You took the time to memorize me

My fear my hopes, and dream

I just like hanging out with you all the time

~ Taylor Swift, Stay Stay Stay (Taylor's Version)

EPOV

I was just about to resign myself to leaving my wife another voicemail when she answered, her breath coming faster than usual as she sighed, "Hi."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just testing fate and running across a marble floor after jumping out of the shower to answer the phone."

My lips twitched with a smile. "Does that mean you're naked?"

Bella scoffed. "No."

"Damn." I was going on week two without seeing her. She was on a press tour with my parents as they promoted their latest documentary. It was her first big outing with them after Renata stepped down as their publicist about six months ago.

I heard some rustling on the other line before she let out a heavy sigh. "How is everything there?"

"Fine. The dogs spend their days pining after you, as usual. I join them most nights." Bella let out a soft chuckle. Even over the phone I could tell it was forced so I pressed the button to switch from an audio call to a video call. A moment later her face appeared on the screen, her hair wet and flopped on the white pillow behind her while she had the comforter pulled up to her chin. "Are you sure you're okay?"

The slight shift in the comforter was my only indication of her shrug.

So I waited. I watched her teeth dig into her bottom lip and her eyes frown at me through the screen as she sorted herself out. Because I could always tell. When something had gotten underneath her skin and she didn't know what to do with it. When she didn't always remember that she had someone to talk to about it. About anything.

Bella pressed her lips together, her eyes softening and saddening. "I'm just tired. And stressed. And I feel completely out of my league here."

"Did something happen?"

Sad brown eyes drooped at me through the screen. "No. But I know the only reason they chose me is because of you. And–"

"My parents love you. But they wouldn't have chosen you if they didn't think you were good at your job, Bella." She nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"I know they think I'm good at my job but I'm not… at their level. I should still be getting people coffee and writing low level press releases."

A knot of guilt settled in my stomach knowing I caused part of her insecurities. The affair, the money to Renata, that was what it always came back to. And I still hated myself for it. "I think you've more than proved yourself, Bella."

Even though I could hardly call myself unbiased, she had. Two years with me and she had my entire career turned around. Ashley was as much her friend as a happy client with a couple Grammys to her name now. She had a few other smaller clients on her roster now too.

Still, she didn't look convinced. "Do you know how many times my mother tried to get me to work with a publicist before you?"

Bella frowned. "No."

"Eight. Until Renata very reluctantly agreed to handle things from afar."

"I appreciate the argument, but I'm fairly sure the sex had a lot to do with how… amendable you were."

"Oh, the sex was—is—fucking fantastic. But I wouldn't have worked with you if I hadn't trusted you. If you hadn't let me set the pace. Everyone else who ever tried to work with me…they all played Hollywood's game. Wanted me to play it." The grimace on Bella's face told me she understood quickly. "You don't tell everyone the same thing. You don't take the easy way out. You do what your client wants and make it work to their advantage."

Bella sighed, eyes scanning me through the screen. "That was quite the motivational speech. It kind of makes me feel bad about lying earlier."

"What did you lie about?"

"Being naked," she said softly, letting the comforter slide down just enough to reveal her bare shoulder.

My own smirk matched Bella's, the worry no longer tainting her smile.

.M.

Two nights later Lucy's car was waiting for me in the driveway as the dogs and I got back from an evening walk, both instantly recognizing it and not bothering to wait for me to remove their leashes before barreling through the house to find her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, eying her where she knelt in the middle of the kitchen with both dogs vying for her attention.

Lucy shrugged. "I brought dinner." I eyed the to-go containers spread on the counter. It was all it took for her to break. "Bella asked me to check on you every once in a while while she was gone."

I shook my head with a laugh. "I can survive three weeks on my own."

Lucy shrugged again, grabbing the food and heading toward the living room. I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I gave both of the dogs plenty of water before following her.

Because even though she was in college and living on her own and a grown woman by every definition, she was still that little girl that screamed whenever she lost her stuffed giraffe as a toddler. The one who was adorably fascinated by the concept of mail until she was nine. And I'd happily take any opportunity to spend the evening with her, even if it was partially out of pity.

My phone rang as Lucy was packing herself up to head back to the sorority house. I expected to see Bella's name on the screen, was going to answer it and tell her I'd call her back in two minutes after Lucy was gone. It was my fathers number that had me frowning down at the phone. With the time difference, it was about midnight in New York.

"Hey Dad," I answered hesitantly. "Everything okay?"

It was those four seconds of hesitation that told me it wasn't.

"She's fine," he started. "Bella. She's fine."

My throat constricted. "But?"

"But," Dad sighed. "She just got admitted to the hospital. She's okay, nothing serious, but she got sick this afternoon. Brushed it off until your mother found her throwing up in the bathroom while we were working."

"Christ," I sighed, leaning over the kitchen counter.

"She had a cyst on an ovary that ruptured. They did some blood work and an ultrasound to confirm it in the ER. She was in a lot of pain though, so they admitted her to keep her on IV fluids and meds until the morning."

"Is she okay now?"

"She's fine. Sleeping."

It clicked. Why I was hearing about this from my father instead of my wife. "She wasn't going to tell me."

Dad sighed. "She said she would call you tomorrow. I would want to know, though. If I were you."

"Send me the hospital and room number," I sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Lucy was frowning at me from across the kitchen as I hung up. "Feel like dog sitting?"

.M.

I remembered the night with perfect clarity, down to the crack in the tile I stared at for five hours while my fiancé was in surgery. I remembered the horrible moment the thought of having to plan her funeral crossed my mind and not being able to think of anything else once it had.

