My hand shook just a little as I finished the last drop in the cup, set it on the bedside table, and grabbed the water.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to discuss the last ten days, but I knew I needed to do it. Not to mention the fact that Hudson deserved to know the details after risking his own life to save mine. “I want to, but my head is a little scrambled. Can you catch me up on how I got here first? My memories are so scattered. I remember you, I remember your voice, and I know that you hauled me out of there, and that you gave me some water. After that, there’s a…huge hole until I suddenly woke up here.”
And you comforted me, holding my hand so I wasn’t afraid of the dark.
Nobody would know that Hudson was that sweet by looking at his face right now, but I could never forget that part of him existed, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
He nodded sharply. “It’s normal, considering your physical state, for none of your recollections to be clear. You were in bad shape, Taylor. I’m not sure you would have lasted another day without water. Honestly, I’m surprised you were still alive and able to comprehend anything, but I was pretty fucking grateful that you were still breathing. Jax and I hiked our way in, and took you out the same way. So you do remember stopping for water, but nothing after that?”
I nodded slowly. “I remember wanting to drink until I couldn’t do it anymore, and how damn hard it was to take in that first bit of water. I even recall being glad you took the water away, so I didn’t throw it up all over you. I couldn’t see you, but you were there for me, and I’m more grateful for that than you’ll ever know. You saved my life, Hudson.”
“Don’t,” he said with an irritated growl that I hadn’t heard before. “You were in that situation because of me and my company in the first place. So don’t thank me for saving you from a situation you should have never been in to begin with, Taylor.”
I took the cap off the water, and downed a sip before I answered, “It wasn’t your fault. It was something nobody could anticipate, and I’m going to be grateful whether you want me to be or not. I’m happy to be alive, Hudson, and if you hadn’t gotten me out of there when you did, I know I would have died.”
God, he had no idea.
“You’re stubborn,” he muttered. “But that’s probably what kept you alive.”
“Then don’t complain about it,” I suggested, trying to give him a smile, and mostly failing because of a painful crack on my lip.
Hudson let out an exasperated breath. “I definitely can’t complain about your tenacity, and I won’t, because it most likely kept you breathing until we got there. I’ll catch you up on what happened while you were out.” He drained his mug and sat on the dresser. “Jax and I didn’t stop again after I got some water into you. Not until we got to the coast. Our only objective was to put as much space between us and the rebels before they woke up. We were met by a physician and Prince Niklaos when we got to the coast of Lania where the boat was waiting. The doctor did all that he could for you from inside a small tent and on a cot. After that, we took the boat to a mostly uninhabited island that has an airstrip. Jax and I had landed there, and my pilots were ready for takeoff when we got back. We were in the air almost immediately. We stopped on the Portuguese coast to refuel, and right now, we’re currently over the Atlantic Ocean. We’ll be flying over the East Coast of the U.S. in a few hours, but since you’re awake, and have your vital needs covered, we’re heading straight for San Diego. If we don’t have to risk having the general public become aware of this entire incident, we’d rather not. There are several ex-military physicians on staff at the best medical facility in San Diego who know what we’re doing with Last Hope, and who know how to keep the media away.” Hudson took a deep breath before he concluded, “Honestly, you didn’t miss a whole lot after you conked out. It’s mostly been a scramble to get you back to the States, and out of Lania as soon as possible.”
My mind was about to explode from trying to follow his explanation. I wasn’t even going to ask how he knew about the so-called mostly uninhabited island with an airstrip big enough to land and launch a sophisticated private jet. “Did you have to confront the rebels at any point? Were you or your brother injured?”
“Not at all,” he said, brushing off my concerns. “Our goal was to get you the hell out of there, and back home. Jax and I know exactly how to get in and out of almost any area without detection. None of the bastards even opened an eye. Personally, I would have loved a confrontation, but that wasn’t the plan. We were in and out quickly while they slept.”
Hudson sounded highly disappointed about the fact that he couldn’t shoot every single one of the rebels, but I was relieved. “Do you think the Lanian government will catch them?” I didn’t like the fear I could hear in my own voice.
Instinctively, I reached for the dragon pendant I’d always held onto when I needed an emotional boost, only to come up empty-handed.
Even though the jewelry hadn’t had that much monetary value, those bastards had taken it from me anyway.