Chapter 10 - Learning to StaySix months later, Julian stood in his kitchen staring at a pancake.
The bullet had entered beneath his left shoulder and damaged an artery before exiting near his back.
Doctors called the next twelve hours critical.
Rosa sat in the hospital waiting room wearing Julian’s blood on her blouse.
Mia slept curled against her.
Oliver arrived first.
He stopped when he saw Rosa.
“How bad?”
“We don’t know.”
Oliver sat.
For twenty minutes, neither spoke.
Finally, he looked at Mia.
“She okay?”
“Yes.”
“Julian went in after her.”
Rosa nodded.
Oliver covered his face.
“That idiot.”
His voice broke.
Rosa whispered, “He saved her.”
“He’s been saving people his whole life.”
She looked at him.
Oliver laughed bitterly.
“Usually without asking whether they want to be saved.”
Despite everything, Rosa understood.
“My brother raised me,” Oliver continued.
“Our father left. Mom worked nights. Julian was twelve and making my lunches.”
He stared at the floor.
“He used to lie and say he wasn’t hungry so I could eat more.”
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“When he got rich, I thought everything would be easier.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
Oliver smiled sadly.
“Money made him more afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Losing people.”
Rosa looked toward the operating room doors.
“So he stopped needing them.”
“Exactly.”
At three in the morning, Elaine arrived carrying Julian’s laptop, charger and a bag of clothes.
Rosa almost laughed.
“Why the laptop?”
Elaine shrugged.
“If he wakes up, he’ll probably ask about the company before the morphine wears off.”
At four twenty, Rebecca Han arrived.
“Victor and his son are being held.”
Rosa nodded.
“Rourke’s testimony, the warehouse recording and Gabriel’s files make the case extremely strong.”
“Thank you.”
Rebecca looked toward the surgery wing.
“For what it’s worth, Victor’s merger plan is dead.”
Oliver said, “Julian won.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
They looked at her.
“Gabriel won.”
Rebecca smiled.
“Yes.”
At sunrise, the surgeon emerged.
Everyone stood.
“Mr. Mercer is stable.”
Rosa nearly collapsed.
“The next twenty-four hours matter, but the surgery went well.”
Mia woke.
“Can I see him?”
The surgeon smiled gently.
“Soon.”
Julian regained consciousness that afternoon.
His first word was incomprehensible.
His second was “Mia?”
Rosa laughed through tears.
“She’s safe.”
He opened his eyes.
“You?”
“Safe.”
“Salazar?”
“Arrested.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Good.”
Then he opened them again.
“My company?”
Oliver groaned.
“I knew it.”
Even Julian smiled weakly.
Two days later, Mia was allowed into his room.
She approached the bed cautiously.
Julian looked pale and exhausted.
She held something behind her back.
His eyes narrowed.
“I’ve seen this routine before.”
Mia smiled.
Then produced another drawing.
This one showed four stick figures.
Mia.
Rosa.
Julian.
And a man above them in the clouds.
“Who’s that?”
“My daddy.”
Rosa inhaled sharply.
Mia pointed.
“Mommy says he helped us.”
Julian looked at Gabriel’s stick figure.
“Yes.”
“He’s in heaven.”
Julian nodded.
Mia placed the picture on his blanket.
“Now you’re family too.”
Rosa covered her mouth.
Julian looked at her.
Neither spoke.
They did not need to.
After Mia left with Oliver for lunch, Rosa remained.
Julian stared at the ceiling.
“You should probably find another employer.”
She laughed.
“Why?”
“Occupational hazards.”
“You were shot. I was fine.”
“Excellent point.”
Silence settled.
Then Julian said, “Rosa.”
“Elena.”
He looked at her.
“My name.”
She smiled faintly.
“Use Elena.”
He nodded.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know what happens after this.”
“Neither do I.”
“I’m not good at…”
He stopped.
She waited.
“People.”
Elena smiled.
“I noticed.”
He looked offended.
“I’m recovering from a gunshot.”
“And?”
“Usually people are nicer.”
“Usually you’re more pleasant when unconscious.”
Julian laughed, then winced.
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“Then stop saying funny things.”
Their eyes met.
The humor faded.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“I meant what I said.”
“What?”
“About you not being alone.”
Her expression softened.
“You almost died.”
“I know.”
“Does that change anything?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“It makes me tired of waiting.”
“For what?”
“For permission to care about people.”
Elena’s breath caught.
Julian reached for her hand.
She let him take it.
“I care about you.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“And Mia.”
“I know.”
“I’m not trying to replace Gabriel.”
“I know.”
“I’m not asking you for anything.”
“Julian.”
“I’m just telling you.”
Elena squeezed his fingers.
“I care about you too.”
For once, Julian had no reply.
He simply held her hand.
Outside the room, unnoticed, Oliver stood near the doorway.
He had heard enough.
He smiled.
Then walked away.
Three days later, the Mercer Global board reversed Julian’s suspension.
Charles Fenwick was arrested on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction charges.
Victor Salazar and his son faced federal indictments.
Financial markets responded immediately.
Mercer Global’s stock recovered almost everything it had lost.
Journalists called Julian’s return “one of the most dramatic corporate reversals in recent memory.”
But Julian did not return immediately.
Elaine called him from the hospital.
“The board wants to know when you’re coming back.”
Julian looked at Mia asleep in a chair beside his bed.
Elena sat reading near the window.
“Tell them Monday.”
Elaine paused.
“Next Monday?”
“No.”
Julian smiled.
“The one after that.”
Elaine nearly dropped the phone.
“You’re taking a week off?”
“Two.”
“Are you dying?”
“Almost did.”
“Fair.”
When Julian ended the call, Elena stared.
“Two weeks?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
He thought.
“I have absolutely no idea.”
Mia woke suddenly.
“Disney World.”
Julian looked at Elena.
She shrugged.
“You asked.”
And six weeks after nearly dying in a warehouse, Julian Mercer boarded a plane to Florida.
Not his private jet.
A commercial flight.
Mia insisted.
She wanted to see clouds “like normal people.”
Julian complained the entire way.
Elena laughed more than she had in years.
And somewhere over Georgia, Mia fell asleep with her head on Julian’s shoulder.
He looked down at her.
Then across the aisle at Elena.
For the first time since his mother died, Julian felt something he had spent billions trying unsuccessfully to buy.
Peace.
But rebuilding a life would prove harder than surviving a bullet.
May you like
Because love was not a rescue.
And Julian was about to learn that being needed was very different from knowing how to belong.
