12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Kat
“And they had to return to their own kingdom, the great evil finally vanquished. But the king promised the princess that she could see her friend whenever she liked. And one day, when they were all grown up, they got married, combining their kingdoms and ruling peacefully for the rest of their days,” he finished.
I was so sleepy. I thought maybe the doctor would be done soon, it seemed as if he was putting all of those stupid stitches back in. My hand was aching pretty good, but definitely handle-able. I yawned.
“That was a good story. Mostly. But you never told me their names,” I pointed out sleepily. I snuggled into his chest again, wondering if I could maybe just shut my eyes for a sec-
“Kat, you need to stay awake,” Henry said firmly. Fine. I had maybe tried to nap a couple of times, but his voice was so soothing. I just wanted to listen to it forever.
“And no, I didn’t tell you their names. I figured you had already named them yourself,” he said, sounding amused. I didn’t quite know what he meant by that. But anyway. I sat bolt upright suddenly, barely making sure I kept my arm where it was.
“You were supposed to get dinner with Becca tonight!” I blurted out, my eyes wide. He had SAID he didn’t have anything to do tonight. But he LIED. A couple of tears trickled down my cheeks. I thought he never lied to me.
“Hey, hey! Sweetheart, what’s wrong? I just rescheduled with her for tomorrow night. We moved it the second you ran over here. It’s okay,” he explained. Oh. Good. So, he hadn’t lied to me. That was… very good. The best news possible. I just nodded.
“I just thought you’d lied to me,” I mumbled. I didn’t explain what I meant by that, though.
“When I said I didn’t have anything to do tonight? No, Kat, I didn’t lie. I just moved things. If you need me, I’ll be there. It’s that simple,” he said, like it was just a known fact. But he couldn’t always mean that. There were more important things, sometimes.
“Not during a race, that’s too important,” I said back, just as simply.
I was okay with that, though. I understood, and would’ve expected the same understanding if I were still racing.
He leaned down over my shoulder, his arms overlapping even further in front of me.
Nosing my slightly damp hair away from my temple, he kissed me there.
“Kat, I have to admit, something like this, you’re probably right.
But if something bad happened to you, I’d be there.
Some things are more important. People are more important,” he told me, quietly because he was so close to my ear.
And maybe so the doctor wouldn’t hear him.
That was practically heresy around here. I didn’t want them to burn my witch.
I shook my head vehemently, almost hitting him in the face. He was wrong. He had to be. I needed him to be wrong.
“No, don’t you ever dare. Don’t put that on me,” I said firmly. He sighed, and I could tell he wanted to argue with me. But he didn’t. He just kissed me again on the temple.
“Okay, Kat,” he said, sounding as if he was holding back. He probably was. But I didn’t want to argue right now. I really just wanted to go to sleep. But surprisingly, I was also a little hungry. But also, a lot nauseous, which I hadn’t noticed until right now.
“I don’t feel very good,” I said quietly. The doctor paused where he was almost done my stitches. Henry looked down at me.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong, Kat?” the doctor asked in his doctor-y voice. I glanced up at Henry, then back to the doctor.
“I haven’t eaten much today, so I’m hungry. But I’m also really nauseous. Maybe because I’m hungry, I don’t really know,” I said as simply as I could. Like magic there was a little dusty pink basin in my lap.
And Henry had a cool washcloth held to my forehead. That felt nice. I wasn’t too warm, my blanket and Henry were still feeling perfect to me, but the cool washcloth was still putting in some nice work.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. To Henry, to whoever gave me my own personal vomit bucket, whoever else wanted it.
A few deep breaths paired with that rhythmic stroking of my forehead and my hair had the nausea retreating just enough.
The doctor was busy trying to finish up my stitches. We were almost there.
I felt a nose on my cheek. I smiled.
“Hello, there,” I said cheerfully. He laughed.
“I’ll get you some food as soon as we’re done, yeah?” he offered. But he couldn’t do that. He COULDN’T. He said he wouldn’t leave me. He said he would stay with me and take care of me if I took the pain meds. He couldn’t leave me now. I was crying again.
