Stand for Love Ch. 02

Adrian could hear a voice but it was faint. He had heard that voice before but he was just too weak to put his hands on it. He couldn't do anything. His body had given up the night before after the pain became too much. Although he was still a bit conscious, it was only a matter of time before he completely gave up. He was already so cold.

"Let me check his pulse." Nicholas suggested, laying his head on Adrian's chest. He got relieved when he felt a weak heartbeat but it was still not assurance enough.

"He needs to go to the hospital." Nicholas hollered. "I must take him to the hospital, now."

Nicholas quickly lifted Adrian in his arms and left the dark room. That was when he saw the state Adrian was in. He had a bloody nose, bloody hand, some bruises and nail marks on his jaws. It was obvious that he had been tortured but for what reason. It was also obvious they had left him to die in that room. Nicholas realized how cruel they were to Adrian. It was so painful to watch.

"Sir, may I come with you?" The guard asked.

Nicholas turned around. "No, I want you to lock that room and make everything in order. I don't want any of them to know that I came here."

Nicholas rushed down the stairs. He was a well built, muscular man so Adrian was not heavy at all. Even if he was, Nicholas would still have rushed down those stairs. He needed to save Adrian no matter what happened. Jake was just a stupid heartless man.

Nicholas rushed out of the house, opened the back door of his car and carefully took Adrian inside. By the time he was done, the guard had already come out of the house looking so sympathetic. Nicholas quickly locked Jake's house and climbed in the car. While the guard opened the gate for him, Nicholas looked behind and saw how pitiful Adrian was looking.

Nicholas had never wished he had a driver like the way he did at that time. Had he had a driver, he would have been holding Adrian in his arms and kissing him the rest of the road but it was up to him to save the love of his life.

"Thank you, I'll definitely award you." Nicholas said to the guard while passing by the gate. The guard waved and Nicholas drove out of the compound like a mad man. He couldn't afford to take any chances because Adrian's life was now in his hands. Whatever he had to do, he had to do it quickly.

Nicholas took out his phone and called a doctor friend. He instructed him that he was gonna come in with a patient and therefore, everything should be ready. He cut the call and drove like a maniac. He was so lucky there was no traffic otherwise it would have been a disaster.

Nicholas' heart raced, missed a bit, his adrenaline even made him to shiver. He was lucky he reached the hospital in an hour's time without any complications and he really hoped that Adrian would soon be saved. He needed to see that boy who smiled so brightly and beautifully.

He needed to see the boy he had fallen in love with, the boy that he had known for three weeks. He didn't even care if he married Jake but all he wanted was for Adrian to be alright.

Nicholas pulled in front of the large hospital and found the doctor and some nurses waiting with a stretcher bed. As soon as they saw him, they rushed to him and got Adrian out of the car.

"What happened to him?" Doctor Phil gasped.

"I think he was beaten and then locked up." Nicholas said his eyes on Adrian. He noticed that the blood on Adrian was dry which meant that they had left him bleeding.

"Quickly, take him inside." Phil instructed. "We need to conduct some exams."

Phil and the nurses rushed inside while Nicholas was left to lock the car. He followed them in, equally running and panicking. He couldn't afford to lose Adrian no matter what happened. Even though he was marrying Jake in the next four days, Adrian would still have a special place deep in his heart.

The nurses rushed Adrian to a room where Nicholas was told to wait outside. He couldn't see a thing.

"Do you think he'll be fine?" Nicholas babbled, still glued to the bed where Adrian was lying.

"I can't say anything," Phil said, touching Nicholas' shoulder to calm him down. "All I can say is that I'll do my best to make sure that he survives."

"Please, do," Nicholas pleaded. "I'm willing to pay any amount you want."

"It's not about the money," Phil chuckled. "But I'll do my best to make sure he's alive."

Phil went inside the room and locked the door. Nicholas didn't know what to think from that time onwards. He was deeply confused and he was panicking. Most of the people that passed by knew who he was and they greeted him but he was not in the mood for greeting.

He felt like his heart was in that room together with Adrian. He knew that he had only met Adrian but he had a strong connection with him, a connection that he had been wanting from Jake but never found it. That poor, servant boy as Jake called him was the only one who affected him like that.

