48. Noah
NOAH
TEN MINUTES PRIOR
The first thing I remembered when waking up was the sound of Jeremy screaming my name. I remembered the distant sounds of Willow crying, which were breaking my heart, but there was nothing that I could do.
“She’s been a wreck, dude,” Jeremy says as the nurses continue to check my vitals and ask me questions.
“Well, between what we were talking about when you showed up, then the shit you said, she was already upset.”
“What the fuck did I…Oh. Sorry about that. I didn’t even think about it. I was just irritated because of your father, which, by the way, showed how much of a fucking asshole he truly is.”
I knew my father wouldn’t be bothered to even come up here, let alone check up on me.
“Where is she?”
“The waiting room still, I think. Jenna is with her, though, so I don’t know if she’s going to take her home.”
My heart monitor spikes as I struggle to sit upright. The waves of nausea hit me causing the room to spin.
“Sir, I need you to stay lying down,” the nurse instructs. If my head didn’t feel like I was on a Tilt-A-Whirl, I would’ve jumped out of this bed already.
“I need to see her.”
The nurse glances back at Jeremy then the other nurse before nodding.
“You can go get her after we finish up. He does need to stay calm, so only one person can come back at a time,” she says to Jeremy, who only looks at me and nods.
“So, how bad is it?” I ask jokingly.
It can’t be that bad, can it? I don’t seem to have any memory issues, and my speech is fine. My head is just throbbing.
“You have a serious concussion. It’s a grade two. And also a hairline linear fracture on the back of your skull.”
“When can I go home?”
The nurse softly laughs and shakes her head at me. She’s a bit older than my mother would have been, and she looks at me with those same kind and loving eyes.
“Typical guy. Not a fan of hospitals, are we?”
“I just want to be with my woman.”
Jeremy laughs and tries to cover it with a cough.
“What?” I snap.
“Nothing. You’re being so cute about her. Very different from any other woman I've ever seen you with.”
“Because she's not just another woman, Jeremy. She's the one. I told you that. It’s always been her.”
“That’s so beautiful. How long have you known each other?” the younger nurse asks.
“Three days,” Jeremy scoffs.
“What?” the older nurse asks.
“We’ve only been back in each other’s lives for a few days, but I've known her for years.”
“Oh,” she says, eyeing me skeptically. “Well, she sounds like a lucky woman to have someone who loves her so much.”
“I’m the lucky one.”
When the nurses finally leave, I realize I need to ask my cousin to do something for me.
Something that, honestly, I never thought I’d ever have to involve him in.
I need him to take care of my little problem in the basement.
I hope I’m able to go home tomorrow, but in the chance that I’m stuck here for a few days, this needs to happen.
“Hey…Remember that thing I told you about that’s in the basement?” I ask.
His eyes seem to lock on mine, reading my thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“Unfortunately, it needs water,” I say while shrugging.
“I need to go water it?”
“Yep, there’s a hose. Just give it a good spray down.”
“Umm, there’s a problem,” he says after a moment.
“What’s that?”
He sits there for a moment staring at the door, waiting to see if anyone’s going to walk in.
Fuck, I hope he doesn’t back out or freak out.
We haven’t really talked about it since I told him everything in the office yesterday.
Plus, right after telling him, I had to dash out and follow Willow up to her old house.
“I don’t have a key to get in there.”
“Oh.”
Shit, I didn’t tell him how to get into the labyrinth. I only told him that it was a hidden staircase. Damnit. I nod my head, gesturing for him to come closer. He grabs a chair and drags it over, sitting next to my bed but keeping his eyes on the door.
“Okay. I’m going to tell you how to take care of the problem .”
Five minutes after I explained how to open the panel to get to the staircase and then how to get to the center of the labyrinth, which he also made me text the paths to take, he ended up leaving. I hope to God he doesn’t freak out when he sees it down there. I told him to wear the mask as well.
Shortly after he left, I heard the sound of the door opening and her beautiful voice whispering my name. Now I have her wrapped in my arms as I slowly drift to sleep.
“Noah. Are you still awake?” she quietly asks as her hand drifts over my heart monitor pads and teases my chest hair.
“I am. Everything okay?”
“What is this? Between us?” she asks.
I can feel her body tense as I hesitate, trying to choose my words wisely.
“Do you believe in fate?” I finally ask.
“I’m not sure,” she says hesitantly.
“I do. I believe fate brought us together, Willow. I feel a connection with you that I've never felt with anyone before. You're constantly on my mind.”
Which isn't a lie. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven't thought about my little rabbit. Every drop of blood spilled, every terrible life ended, it’s all been for her. I swore I’d move heaven and earth to find her, and now that I have, she'll never leave me again.
“I feel the same about you, Noah. I don't know how to explain it. It’s like ever since that first kiss, I felt like we’re connected. You're always on my mind. Is that crazy?”
“Is it crazy that I've felt that way since the first time I saw you?” I ask as I tilt her face to look at me.
“Really? You felt it then?”
She doesn’t know that I’m not talking about that day in the elevator.
I’m talking about the moment eighteen years ago when we were just kids.
I was sitting on a swing at the playground.
A girl with bright green eyes and strawberry blonde hair in pigtails walked up to me.
Without a word she pulled herself up into the swing next to mine and began kicking her feet back and forth, but she was too short to reach the ground.
I stood up and started pushing her on the swing.
Her smile glowed, and her laugh made me smile as she let me push her higher and higher until the bell rang for us to go back into the school.
She hopped off the swing and started to run, but stopped and turned back to me holding out her hand.
I took her hand, and I remember her smiling up at me when I asked her for her name.
“My name’s Willow Rae Parker.”
That was the day I think my heart knew it would always belong to her.
I nod to her question. I knew back then, just as I knew the day she stepped back into my life, Willow Parker is my forever.
Her eyes have a slight sheen to them as she stares up at me, smiling.
I have a feeling she's never allowed herself to fall for another person. She's never trusted anyone enough because of what she went through, and who could blame her? The man who was supposed to love and protect her and her mother ended up ruining her life. She deserves to know it’s okay to love. It’s okay to let someone in, as long as that someone is me.
“I’ve always felt it, Willow. You’re my little rabbit and always will be.”
I pull her up closer and gently kiss her. Showing her how much I care for her with a single kiss. I know she can feel it. The way her lips open for me, her fingers tangling in the fabric of my hospital gown as if she’s worried that if she lets me go, I'll disappear.
“Excuse me, Mr. Anderson?”
The younger nurse from earlier comes around the curtain and is slightly shocked to see Willow on the bed with me, but I don't care.
“Yes?”
“Visitation hours are ending soon. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave when they’re over,” she tells Willow with a bit of irritation in her tone.
“If I pay for a private room, can she stay?” I ask.
“I…well, yes. But I don't know if there are any more private rooms right…” she starts, but I quickly cut her off.
“Then please go find out. And if there is one, I’d like to be moved there immediately because she's not leaving my side.”
I watch the nurse eye me curiously, then look over at Willow. Her eyes narrow in a slight glare before her professional face is bright and shining again.
“Yes, sir. I'll be back in a few minutes.”
She leaves, and only then do I feel Willow relax.
“You didn't have to do that, Noah. I could have just come back tomorrow.”
I wrap my arms tighter around her tucking her head under my chin.
“Willow, I just got you back. There's no way I'm letting you go.”