“No, please don’t,” I begged. He paused, and I could tell he was confused. At least for a moment.
“Baby girl, I’m not leaving to get you food.
I’m going to have someone bring us food.
Yeah?” he asked carefully. Oh. Okay. I felt a little silly at my racing pulse, but he had PROMISED.
He couldn’t do that if he wasn’t going to KEEP it.
He had to KEEP it. I thought maybe I had accidentally said that out loud.
“I will, Kat. I won’t ever promise something to you that I can’t deliver. And I’m not leaving you tonight,” he vowed. I nodded. I could accept that.
“Just tonight?” I asked, knowing I shouldn’t. Even through the fuzzy, I knew I shouldn’t have. But this was exactly the type of thing he was supposed to ignore. I’d told him to ignore me if I said stupid things. He laughed, and I thought maybe I’d made my inside thoughts, outside thoughts again.
“Not just tonight,” he whispered.
“As long as you’ll have me.”
Good. I wanted him forever.
The doctor had finished the stitches up, re-wrapped the gauze and ace bandage, and replaced my plexi-cast. I could breathe a sigh of relief, now, because I couldn’t easily fuck up my titanium bone-holders now.
He gave me another dose of the pain meds, and I wasn’t really sure why.
I thought maybe I could come off them now.
“Sweetheart, you were whimpering through the last of the stitches and haven’t stopped even now. You’ll get some good rest with the meds,” Henry said soothingly. Okay. Fine. I just… didn’t want them anymore. I didn’t want to be a burden. I could handle this now, probably.
“I know what I said,” I started. Henry just waited patiently, probably wondering what the hell I was heading towards this time. I was a little all over the place.
“But you don’t have to stay. I release you from that promise. I’m sure you’d rather sleep in a real bed,” I offered, trying to sound reasonable. He just settled his arms back around me after doing something on his phone, pulling me back into him. I went easily enough.
“I’m sure you would, too. But you’re attached to that IV pole, and I’m attached to you. So, we’re staying here tonight. And don’t act like you wouldn’t freeze here without me, anyway,” he said just as reasonably. He wasn’t wrong. Those fucking antibiotics were the bane of my existence. I shrugged.
“I’d totally be fine,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. He laughed, loudly.
“Darling, you’d be a block of ice in twenty minutes. I don’t mind being your personal space heater. In fact, it’s the best job I’ve had in a while,” he joked. Well, at least he liked the snuggles, too.
Some young-looking guy popped his head in the door to my room. Excuse me, sir? Ever heard of knocking?
“He did knock, Kat,” Henry whispered as an aside to me before talking to the intern. He was an intern. And I needed to remember to think separately from my mouth. Inside thoughts, Kat. Inside thoughts.
“Inside thoughts, hmm?” came from my amused space heater after the intern left.
“What?” I asked, pretending to be confused. But really, I just didn’t want to admit how stupid I must’ve sounded.
“You don’t sound stupid, Kat. And I’m pretty sure every thought you have is coming out of your mouth right now. So, how about we get you focused on the food and a show on my laptop, yeah?” he teased. He had a point, though. I didn’t want to- yep. He was right.
He laughed.
I was soon munching on a piece of toast, eyeballing the French fries I’d been told I couldn’t have yet. The toast had to stay down first, apparently. I rolled my eyes. He was so bossy sometimes. I shoved the mocking pink basin—that was still empty, thank you very much—away from me. even further.
“Bossy, hmm? I haven’t shown you bossy yet, love. But you certainly won’t be rolling your eyes,” he said in a low voice right in my ear. I shivered. I thought maybe I would really like- French fries.
“Can I have the French fries now?” I asked, on a two-fold plan. One, because I wanted my damn French fries. And you know, other reasons. That I wouldn’t think about. Lalalala la. La.
“La, la,” he finished for me, laughing openly now.
“And yes, I can PROMISE, you will like it.”