EXPLODE

fifteen

For the next day, I sat in my room and slept, the ache in my throat slowly fading as I breathed in more and more oxygen.

The nurses told me if I wanted to, I could spend another night in the hospital and rest up before returning to the castle; or at least what was left of it. So I stayed, slept, ate, and relaxed just like the doctor ordered me to.

But by the later it got in the day, the more restless I became. I was able to hold it off for a while, but soon it became too much to bare.

When I was sure most of the doctors and nurses had gone home other than the nurses who had a night shift, I crept into the hallway.

Luckily, I had convinced my mom- who had visited me the same day as Evan- to bring me some sweatpants and at shirt so I wasn't stuck wearing a horrendous hospital gown. I could only imagine the embarrassment if my butt was hanging out the back end of a dress right now.

I checked the hospital chart until I found Liam's name and was relieved to find he was only a few rooms down from me.

By now, my body was almost fully functional, and only stiff from the amount of naps I took. Some of my bandages had been removed, revealing scarred, pink skin that was beginning to scab over. But I was alive, right?

When I finally reached Liam's room, not wanting to waltz in, I have a small knock first. It dawns on me he could be asleep, as it was close to three am, which is why I was surprised when Liam answered to my knock.

"Come in," he says, his voice tired.

"Liam?" I whisper, tip-toeing into the room. His eyes widen at the sight of me and he smiles from ear to ear. He tries to move himself to a sitting position, but winces at the pain in his abdomen.

"Hey!" He exclaims, giving up on sitting and instead waving at me. He frowns for a second before returning to his chipper state. "You had me really worried."

"Why?" I ask, moving forward to sit by him on the bed. He gently scoots over, careful of the side where he had been stabbed. It brings many questions to my mind, all of which can be saved for when he wasn't in such a dire condition.

"Because when I woke up they told me you saved my life- thank you for that- but that you were in critical condition," he told me, looking down at his lap in embarrassment.

"I'm glad I saved you; I don't know what I would do without you," I answer. "But I was scared for you too. They told me you would have died because of the stab wound."

"But you saved me," he whispered, reaching out and curling his hand around mine. I blushed, keeping my head down and letting my hair become a veil between the two of us. I didn't want him to see my embarrassment, but he quickly tucks my fallen hair behind my ear. "You don't have to ever hide from me, Dawn."

I peeked up at him, my cheeks still full of heat, and he leans forward to press a quick kiss to my lips; it's enough to send my heart hammering.

"Are you alright?" I ask, holding his hand in mine as I snuggle closer to him, careful to avoid his wound.

"It punctured something, I don't know what, but they were able to fix it. I had some internal bleeding, but they fixed me up just fine. I just have to worry about the medical bill," he tells me.

"No you don't. I'll pay for it," I respond.

"You do to much for me," he says, running his thumb across my cheek. "Are you okay?"