The Billionaire And The Waitress (gxg)

57 - a rib

THROUGH the haze of her unconsciousness, a pressure built on her chest―nearly unbearable. And when Muse felt one of her ribs crack, she wished she were Adam in the Garden of Eve. She would have given anything to have that rib removed. 

      She tried to open her eyes, but could only manage small blinks. Adrien's blurry face. Adrien's hands on her chest. The soft, perfect blue sky. Adrien's lips hovering over her, her mouth glistening with sea water, her hair slicked black, face dripping.

      If Muse believed in God, she would have thought Adrien was an angel kissing her awake. A divine embodiment with salt-tinged lips. Spirit given flesh, breathing her back to life. 

       She said none of that. Instead, lungs burning, she sputtered, "Holy fuck, Adrien, did you just break one of my ribs?"

       "That's one way to say thank you," Adrien said, but her face split into a grin. A miraculous, relieved, all-consuming grin. 

       She eased the pressure on Muse's chest, but kept pushing. Muse spit out more water. Her lungs ached. Fire streamed in her chest, through her throat, against her teeth. Everything hurt. She hadn't thought nearly drowning would burn so fucking bad. 

      Tentatively, she sat up. Adrien leaned back. She distantly noticed the people around them―crew members in neon orange life vests, the instructors in their scuba diving suits. But nothing else mattered to her as her vision focused, and she narrowed her eyes on Adrien.

      "Are you fucking crazy?"

      Adrien's grin turned, if possible, even more dazzling. "You know, I feel like you've said that to me before."

      Muse tried to laugh, but her rib cage stung. Her fingers clutched weakly at her chest. Everything spun a little. "I can't believe you jumped into the ocean after me!"

      "Hey, I saved your life, sweet cheeks." Adrien coughed, her face still wet and glimmering with droplets of water. "Some appreciation would be nice."

       "Thank you. Now, are you fucking crazy?" 

       "Seeing as we're married, you should know the answer to that."

       "Adrien, what could have possibly possessed you to jump in after me, drunk, with no life vest?"

        "The cold water sobered me right up, baby."

        "Stop laughing. This is not a laughing matter! What were you thinking? You could have died!"

        Adrien's grin faded. "You don't know how to swim, remember?"

       Still clutching her chest, Muse sat up entirely. She knew one of the crew members was helping her, bracing hands against her arms, but she took no note of it. Once she was leaning against the side of the boat, with Adrien crouching down over her―her chest burned so badly―she snarled, "Adrien Vitale."

      "Yes, Muse?"

      "Do you know how stupid that was? What if you had drowned?"

      "I'm okay. I was okay. But you were drowning. I just―I didn't think. You fell, and I jumped."

      "That's kind of romantic," whispered one of the crew members to the other.

       "And what if we had both drowned together?" Muse snapped. She forced back a groan. Talking hurt, too. But the adrenaline pounding through her blood eased the pain. "What then?"