"Come on Cece. It's about time you let me see your face already." Colton said with a slightly hoarse voice.
Claire had climbed into the large bed with him and was gently hugging his less beat up side. She had already been crying in that position for the last fifteen minutes without once looking up at him. His bed was in a sitting position making it easier for him to gently pat her head with the arm he had over her shoulder.
Claire slowly lifted her head to look at him while blinking away a few tears. He was there. He was awake. She hadn't lost him.
"Stop it with the overthinking." Colton said as he moved his good arm so he could wipe her tear stained face. "And stop it with the crying too. You know I can't stand it."
When Colton woke up he felt like he was dying. His body was heavy, everything was aching and his head felt like splitting in two. It took him some time to realize where he was and what had happened. After doing so, he immediately tried to get up despite his pain, but was stopped before he could do anything.
When he focused on what was happening he noticed two of his men, who were assigned to guard him, were trying to calm him down. They quickly explained what was going on, but it wasn't until he was informed that his girls were fine that he stopped resisting them.
But seeing his precious little sister cry was always worse than any pain he could feel. Especially if it was because of him.
"Don't leave me alone like that again. You almost scared me to death you jerk." Claire said as she shed her last tears. A world without her brother wasn't a world she could survive in.
"I'm sorry. But you should know that you're stuck with me. At least until I get to live out my dream of being a pop sensation. You know I can't let my many talents go to waste." Colton joked which made Claire laugh. Her giggling was accompanied by her sniffles, but it was still a win for him. She had finally stopped crying.
Claire then went on to explain everything she had gathered about what happened. Although it wasn't ideal to bomb him with information when he had just woken up, it's the way they had always been. Wasting time was something neither of them enjoyed doing. Especially when it came to such important topics like his assassination attempt.
"Fuck." Colton cursed. "Here I thought we had at least a year left before shit hit the fan."
"I know. But I've got it under control so don't worry about it and focus on getting better." Just as she said so, a nurse knocked on the door and came in. She was there to redress the bandages around Colton's waist.
They stopped talking until she left. Claire stood up and got Colton some water before sitting on the bed facing him.
"Hey Cece." Colton continued with a rather quiet voice. "Did you let her know already?" He said as he sipped some of the water.
"Not yet. I kind of blanked out on my way here." She looked at him intently. "Are you finally going to do something about you two?"
"You know it's not because of me that things are like this between us Cece. I mean she jus-"
"You almost died Colton." Claire interrupted him with a stern voice making him look at her properly. "I'm not trying to push you guys to be together, but behaving like kids isn't the way to go about it either." She grabbed his hand and spoke in a much softer voice. "You deserve to be happy you know."
"Says the woman who has avoided people as harshly as I have all her life." He grinned at her before finishing his water and giving her the empty cup.
"About that...."
"What? Did the Villan dude propose already?" Colton replied in a sarcastic tone.
"Well....kind of."
"WHAT!?" He yelled making him clutch his newly bandaged abdomen while wincing.
"Calm down Colton! You're going to reopen your stitches! He only asked if he could consider us to be courting or not!" She panicked with the thought of his stitches busting open.
"Shit Cece. Don't get me all excited like that." Colton said as he let out a breath. His eyebrows were knitted together as he ignored the pain. "If he were to suddenly propose without even meeting me first the only thing he would be courting with is death." Colton was indeed in favor of her falling for somebody, but hell would freeze over before he would simply let her do so without even meeting the guy to make sure he wasn't a threat to her.
Colton wasn't the kind of man that thought a woman should receive permission to be with somebody, but after all they've been through, he had to take extra precautions. Aiden had seemed infatuated with her sure, but lust and love are very different things. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if due to his blind trust, somebody as important to him as Claire got hurt. He wouldn't ever let that happen again.
"But isn't it kind of the same thing? I mean courting someone is just a fancy way of saying you're intending to get married." Claire had no doubt that what he said wasn't a joke. Even if he said it in his usual goofy tone, he was dead serious.
"What did you answer then?"
"I said I would think about it and then give him a proper response." She looked at him with the same expression she always had when she felt lost.
'Level headed as always.' Colton thought to himself.
"Look Cece. I kinda get where he's coming from. I mean he isn't a simple man who can just randomly date. And from what I gathered, he's a pretty serious guy. Besides that, look at you. You're amazing Cece. He'd be blind if he didn't see that. But at the end of the day, I couldn't care less about what he wants." He squeezed her hand in his. "It's about what you want."
"But...."
"No buts. I almost died remember?" Colton said which caused Claire to squeeze his hand even tighter.
She understood the message hidden inside it. It was the same message she told him when she said it before.
After that, they sat in silence as they looked at each other. They never really needed words to understand one another. They were that close.
"Okay." Claire said after a while which made Colton smile.
"Good, now when am I going to see my favorite kiddo? I think my hug is long overdue." Colton said making them both smile.
-------------
At Flinn Corporation.
After Claire handled some things regarding Colton, she left the hospital and went to the company. Seeing him awake and being able to talk to him made her feel much better and much less confused. Although she didn't really want to leave, she knew they both had important conversations pending with other people.
Claire sat at her desk while she worked through the documents she had left unattended for the last couple of days. She felt her head begin to throb as she read and signed them.
"I really need a good nights sleep." She mumbled to herself as she continued.
A knock was heard on the door and Claire absentmindedly answered for the person to come in. A few seconds later, one of her other secretaries walked inside while accompanied by someone.
"Anything else I can do for you CEO Claire?" The woman asked while her boss looked up from the papers she was holding.
Claire stared at the man looking back at her and gently smiled.
"That would be all. Make sure we're not disturbed." She replied.
The secretary then slightly bowed in their direction and made her way to the door, closing it behind her after she left.
Right after she did, Claire stood up and silently went around her desk and reached him. Without saying a single word, she wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a tight hug.
Although surprised, he didn't hesitate to respond to her sudden gesture by enveloping her in an equally warm and tight hug.
"Good morning Angel." Aiden said as he kissed the top of her head and enjoyed the moment between them. It was indeed a good morning.