31. Chase
Asteady beeping, a drip, the scrape of a chair, the cold of hands on my bare skin, my senses came back to life one by one. The memories of what happened slowly crawled back to me before pulverizing my mind in a crushing grip. My body felt thick as I shot up in a bed, covered in a scratchy shock blanket in a white room with the news playing softly on a TV in the corner.
“The hero of that night stays in critical condition at Allegheny General,” the reporter”s voice spoke professionally, “All suspects were deceased on the scene.”
My arm roared as I clutched the limb in my lap, cradling it against my body as the burning sensation throbbed. Fuck, I was in so much pain. My consciousness threatened to take me back under.
Emma, I needed to see her, I needed to know she was alive.
I needed to know I hadn’t failed her.
My eyes adjusted to the brightness, followed by a sharp gasp.
I turned to the doorway, where my sweet kitten stood, a tray of food and coffee in her hands that tumbled to the floor the moment our eyes locked.
Words were futile as she threw herself into my arms, my body convulsed with pain but having her against me was worth every ounce of it. She shook in my grasp as tears wracked her body.
“God I thought,” she sniffed, her tears leaving wet spots on my chest, “I lost you forever, I thought you were gone.”
I stroked up and down her back with my good arm, the one with the IV lodged painfully in the back of my hand. The other, shook under the weight of my body, the threat of it giving out was imminent. She shifted her position.
“I’m sorry,” she wiped her nose on the back of her arm, and she never looked more beautiful to me.
My tongue was sandpaper in my mouth. My lips cracked as they stretched into what I hoped was a smile.
“You probably desperately need some of this,” she quickly thrusted a cup of cold water to me that I sucked down immediately. The cooling sensation reached all the way down to my empty stomach settling there.
I let out a sigh and laid back against the pillows admiring the woman I would do anything for.
“Chase,” her voice floated towards me. I made eye contact with her all of a sudden feeling exhausted, simply just leaning up in the hospital bed wore me out.
“I love you.”