Standing outside that room without any idea of what was going on inside was killing him. Nicholas saw nurses moving in and out of the room, taking in stuffs, injections and many other things. He tried to talk to one but all of them were literally ignoring him.

From the pace that they were moving by, Nicholas knew that it was probably a very critical condition. He was still hoping for the best though. Nothing else mattered at that time than Adrian. Everything else was useless.

It was almost an hour and Nicholas was worried. His heart was beating faster than it had before. His mind was filled with a lot of unprocessed information that needed to be cleared up and his body was cold, too cold.

He was moving about from side to side eagerly waiting for some good news from Doctor Phil. He was one of the best doctors he knew and he trusted Adrian's life to him. Nicholas had never been so scared in his life.

That time Nicholas didn't care who he would marry as long as he saw Adrian alive and kicking. Nothing else mattered at that time than Adrian and his precious life.

After over an hour of impatient waiting, Nicholas began receiving calls from Jake then his mother. He knew the reason they were calling him but he didn't want to talk to anyone. Whatever it was that they wanted to speak to him about could wait.

Adrian was in that room being...only God knows what was done to him. Until, Doctor Phil comes out of that room and gives Nicholas some good news, he was not gonna pick up any calls from neither his fiancée, mother even important clients. They could just go to hell for all he cared.

The waiting was long, emotional and quite on the contrary painful for Nicholas. He was angry, scared, teary, fiery, fuming and at the verge of busting into that room and ask them what the fuck was taking them so long.

After all this, Nicholas promised himself to make Adrian comfortable. Even if he gets married to Jake he would make sure that Adrian lives a comfortable life. He would provide haven to him and probably buy him a house without Jake's knowledge.

After almost 90 minutes of waiting, Nicholas heard the door opening. It was probably one of the nurses and Nicholas was ready to turn around and yell on her to tell him what the fuck was taking them so long.

Nicholas felt relieved when he turned around. He saw the doctor coming out of the room, removing the mask from his nose. He felt relieved but he knew that he had not heard anything yet but he really hoped for the best.

"Thank God," Nicholas gushed, feeling himself run out of breath. "Doctor, tell me, how is he? Did you manage to revive him?"

Phil sighed. "I'll be honest with you." Phil said in a tone that Nicholas disliked. He didn't want to hear anything against his Adrian, nothing. "This case was really bad and we tried all we could to revive him. In the end..."

"What the fuck!" Adrian cursed, angrily grabbing the doctor's shirt. He was fuming and he was ready to punch the doctor for letting Adrian die after making him wait for long.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Phil said, trying to get Nicholas' hands off him but Nicholas was just too strong.

"I thought I could trust you with his life." Nicholas yelled. "But you just proved to me that..."

"Calm down," Phil chuckled. "He's alive. We managed to revive him. His body was just too weak that's all."

"He's..." Nicholas felt a tear run down his cheek. He let go of the doctor and felt like the greatest idiot for attempting to beat someone who has been treating every disease his family had before Noah became a doctor. He didn't care though. As long as Adrian was fine, he was cool.

"I'm truly sorry," Nicholas chuckled excitedly, moving his hands to adjust the doctor's tie. "It's just that I thought...you...well I thought Adrian had died and...I'm truly sorry."

"It's my fault," Phil laughed, tapping Nicholas on the shoulder. "I'll be careful next time especially now that I know how powerful you are."

"I'm sorry," Nicholas chirped. "It's just that the boy and I...anyway, I'm really glad you did this. I knew I could count on you.'

"His body was just too weak from the beating and he was also starved for more than two days," the doctor nodded his head sympathetically. "The beating plus starvation speeded up the rate at which his body lost energy. Had he been brought any later, we would have lost him."

"Yeah," Nicholas said, clenching his fists hard in anger.

"We've connected him to a drip which will be able to give him energy by the time he wakes up." The doctor said sweetly.

"By the way, do you know the reason why he's in that state?"

"No," Adrian muttered. It was all so clear that he was angry. "But I'm glad I was able to find him."

"Yeah," the doctor sighed. "He's a very lucky man."

"Can I see him now?" Nicholas chirped.

"No," the doctor said, putting his arms on his shoulder. "The nurses are cleaning him up since he's kinda bloody and dirty."

"So when can I see him?" Nicholas hollered. "I really, really need to see him as soon as possible,"

"Well, he'll be done in a few minutes." The doctor said. "But there are a few things I want you to do before you can see him."

