Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Danika
With five minutes left, we are scrambling to find the code to the door.
All the clues lead to this moment where we will find the treasure and win.
As Sydney puts in the code, we cheer as the lock clicks and the door swings open.
Yes! We did it! The lights flash in celebration and we cheer as we go to leave the room.
Arden is behind me again but he’s keeping his distance, has been for the whole second half of the game, but I know what he’s thinking. Because I’m thinking the same thing. How fast can we get home?
The flashing lights blind me momentarily as we head toward the door and I don’t notice a container that we had moved while in our hunt to find the answer to the clues.
“Dani, watch out—” I hear Arden’s voice but it’s too late.
Tripping over the box, I go flying, my head hitting the wall in front of me and my wrist turning at an unnatural angle as I try to catch myself.
I go spiraling toward the ground and pull my hands up to protect my head from the floor, even though I’ve already hit it once. No one needs a double brain injury.
“Ouch,” I say, laying on the floor and mentally assessing the damage. My head hurts, my wrist is twisted, my ego is bruised. I should get up but I can’t shake the feeling of embarrassment. Had to go and eat shit in front of Arden, huh?
Speaking of which, he’s kneeling at my side, a look of absolute horror on his face. From his expression, you’d think I’d died, instead of just gotten a bit banged up.
“Dani, are you okay?”
I go to nod my head but the motion sends a pound of pressure around my skull. Maybe I’m not as good as I think I am. “I hit my head.”
“Yeah, pretty good too.” He goes to put his hand on my head to help support it but hesitates. “Am I allowed to move you?”
I breath out a chuckle, using my good wrist to prop myself up, much to Arden’s horror. “I banged my head. I don’t have a spinal injury.”
“Are you sure though? How can you be sure? You should just stay down—”
I cut him off by using his shoulder to heave myself off the ground. Arden grabs my waist to help me stand steadily.
“Did you hurt anything else? Ankles, knees?”
“My wrist,” I gesture toward my, luckily, left wrist as it hangs limply at my side. I know enough about the human body at this point to know that it’s most likely a small sprain that would need to be wrapped up for a few days. No doctor necessary. “And my pride. That’s a little bruised.”
Arden rolls his eyes. “Oh please, I’ve seen you do way worse.”
“Excuse me?”
Arden shuffles us gently toward the door to the lobby where Margot and Sydney are definitely wondering what the hell happened to us.
“Remember when in high school and you were jumping on our trampoline—”
“Stop.”
“And your leg gave out so you—”
“Please, I’m begging.”
“Your whole body just folded like a beach chair. Oh man, that was hilarious.” Arden is laughing so much right now and all I want to do is shove my elbow into his stomach.
So, I do. But not hard enough to make impact.
Just hard enough for him to lean down from the assault and place a very gentle kiss to my cheek.
We come into the lobby and Arden releases his grip on my waist but moves his arm to around my shoulder instead, keeping a hand on to make sure I don’t keel over from a concussion, I’m sure.
“What happened?” Margot asks, noticing I’m cradling my wrist against my chest and holding a hand to my head.
“I fell down.”
Sydney gasps. “What? Just now?
I nod and the motion increases my headache. “Yep.”
Arden tightens his grip on me. “We should get home so you can lay down and get some ice on these bruises.”
“Okay,” I don’t argue because an excuse to lay down is always welcome. “You guys hanging for a while?”
Margot looks at her watch and then at Sydney. “I have that meeting soon. Should probably get going.” Sydney nods too.
I want to protest. I want them to stay another night or a week or forever. But I understand. We all have lives to get on with. Plus, my head hurts.
We ride back to the apartment in relative silence and I fight the urge to fall asleep but I really would rather tuck into a warm blanket at home. And I need ice for my head and wrist before I do that.
“Hey, stay awake.” Arden says, gripping my hand over the center console. “You might have a concussion.”
“I don’t have a concussion.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I would know if I had a concussion.”
Arden glances at me worryingly but looks back at the road.
He’s being crazy, there’s no way I have a concussion from one bump on the head.
I turn my head to look at the scenery but the rapidly passing trees start to make me dizzy.
Motion sickness. Even though I’ve never had motion sickness in my life.
