Chapter 202: Is She Really Safe?
The morning sunlight streamed through the hospital room windows, lighting up the plain white walls with a soft glow.
Liam leaned against the door, arms crossed, as Dr. Morrison took one last look at Ayla’s chart.
Ayla was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, wearing the comfy leggings and oversized sweater Liam had brought her earlier.
Her dark hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and while she looked better than she did two days ago, there was still a certain fragility to her that made Liam want to protect her.
"Mr. Ashford," Dr. Morrison said, glancing up from the chart with a concerned but professional expression. "I need to check on Ms. Monroe one more time before we go over her discharge."
Liam nodded and stepped aside to give the doctor space.
Dr. Morrison moved toward Ayla with practiced efficiency, pulling out his stethoscope. "Take a deep breath for me, Ayla."
She inhaled while he listened closely to her lungs, then her heartbeat. He took her blood pressure, checked her reflexes, and shined a light in her eyes to check her pupils.
"Feeling any dizziness this morning?" he asked.
"A bit when I first got up," Ayla admitted. "But it went away pretty fast."
"Any headaches?"
"Nope."
"Nausea?"
"No, I’m fine. Seriously." There was a stubborn edge to her voice that Liam knew well.
Dr. Morrison made a few notes before setting the chart down with a sigh. "Alright. Physically, you’re getting better. Your vitals are stable, blood pressure has improved since yesterday, and the IV fluids have really helped with the dehydration."
"So she can go home?" Liam asked, his voice a mix of hope and caution.
The doctor turned to face him completely. "She can leave, yes. But—" he raised a hand as Ayla’s face brightened, "there are some conditions. Important ones."
"I’m all ears," Liam said, focused.
Dr. Morrison got serious. "Ayla isn’t fully okay. Her body has dealt with a lot of trauma and stress. What we’re seeing is extreme exhaustion, both physically and emotionally. Another shock like the one that brought her here could be really dangerous."
"How dangerous?" Liam asked quietly, keeping it together.
"Dangerous enough that I’m not totally comfortable discharging her," the doctor said honestly. "But she’s an adult and wants to leave. So if you plan to take responsibility for her care—"
"I am—" Liam interrupted.
"Listen up: no stress at all. Even a little bit of tension or anxiety, which would usually be easy to handle, could cause another collapse. Your nervous system is pretty fragile right now. You need rest, good food, a low-stress environment, and constant monitoring for at least the next week," he said to Ayla.
Ayla was about to argue. "I’m not that fragile—"
"You are," Liam and Dr. Morrison said at the same time.
The doctor kept going, "You need to stick to bed rest for at least three days. After that, you can only do light activities, no heavy workouts, no intense studying, and nothing that might raise your stress levels. I’m prescribing some supplements, and you should check in with your regular doctor in five days."
He handed Liam a bunch of papers with discharge instructions, prescriptions, and signs to keep an eye out for.
"If she shows any of these symptoms," Dr. Morrison said, tapping the list, "you need to bring her back right away. That includes dizziness that won’t go away, really bad headaches, chest pain, trouble breathing, extreme tiredness, any of that. Got it?"
"Got it," Liam responded, taking the papers.
"And one last thing," the doctor said, looking between them. "Whatever’s stressing her out, you need to get rid of it or find a better way to deal with it. The body can only take so much before it breaks down. She’s lucky this was just exhaustion and not something worse."
Ayla looked down at her hands, guilt flashing across her face.
Liam gently squeezed her shoulder. "We’ll figure it out. I promise."
Dr. Morrison nodded as he signed the discharge papers. "Okay, you’re all set. Take care of yourself, Ayla."
After the doctor left, Liam pulled out his phone and scrolled to Aylin’s contact. He hit call and switched it to speaker as he helped Ayla grab her stuff.
Aylin picked up on the second ring. "Liam? How is she?"
"Getting discharged," Liam said, watching Ayla put on her shoes.
"Why?" Aylin’s voice sharpened with concern. "She’s not better yet."
"Yeah, I know," Liam sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But she wants to leave, and the doctor thinks she’s stable enough as long as she sticks to strict rest rules. So, I got the discharge."
There was a pause before Zayden’s voice came through the speaker. "You’re on speaker, Liam. What did the doctor say exactly?"
Liam shared the details, covering the stress warnings, the need for total rest, and the symptoms to watch for.
"That’s serious," Zayden said, sounding really serious. "Ayla, you there?"
"I’m here," Ayla replied, her voice quiet.
"No arguing about taking it easy," Zayden went on. "I don’t care if you think you’re fine or if you get bored. You need to stick to every single thing the doctor said. Got it?"
"Got it," she mumbled.
Aylin jumped in again. "Liam, you’re bringing her to the mansion?"
"That was the plan, unless you think somewhere else would work better."
"No, here works," Zayden said. "We’ve got medical staff on call if needed, security is tight, and Aylin can watch over her."
"About that," Zayden continued, sounding more business-like. "I’m sending extra guards to the hospital. They’ll take you both back here. I don’t want to take any risks."
Liam frowned. "Do you think someone might try something?"
"I believe we’re dealing with people who play dirty," Zayden replied flatly. "Ayla is important to Aylin, which makes her important to me. So yeah, we need extra security."
"Alright. When will they show up?"
"They’re on their way now. Should be there in ten minutes. Four guards; they know the situation."
"Got it."
"Liam," Aylin’s voice softened. "Thanks for taking care of her."
"Always," Liam said simply.
"One more thing," Zayden added. "When you get here, just bring her straight to the east wing. We set up a room for her, quiet, comfy, everything she’ll need."
Ayla’s eyes started to water a bit. "You didn’t have to—"
"Yeah, we did," Aylin cut in gently. "You’re my sister, Ayla. Let me take care of you."
After covering a few more details about meds and meals, they wrapped up the call.
Liam tucked his phone away and turned to Ayla. "Ready?"
She nodded and got up slowly, feeling a bit off balance. Liam was right there to catch her as she swayed a little.
"Told you I’m dizzy," she said quietly.
"And I told you, I’ve got you," he replied, sounding calm and reassuring.
What they didn’t notice was the man sitting in the waiting area further down the hall. He was glued to a newspaper, but his eyes were following it. When Liam pulled out his phone to make a call, the man discreetly grabbed his own phone and aimed the camera to snap a shot.
He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he saw enough to piece things together. The way Liam held Ayla protectively, how careful they were with each other, and that phone call seemed to set up some kind of plan.
As Liam helped Ayla into a wheelchair, following hospital discharge rules, the man quickly typed a message
Target’s boyfriend is securing discharge now. The female patient is stable and being released. Will follow to destination.
He hit send, put his phone away, and stood up to follow them at a distance.
