Chapter 20|Who's the baby giraffe?

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Someone was coughing when I woke up. Not like a tickle-y cough, but the kind where you're actually scared you'll hack up an internal organ.

I lifted my head, which felt like it had been filled with led while I slept. I was sleeping in the most uncomfortable position imaginable, even worse than that time Ryan and I slept on the grass. I was still seated in my chair next to Caleb's bed but my head must have fallen forward in the night, and stopped to rest on the edge of the bed.

Caleb was the one coughing. It was scary because he was still sleeping, but he was clawing at his throat like something was irritating his skin when actually, there was nothing there.

I quickly stood up, grabbing his one good shoulder and shaking it, knowing he must've been having a nightmare. His panic filled eyes popped open at my slightest touch, and he searched my face.

"H? What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I've been here all night."

He wrapped his one good arm around me, pulling me to his chest the way a father would with his child.

"Are you alright?" I asked, referring to his recent coughing fit.

He nodded. "Stupid dream that I'm drowning in sand, I'm fine though."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He sighed, loosening his arm from around me. "You know you get more beautiful every time I see you. I missed you."

"I missed you more."

"Impossible," he smiled, shifting into a sitting position.

"So you don't remember anything from last night?"

"Last night?"

"You don't want to kill the guy that shot you?" I asked.

"No, why would I want to do that?" He inquired.

"You said you wanted to."

"That's ruthless."

"Tell me about it, you must have been on some kind of pain medication that make you go kinda loopy."

"Oh, I remember them saying something about laughing gas..." He trailed off as he saw Ryan watching from the doorway. He must've found somewhere to sleep because his eyes were still glazed with sleep and he had bed hair.

"Who's the baby giraffe?" Caleb asked, nodding in Ryan's direction.

I snorted at 'baby giraffe' knowing he was talking about Ryan's height.

"Ryan meet Caleb, Caleb meet Ryan," I introduced.

"So you two are friends?" Caleb asked skeptically.

"Yeah, we're...uh...friends?" I confirmed, but it came out as more of a question.

"You didn't seem too sure about that, H," Caleb said amusedly.

"That's because I'm not," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You said something."

"You're delusional."

"You're in denial."

"You're ugly."

"You're just jealous because my legs are so much longer than yours."

"You have a hole in one of your legs."

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