The Room Spins
My knees buckled. I collapsed onto the floor, shaking uncontrollably. Alexander's voice instantly lost its cold edge. “What happened?” I couldn't answer. Because the paralyzed billionaire I had been hired to bathe, the one with the crescent moon birthmark and the old chain, was a man I thought I'd never see again.
The room spun around me, and I clung to the cold marble tiles for support. Twenty years ago, a violent storm. A promise. A man who vanished without a trace. And a secret I'd buried so deeply that I'd convinced myself it had died with the past.
Alexander tried to reach for me, but his hands only twitched uselessly. “Ms. Carter, are you okay?” I could barely hear him over the pounding in my head. I forced myself to breathe, to steady my racing heart. This was my job now. I had to be strong.
I managed to stand, my legs still shaky. “I’m fine. I just... I need a moment.” I took a deep breath and looked at him. His eyes were filled with concern, but there was something else there too—a glimmer of recognition, maybe?
“Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked, his voice hesitant.
“I don’t think so,” I lied, trying to regain my composure. I had to push the past aside and focus on the present. My children needed me to be strong.
I finished unbuttoning his shirt and helped him into the bathtub, my hands still trembling. The water was warm, and I poured in some lavender-scented bubbles to mask the tension. Alexander didn’t say another word, and I was grateful for the silence.
After the bath, I helped him back into his chair and dressed him. Each touch, each movement, brought back fragments of a life I thought I’d left behind. But I couldn’t afford to dwell on it. Not now.
“Thank you,” Alexander said, his voice softer. “I’ve had better days.”
I nodded, trying to keep my expression neutral. “We all have those days.”
But inside, I was a mess. I needed to figure out what to do. I couldn’t let my past unravel and put my children at risk.
The First Week
The first week was a blur. I went through the motions, bathing Alexander, administering his medication, and making sure he was comfortable. But my mind was elsewhere. I kept replaying the moment I saw that birthmark, that chain. It was like a punch in the gut, a reminder of a life I thought I had left behind forever.
At night, I would sit by Ethan’s bedside, watching him sleep. His fever had broken, but the damage had been done. The memory of his shivering form, the desperation in his voice, haunted me. I couldn’t let anything else happen to him or Lily.
One evening, as I was leaving Alexander’s room, Mrs. Wilson stopped me. “How are you settling in?” she asked, her eyes sharp.
“It’s... different,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “But I’m doing my best.”
“Good,” she replied. “Mr. Bennett can be... challenging. But he’s a good man, deep down.”
I nodded, not sure what to say. I had seen glimpses of that good man, the moments when his cold facade would crack. But I didn’t know what to make of it.
“If you need anything, just let me know,” Mrs. Wilson added, her tone softer. “We’re all here to help.”
I thanked her and continued down the hallway, my mind racing. I needed to find a way to confront Alexander, to understand what was going on. But I couldn’t do it without putting my family at risk.
That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. The pieces of the puzzle didn’t fit, and the more I tried to make sense of it, the more confused I became.
