47. Willow
WILLOW
NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY
Iswear, I thought pacing the waiting room before was bad, but this feels like fucking torture.
It’s been thirty minutes, and Jeremy still hasn’t come back.
No one will tell me anything, and no one will let me go back to see him.
Jenna thankfully stayed because I might have lost it a little bit ago when I asked a nurse for an update and she snapped at me.
Jenna pulled me back and reminded me that they could have me removed from the hospital if I retaliated.
Stupid fucking bitch. I get they have a protocol, but they can’t even let me know if he's okay? They don’t have to give me any fucking details. Literally just a yes or no is all I want.
“Jeremy’s back,” Jenna whispers next to me as she nudges my arm.
“Jeremy. Is he…”
“He’s okay…Well, he will be. They did a bunch of tests. He has a grade two concussion and a minor linear fracture of the occipital bone.”
“Is he awake?”
“He started waking up about twenty minutes ago. He's asking for you.”
“But they won’t let me back,” I say, sounding defeated as more tears fill my eyes.
“They will now since he's awake and asking for you. Just remember, you’re his girlfriend,” he says with a wink.
Jenna places a hand on my shoulder and nudges me forward.
“The doctor will be back in a moment to get you. I’m going to call his dad just to let him know.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Jenna says to Jeremy, and I can see his body relax.
“Miss Bennett.”
“Yes?”
“Right this way, please.” The doctor from before is holding open the door and gesturing for me to follow.
We walk down the hall in complete silence and then through another set of locked double doors before he stops. He glances back at me before opening the door and nodding for me to go inside.
“Thank you,” I say softly. It’s so quiet around here.
He simply nods before walking away, back toward the nurses' station for this area. My heart is racing as I step through the door. The curtain is drawn across the room, blocking my view.
“Noah?” I whisper.
“Willow? You’re here?”
I quickly move the curtain to the side to find Noah sitting in the hospital bed. He's wearing one of those horrible grayish-brown hospital gowns. His head is wrapped in gauze, and he's hooked up to a bunch of machines.
“Oh my God.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks. Seriously, trust me. I feel fine,” he tries to reassure me.
I hesitantly take a few steps closer before he reaches out to grab my wrist and pull me down to him.
“I’m sorry I worried you,” he whispers as he buries his face in my hair.
“Are you sure you're okay?”
“I am now that you’re here.”
He tilts my face up to kiss me gently before resting my head against his chest. I can hear his heart racing, not only from the heart rate monitor but from the frantic beating beneath my head resting on his chest.
“I’m sorry I ruined the amazing day we were having.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Noah.”
“I do, though. I should have just grabbed my phone when you asked. Maybe then, none of this would’ve happened.”
He tugs on my arm and pulls me onto the bed next to him. I carefully position myself against him with my head on his chest avoiding the different wires hooked up to him.
“I can have Jeremy take you home. They said they’re going to at least keep me overnight.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” I say sharply without even thinking, causing him to laugh. He kisses the top of my head and holds me tighter.
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Little Rabbit. You can stay right here with me for as long as you want.”
I know it’s still a few hours before visiting hours are over, but still. After sitting in the waiting room panicking all this time, I don’t want to leave him now that I’m back in his arms. This feeling is crazy.
“Or until they kick me out for the night,” I huff.
“Let them fucking try.”