The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 281

Chapter 248: Hospital visits

Bella POV

That admission night dissolved into a blur of strict bedrest and cold hospital sheets. Caleb refused to leave the bedside, sitting rigid in the hard plastic chair with his fingers locked through mine. By three in the morning, the dark circles under his eyes looked like bruises.

“Caleb, you need to go home,” I whispered, turning my head on the pillow to look at him. “Tom and Grace are going to wake up soon. They need to see you. They need to know everything is okay.”

“I am staying here,” he said, his voice rough and stubborn. “Nadia is with them. They are fine.”

“Please,” I pressed, squeezing his hand. “Go take them to school, change your clothes, and come back. You cannot help me if you collapse from exhaustion.”

He stared at me for a long time, his jaw tight. He looked at the monitor, then back at me. Finally, he gave a slow, hesitant nod. “I will go. But I am coming straight back after I drop Tom off.” He leaned down, kissed my cheek, and quietly slipped out of the room.

The next few days became a slow routine of doctors, resting, and quiet hours. By the fourth morning, the sterile room had become my entire world.

The low hum of the fetal monitor woke me up just as the sun started to peek through the heavy window blinds.

I blinked against the bright morning light, careful not to tug the IV line taped to the back of my hand, and reached for the small glass of water on the bedside table. I needed to stay completely calm, just like Dr. Okafor ordered.

“Mrs. Black.” The nurse taps the door frame before she comes in. Her blue scrubs are crisp, and the large plastic ID badge clipped to her pocket reads Linda, RN in bold block letters.

“Morning obs,” Linda says, walking over with her equipment.

“Morning,” I say, leaning my head back against the pillow.

Linda sighs softly and steps closer to the mattress. She reaches for the black fabric cuff on the wall hook, wraps it firmly around my bare arm to check my blood pressure, and then tilts her head to look at the monitor screen.

“Pressure’s down slightly from yesterday,” she says. “That’s good.”

“Good enough to go home?”

“Good enough to stay in bed and not push it.” She makes a note on her tablet. “Dr. Okafor will be in at nine.

She leaves the room, and I rest my hands back over my stomach.

This is my second time being hospitalized during a pregnancy, and the worst part is how familiar it all feels.

I know exactly how long this road is. I know the sound of the monitors, the timing of the nurse checks, and

Chapter 249 Hospital visite

how quiet the halls get at three in the morning.

1 did all of this when I was pregnant with Grace. I know exactly what this takes out of a person.

Knowing what comes next makes it much worse, not better.

The next morning, the heavy wood door to my room pushed open.

Caleb walked in, carrying a large cardboard box in his arms. He had his laptop tucked under one elbow, and three thick blue folders pinched under his arm.

I sat up straight in bed, staring at him. “Caleb? What is all this?”

He did not answer right away. He set the heavy box down on the visitor’s table with a loud thud then exhaled sharply.

Clam

The folders slipped from under his arm almost immediately-he adjusted too late-and they slid onto the table in a messy stack.

His laptop followed a second later, no longer balanced under his elbow, landing flat beside the box with a

soft clack.

Only then did he straighten, rubbing his wrist like it had gone stiff from the weight then turned back to the hallway.

He reached out and dragged in a rolling metal cart. Resting right on top was the small, silver espresso machine from his home office, right next to a bag of coffee beans.

“I am moving my office here,” Caleb said, his voice calm and steady. He unbuttoned his suit jacket, hung it neatly over the back of the visitor’s chair, and immediately knelt down by the wall to plug in a long black extension cord.

“You cannot stay here all day,” I said, watching him run the cable along the baseboard. “Don’t you have a meeting with the Hart Worldwide legal team this afternoon?”

“I do,” Caleb said, without looking up from the wires. “I will take it right from that table. I already spoke to the floor manager. As long as I keep my phone on low volume, they do not care.”

“Caleb, really, you have a whole company to run.”

He stood up, walked over to the side of my bed, and leaned down to kiss my forehead. His hand rested against my stomach, warm and heavy. “My company is right here,” he said softly, looking straight into my eyes. “I am not leaving you alone in this room, Bella. Get used to it.”

By noon, his working station was completely set up. He sat in the corner chair, his face lit blue by his laptop screen as he read through acquisition documents.

That night, when I kept waking up, he was still there. If he wasn’t sitting in the chair, he was stretched out on the narrow pull-out cot the nurses had brought in for him. He never left.

The following afternoon, the door clicked open again. Tom walked in, his dark school uniform slightly wrinkled, and his backpack looking twice as big as his small six year-old frame.

“Hi, Linda!” Tom called out, dumping his bag right by the door.

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