About an hour ago, Ronnie had crawled up on the hospital bed and had nuzzled herself against my chest. I placed my arms gently around her and tenderly stroked my fingertips up and down her exposed arm. Danny’s accusations of hidden feelings for her still ringing in the back of my head.
“So you told him to go fuck himself?”
“Not in those exact words.” Her voice was feeble from the twisting fabric of my shirt.
“Basically! You’re right; he’ll be back to himself in a few days. Just give him some time. He probably feels guilty that he was even thinking that way. He’s got a wife, which even he admitted to you, that he was deeply in love with. You had every right.” It was safer to hide my feelings from her, then to admit them. They would do neither of us good. For now, I would just enjoy being so close to her, letting her fully trust me.
“What do you say we sneak out of here for a bit and do something exciting?”
“You’ve got a broken leg?”
“Ok, well you go get the car and pull up front so I don’t have as far to hobble.”
She stared at me blankly from under her thick eyelashes, shook her head before returning it to its place on my chest.
“Hey, I just hate being holed up for so long in one place.”
“I’ll do my best to entertain you.”
“Go get one of those nurses and I think the two of you can find some interesting way to entertain me.”
She smacked me, hard, against the stomach. I flinched but couldn’t help but laugh at her temper. It was kind of cute.
As if reading my thoughts she responded, “Thanks for being such a great friend.”
“Any time sweetie. And I promise not to sneak a kiss at ya like your last one.”
She flinched but only for a second. “Thanks. I’ve had just about enough male testosterone for one day.”
“Am I not man enough for you?” I joked.
“You’re like my best girlfriend.”
“As long as you see me with big boobs and a pair of kick ass legs.”
“You look good in pink.”
“That’s not at all what I said.”
By now she was laughing, her stomach bouncing furiously against my side. “Thanks….” She breathed. “I really needed this.”
“Can I offer one last piece of advice? Before you get too comfy there.”
“Of course.”
“Talk to Jordon. It drives him nuts that you don’t trust him enough to tell him all of this.”
“I do trust him. He just has a temper and I didn’t know how to tell him all of this.”
“He’ll listen. He’s a stubborn ass at times, but he’s got a big heart. Which cares deeply for you. He’s probably tearing himself apart right now.”
“I promise in the morning.” She nestled herself up against me once more.
“Before you fall asleep, can you go get my cell phone out of my pants pocket? I can’t go to sleep for a couple more hours, remember? Gotta keep myself awake somehow.”
Reluctantly she pulled away from me and slid down the side of the bed. The col hospital air hitting me where she had just been laying. I forced myself to watch her sway her hips over to the chair and told myself I had no feelings for her. That she was just a good friend. She pulled the phone free from my pocket. As she placed my pants back down, a small piece of white paper fell free. I had to turn away as she bent over to retrieve the paper; repeating my friend mantra over and over again in my head.
“What’s this?”
“I really don’t know. Maybe one of the nurses gave me her number.”
Her fingers fumbled with the tiny piece of paper. It shook in her hands as her face grew white.
“What is it sweetie?”
Tears brimmed at the edge of her eyes, threatening to spill over. “It says, round two.”
She dropped the piece of paper and scurried quickly to my side. “Oh Matt. I want this all to be over. Who could have even put that in your pocket? The only ones who have been in here are me, Jordon, Jorel, and Danny. They can’t be an accomplice.”
I tried feverishly to calm her. “It’s ok. Shhh. There’s no accomplice.” Though, not one part of me believed my words. The nagging feeling that one of our friends had been working alongside her abusive ex, this entire time…was unsettling. I tried to remember who exactly had been around the chair. But the only thing that persisted was the ever growing headache.
“Get some sleep. Jordon will be here as soon as he can.” After what seemed like an eternity, her sobs slowing put her to sleep. However, I kept my firm grip on her and opened my cell phone with the other. Sure enough, Jordon had text me…several times. I merely responded with a… “He’s back”. And within seconds, Jordon was returning my phone call.
