Thank you so much for continuing to read and comment! Many apologies for not getting a new chapter out sooner! On top of another extremely busy week, my hard drive crashed. Fortunately, I didn't lose anything, though. Anyway, here are two more additions to make up for it. Enjoy! :)
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Betty ran into the gym, past the mob of media vultures outside the door, and spotted Daniel, who was being restrained at the security desk in the lobby. His lip was puffy and bleeding, the area around his left eye was bright red, and he had gashes above his right eyebrow and on his left shoulder. He was holding his right hand, and had a few minor cuts on his arms. She couldn't pick up her feet fast enough to get to him.
"Daniel! What happened to you?" she said, with a pained and worried look on her face.
She'd never seen him look this bad. It took everything in her not to throw her arms around his waist and just hold him. But she controlled herself. For one, she had no idea what other injuries he had that were undetected, and for another, she had a feeling she was the last person Daniel really wanted to see.
Daniel's eyes shot up when he heard that familiar female voice. Why the hell did they have to call her? He was sure all she'd do was condemn him for picking a fight, tell him it wasn't worth it and he should know better.
Not to mention that just the sound of her voice and the sight of that concerned look in her chocolate eyes made him want to hold her and tell her everything was okay – that he didn't care about anything that may or may not have happened before. Except he wasn't sure he was ready to do that yet.
He guessed it was something that she did show up. After hardly speaking the rest of the week, he wasn't sure she would even care. She was wearing his gray sweater. God – was she trying to drive him crazy? He swallowed the lump in his throat. This was going to be tougher than he had thought.
"Daniel?" Betty repeated, lightly touching his arm.
He snapped out of his thoughts.
"Hi. Sorry you had to come down here. You – uh – you're still the first person on my contact list," he admitted, embarrassed. The only one who he'd call in something like this, he thought to himself, silently cursing for not having another good friend.
Betty looked down, thankful that he hadn't erased her from his life.
"So, I talked with the guards and they said that Tyler's pressing charges," she told him, already getting the entire picture.
"You're not even going to ask me what happened?" Daniel questioned, a little irritated that she would just assume.
"Nope. I already know the gist of it from the guards, and I figure if you want to talk about it, we can. If not, it's fine. I'm just glad you're still in one piece." Betty faintly smiled, afraid of looking directly in his eyes.
Tyler came by at that moment, also being held by guards. He sneered at Daniel then noticed Betty.
"Had a rockin' good time that night . . . You're one sexy little thing," he winked at her obnoxiously, trying to get another rise out of Daniel.
Betty gave him a disgusted look and felt like she was going to throw up.
Daniel began to lunge at Tyler again, but Betty put her hand on his chest and pleaded with her eyes for him to stop. Tyler continued to stand there, silently daring him to make another move.
"Let me talk to him." Betty said, begging Daniel to allow her to help.
He sighed and rolled his eyes in reluctant agreement.
Betty awkwardly approached Tyler.
"What did you do to me?" she calmly asked.
"I just gave you a night to never forget," Tyler replied, full of himself.
"Save the B.S. for someone who'll buy it! I'm pretty sure nothing really happened between us. And even if it did, I have no doubt it was involuntary on my part," she snapped.
His facial expression stayed the same, but she could tell from his eyes that she had him pegged.
"What do you have against me? What have I ever done to you? And Daniel – he's your brother! I know he hasn't been very accepting, but then again you obviously haven't tried very hard either. Daniel's a good man. And I'm sure, deep down, you are too. Amanda saw something special in you, and Claire really does love you," Betty attempted to reason with him.
Tyler remained quiet, looking down when Betty mentioned Amanda.
"Look, it would be nice if you and Daniel could try to work things out, but the least you could do is drop the charges against him. I promise I'll get him to do the same," she implored.
Tyler deliberated for a minute.
"Okay," he reluctantly conceded.
"Thank you," Betty said, and went back to Daniel.
"Tyler says he'll drop the charges – as long as you drop the ones on him," she informed him.
Daniel grumbled, glaring over at his brother.
"Fine," he begrudgingly agreed. He really didn't want that piece of scum to go free, but on the other hand, he didn't want to be locked up, himself.
"So what exactly did you guys talk about? Never mind – it's none of my business . . ." he trailed off.
He began to feel too weak to finish his sentences. He felt light-headed, cold, and numb. His knees weakened and he grabbed onto the desk for support.
Betty, so exasperated by his attitude, didn't realize anything was wrong.
"Yes, it is your business, Daniel. For one, we were talking about you. And for another, you and I are still a team, as far as I'm concerned – no secrets. I know you're still upset with me. And truthfully, I'm not completely happy with you either right now, but . . . Daniel? Are you okay? Daniel?" Betty noticed Daniel had suddenly fainted. She knelt down on the floor next to him. "Daniel? Are you alright?" Betty worriedly asked as she saw him slowly open his eyes.
