Broken Stranger

Part 4

I woke up and shifted in the bed, noticing my head was still on Chibs chest. I looked up at him and saw that he was awake, looking at me.

"Mornin', lass," he said with a smile on his face.

"Morning, what time is it?" I asked matching his smile.

"9 a.m., ye slept all night. Didnae move an inch," he laughed.

"Really? That's the first time in a long time that I didn't wake up with a nightmare," I looked at his brown eyes, his smile growing even bigger.

"Maybe ye just need someone here tae protect ye," he joked then bent down and kissed my forehead.

"About last night, im s-," I suddenly felt a wave of nausea wash over me. I jumped off the bed as fast as I could and ran into the bathroom, making it in time for me to empty my stomach contents into the toilet. I felt Chibs hands holding my hair back. It's been a long time since I've drank as much as I did last night. My wrist started throbbing as I grabbed the toilet seat and held onto it for dear life.

"Sorry," I murmured, my head still in the toilet as I heaved out some more. One of Chibs hands was still holding my hair while he used the other one to wet a washcloth in the sink.

"S'no problem lass." He dabbed my forehead with the cool washcloth and then handed it to me to wipe my face off. Chibs must have heard me quietly moan out in pain as I took my hand off the toilet seat.

"Yer wris' bothering ye today?" he questioned. I slowly nodded my head yes and he got off the bathroom floor and opened the medicine cabinet. Reaching in, he grabbed a bottle of Tylenol, then handed me two of the small, white pills.

"Thanks, what time do I go for my x-ray?" I asked as he handed me a glass of water. I quickly took the pills.

"Tara said 11 a.m.," he replied as he took the glass of water out of my hand. He held his hand out to help me off the bathroom floor.

"Okay, mind if I shower? Im feeling pretty gross from all this," I said as I gestured towards the toilet, flushed it, and put the lid down.

"Go ahead, I'll take one after ye dae," he said as he walked out of the bathroom closing the door gently behind him. I slowly unwrapped my right wrist from the ace bandage and noticed it looked more swollen and bruised today then it did before. Must have done some dumb-ass stuff last night I thought to myself as I started to strip out of my clothes. I turned on the shower and, while waiting for it to get warm, I brushed my teeth. I was desperate to get the taste of stale alcohol and vomit out of my mouth.

I stepped into the shower, the hot water droplets running down my body, soaking into my skin. I shut my eyes and relished the feeling of my muscles relaxing as the water slid down my body. My mind instantly drifted to the events that took place last night. It was a bit foggy but I remember most of it. I reached for the soap and washed my hair as I thought about Chibs saving me last night from that jackass. I scrubbed my hair with my left hand, still lost in my thoughts about the previous night.

I rinsed my hair trying to make sense of how I felt about that kiss with Chibs last night. It was only a kiss but that was still way to fast. I left Mike just four days ago. It wouldn't be too hard to move on considering I stopped loving him a couple months after we got married. But still, I hardly knew Chibs. I washed my body, massaging the soap into my skin then rinsed off. Turning the shower off, I reached for a towel and dried myself quickly, the cool air of the bathroom sending a shiver down my spine.

I quickly realized that all my clothes were out in the bedroom, where Gemma had left them yesterday. I wrapped myself tightly in the towel, cracked the bathroom door open, and looked in the room. Chibs looked up from where he was laying on the bed.