88. Noah
NOAH
I’ve been awake for less than three hours, and I’ve already had two cops in here questioning me.
I wrote down all my answers to their questions, which made it easier when lying.
I said I didn’t remember much except coming home, the door was open, and there was someone in my living room.
They rushed me and stabbed me. And that I never got a good look at his face.
When the doctors first cleared out of the room earlier before the cops came in, Willow told me that the story we’re all sticking with was that she and I came home late to find the front door was open.
I had her stay in the car while I went in to check, and the guy attacked me.
That’s an easy enough story for all three of us to corroborate.
She promised that once we left the hospital, she would tell me everything, but she assured me that James wouldn’t be a problem ever again.
“We’re safe.”
Those were the words she ended on as she drifted to sleep against my chest.
Unfortunately, half an hour later, the cops came in.
She was asked to leave the room while they talked to me, but I refused to let her leave my side.
They knew who I was, knew how much hell I could give them if they forced her to leave the room.
We were the victims, not the ones being interrogated.
After I answered their questions, I quickly dismissed them and went back to snuggling her against my chest.
My stomach is throbbing in pain and it hurts to even breathe, but I don’t care.
I’d endure far worse if it meant having her by my side.
This is where we’ve been for the last hour.
Snuggled in our own bubble in complete silence.
It’s heaven. My own personal heaven, not the one filled with clouds and rainbows.
No, my slice of heaven is her, the scent of her perfume, the taste of her kiss, and the sound of her voice. That’s what makes up my heaven.
*Knock* *Knock*
“You up? Oh, good you are,” Jeremy says as he pokes his head into the room.
“Yeah. The cops left a little bit ago,” Willow says as she lays her head back down against my chest.
She said her wrist isn’t sprained, just bruised, but it should heal in a few weeks. It isn’t causing her too much pain right now, but she has pain meds in her purse that they prescribed for her.
“How’re you feeling?” he asks, and I just nod my head hesitantly back and forth before trying to speak.
“Hurts,” I manage to croak out.
“What hurts?” Willow demands, sitting up quickly.
“I’m okay,” I say as I cup her face and kiss her on the forehead.
“You’d better be. We have a lot to talk about,” Jeremy says as he closes the door behind him.
“Where’s Jenna?” Willow asks as she gets up to grab me a drink.
I didn’t ask for it, but I was definitely thinking about how dry my still mouth feels.
“She went to grab us some food. Sorry, Cuz. No burgers for you. Doc said you’re on a liquid-only diet for like two months,” Jeremy laughs.
“Three weeks, Remy,” Willow teases, instantly shutting down his laughter.
“No! Not you too!” he whines, which causes me to laugh.
I instantly regret that decision as I clutch my stomach.
“Sorry,” she murmurs as she runs her fingers through my hair.
I pull her closer to gently kiss her, closing my eyes and letting her overwhelm all of my senses. She hums against my lips as I tighten the grip on her hair.
“Ugh…Can you two chill out on the lovey-dovey shit? It’s gross.”
“Weren’t you literally sucking face in the parking lot earlier?” Willow snaps.
“Whoa. Number one, I didn’t know you could see us. And number two, who the fuck says, ‘sucking face’ anymore? Are you fifty?” Jeremy snaps back.
“Excuse me, Mr. Anderson?” a soft voice comes from the door as an older nurse walks in. It’s the same one from before when they brought me in for my head injury. “Sorry. I just need to check your vitals and hook up your banana bag.”
“Banana bag?” Jeremy asks, just as confused as I am.
“Yes. With the amount of blood transfusions and the coma, the doctor wanted him to have one just to be sure he’s getting enough vitamins and nutrients.”
“Ah, yes. That banana bag,” Jeremy says confidently, as if he fucking knows what she’s talking about. I chuckle again, and I swear I can see spots from the pain.
“Oh, sir, please try not to laugh. You don’t want to risk popping a stitch,” the nurse says quickly. Her eyes narrow on Jeremy as if to silently say this was his fault.
“Sorry,” he says before taking a step back and resting against the wall.
“When will Jenna be back with the food?” Willow asks, and the nurse quickly looks over at her, but Willow reassures her. “Don’t worry, the doctor told us he’s on a liquid diet only. No food for him,” she smiles sweetly.
The nurse only nods before returning her attention to the machine I’m hooked up to. She swaps out an empty bag for a weird, yellow-tinted one. I guess that’s where the term banana bag comes from.
“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon,” she teases. Yep, she remembers me.
She gives me a sweet smile before glancing over at Willow, who’s arguing in a hushed tone with Jeremy in the corner.
“She’s sweet,” the nurse whispers to me.
I smile and nod to her before looking over at my little rabbit. She has one hand on her hip and the other is pointing a finger at Jeremy like she’s scolding him for something.
“She hasn’t left your side since you were brought in. You can tell from the way she looks at you that she truly loves you,” the nurse says before patting me on the shoulder and walking toward the door.
“So, is he going to be okay?” Jeremy asks the nurse before glancing over at me.
“He will be, as long as you behave and stop trying to make him laugh,” she jokingly reprimands him, causing him to blush.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good boy,” she teases before walking out the door.
Jeremy’s cheeks turn red as he looks wide-eyed at Willow. She busts out laughing, and it’s taking everything in me not to laugh as well. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say ‘good boy’ to Jeremy, but apparently he liked it.
“I’m going to go call Jenna and see where the food is,” he starts to say before the door suddenly opens again.
“No worries. I’m here,” Jenna declares as she walks in holding up the two grease-stained, brown paper bags.
The scent of cheeseburgers fills the room, and my stomach groans from the delicious smell.
“Fuck, that smells good. Sorry, Cuz,” Jeremy says not hiding his smirk.
I wave them off before lying back in the bed and closing my eyes. My mouth is watering from the smell, and it’s killing me not to have a single bite. Fuck. Three weeks with no solid food is going to kill me.
“Hey. I promise as soon as you can eat solid food again, we’re going to go out,” Willow says before kissing me, the taste of a burger is still on her lips. I practically moan from the taste.
I grab the pad of paper off the side table and quickly scribble a word.
Where?
“World’s End, of course. I think we need to keep going through the rest of the burgers so that we can try them all.”
“Oh, I want to go,” Jeremy says as he pulls over a chair for Jenna and then another for himself before sitting down.
“We can double date again. That was fun,” Jenna says before taking a bite of her burger.
You guys are killing me.
I quickly scribbled down my complaint before tossing the pad of paper down onto the bed so they can read it. Jeremy laughs and Jenna shrugs, but I can tell Willow is the only one who actually feels bad.
“I’m sorry. Want me to go on a liquid diet with you?” she asks, but I just shake my head no.
“Did the doctor say when we can break you out of here?” Jeremy asks.
A drop of ketchup falls from the back of the burger and lands on his jeans. He curses as he looks for a napkin, but Jenna’s already there wiping up his mess. They’re cute together. Hopefully, he doesn’t fuck this one up. I’d hate to even be associated with him if he pisses her off. She’s feisty.
“The doctor said as long as all the tests come back good, it’ll most likely be a week,” Willow answers. I wasn’t even aware of the timeline.
“Damn. Are you going to stay here still?” he asks.
“Yep. I told you guys, I’m not leaving his side.”
She places the other half of her burger on the side table, then lies down.
When her head rests against my chest and I feel her against me, the rest of the world starts to fade.
I slowly close my eyes letting my body calmly drift to sleep.
I wasn’t feeling tired earlier, but it was like as soon as she was connected to me again, I was relaxed.
Fuck, I love this woman.