Husband With Benefits
Chapter 652: The Answers

Chapter 652: The Answers

The moment his eyes snapped open, Gabe looked around frantically. "Autumn?" he called out, his voice raspy but urgent. Autumn, standing beside the bed, squeezed his hand. "I’m here, Gabe. I’m right here."

Relief washed over his face as he met her eyes. "You’re safe. Thank God."

"I think she should be the one saying that dialogue," Ian muttered, making Gabe look around lethargically to see all his brothers scattered around the room.

"Why are you all here?"

"To see the sleeping beauty, of course. Now that he has finally woken up," Ian replied with a grin.

"What do you mean finally?" Gabe asked with a frown.

Demetri jumped in, "You’ve been catching up on your sleep for the last four days now."

Gabe blinked, trying to process the information. "Four days? What happened?"

Seb shook his head dramatically. "What do you think happened? Some witch brought a spindle, you touched it, and then... You were in an accident, Gabe. You were out cold due to swelling in your brain. So, did the entire swelling go down, and your brain is back to its original pea size, or is there some hope for it?"

Everyone chuckled while Erasmi shook his head. "Shut up, Seb. Don’t tease him. His brain is bigger than a pea. It’s almost as large as a peanut."

Gabe chuckled, then winced as he felt a stiff pain in his side, making Autumn frown. After sucking in a sharp breath at the pain, Gabe slowly let out the air and then asked softly, "Gregory?"

Ian scoffed," Gosh! Th doctor did say he might lose some senses! But really, he’s lost them all! Do I look like that rat Gregory to you, Gabe?"

Gabe smiled at Ian’s attempt at humor but then cast a worried look at Demetri.

His brothers exchanged glances before Demetri explained, "Don’t worry. He won’t bother you anymore. Autumn took care of him... with a trash can."

Gabe’s eyes widened in surprise. "A trash can?"

Autumn shrugged nonchalantly. "It was handy, and he wasn’t."

Before Gabe could ask more questions, Erasmi chimed in, "A lot of things happened, Gabe. We’ll let Autumn fill you in later. For now, just rest and focus on getting well soon, okay? Just know that there is nothing threatening you now..."

"Unless we count his own lack of IQ, which is always a threat to be honest," added Seb, stepping forward to hug his brother gently. "I’m just glad you’re back, Gabby."

It was only a matter of time before Gabe was ’accosted’ by each of his brothers, realizing just how worried they’d been despite downplaying the entire thing.

"What happened to your arm?" Gabe asked Lucien as he came to hug him.

"Lucy was jealous and wanted to get bandages like yours. So he used some clever tricks," Seb answered, prompting Lucien to threaten, "You better stay quiet! I have a score to settle with you as it is!"

"Hey! Shut up..."

Slowly, everyone stepped back and left the room, leaving only Autumn and Gabe. Gabe tightened his hold on her hand. If his brothers had been this worried, he could only imagine the toll it had taken on her. He was about to pull her close when the doctor entered.

Throughout the time he was being checked, Gabe kept an eye on Autumn, something about her demeanor bothering him. As soon as the doctors left, Gabe, already tired, called Autumn to his side. He saw her hesitate and felt a chill, but in the next moment, as she sat by his side, taking his hand in hers, everything felt right again.

"Tell me what happened."

Autumn looked down at their joined hands and sighed. "A lot of things... Elena is dead."

Gabe stilled. "What did you say?"

Autumn sighed. "Elena...After you left and were in the accident, she had a falling out with Gregory. He was enraged and hit her on the head, and she was injured. Later, she died in the hospital from internal injuries..."

As she began, everything came tumbling out. She explained how Officer Humphrey had rescued and saved him, demanding that Savoy be dealt with, to how Lucien had replaced him in the entire scenario, cooperating with the police to bring down an entire chain of traffickers. She revealed that the woman pretending to be Savoy’s fiancée was actually one of the most wanted criminals.

"Lucien?" Gabe asked, cursing. " The idiot! What was he thinking?"

"I guess he was thinking about saving you." Autumn said wryly.

Gabe closed his eyes, absorbing the information. "And Gregory? and the woman?"

"Locked up. Facing charges for a laundry list of crimes," Autumn said, her voice steady but filled with emotion.

Gabe squeezed her hand. "And you? You’ve been through hell. Hmm?"

Autumn managed a small smile, but Gabe could see the exhaustion in her eyes. "We’ve all been through hell, Gabe. It wasn’t easy, but we got through it."

Gabe’s expression softened as he studied her face. "You look like you haven’t slept in days," he said gently. "Have you been here the whole time?"

Autumn nodded. "I couldn’t leave you, Gabe. Not after everything that happened. I needed to be here when you woke up." Her voice almost broke at the end and the need to comfort her was overwhelming.

"Come here, Autumn. Come lie next to me."

Autumn looked up at him then,"No.. I... You’re a patient..."

"And I just need you to lie next to me. Come on, we’re lucky that I am in a VIP room so that the bed is wider. Come on. You can lie next to me. I need to hold you, Autumn." She looked at him then, as if searching his eyes for some answers.

But instead of coming to lie next to him, she went back and picked up the diary, bringing it to him," This... It was in the car when you were in the accident. The police gave returned it."

Gabe took the diary from her hand and then casually placed it on the table next to the bed. " Okay. Now come here. I need to hold you, Autumn."

Autumn cast a glance at the diary and then his extended hand. Did he not want to read it? Then should she confess that she’d read the diary.. But ultimately, she said nothing and slowly got into the bed, carefully lying next to him and closing her eyes... He was back with her... and that was all that mattered.

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