"I'm good," he sleepily told her as he came-to and attempted to get up.
"Let me help you," she reached out her hands, but he refused them.
"I'm okay," he stubbornly insisted, then regretted his refusal when he almost passed out again.
Betty caught hold of him before he did.
"We need to get you to the hospital - you might have a concussion. Did you hit your head on anything when you and Tyler were fighting?" she asked.
"He slammed my head against the wall a couple of times. But I'm fine. Don't feel like you have to hover over me," he fought to resist her, but it was becoming more and more difficult.
Betty tried another tactic.
"You think I'm doing this for you? You're wrong. I'm only demanding you see a doctor because I don't want to have to call your mother and explain to her that her son died of a head trauma, just because he refused to get the care he needed and I didn't drag him there anyway. So, Mr. I'm-So-Full-Of-Myself-Everything's-About-Me, this is about saving my ass – not yours," she stated, matter-of-factly.
Daniel didn't budge.
"Oh, c'mon. You have to admit that was a little funny, right?" she coaxed.
Daniel couldn't contain his amusement any longer and gave her a big grin.
"See. Now, will you please humor me?" Betty pleaded.
"I . . . thought I just did . . ." he smirked.
"Daniel . . ." she groaned.
"Okay, bad choice of words. Can we please just go?" she begged him. She could tell he was feeling a little better, but didn't want to risk anything happening to him.
Daniel could see how worried she was. He could never resist her adorable persistence. He caved.
"Fine. I will go. But only because I want to get rid of this nagging headache," he agreed.
"Oh my god – is it worse? Maybe I need to call an ambulance," Betty panicked until she noticed his blue eyes twinkling. "Daniel, I swear, if you weren't already injured, I'd hurt you!" she half-threatened.
"Come on – help me get out of here," he grinned. He admitted to himself that the humor and the flirting did distract him from all the pain.
They quickly signed some forms for the guards before leaving. Betty carefully aided Daniel into the town car, while avoiding the crowd of press, and they headed for the hospital.
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"So, is he gone?" Matt asked, holding his phone to his ear, casually lounging on the couch.
"No. I dropped the charges." Tyler answered.
"You what? We had a deal!" Matt yelled.
"Sorry, Bro, you're on your own. I'm out. I won't say anything about you, but I can't do this anymore. He's my brother and neither one of them really deserved this. We went too far. I'm done!" Tyler hung up.
Matt threw his phone across his hotel suite.
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"Aside from the cuts and bruises and a broken hand, you are doing surprisingly well, considering. It'll take a few weeks for your hand to heal. However, it seems you have a slight concussion, as well. It's nothing to be extremely concerned about, but you'll need to have someone watching out for you overnight," the doctor told Daniel, then glanced over at Betty.
Betty timidly caught Daniel's eyes. He awkwardly looked back at hers.
"That's not a problem, is it?" Dr. Thatcher asked. Betty and Daniel looked at each other again.
Betty could tell Daniel was not so eager to agree, but she was tired of silently fighting with his stubbornness. She cleared her throat.
"No, Dr. Thatcher – I'll take good care of him," she promised.
"Thank you, Dr." Daniel said as he carefully got up to leave.
"What the hell was that?" Daniel asked, when they finished signing him out.
"What?" Betty innocently responded.
"That! The 'I'll take good care of him, Dr. Thatcher'" he mocked.
"You were being a mule and I knew someone had to be the voice of reason. Did you want to pay a huge bill just to stay in a cold, sterile hospital, wind-up eating god knows what for dinner, and end up with a stranger for a roommate? Do you hate me that much? I was trying to do you a favor. Next time, I'll just let you fend for yourself. Let's see how long the Pampered Prince lasts then!" Betty huffed.
She couldn't believe she even came after him when she got the call. She knew it wasn't going to be easy - she was prepared for that. But he had the audacity to get pissed at her for offering to be his nurse?
She was going to have to wake him up every couple of hours throughout the night, make sure his wounds were iced, that he took his medication, and that he didn't accidentally rip the stitches on his forehead and shoulder. All he cared about was his damn ego. If she didn't love him so much, she'd walk right then and there.
Daniel regretted his tone and choice of words. He didn't mean to sound so selfish and callous. It just sort of came out of him. He was frustrated and didn't want her to see that he still needed her, so he lashed out. He walked in front of her, blocking her path.
"I – I don't hate you," he admitted. He was actually the complete opposite of hating her.
He still loved her with every fiber of his being. He only hated how much she could still get under his skin – how she knew him so well.
"I'm sorry. It's been a rough day," he apologized.
She silently nodded and looked at him with forgiveness.
"Where are we staying?" he asked before they climbed into the car.
"Ho – the apartment," she hesitated, sadly wondering whether he'd ever consider it their home again. "It's more convenient, considering – if that's okay with you?" she added, unsure.
"No. It's fine," he agreed, dreading going back to what their life used to be, when he knew it wasn't that simple anymore.