"I'll do anything for him," Nicholas chirped, eager to see Adrian. "Just tell me what I need to do."

"Well, as you know, his clothes are a bit bloody and dirty." The doctor said. "He'll need a change of clothes after they've cleaned him."

"Done," Nicholas gushed.

"He'll also need clean under wears too."

Nicholas paused but it was what he needed to do. "Done,"

"And before he wakes up..."

"When is he expected to wake up?" Nicholas asked. He was looking forward to the answer.

"I don't know. It depends on how quickly his body responds to the nutrients being given and gets back some energy." The doctor said. "But judging from my own mind, I think he'll probably wake up tomorrow morning or mid-morning."

"Long, but at least he would wake up." Nicholas said.

"Yeah, he'll also need some food." The doctor said. "There is a cafeteria here and they serve the best foods but if you think he'll need other foods then you should also get them."

Nicholas was enthusiastic. He was so happy and he couldn't wait to see Adrian up and kicking. He was really happy but one thing was worrying him though, he didn't know the size of Adrian's clothes or even under wear. He was gonna guess anyway.

Adrian was neither thin nor too fat. He was just average. Nicholas was gonna figure that out at the clothes shop, one of the best in town. Nicholas just figured Adrian needed to be well taken care of starting from that moment.

"Is that all?" Nicholas said, moving him hands sweetly in the air.

"Yeah, for now,"

Nicholas turned to leave. He remembered something and quickly turned back just in time to see Phil still standing there.

"By the way," Adrian gasped, trying to catch his breath. "I need Adrian in the best room you've got. I'll pay any amount."

"Don't worry," The doctor laughed. "Just go and get everything I've told you. Leave the rest to me."

"And oh," Nicholas remembered something. "I don't want my family members to know that I'm here."

"Just go," It seemed like the doctor was getting impatient of him.

Nicholas was just so happy. For a moment he believed that Adrian had run off with a sugar daddy. He was glad Adrian was around and responding better to treatment. He didn't know how he would face Jake though. He had such anger for Jake and his family.

Even though they were getting married in four days, Nicholas was really angry at him. He was gonna marry him anyways despite the fact that he was the same guy who had punished and tried to starve Adrian to death.

Had it not been for that guard, Adrian would have surely died. Nicholas promised to award the guard very handsomely for saving Adrian.

Nicholas quickly rushed out of the office to his car. He knew he had a lot to do especially with the decision to choose the right size for Adrian. He really hoped it would fit him perfectly.

*****

Nicholas came back to the hospital after spending almost two hours choosing the right clothes for Adrian. It was really a difficult decision but he had been lucky he had seen a man who looked the same size as Adrian. Due to his being famous, he had told the man to try on all the clothes that he had bought. They were quite many and all of them were designer skinny jeans, T-shirts and snickers.

For the under wears, he had bought a set of 10 for the size which he was sure would fit Adrian. He had gone to the mall bought cookies, fruits and oh chocolates. He had remembered the first time he had met with Adrian. Adrian had been at the chocolate sections, probably admiring them.

That had been the reason why he had bought a set of 50 chocolates. Chocolates were also Nicholas' all time favorite. He really hoped Adrian would enjoy the food.

"What took you so long?" The doctor asked as soon as he reached outside the room.

"Sorry," Nicholas chuckled. "Had some problems choosing the right clothes,"

"Hmmm, looks like you brought the entire mall here," Phil chuckled.

"Oh, come on Uncle Phil," Nicholas chuckled. "It's just a few stuffs that I bought for him." He really loved his Uncle's sense of humor. Phil was a family friend and had been with them for a long time and hence the reason Nicholas called him uncle.

"By the way, has he...been moved?"

"No," Phil sighed. "We were waiting for the clothes."

"Oh," Nicholas chuckled, putting the bags down.

He took out a black skinny jean, blue t-shirt and green boxer brief. He gave them to Phil.

"I think this will fit him perfectly." Nicholas said softly.

Phil got all the stuff. "Would you rather put them on him?"

"No," Nicholas felt embarrassed at the way he said that. He was really embarrassed.

He watched Phil laughing and going inside the room. Nicholas really loved Phil. Phil was 45, married with three kids but he was a great person to be around and his wife was also a darling.