When we get to the apartment, Margot and Sydney grab their things and I stand by the counter waiting for them. Arden immediately goes to get some ice from the freezer and I’m totally not using the counter to stay standing, that would be crazy.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Danika? You haven’t said a word in fifteen minutes. That has to be a record for you.”
“Ha ha. Funny.” I pull Margot in for a hug, ignoring the way my head spins. Arden comes up behind me and gently places a bag of ice wrapped in cloth on the top of my head. He grabs his sister into a hug and I hold the ice in one hand and hug Sydney in the other.
“Don’t be a stranger, okay? I’m sorry I’ve been busy. I’ll be better,” I tell her but she’s already shaking her head.
“Don’t worry about it, seriously. I’ll call you, okay?”
I nod and again the motion makes my head spin but I hold it together, waving my good byes. The second the door closes, I sag against Arden. He catches me but he’s immediately on red-alert.
“That’s it.” He grabs his keys from the counter. “We’re going to the ER.”
“No, no, no.”
“Danika, you’re about to pass out.”
“I’m not going to the ER.
He sighs, running his hand through his hair. “Why not?”
“Because bad things happen in the ER.”
“Dani, you’re in medical school. You can’t be afraid of the emergency room and be a doctor at the same time.”
“I’m not afraid of it. I just…it brings back bad memories. That’s all.”
Arden is quiet for a minute. No doubt contemplating forcing me to go or not.
“I’ll call my TA and ask her for advice, okay? But really, it’s not a big deal. I just need to sleep it off.”
Arden hands me my phone so I can make the call right in front of him. All I want to do is lay down but I know he won’t let me until he gets the answers he wants.
Giving Charlie a call, she answers on the first ring and I quickly explain the situation and my symptoms. She asks me a few clarifying questions and I answer honestly. Within a few minutes I’m off the phone, handing it back to Arden to hold.
“She said I probably have a mild concussion—” He opens his mouth but I put my hand up to stop his speech. “So I should rest, not look at any bright lights for a while and no intense exercise. And to have someone check on me every once in a while for the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
He moves my hand off his mouth but keeps hold of it. “Done. Anything else?”
“Lots of water and to eat when I’m hungry but not to force it. Arden, I’m fine. I just need to lay down.”
He’s looking at me like I’m made of glass. Like any wrong move would break me. Like me breaking would break him.
Finally he nods, seeming to trust that I know how to handle myself and puts his arm around my waist to help guide me to my room. Except…
“Where are we going?” Arden has taken a right at the table instead of a left. He’s guiding us toward his room instead of mine. “Ard?”
“I’m supposed to keep an eye on you and so I need you to be in view at all times. That means you’re sleeping with me.”
“Arden!” I protest, stopping in my tracks. “She said ‘check on me once in a while’ not ‘every second of the day’.”
“This is the only way that I’m going to be okay with not taking you to the emergency room. Dani, please. Just…let me do this.”
I should be annoyed. He’s breaking the rules. But this is different. This isn’t for sex. It’s not for hooking up. Arden wants me in his bed because he’s genuinely worried about me. It’s written all over his face. Having me across the apartment is too far for him.
A feeling flows through me. From the very top of my head to the very tip of my toes. A feeling I’m afraid to name. Even more afraid to acknowledge.
“Okay.”
With a sigh of relief, Arden leads me toward his bed, pulling back the covers so I can slide in.
He positions the bag of ice so that it rests in the exact spot I need it to and then leaves to get something from the kitchen.
His bed smells like him and I resist the urge to take a huge whiff of his pillow.
He’s back within a few seconds with a water bottle, another bag of ice and a first aid kit in hand.
“Here.” He hands me the water bottle. “Do you want me to wrap your wrist for you?”
“I can do it.”
“Brat.”
“What? I can!”
He takes the wrap out of the kit and places my wrist gently on his lap. Beginning in the middle of my palm, he snakes the wrap around my thumb and hand a few times before moving down to my wrist.
“You know what they say, doctors make the worst patients,” he says as he finishes the wrap, putting a piece of medical tape to keep it shut.
“I’m not a doctor.”
“Not yet. But you will be.” He brings the wrapped wrist up to his lips and kisses it before placing it back down and laying the second bag of ice on it. “Rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
I don’t have the energy to protest his attention any more. I give a lazy grin, the only thing I can muster really and then fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.