5 Watching Over Her

"Hello?" Sean growled into the phone.

"Who is this?" he heard a woman's voice say. "Where is Emma? Who are you?" The voice got higher and shriller with each question. Hearing a woman's voice, Sean started to calm down.

"This is Sean Forrest. I am with Emma at the First Hospital. She was in a car accident and is still asleep right now."

"Oh my god! She's what?! I'm heading there right now!" The phone clicked and Sean put the phone down. He held her hand again, praying to any god that she would wake up soon.

--

Mina ran into the hospital and asked the receptionist where Emma was. After being directed to her room, Mina burst in and saw a man holding her cousin's hand. She blinked at him and he looked at her back. She hadn't really registered his name at the time, but staring at this man's face, her face paled. She took a breath and stepped forward asking him directly, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for Emma," he replied shortly.

"Well now I'm here. You need to leave." Mina's voice shook.

"No, I'm not leaving her again," he said stubbornly. His hand tenderly touched her bruised face.

"She won't want you here," Mina tried again. Sean still refused to leave and continued to sit silently next to Emma's bed. Sighing, Mina pulled up another chair next to Emma and asked him to tell her what happened. She knew of Sean Forrest, and knew how dominating he could be in both the courtroom and the boardroom. But she also remembered Emma's stories, of him being the only guy she had ever loved and how she had left him in high school. Conflicted, she felt pity towards this man who obviously still loved her cousin but had to watch her like this. Sean told her the short version of the accident, and they decided to take turns watching her during visiting hours. Mina put her impending marriage to the backburner, knowing her cousin needed her right now.

--

A few days passed and Emma had still not yet woken up. Sean called in sick at work and refused to leave her side until Mina came. Then he would go home, take a shower and a quick nap, then hurry back to Emma's side. While they waited for Emma, Mina told him why she had been at the hotel in the first place and how Emma had been trying to help her with her romantic life. Turned out, Roland was only interested in dating her for her money and once he found out she would lose it if she chose him, he ran off. So she was even more heartbroken after thinking she had found the love of her life. Thankfully, after his meeting with Emma, Steven Ward had refused to marry her and her father had gotten so angry he refused to set up any more marriage interviews in case she ruined any more business relationships. So she had bought some time to convince her father to allow her to choose her own husband. But her concern for her sister Amy was still there as she knew her parents were worried about treatment costs for the chemotherapy and radiation. Her parents had not made great financial investments in the past couple of years and her father was attempting to build up his company so that he could persuade their grandmother, the matriarch of the family, to pass on most of the family businesses to him once she passed. He was stubborn about any losses, even at the cost of his youngest daughter. Right now, both her and Emma's fathers were contending for this position, but because Emma refused to claim any part of the business and Mina knew she was being used as a bargaining chip, their relationship had never been affected.

Sean had never known how close Emma and Mina were until now and tried to ask if Mina knew why Emma had left so suddenly after high school, but Mina knew that was not her secret to tell. She fell silent and refused to talk about it. Jace would also stop by every now and then to see how his brother and Emma were doing. He could never have expected such a sudden accident to happen to Emma, so he decided to help his brother on the company side of things at the very least.

After a week had gone by, nothing seemed to change. Sean was sitting by Emma's side as usual, peeling mandarin oranges while Jace was giving him updates on how the company was doing.

"So stock prices are falling slightly due to your absence, but the overall state of the company is stable and the same. The board is getting a little antsy so Father is trying to step in to calm them. But he can only do this for so long. The board is demanding your presence and also the law firm called again and asked when you would be returning. Apparently one of your cases is going to trial soon and they need you back to lead the team."

Sean just nodded his head. "I'll handle it."

Jace patted his brother on the shoulder solemnly. "Everything will work out. We just need to be a little patient." Sean gently put his hand on top of Jace's and let his younger brother's sincere words wash over him. He sighed and looked at Jace. "I know."