He’s getting his blood drawn again, and is sitting up looking much better this time. The color is back in his face, and he’s joking around with the guy taking his blood.
“He doesn’t believe that I don’t like needles,” Chase tells me.
I smile. “I don’t believe you either.”
“There’s a difference between getting tattoos and this,” Chase continues.
“Yeah, this is over already,” the guy says, pulling the needle out of Chase’s arm. “That’s hours and hours of work, right?”
Chase nods. “That one,” he points to a detailed star on the inside of his arm, over the vein the blood was drawn from, “took three hours.”
“I couldn’t sit still for that long,” I say.
“It gets broken up,” Chase explains. “The writing on my chest was done over several weeks.” I sit on the edge of the bed and kiss Chase once we’re alone. “Are your mom and Lisa still here?”
“Yeah. They’re going to get lunch and bring something back for me.”
“Go with them.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m fine, Sierra. I promise. I feel a hell of a lot better now that I’m on a medication that doesn’t make me throw up. And if this blood work comes back showing improvement, the nurse told me I’ll go to the regular floor. Even I don’t think I need to be here,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Then I’ll be home in a day or two after.”
“You sound so sure.”
He brings his hand to my face, cupping my cheek. “I am sure. Go get something to eat. It’ll be nice to get out of here.”
“I’m pretty sure they already left.”
“Things between you and Lisa seemed pretty tense last time you saw each other.”
“They were.”
“How are they now?”
“Better. We had a bit of a heart-to-heart out in the waiting room.”
Chase gives me a cheeky grin. “I guess getting sick was good for something, right?”
Feeling like he knows more about the situation than he’s letting on, I smile back, not getting into it. “Yeah. I guess it was.”
“I have good news,” the nurse tells us the next day. “I just got orders from the doctor to have you moved to the non-critical floor.”
“Don’t look too sad to get rid of me,” Chase jokes. What a difference a good night’s sleep did for him. He’s been up and moving around today and looks almost back to normal. He’s been removed from all the tubes and wires except for one IV line, which is currently disconnected with the port on his arm covered with gauze.
“This is the one time saying ‘I hope I never see you again’ is a good thing,” the nurse jokes back. “Your blood work is showing great improvement. We’ll run some again in the morning and as long as your counts are good, you can go home.”
“Thank fucking God,” Chase mutters under his breath. Another hour later, and he’s moved into his new room. Jax had come for a visit that morning, bringing Chase his phone and wallet. I left for breakfast while he was there, returning not long later to find the men talking in hushed voices. They immediately stopped when I walked into the room.
I can’t think about it. I don’t want to start suspecting Chase of anything. Not right now. Not ever. Lisa finally agreed to let the issue go. Now’s not the time to see merit in her argument.
There’s a recliner chair in the new room, and Chase sits in it to watch TV, telling me to lay down in the bed and take a nap. I’ve never been much of a napper, but I fall asleep almost instantly. I haven’t gotten much sleep the last few days, and none of it has been quality sleep.
When I wake up, a little kid is staring at me.
“Hi,” she whispers and moves closer. Her hazel eyes are familiar, peering at me through slats in the bedrail.
“Koty,” a man says. “Let her sleep.”
“She’s been sleeping for hours, and I’m bored.”
“Leave her alone.”
“Daddy, she’s awake. Her eyes are open.”
I blink, mind slowly waking up, and realize that the little girl is Chase’s niece.
“Sierra?” Chase calls softly.
“I’m awake,” I say, though I wish I had pretended to be asleep. Now I feel awkward. I do my best to smooth out my hair and say hi to Josh and Dakota. They’ve been here a while already and are getting ready to go.
“Thanks for looking after my brother,” Josh tells me. “I have a feeling he wouldn’t have taken himself to the hospital.”
“He wouldn’t have. How are the twins?”
“Exhausting,” he says with a laugh. “But great. They’re good sleepers, thankfully.”
“That’s good to hear. I know Chase wants to go see them again. We’ll come by once he’s feeling better.”
“I am feeling better,” Chase says. “I get to leave tomorrow. I’ll be back to normal and at work the next day.”
Josh just shakes his head and looks at me. “Have fun with him.”
“Wish me luck.”
Josh laughs. “You’ll need it.”
“You’re on strict orders to rest, mister,” I tell Chase, pulling down the comforter on my bed. “Starting now.”
“You know,” he begins and gets into bed, “I’m more likely to listen to you if you’re wearing a sexy nurse costume. I’ll take you seriously when you’re dressed as a healthcare professional.”
“Nice try. The doctor said no sex for two weeks.”
“Like I’m going to listen to that. And are you going to be able to hold out that long?”
“Yes,” I say, trying to hold onto my resolve. It’s a losing battle, but for Chase’s own good I have to resist. “You don’t want to pop a stitch out having sex. Then it’ll be even longer. It’s almost been a week already, which is kinda crazy to think about. Time went by in a blur.” I pull the blankets over his legs and hand him the TV remote. Tinkerbell jumps up on the bed, purring instantly. Even asshole Dolly was happy to see me when Chase and I got home from the hospital minutes ago.
“I’m going to drop off your prescriptions and go grocery shopping. You need to sleep, and when I get back, we can talk about possibly a blow job.”
“You can’t tease me like that, Sierra.”
I lean in, lips brushing against his. “Who says I’m teasing?”
Chase grabs me and gives me a kiss so good I want to say fuck being careful so I can fuck him. I leave before I crumble, shaking myself as I walk out the door. I go to the pharmacy first, which is located downtown on the same street The Book Bag is on. I park in between, planning on going in and saying hi to Mrs. Williams and thanking her a million more times for giving me almost a whole week off so I could be with Chase.
With fewer than three thousand people in Summer Hill, it’s expected to run into someone you know no matter where you go.
I smile at Mrs. Matthews, my fifth-grade schoolteacher.
“Oh, Sierra,” she starts, looking startled. “Hello, dear. How are you?”