You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 769

Patricia woke up early and immediately regretted it. She slipped and fell, pain shooting through her knee, so sharp she couldn’t even get up. She called out for Marian, but Marian could only hover helplessly, unsure what to do. So she called Jackson. He showed up, scooped Patricia into his arms, and carried her straight to the hospital.

Winters in Riverdale were brutal, and lately, Patricia had been so caught up handling Tina’s mess that she hadn’t taken care of herself at all. She’d been out in the wind, caught a chill, and her body just gave up on her. Her leg was technically healed, but the old issues refused to disappear so easily.

By the time she left the hospital, Patricia was completely drained. After acupuncture, she endured a long heat therapy session. Marian handled everything with the calm of someone who’d done it all before. Patricia lay in bed, buried under a thick comforter, a medicine pack resting on her knee.

Jackson wandered around the apartment, turning up the underfloor heating until the place was toasty. Then he and Marian laid out rugs everywhere, covering every bit of cold floor. They didn’t finish until late afternoon.

It was almost evening when Patricia finally woke up, groggy and disoriented. She grabbed her phone and noticed a message from Sara, a video link. She clicked it.

It was coverage from the Swiss summit. Oliver, perfectly put together in a custom suit, was at the podium, talking about global economic growth and cooperation. So that’s where he was. Off at a conference.

Patricia quickly searched for the summit dates. It would be over on the 25th. Two more days. She opened her chat with Oliver. The last message was from the night they argued, when he’d asked when she’d be home. Nothing since then.

Some things are just impossible to label right or wrong, she thought, thinking about Ruby. Every teenager wants to keep up with their friends. Being born into a family without much money wasn’t Ruby’s fault. Wanting more, being unable to control her desires at that age, wasn’t Ruby’s fault either. But somehow, all those things that weren’t really her fault ended up pushing her into decisions Patricia just couldn’t forgive.

Thursday morning, Patricia walked into her office and immediately called in the legal and finance teams.

Marian came over, cheerful as ever. “Welcome home, Miss. Johns stopped by around lunchtime with a crew. He said the boss wanted to make sure your leg wouldn’t be cold, so they put in new carpets everywhere. Johns also said the boss isn’t staying away on purpose, he’s just busy with work overseas. If you don’t believe it, you can check online. It’s all there.”

“I know,” Patricia replied quietly.

“Don’t let it get to you, Miss. Let’s just focus on getting you better. When he’s back, the two of you can talk it all out.”

Patricia thought, when she was at Cloud Peak, things never felt this complicated.