Right Now.

Chapter 16

I slept alone last night. With the door locked. I didn't want Kian anywhere near me. I was so mad that I could hardly see straight. At a certain point I went out to the living room to find Kian lying on the floor with Christopher in his arms, both of them sleeping. Tears welled up in my eyes and I picked Christopher up so I could put him in his crib. I felt bad about it at first, but then I remembered the abandoned feeling I got.

When I woke up, I took my time to get the courage to leave the bedroom. I stayed in bed for a while before using most of my strength to get into the wheelchair. Then I got Christopher out of his crib. I tended to him a bit before I finally went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I took Christopher out of my room with me.

As I slowly wheeled myself down the hallway, I listened intently to see if I could hear talking or anything like that.

I don't hear much, only my breathing mixed with Christopher's. I slowly push my way into the living room.

What I find is unsettling. Anger boils inside of me.

I didn't want to fight with Kian last night, but the anger that I felt and the fear I felt mixed with Kian's temper sent me into yelling at him.

Now, all I want to do is yell at him, scream at him, kick him, hit him until he listens to me.

But I can't.

He's gone.

The couch is empty, blankets neatly folded with a pillow sitting on top.

Maybe he's just not in the living room.

With my heart beating frantically-whether out of fear that he left or anger, I don't know-I wheel myself into the kitchen to find it empty. Then I wheel around the rest of the bottom floor, finding empty room after empty room.

"Kian!" I yell loudly, hoping maybe he's just upstairs. I sit with my wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs, looking up. My sudden yell causes Christopher to slightly jolt from the relaxed position he was in while sitting in my lap. I place my hand on top of his head gently, smoothing his dark hair down. Then I place that hand against his stomach, straightening his back against my stomach.

After no response, I give up. I know by now that he has left.

A sigh escapes my lips.

*****

For the whole day, I sit around and watch television with Christopher. For a while we watch baby shows and I have to admit that they're adorable. I'm pretty sure I payed more attention to them than Christopher did, but I'm not ashamed. Once I change it to catch up with the current shows I'm behind on, I watch intently and basically stay in the same position with Christopher on the couch except to feed and change him.

After about four hours, I start to doze off and eventually, seeing that Christopher is fast asleep in my arms, I fall asleep completely.

When I wake up from my slumber, I smell something. When my senses clear a bit, I smell something burning.

Panic sets in and I quickly lift Christopher off of my stomach and place him on the couch and frantically try to get into my chair as quickly as possible. After I'm in my chair, I pick Christopher up and place him in my lap. Quickly, I wheel to the kitchen. Maybe I left the stove on or something?

"Fûck," I hear, causing me to stop. I breathe in before wheeling further towards the kitchen, where I can see a thin cloud of smoke forming.

"Dammit," I hear next. When I reach the kitchen, I see Kian frantically drop a pan and run towards the sink. He turns it on quickly before shoving his hand under the stream of water.

"Kian?" I say in a strong voice. Suddenly my anger comes back.

He turns to me, a shocked expression on his face. After studying my angry features, he gives me a sheepish smile.

After a few seconds, he pulls his hand out from under the water and grabs a folded towel from the drawer. He wraps his hand, wincing.

I soften a little bit at his pain, but I still say and do nothing.

"I left to surprise you," he tells me.

"Some surprise," I mutter, rolling my eyes.

"Well I was trying to. Until I burned the shît out of my hand," he replies. "I was going to have dinner cooked, our new bedroom decorated and it was going to be great. But now that you're awake, and my hand is crispy..."

I give him a small smile. I guess I could just appreciate the effort.

"Lemme see," I tell him, pointing to his hand. He raises his eyebrows, as if he didn't expect that from me. He unwraps his hand and sucks in a breath as he approaches me and outstretches his hand. "What happened?"

When I look at his hand, I see blood and blisters already. His flesh is basically burnt off and the entire left side of his hand is red, along with his fingers.

"Well, I was cooking, and I went upstairs to get something and got distracted. When I came back it was burning and I didn't think before I just grabbed that damn thing to take it out."

When he says this, I look up at him with a duh face. "You're an idiot."

He shrugs. "Yeah."

I release his wrist that I had taken to examine his hand and wheel backwards and down the hall to the bathroom. I grab the first aid kit before heading back to the kitchen.

*****

After I finish tending to his hand and calling the doctor to get some real burn creme, Kian and I order pizza and talk over dinner.

"So..." He says slowly and I automatically know he's about to bring up a touchy subject. The touchy subject of the moment. "I still have to fly out Thursday."

I don't say anything or respond in any form. I just eat my pizza for a while.

After I finally figure out how to react, I wipe my hands off on a napkin before setting them in my lap.

"How long?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. No more than a month," he replies.

"A month?" I say, exasperated. "That's like..." I don't even finish my sentence.

"Maddie, I'm not sure. I will try to be back as soon as I can," he tells me, pleading with his eyes.

"Okay," I say without even trying to protest. It's not worth it to me right now.

"Please don't be angry about this," he begs. I stare back at his brown eyes.

"Okay," I repeat, playing with my napkin.

"Madison," Kian groans, standing up from the table and walking around to me.

"Kian, I'm not mad. Just change the subject," I say quickly, not wanting him near me at the moment.

"Sorry," he replies. He picks up his plate and mine and walks to the kitchen.

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Hellooooooooooo

So here's that and it's almost valentines day yay! Who's got a valentine? Not me!

Anyone going to teenhoot tomorrow? Have fun if you are!

Comment here on your predictions!!

Thanks for reading!

Vote and comment please!

xox -Delilah