I knew that was why she didn't call. Why she would have wanted to wait until she was in the clear before telling me she had been in the hospital. Bella had made remarkable progress with Doctor Stanley over the years, still talked to her at least once a month, but the scars would always be there. And, in the stress of the moment, that immediate response of being a burden for ending up in the hospital would be hard to ignore.

Knowing why she didn't call didn't ease the anger. Or maybe knowing why fueled it. Because if either of her parents had ever given her a fraction of the love and attention she should have gotten, she wouldn't have assumed she would inconvenience me by being in the hospital.

Still. I spent the entire five hour flight more angry at the woman than I had ever been. So angry that the exhaustion hadn't had a chance to kick in yet, even as the sun started to rise as I walked through the eerily quiet New York City hospital.

Her door was cracked open, three familiar voices floating through before I could knock.

"I can get myself home. I already messed yesterday night up. You have a full day of press scheduled and I—"

"We are not letting you get yourself home from the hospital, Isabella."

The snap in my fathers voice didn't surprise me. Because while my parents had to sacrifice a lot for their careers, they had their limits. They wouldn't have let Bella spend a moment alone in the hospital and they sure as hell wouldn't have left her to get herself home to do a day of press.

"I'll make sure she gets home," I said, opening the door to see the three of them standing in the middle of the room. I noted the stern set of both of my parents' faces before my attention fell on my wife. She was in a pair of faded blue jeans and an old Tonight Show hoodie. Her hair was in a knot on top of her head and even though my father had told me whatever medication they gave her last night put her to sleep, I could see the exhaustion on her face. It was quickly replaced by guilt flooding her pretty brown eyes.

"She asked us not to call him," my mother hissed at my father.

"If my wife was in the hospital, I would want to know."

"Will you please go, then? Whitney will be waiting for you," Bella sighed.

My parents nodded, both giving Bella a hug before heading my direction. I gave my father a nod as he squeezed my shoulder. My mother stopped to press a kiss to my cheek. "She didn't want you to worry about her."

I sighed as they left, looking back toward my wife. My beautiful, selfless, stubborn wife. "Are you ready to go?"

Bella nodded, pulling her tote over her shoulder and grabbing what I assumed were discharge papers off of the bed. "Yes."

I nodded, pulling the bag off of her shoulder once she was close enough and blocking her path as she tried to walk passed me. I lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to meet mine. "Are you alright?"

Her lips pressed together, guilt flooding her eyes again. "I'm okay."

I pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead and stepped aside, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. It was a quick walk down to the parking garage where my driver was still waiting. I nodded toward the papers still in her hand as he navigated the busy New York City roads.

"Are those your discharge papers?"

"Oh, yeah," Bella sighed, handing them to me.

Patient admitted with severe abdominal pain and vomiting.

Ultrasound showed fluid around ovary signaling ruptured ovarian cyst.

Secondary ultrasound performed following morning showed cyst and fluid had subsided.

Patient discharged with instructions to limit physical activity for the next forty-eight hours.

By the time I had skimmed through all of the notes we were pulling up to her hotel. A place more extravagant than where we usually stayed, because my parents' taste was far more lavish than my own. Bella tugged me toward the elevator and then down the hall to her room, digging through her bag for her key.

The suite was beautiful, opening up to a decent sized sitting area to the left and a kitchenette and dining table to the right. A hall led past the kitchen to what I would have guessed was the bedroom.

I set Bella's bag down on the couch closest to me. When I turned back toward her, she was anxiously chewing her bottom lip and frowning over at me. "You're mad."

I sighed, leaning against the back of the soft grey couch. I crossed my arms, mostly to give myself a moment to sort my own thoughts out. "Yes. But not for the reasons you probably think I am." Bella's frown deepened so I continued. "You should have called me, Bella. You know—you know—that I wouldn't have been upset. Christ, I — "

"I know," she interrupted quietly. "I know you would have dropped everything and flown across the country without a second thought. But I… I was about to ask Esme to call you yesterday afternoon but I… I didn't want you to have to get another call that I was in the hospital. Not because of my usual reasons, but because I know how hard it was for you last time."

I let out a sigh that seemed to release every tense muscle in my body. The moment my arms fell I had a pretty little brunette burying herself against my chest. I took a deep breath, cringing at the sterile hospital scent that clung to her hair. With a couple fingers under her chin, I lifted her face toward me.

"Getting that call that you were in the hospital, beaten and broken and—" I shook my head, not letting my mind go back to that moment. "That will always be one of the worst moments of my life. But I don't want you to feel like you can't call me if you're ever sick or hurt because of it."

I felt her hesitate, but eventually she nodded. "Okay."

I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

Bella sighed, pressing herself closer. "I love you, too."

"Why don't you go shower and I'll order some food. Any preferences?"

"Pizza," she blurted out immediately, evidently not minding that it wasn't even ten in the morning yet. "With extra cheese."

"Okay," I smiled as she pressed a kiss to my cheek and headed off to shower.

The hotel was quick to accommodate Bella's request, and I had a steaming tray of pizza waiting on the bed for her by the time she came out of the en-suite. She had changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a cotton t-shirt and happily situated herself underneath the comforter and grabbed a slice of pizza.

It wasn't until she had finished her first slice that she spoke. "I've been really stressed. With work, with… everything. And I think it made me revert back to old habits. I've only been able to sleep for a few hours a night the last few weeks and other than that I've been working non-stop. I know I can call you with anything. I'm sorry I didn't call."

"It's okay, Bella."

She shook her head, but didn't argue. "I'm really glad you're here."

For the first time all day, a smile tugged at my lips. "Me too."

A/N: I cannot apologize enough for how long this update took. I have a list of excuses, but the biggest is Covid finally got me and took me down. I'm still not feeling great, but I desperately wanted to give you guys something. I hope you enjoyed this one, and I'll hopefully see you again soon :)