I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 57

The slightly ajar hospital room door was pushed open, and Eileen's voice immediately drifted in. "Luke, how are you feeling?"

Luke turned his head toward the door as Eileen walked in. Her gaze darted between him on the bed and Sophie, who was just turning away from the window.

"A little better," Luke replied flatly.

Gavin followed right behind Eileen, dragging two large suitcases. He parked them against the wall and smiled at Sophie as she walked toward him, reaching out to take her hand.

"Why didn't you take off your coat? It's boiling in here."

Sophie's palms were damp with sweat, and the rims of her eyes were slightly red.

She offered a small smile, but before she could say a word, Eileen let out a dramatic shriek.

"The IV is empty! Why didn't you call the nurse? The blood is backing up into the tube!"

"Oh, I wasn't paying attention," Sophie said, glancing at the IV line, her voice tight with thinly veiled irritation. He was a grown man, not a toddler; did he really need a babysitter to monitor his medication?

Eileen slammed the call button at the head of the bed, shouting loudly for the nurse.

"Eileen, Mr. Lawrence, we're going to head upstairs to visit Gwen Grayson. We'll take our leave now."

Gavin quickly chimed in, "Get some rest, Mr. Lawrence. We'll head out. Goodbye, Eileen."

"Fine, go ahead," Eileen replied, making no effort to hide the annoyance on her face.

Luke only offered two words: "Thank you. Goodbye." He immediately closed his eyes.

"Does your chest hurt?" Eileen asked.

As Sophie and Gavin stepped out the door, they barely caught Luke's muffled reply: "I'm just tired."

"Are you exhausted?"

While waiting for the elevator, Gavin reached over and gently brushed her bangs aside.

It was stiflingly hot inside, and she had been wearing her heavy winter coat the entire time, leaving a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. More importantly, she looked terribly shaken.

Gavin had seen the raw panic in her eyes earlier. Even while he was helping Eileen fetch the luggage, his mind had been entirely focused on Sophie, trapped in that hospital room with Luke.

It was only when she chose to walk out of that room with him that his heart finally settled back into his chest.

"I'm okay. You must be worn out today, too. We'll pop in on Gwen and then head out. What do you want to eat later?" Sophie felt a pang of guilt.

Back in the room, when Gavin took her hand, his grip had been incredibly tight—a grip rooted in the terrifying fear of losing her.

She knew she had no right to make him feel so insecure.

So, even though the elevator was packed with people, she leaned over and rested her head firmly against his shoulder.

It was only when Gwen noticed the sudden shift in Sophie's expression that she belatedly realized how incredibly inappropriate it was to bring up the ex in front of Gavin. Unsure how to backtrack, she frantically changed the subject.

"Gavin, could you do me a huge favor and grab some fruit from the cafeteria? My dad bought me a bunch of bananas the day he arrived, and then proceeded to eat every single one of them himself."

The second Gavin stepped out, Gwen leaned in aggressively. "What on earth happened? Did it have something to do with you?"

Sophie shook her head. "Nothing to do with me. Eileen said he was hospitalized a month ago with acute myocarditis. He probably just hasn't fully recovered."

"Sophie, there's something I'm not sure if I should tell you."

It was incredibly rare for Gwen to hesitate like this.

"Just tell me," Sophie said, the corners of her lips turning up slightly. She didn't think there was anything left in the world that could shock her anymore.

"It's about the night you threw the wine in that jerk's face. When I took him back to his hotel, he was totally wasted. He thought I was you, and he started slurring all this crazy stuff. He said you were the water he could never drink when he was dying of thirst, and the fruit he could never reach when he was starving. He kept rambling about some curse, something about 'Tantalus'... honestly, it made my head spin."

"Sophie, he looked like he was in absolute agony. Is there some massive misunderstanding between you two?"

"Tantalus?" Sophie murmured softly.

"Yeah, I think that was it. Who the hell is Tantalus?" Gwen looked utterly bewildered.

"It's a Greek myth. He was a son of Zeus who offended the gods and was cursed to endure three eternal punishments. He stood in a pool of water that receded whenever he tried to drink; fruit hung directly above him, but the branches pulled away whenever he reached for them; and a massive boulder hung over his head, leaving him in constant, terrifying fear of imminent death."