Chapter 63: Unusual Guest [I]

Queen Jane studied Basil for another moment before finally leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss against his temple. "Good. Because I’m holding you to that promise." She straightened and turned toward the bed, approaching Darius quietly. For a moment, she stood beside him, watching his chest rise and fall beneath the sheets while the machines continued their steady rhythm around him.

Then she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his temple, her expression filled with quiet worry and affection. She lingered for another second before straightening and looking back at Basil. "Please, do take care of yourself tonight. I’ll be back first thing in the morning with fresh food and a change of clothes for you."

Basil gave her a tired but genuine smile. "Thank you, Mother. It’s okay. Good night."

"Good night, my dear." The queen gave him one last concerned look before walking toward the door. She opened it quietly, then glanced back at him and Darius one final time before stepping out and gently closing the door behind her.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind Queen Jane, Basil turned back toward the bed, his demeanor instantly shifting as the faint, reassuring smile vanished from his face. His fingers tightened around Darius’s limp hand, wrapping both of his hands around the cold fingers. For a long moment, Basil simply stared at him, his thumbs slowly brushing over Darius’s knuckles as the same painful thoughts that had haunted him for the past month began creeping back in.

Ever since the accident, a crushing weight of guilt had been eating away at him from the inside out. No matter how many times the queen and king tried to reassure him and tell him that he couldn’t have known what was going to happen, he couldn’t make himself believe it. He should have known. He should not have taken things so seriously that day.

He should have understood that Darius had only been teasing him. He shouldn’t have lost his temper and walked out of the room alone. If he had just stayed, if the two of them had walked out together, none of this would have happened. The thought had replayed in his mind so many times that he had lost count, each version ending with him imagining a different way he could have avoided the accident, thinking of all the things he could have done differently, yet none of them ever gave him an answer for how he could make Darius wake up from this coma.

He stared at his brother’s sunken face, wondering if Darius would ever forgive him if he pulled through. That question hurt more than he wanted to admit. He didn’t know what Darius would say if he weren’t in a coma, whether he would blame him too, laugh it off, or simply tell him that none of it had been his fault. Basil didn’t know. He had never gotten the chance to find out. And that was why he wanted Darius to wake up so badly. He wanted the chance to apologize properly. He wanted to look him in the eyes and ask for forgiveness instead of spending another day talking and crying beside a man who couldn’t answer him.

But somewhere during those endless days and sleepless nights, Basil had been forced to confront another truth, one he had never expected to find in himself. Somewhere between sitting beside Darius’s bed, watching his chest rise and fall, remembering their brief conversations, and realizing how desperately he wanted to hear that irritating voice again, Basil had finally understood what he felt for him. It wasn’t simply guilt. It wasn’t only concern for someone he had come to accept as his brother. There was an attraction there, something real that had quietly taken root before he even realized it was happening.

That realization still confused him. He barely knew Darius. They had only spent a short time together before the accident, and most of that time had been colored by the strange circumstances of being forced into each other’s lives as brothers. Basil had spent most of his life being attracted to women, never once questioning that part of himself, so realizing that he had developed feelings for a man he barely knew left him with more questions than answers. He didn’t know what Darius would think about it, and he wasn’t even sure he would ever tell him. Perhaps he would keep it buried forever. Maybe it was better that way.

What hurt most was the timing. He had only just begun to understand what Darius meant to him, only just begun to recognize the feelings that had been growing in him through all the irritation and unexpected moments they had shared, and then Darius had been taken from him before he could figure out what those feelings meant. They hadn’t even been given enough time to understand what they were becoming. They barely had two days to get to know each other before everything changed, and now Basil was left trying to make sense of feelings that had become painfully clear only after Darius could no longer wake up and hear them.

He couldn’t help wondering how Darius would react if he ever found out. Basil could already imagine that irritating grin spreading across his face, followed by some unbearable teasing that would probably make Basil regret ever admitting it. A faint, almost reluctant smile tugged at Basil’s lips at the thought. "I bet you’ll laugh your head off if you ever find out," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

Basil squeezed the cold hand in his again, his grip tightening as he leaned his forehead against the side of the mattress. He didn’t know what the future would look like if Darius woke up, and he didn’t know whether Darius would ever feel anything close to what he had begun feeling for him. He only knew one thing. If Darius opened his eyes, Basil would spend the rest of his life making up for what he believed he had done to him. He would give him all the time he should have had, all the apologies he owed him, and everything he could possibly do to make sure Darius never doubted how much he mattered to him. He just needed him to wake up first.

"I’m really sorry, Darius," he whispered, his voice trembling in the quiet room over the steady rhythm of the heart monitor. "Please wake up already. Just wake up and look at me. I miss you so much. I’m so sorry for what happened that day." His thumb resumed moving slowly across the back of Darius’s hand, and a tear slipped down his cheek. He lowered his head until his forehead nearly touched their joined hands.

"Just wake up and tease me, annoy me, do whatever you want. I promise I won’t ever complain again. I’ll let you get away with all your nonsense. I just want to start making it up to you, for what I stole from you and for being a brat toward you. I’m so sorry, Darius."

The words finally broke something inside him.

A choked sob escaped his throat before he could stop it. His shoulders trembled, and more tears spilled down his face, dripping onto their joined hands. No matter how hard he tried to hold himself together, sitting beside Darius’s bed always made it impossible. The sight of Darius lying there, motionless and unresponsive, was enough to break through whatever fragile control Basil managed to maintain. He sniffed and quickly wiped his tears away with the back of his hand, trying to compose himself.

Just as he managed to compose himself, the door suddenly opened, and his head snapped toward it. His brows drew together as he watched two men step into the room, both of them looking so completely out of place in the sterile private ICU that his suspicion sharpened instantly.

The first man was dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, the jacket fitted neatly across his broad shoulders, a crisp white shirt visible beneath it, and polished dress shoes that clicked softly against the hospital floor. But the bold silver chain resting around his neck gave the otherwise refined outfit a faint edge of danger.

A faint scar ran along his jawline, drawing attention to sharp, striking features that made him look less like a businessman and more like someone accustomed to living on the wrong side of the law. He looked like someone who belonged in a high-stakes criminal meeting or an exclusive underground club, not standing inside a private hospital room. What someone like that was doing in Darius’s private suite, was beyond Basil.