It was only a matter of time before he got to see the face of the boy who drove him insane with love. Nicholas stood there and waited for some time before Phil came out.

"Done," Phil said. "But you are gonna have to wait until we transfer him."

Nicholas nodded and he saw the door opening and a stretcher bed moving out. There lay Adrian, his hair tied and looking so clean and handsome in the clothes Nicholas had bought for him. He was really looking sexy even in sleep.

There was a drip connected to his arm. Though it seemed simple, that thing was responsible for giving Adrian energy and getting him back to his feet. It was what he needed for him to survive and after he wakes up, Nicholas was gonna be the happiest guy on earth.

"Go," Phil signaled to Nicholas who seemed to be glued to the boy on the bed. "I'll send this stuff to the room."

"Thanks," Nicholas whispered and followed the nurses as they drove the stretcher bed. He took Adrian's hand and held it into his, following wherever the nurses drove the bed.

For the first time since Nicholas had brought Adrian to that hospital he felt life in Adrian's body. His hand was warm and he swore he felt the heart beating to. That was really a good sign. He was no doctor but he could tell that Adrian was doing great.

If only he could wake him up with a kiss like sleeping beauty. Oh, it would be great being the prince while Adrian was sleeping beauty, well, actually, sleeping handsome.

After a few minutes, they reached a room which the nurses opened and man was it beautiful. It had a cozy environment, huge TV, huge bed, huge refrigerator, a cupboard, huge bathroom, Ac and anything else luxurious. It was really beautiful and it was all for Adrian.

"Do you like it, Mr. Miller?" One of the nurses asked.

"It will do," Nicholas said as he took a quick scan of the room.

For a moment, Nicholas thought he was not in the hospital. It was really a luxurious hospital and expensive too. Normally, he would have taken Adrian to Noah's multimillion hospital but he couldn't take the risk of Jake finding out Adrian was alive.

Nicholas carefully watched as the nurses took Adrian out of the stretcher and laid him on the comfy double bed. Nicholas smiled now that he knew that Adrian was comfortable.

His stuff was brought to the room and so did doctor Phil who checked on Adrian and assured Nicholas that Adrian was absolutely alright and responding to treatment. Phil told Nicholas that if he needed him, there was a phone in the room. His office line was directly linked. Just press 9.

Nicholas was left all alone in the room with Adrian. Finally he had a moment alone with Adrian.

Nicholas grabbed a small chair besides the bed and sat on it, holding Adrian's hand sweetly. He brought it closer to his face and kissed on it as sweetly as he could. He kept on kissing it.

Nicholas got up, kissed Adrian on the forehead and also on the mouth. Though it was not a French kiss, it was still sweet and passionate. He moved back to his chair and had his way with Adrian's hand. He could kiss that sweet, lovely hand till the end of time if he had to.

He didn't know if that was the only moment he would have with Adrian because he didn't know Adrian's reaction when he wakes up. He was probably gonna be cold and resentful.

"Why I can't I seem to forget you." Nicholas whispered. "I have known you for only three weeks but it feels like my life is with you. I...I just wish you were the one I was marrying instead of the guy who tried to kill you. If I had my way, I would make sure that you are the one I take to the aisle.

You've probably suffered a lot in the two years you've lived with them but I promise to change your life if you let me. Even though I'll be married to someone else, I'll always love you."

Nicholas brought Adrian's hand closer to his face and kissed it. He passed his hands through Adrian's hair and smiled. Adrian was breathing normally again what was left was for him to wake up and live his life to the fullest again but this time it was gonna be different.

Nicholas was gonna make sure Adrian lives a comfy life even sending him to the best universities if he has to. It was all gonna be for Adrian because Nicholas was that rich. Although he was not among the top ten rich men in the country, he was still one of the richest.

Nicholas stared at Adrian's handsome face till late. It was only after 11.pm that he felt sleepy and he slept after giving Adrian a beautiful and sensual kiss. Nicholas slept, holding Adrian's hand and getting eager to see him finally awake the next day.

****

Nicholas suddenly woke up when he felt someone entering the room. It was like he was half asleep and half awake.

It was just a nurse that came to change Adrian's drip. He apologized for waking Nicholas but it was his job and Nicholas was glad Adrian's drip had been changed. It was the third since he had been brought to the hospital and judging from the way Adrian was looking, it was not long before he finally woke up.