The Assignment

Chapter 27

Melissa and I parted ways in the hallway outside Joey's hospital room. She gave me another comforting hug and told me everything would turn out the way it was supposed to. But that's what I was afraid of: not knowing how it was supposed to turn out.

I gave a soft knock at the door and hesitated to open it when he said to come in. Here I'd been so adamant about seeing him, worried sick that I'd never get to hear his sweet, soothing voice again, and now that I was within twenty feet of him, it felt like I'd dipped my shoes in cement. What was I supposed to say to him? Could I even touch him without hurting him? Would he even want to talk to me?

"Only one way to find out," I muttered to myself, taking a deep breath and pushing the door open.

Immediately, it felt like someone had taken a two-by-four to my chest and forced all the air out of my lungs. There laid the man I'd nearly had a heart attack over. Bruises and scratches were scattered across every visible part of his body. There were numerous monitors and other devices hooked up to him, recording his heartrate and so on. A large bandage was fixed to the left side of his torso where he'd been shot. He looked like he'd fought a grizzly bear.

"Hey," he smiled weakly when our eyes met.

I could feel tears brimming at the sight of him. I'd already gone through an emotional breakdown on the way to the hospital, but seeing him all beat up like this was practically ripping my heart out.

"Hi," I managed, the hoarseness returning to my throat. "How are you feeling?"

I forced myself to walk across the room and sit down in the chair beside the bed.

"Like I got shot," he shrugged and chuckled softly. "I'm alright, though."

I nodded slowly, still taking in his miserable appearance. "You're something. That's for sure."

His small smile widened. "Yeah? You should see the other guy."

Yeah, he's dead, I thought. I didn't say anything.

Joey's hair was disheveled and had bits of dried blood in it. The nurses had obviously tried to clean him up as best they could, but there were still smears of red across his skin. Regardless of how terrible he looked and felt, that stunning sparkle was already fighting its way back to his sapphire eyes.

"Jess?" His rough, exhausted voice cut through the air like a knife. "I want to know how you're feeling."

How was I feeling? How was I feeling? My whole body felt like someone had dropped a ton of bricks on top of it. My heart felt like it was going to leap right out of my chest any second. My head felt like it was going to explode like a fucking volcano. My lungs felt like they'd collapsed. My stomach felt like it was never going to settle down. My throat felt like I would never be able to swallow the lump that seemed to be caught in it. And why? All because I'd been so utterly terrified that I'd finally given my heart to a good man and I was going to lose him before I ever got the chance to show him how much I loved him.

"I'm okay."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Come on, Jess. You know I can see right through that."

He lifted his arm and winced at the effort it took, but reached out and grabbed ahold of my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and smiling as best he could under the painful circumstances. I couldn't imagine how much pain he was in. I could feel how weak he was by how limply his hand grasped mine.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Joey..."

"Talk to me, Jess," he begged with those dazzling eyes. "Please."