Caught in the Middle

Chapter 7

The door opens with my fist midair as I am going in for another knock. The girl on the other side smirks at me in amusement. I blush in embarrassment and let my hand fall limply to my sides, while giving her a guilty smile. "Good to see you, Dr. Deluca." She opens the door wider for me to enter the apartment, looking me up and down with the smirk never leaving her face. She turns around, while leaning against the door, calling for Maya.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mads. Please tell your dad how sorry I am." Maya walks out of the kitchen with an equally amused expression on her face. Maddi blows her a kiss while walking out the door. "I think my dad will let you off the hook to help us move, seeing how you were stabbed. Love you." She closes the door just as Maya says the three little words back to the teen. I flip my head to the closed door, when I realize that I no longer had the privilege of being the only person Maya says I love you too.

It takes me another second for Maddi's entire sentence to enter my mind once the shock wears off from her being so open with her feelings. Stabbed? Maya è stata pugnalata, cazzo? I was so focused on not being informed that Maya got hurt, that I never even asked what injuries she sustained. I glare at her and get a small sense of satisfaction when she looks down at her feet guiltily. "I'm making a smoothie. Do you want one?"

She doesn't give me the chance to answer her before she stiffly walks back into the kitchen. She's favoring her right side, which means she was stabbed somewhere on the left side of her mouthwatering body. I shake my head to dislodge my eyes from where they're glued to her ass and muscular legs in those running shorts of hers. I close my eyes to remind myself why I am angry with her and what brought me here before I follow her into the kitchen.

I run my eyes over every visible part of her skin in a less invasive way, trying to see how hurt she really is. The Maya I remember was a pro at hiding her pain, and if she was really stabbed, then it means she left the hospital against doctors' orders. A momentary lapse of fear enters my mind that maybe I'm setting myself up for more pain by letting someone so reckless back into my life. But the thought comes and goes without any lasting effect.

"How mad are you?" She asks with her back to me and when I don't immediately answer her, she looks over her shoulder at my inquisitively. "What gave it away?" I mumble it under my breath, not thinking she'll hear me. I try to smooth out the frustrated lines on my face. The last thing Maya needs is to worry about me blowing up on her with all my repressed anger. I take a big breath through my nose to calm myself down.

She drops the last of the chopped-up ingredients in the blender before turning to me fully. "You mean besides the pounding on our front door and the Italian threats?" She raises her eyebrow at me mockingly and my ears burn from embarrassment. Sei qui per riconquistarla, idiota. I furrow my brows at her to get to the point she's trying to make, hoping that if we get through the topic of her removing me as her next of kin, then we can finally talk about our feelings.

"You're still dressed in your scrubs and white coat, which means you found out I was admitted and rushed over here. Am I right?" She looks me up and down and smiles when she sees I'm wearing the shoes she bought me the day I moved out. No matter how mad Maya ever got at me, seeing me in pink scrubs is like her kryptonite. I revel in the fact that her eyes become darker, and a slight blush moves up her chest.

I desperately need to bring the both of us back to the topic at hand. Our desire for each other is clearly still evident but jumping each other's bones before we get everything out in the open, is a disaster waiting to happen. I clear my throat to get her attention. "Maddi said you were stabbed. How are you out of the hospital?" She rolls her eyes but becomes somber when she sees how freaked-out I must look. Did she not get how many possible complications there could be from a stab wound?