Chapter 2

Nathan drove into the Westbrook Intensive Care Hospital, one of the few family-owned hospitals in the country. Madison quickly figured out that it must be his grandfather; that was the only person Nathan ever spoke fondly of. Nathan was in such haste that he forgot to lock the doors of the car and even forgot to turn off the car’s ignition. Well, he had Madison to do it for him.

“Slow down Nathan, you may bump into someone,” Madison told him, but his mind was too worried, so much that he couldn’t hear her.

Mr. Jones stared constantly at the door of his ward. It was as if he was expecting Nathan to walk in through those doors any minute from then. He wasn’t disappointed; Nathan barged into the hospital ward with so much distraught on his face.

“Grandpa,” he said, then paced quickly to the bed and took hold of Mr. Jones’ hand. “What happened to you?” he asked.

“It’s nothing, Nathan. It seems I partied too hard, forgetting I’m already old,” Mr. Jones tried to assure Nathan that he was fine, but Nathan wasn’t convinced. He asked the doctor, who affirmed what Mr. Jones had said.

“There we go. You no longer believe me when I tell you stuff,” Mr. Jones said with a feigned frown.

“I just needed to be sure you weren’t trying to keep anything from me.”

Just then, Madison walked into the room. Mr. Jones was taken aback when he saw her. He felt terrible because he felt he had taken away their right to a memorable honeymoon.

“Madison?” he said.

“How are you feeling, sir?” she asked with utmost sincerity and concern.

“Good, I’m good. It’s just that my back hurts from all that dancing at the wedding party.”

“Those were some killer moves, sir,” Madison had to admit she was impressed with his dancing skills.

“Ha-ha, thank you, darling,” Mr. Jones laughed as if he wasn’t having any aches in his back. Nathan was impressed with how Madison and his grandfather were getting along; it was as if they had known each other longer than they already did.

“I wonder if Nathan dances the way you do,” Madison said, solely just to get Nathan to say something.

“He learned from me, of course,” Nathan projected in his defense.

“I learned from you? You can’t be serious now. You’ve forgotten those days when I taught you how to move those feet?”

The argument went on and on till it reached its climax. Prior to this moment, Madison had never seen Nathan worry about anyone as he did for his grandfather. Her close friend, Lila, always referred to Nathan as ‘Clown Heart.’ Nathan was known in the city of New York as the man with a clown heart, never truly affectionate. Madison must have thought it’d apply to every single person in his life; she was wrong.

“Why don’t you come sit next to your husband,” Mr. Jones said after noticing Madison was lurking around his bed.

“I’m fine standing here…”

“Come on, don’t be shy,” Nathan interrupted Madison before she could complete her statement.

Madison took her place beside Nathan. The way they sat seemed awkward for a newly married couple.

“Come on, young lads, where is the chemistry?” Mr. Jones wanted to see something more than them just sitting close to each other.

“Let’s do it for him,” Nathan whispered in Madison’s ear. Madison relayed a smile, which indicated her approval. Nathan wrapped his hand around Madison’s waist and pulled her closer to him.

“That’s it, my boy, that’s it,” Mr. Jones was pleased now.

Madison felt uneasy being so close to Nathan. The way he gripped her made her wonder if he was playing along or trying to add her to his list of women. When the doctor excused Nathan, she could finally breathe.

“How’s your boy doing?” Mr. Jones asked Madison.

“Mark? He’s fine,” Madison responded.

“I’m sorry I ruined your first night as a couple.”

“You didn’t, sir.”

“Forget ‘sir,’ you can just call me Grandpa,” Mr. Jones said with a smile.

“Alright, Grandpa.”

“Am I missing out on something here?” Nathan asked when he walked in on them during an emotion-packed discussion.

“Your grandfather is just telling me how much of a pain in the ass you can be,” Madison said, trying to stir the jokes.

“Did I?” Mr. Jones asked. “I think I’m too old that I can’t remember what I just said,” he added, laughing.

Laughter erupted in the room, it was as if Mr. Jones had been miraculously healed.

“You two should go home and enjoy yourselves,” Mr. Jones said to Madison and Nathan.

“No, I want to be here till you are discharged.”

“Come on, Nathan, Jeromy can take me home,” Mr. Jones was still trying to reassure his grandson. “He can handle all of this.”

“Seriously? Why then did he call me?”

“Maybe he felt like you should know. How would he have known you’d come running to the hospital?”

“If you’re concerned about our honeymoon, it’s alright. We would rather stay here with you and make sure you’re alright,” Madison proposed. Mr. Jones wasn’t going to let them spend the night of their honeymoon at the hospital. After much persuasion, they gave in to his request. It was a very tiring day for both Madison and Nathan.

As they walked to the car, Nathan said to Madison: “I’ve wired the money to your account as we agreed.”

“Thank you,” Madison replied. “I’ll check at home,” she added.

“Madison!” Nathan called out to her before she could get into the car.

“What?”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

Madison didn’t know Nathan could ever be grateful for anything. Her first night with him had been full of surprises. First, knowing he had a good sense of humor, then knowing he actually had someone he truly cared about, and knowing Nathan could be grateful. She just smiled at Nathan without saying a word.

“Do you want me to get the door for you?” Nathan asked her.

“No,” she replied.

Nathan and Madison got into the car, and then he drove off.