Chapter 23 Connor
Connor
Imust have fallen asleep waiting for Dane to come back.
The next time I open my eyes, there’s drool on my chin and a brunette head on my stomach.
For the longest time, I stare at Dane’s black lashes and watch how his lids twitch with signs of dreaming.
He pouts when he sleeps, or maybe it’s just this time.
If not for his hand molded around my arm, holding it in place, I’d push his curly-q’s back and free his sun-kissed forehead. Instead, I run my thumb across the nearest patch of Dane’s arm, hoping this small touch will be enough to keep his dreams from turning to nightmares.
Even sleeping, even pouty, even bathed in harsh white tube lighting, he really is beautiful.
I think he knows how beautiful he is on the outside, but he doesn’t know half the beauty that makes up his soul.
He might not agree that he saved me today, but I can’t think of another person who would literally carry me if it meant getting me help a minute quicker.
The door slides open, and the curtain rattles back along its track.
My nurse slips in, checking the beeping monitor beside me before peeling the oxygen mask off my face.
She glances between me and the boy folded over my body, resting soundlessly on top of me.
She smiles like we’re twins in a crib and whispers, “Your brother loves you something fierce.”
My thumb stills against Dane’s elbow, my heart pattering a disjointed rhythm while my lungs adjust to the hospital air.
“I love him too,” I quietly admit. “He’s not actually my brother, though. He’s my boyfriend.”
The way the nurse smiles amplifies the warmth spreading through me, battling the cold current of saline running through my veins.
When she exits, the pop and stick of the door shutting behind her is what finally stirs Dane enough to wake him. He grumbles, lifts his head, and moves his hand from my arm to rub the corner of his eye.
“Hey,” he says. “Are you okay? How’re you feeling?”
With my hand free, I take his and lock our fingers together, holding it to my chest like a comfort item.
“I’m okay,” I answer, emotion welling up from my overwhelmed heart to make my chin quiver, “but you took a while. I was scared you weren’t gonna come back.”
His lips seal as he swallows hard, pinched brows showing how anxious he is. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long. I went and got your car. It’s here now, so I can drive us back to San Diego once you’re discharged.”
“Thank you.” I lift Dane’s hand to my face and kiss him there before hugging his fist to my cheek. “I’m sorry for being so fragile.”
“You’re not.”
“I thought I was gonna die.” The memory pushes tears from my eyes, dribbling over the bridge of my nose and wetting the starchy hospital pillow. “I kept looking for you. I thought I wasn’t gonna find you.”
“I’m so sorry.” His thumb strokes the moisture into my cheek. “I was never gonna let you die. Never.”
“I just wanna go home,” I cry out of neediness and an antihistamine-daze.
“I’ll drive us back to SD as soon as the doctor lets me. I’ve got some cash, so we can get a hotel room for a few days.”
“I can’t go back there, Dane. I need to go home. I need to see my parents.”
His face pales as he gulps hard. “You mean…Sacramento?”