Chapter 284: Zoom zoom

Sinclair

A crash sounds upstairs. The second one today. I groan and put my head in my hand, honestly not wanting to know.

“Dominic?” I hear my mate call, requesting my assistance. I press my eyes shut, ignoring her for just…just one minute. “Dominic!”

“Seriously,” Roger murmurs, looking towards the door. “What were you thinking, letting her put this insane plan into action?”

I drop my hand and glare at my brother. “Ask me that again when you’re mated,” I murmur, steeling myself as I head out of the room. Roger doesn’t say anything as I go, though I feel his eyes on me. I ignore it.

“Ella?” I call from the base of the stairs. The seat of her stairlift is at the top, so she must be up there.

“Dominic!” Her faint voice comes to me, sounding relieved. “Can you come help? I’m…stuck.” I sigh and pull myself up the stairs.

Three days. Three days she’s had her wheelchairs and her stairlift, and while I’m pleased to see her spirits raised, it’s been a nightmare for me. Three days of watching her zoom around, crashing into every thing I own. I’ve already imagined six thousand ways this could go wrong – Ella sliding off of the stairlift and tumbling down the stairs, Ella somehow miraculously managing to run herself over with the chair, Ella crashing through the banister and flying through the air like Evil Knievel… 1

And you’d think that I was kidding, or exaggerating, but…

As I get to the top of the stairs, I turn to see her wedged, somehow, behind a potted fern in the corner.

“How did you even…do this?” I ask, exasperated, as I walk over to her.

She gives me a bright, if embarrassed, little smile. “I don’t know,” she shrugs. “I just…went forward, and it was there…”

I sigh again – my three hundredth sigh of the day and lift the plant, freeing her. She zooms backwards in the wheelchair, grinding potting soil from the plant into my carpet as she goes. I sigh again. Three hundred and one.

“What are you even do-” I start, but she’s off already, waving to me as she heads down the hall towards our bedroom.

“Things to do!” she calls, waving over her shoulder. “Go back to work, I’ll catch up with you later!”

I shake my head, following her into the bedroom, eager to put a stop to this. “Ella,” I demand, striding in after her. “This has to stop – I’m going insane with worry –”

exclaims, appalled, turning her chair in a little half circle so that she’s facing

at her, my mouth hanging open a little

demands, frowning her pouty

in the past three days you’ve broken hundreds

she mutters, waving a flippant hand. “We can

gaze up at me. I groan again and wipe a hand down my face, trying to figure out how to say

I oblige her. But,” I continue, “baby, you’re the..you’re the worst

at this! What are you

me when I say this – and I love you – but

but laugh with her. It’s so ridiculous. But I’m so grateful that she finally sees my point. Now I can convince her to give up

she asserts, giving me a clever, wolfish

say. Jealousy… has

were

as I lurch forward, desperate to keep her from tipping over, but she just laughs at

that!” I

this chair can’t

it,” I caution, “it’s you. Ella,

a little overprotective? I mean, sure, I get stuck behind a potted plant or two.” She shrugs. “So what? I’m fine.” She gives me a bright, happy smile, and I have to say it goes to my heart. It’s good to see her cheerful and engaged again. That’s why I let this go on as long as I did, but

my very bones. But I could also feel her pride every morning when she sent me off to start my day. In many ways that was the one thing keeping her together – the idea that she was doing this for the baby, and

my work as I in good conscience could, and otherwise spending my time curled up

as she smiles up at me. My sweet, clever girl. How do I do this? How do I help her

hand towards her. “Enough chair for the day… my nerves are absolutely at their end.

closer to her, intending to pick her up and carry her to bed. But then,

over the command board and zooming past me, right

I cry, growling as I turn to watch her fly out of

calls over her shoulder, “you’ll have to

inside of me as I launch myself after her, out into the hallway and

on her stairlift frantically to make

with her and pressing the emergency–stop button on the lift. Ella gives another little cry, laughing hard and beating her little fists playfully against me as I unbuckle her belt and lift her

ignore him, carrying my mate definitively into the bedroom and laying her down on the bed.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255