Page 64 of Leave Me Not: Nick & Elissa 2

She presses kisses to my cheeks, her fingers combing through my hair as she gently eases me back so we’re facing each other. I watch as she runs her thumb along my brow, a small smile on her face as she leans in to press the softest of kisses against my lips.

“I’m okay,” she whispers. “Baby’s okay too. But what are you doing here?”

I kiss her again, not answering her question just yet, because I desperately need to feel connected to her. To know that she’s really alright, even as I’m holding her in my arms. Eventually I pull back, as Lis brushes the tears from my cheeks.

“The coach and team doctor lied,” I say, my voice croaky. “My knee’s fucked, I need more surgery and they lied to me about it. I just…I couldn’t stay, Lis. Couldn’t risk anymore damage, couldn’t risk fucking up our future any more than I already have.”

She smiles, giving me another quick kiss. “First of all, you haven’t fucked up anything, Nick. Secondly, I’m sorry about your knee, I know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear.”

I shrug, not giving a shit about my knee right now. “I don’t really care anymore, Lis. All that matters is you. You and the baby.” I drop my hand to her stomach, resting it over the small bump she has. Lis smiles, covering my hand with hers.

“Me and baby are just fine,” she whispers, resting her forehead against mine.

And just as she does, I feel it. A flutter beneath my hand, like a tiny movement beneath her skin. “Oh my god,” I breathe out, knowing I never got the chance to feel this when she came to visit me. “Was that…?”

“You felt that?” Lis asks, a huge smile on her face.

I nod, unable to speak, desperate to feel it again. And it’s like the baby knows I need this, almost like it’s telling me it’s okay, because it happens again and fuck me if I’m not crying all over again.

The next morning,Lis and I are woken by a nurse coming into her room. It’s pretty obvious she is not happy to see me in here either, but just as she starts to tell me off, Judy walks in, laughing when she sees me and Lis in the bed together.

“No point telling them off, this boy has been sneaking into my house since they were teenagers,” she says, smiling at the nurse as she takes in the two of us.

“It’s against hospital policy,” the nurse says, shaking her head at us.

Judy lets out another laugh, dropping a kiss to the top of Lis’ head, before leaning across to do the same to me. “It was against my policy too, but that never stopped them,” she says, taking Lis’ hand in hers. “How you doing this morning?”

“A little sore, but I’m okay,” Lis answers, squeezing my arm, which is still wrapped around her waist before she sits up. The nurse comes over now, hitting me with a stink eye that I ignore before she turns her attention to Lis, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm.

I slide out of the bed to give her some room. “And you, Nick,” Judy now says, smiling as she walks around to my side of the bed. “How on earth did you get back here so quickly?”

I blow out a breath, shoving a hand through my hair as I turn to my mother-in-law. “I was already on a plane,” I explain. “Found out when I landed, so came straight here.”

Judy’s eyes widen as she glances at Lis and then back at me. “I didn’t realize you were coming back for a visit so soon?”

“I’m not,” I tell her. “I’m back for good.”

“You got out of your contract?”

I watch as the nurse writes some things in Lis’ chart before hanging it on the end of the bed, and I move closer, taking her hand in mine as I lift it to my lips and press a kiss to her wrist. “No, it’s a little more complicated than that.”

I’m about to explain everything that’s happened to Lis and her mom, having only told Lis the bare minimum before she fell asleep in my arms this morning, when a lady in a white coat walks in. After she introduces herself, she gives Lis a quick once over before telling her she’s free to go, provided she takes the rest of the week off work and takes it easy.

“She will, I promise,” I assure the doctor, Lis’ hand in mine still.

She smiles at both of us and when Lis has signed her discharge papers, the doctor and the nurse both leave the room.

“So,” Judy says, smiling at us. “Is it home to our place or to Nick’s?”

Lis turns to me. “Is it okay if we go home to my place?”

“Babe,” I whisper, lifting her hands to my lips. “I don’t care where we go, as long as I’m with you.”

Judy laughs, putting a reassuring hand on my back as she teases, “Just as well my policy on you spending the night is a little more relaxed these days.”

Lis laughs, squeezing my hand. “Mom, we are actually married now.”

Judy waves her daughter’s comments away with another laugh as I now help Lis out of bed so she can get changed. As she grabs her things, my phone chimes out with a text.

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