15. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Jaylen
I pretended to be asleep when Rory came back to my room and finished cleaning me up and putting my bandages on.
I'm too much of a coward.
I didn't want to have to look at her after making her upset, and after being left alone for a while as I waited for either her or Sophia to come back, I couldn't stop my mind from spiralling.
So instead of waiting for her to come back and ask if she was okay, I pretended to be asleep and I focused on her warm touch against my skin to distract myself from the haunting memories that played inside of my mind.
Once she left, I must've actually fallen asleep because I'm suddenly jolted awake by the sound of my door slamming open and Kaleb's gruff voice as he enters my room with Sophia and Jess following behind them.
"You know, normally, girlfriends would be annoyed when another woman is obviously flirting with their man."
"Yeah, well normally, boyfriends don't stalk their girlfriends and try to put tracking devices inside of them," Sophia retorts .
"I knew I never should've introduced you to Miles," Kaleb grunts. "Besides, you can't keep using that against me. I never actually followed through with it."
"That's only because Miles refused to do it!"
Jess and I both start laughing at their bickering and I finally crack my eyes open, seeing Kaleb sat in the chair beside me with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed while Sophia stands next to him shaking her head.
"I'm so glad you're awake now," Jess says, walking over to me and placing a light kiss on my forehead. "I can't cope with these two alone."
Sophia turns to her with raised brows.
"Girl, you've hardly been around."
My gaze swings back to my sister and I frown at her.
"G-good point," I say, my voice strained and rough.
My fingers twitch at my sides as I feel the urge to rub my sore throat, but all I can manage is to move my hand to the side slightly, still unable to control more of my body.
"In my defence, I was here every goddamn day while you were passed out. It's not my fault that you decided to wake up from your month-long coma the day after I had to go to Paris," she replies, rolling her eyes as she takes a seat beside me.
"You were in Paris for a total of like, twelve hours," Kaleb chimes in, pulling Sophia onto his lap and resting his head on her shoulder.
Jess shrugs and glances around the room, avoiding all of our intense, curious stares.
"Well, I'm here now. Anyway, you told me that he was fine and that he was distracted by some hot nurse. "
Her gaze turns to me and she wiggles her eyebrows, trying to distract me from the subject at hand.
I narrow my eyes at her, and she subtly shakes her head, telling me to leave it alone for now.
"Unfortunately for him, he's scared the hot nurse away now," Kaleb says, earning an elbow to the gut from Sophia.
"No, he hasn't scared her away at all," she says, giving me a reassuring smile. "Has she come back in here yet?"
I nod and my gaze falls away from my cousin's face as embarrassment fills my chest.
"I pretended to be asleep," I tell her.
"Jesus Christ," Jess says, amusement laced in her words. "I don't know why I'm surprised you're single when you do stupid shit like that. Why the hell did you do that?"
I close my eyes and allow my head to fall back onto my pillow.
"I don't know," I mutter, cringing at the sound of my croaky voice.
"Jay, you did nothing wrong, you know?"
I peel my eyes open and glance at Sophia.
"I shouldn't have said anything. She was clearly trying to hide it, and I should've known it was going to upset her."
"You can't blame yourself for the way that you reacted, Jay. It was instinctual, and I'm sure if you explain that to her, she'll understand. She doesn't seem like an unreasonable person."
Jess waves her hands between us, gaining both of our attention.
"Can someone fill me in on what's going on?"
"I'd also be partial to some information," Kaleb adds, tapping his hand against Sophia's leg.
I huff and shake my head .
"Actually, do you mind if I get some sleep?" I ask, not wanting to have to listen to the conversation they're about to have.
Sophia and Jess both watch me with worried eyes.
"Come on, let's leave him to rest. He's had a long day," Kaleb says, scooting Sophia off of his lap so that he can stand up.
"Okay… we'll come back tomorrow, yeah?"
I nod at my sister's question and I smile as they each say goodbye, but as soon as they leave my room, the smile drops from my face and my eyes fall shut as I think about how differently the situation could've gone down earlier.
When I hear the door open again after a few minutes, I let out an exaggerated sigh and loudly groan.
"You claim that I'm the annoying one, but yet none of you can seem to stay away from me," I say, opening my eyes and swinging my head to the side so that I can glare at the culprit.
When my eyes catch on a mess of brunette waves, I mutter a curse and give Rory an awkward smile.
"I'm sorry," I tell her. "I think it's fair to say that I didn't know it was you walking in."
She stands awkwardly by the door and nods her head, glancing around the room.
"Yeah, I realised… I saw them leave and Sophia told me that Leo would be waiting for me at the end of my shift to take me home."
She continues to stand in the doorway, both of us just staring at each other while the silence in the room grows.
"Are you coming in here to read again?" I ask her, hoping she'll get the hint that I want her to sit next to me again and keep me company.
"Do you mind if I do? "
"Of course not. I'm fine with it. Take a seat and get comfy," I blurt, blabbering on like a lunatic. "Sit anywhere you like!"
What the hell is wrong with me?
Jesus, I'm such an embarrassment.
She giggles and finally walks across the room towards the chair beside me.
I watch her as she sits down, slouching slightly in the chair and then slinging her legs over the arm, getting herself comfortable, then she opens up the book and begins reading.
Silence descends upon us and my eyes flick around the room as I start to feel awkward.
I begin to tap my fingers against the bedsheet covering my body, giving myself something to do and I focus on my movements as I try to regain some more control.
When I manage to move both of my hands simultaneously, a surge of hope and determination shoots through my body.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I put all of my energy into trying to force my arm to move and when I feel it twitch and swing out to the side, hitting something hard, I almost shout in excitement.
That is until I peel my eyes open and find Rory gaping at me.
My eyes flick down to my arm that's dangling over her lap and I realise that I must've accidentally smacked her book out of her hands.
"Oh, fuck," I groan, shooting her an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry!"