"Yep. Poor bastard's checking his phone every few minutes, and each time he sees a blank screen, he looks defeated. It's weird in all honesty. I don't think I've ever seen him look anything but happy."
My eyes fall shut, and I groan as pain slashes across my chest at the thought of how he must be feeling.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it."
"It's okay. I deserve to feel bad," I mutter, turning away from him to stare longingly out of the window as tears swim in my eyes.
I hate that I'm the reason Jaylen is hurting. He doesn't deserve to feel like this, and I wish I could change things, but I'm trying to keep him safe.
Being with me would only hurt him further, and I can't allow that to be his reality.
He'd be in danger with me. We'd both constantly be looking over our shoulders, living in fear, just waiting for my bastard ex to catch up to us and inflict a whole world of pain on us both, purely just because I finally found the courage to leave him.
That's my responsibility, and that's for me to deal with.
Jaylen has no part in that.
He doesn't realise what he's gotten himself involved in by building a connection with me and wanting to be with me.
I can't allow him to be hurt for something that's my fault.
I knew the dangers of leaving, and I had an inkling that Danny would catch up to me at some point, but I never imagined that I would've found such a strong connection with such an amazing, passionate, caring man like Jaylen.
I never should've allowed myself to become involved with him.
I'm only hurting us both.
Chapter Forty-Two
Rory
Three days have passed since Jaylen left the hospital, and every day has consisted of me moping around, bored, unhappy, and distracted because all I can seem to think about is him.
I'm glad that I've finally been assigned to multiple other patients, and I enjoy the fact that I'm now seeing Lola regularly and having lunch with her, but I miss Jaylen.
The room that he was in is now occupied by someone else, and it physically hurts every time I pass by the door because memories of our time spent together flood my mind and remind me of how happy I was when he was around.
Hoisting my handbag onto my shoulder, I walk towards the elevator, dragging my feet and huffing, knowing that after my ride home with Leo, I'm going to be left alone again with my thoughts and probably spend another night sobbing as I read through a heartbreaking book to help me deal with my emotions.
As the elevator descends, my shoulders tense, bracing myself for the prickle of awareness that I know is going to rush over me as soon as I step out of the hospital and into the dark night.
I'm thankful that Leo is still here every night to take me home, although I have no idea why.
I've asked him why he continues to chauffeur me around in the morning and evening, even though I'm no longer a priority to the King's, but each time, he either ignores me or just gives me an incredulous look as if I should know the answer already.
Walking out of the hospital, I spot him immediately, leaning against his car as usual, but as I'm about to walk towards him, my eyes catch on movement in the distance of the parking lot behind him, and my feet halt as my body locks up in fear.
A hooded figure stands by the entrance of the carpark, his back to the busy London traffic, and although I can't see his face because of the distance between us and the lack of lights around him, I can tell that his eyes are staring directly at me.
My lungs constrict in my chest as my gaze stays glued to the dark figure, and my whole body begins to tremble as a familiar trickle of fear runs through my body.
No.
It can't be.
I'm on high alert, and the tremors running through my body have my heart beating erratically as sweat beads along my skin.
I know this feeling, and there's only one person in this world who evokes this reaction from my body.
