Page 242 of His Sunshine Baby

“It’s been disinfected already.”

“Not for that, idiot.”

She sits up painfully, with my help, but she’s sweating and frowning a lot.

“Elena, no, not with your meds. I don’t have any anyway.”

“Nate, it’s only been 5 years,” she says with a groan. “I remember your minibar.”

I shake my head.

“It’s long gone. It’s been destroyed, emptied, and thrown out a while ago. You can ask Damian, he’s the one who wreaked havoc on it.”

For a few seconds, she stays silent, and sighs.

“Fuck, why did you have to go sober…”

“Come on, I’ll help you to the bed. Or do you want me to call Tonia? We can ask her if you can take anything else.”

“Help me to bed, then. Please,” she sighs.

Gently, I take her to the bed, next to Estelle, who’s still asleep. As soon as she’s next to her, Elena smiles despite the pain.

“How did we make such a pretty baby…” she whispers.

“You tell me. You’re the mom.”

She smiles, caressing her blonde hair. I sit on the side of the bed, watching them, unwilling to part. Elena’s face betrays the pain she feels, but she won’t complain. At one point, I realize she’s clenching her teeth, to endure the pain.

“Elena…”

“Shut up.”

I sigh, and move to sit behind her, putting my arm under her head.

“… What are you doing?”

“Bite me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Bite me, Elena. You’ll hurt your teeth if you keep going. And you’re too stubborn for me to call you a nurse, so bite me.”

“I can bite myself!”

“I heal faster, Elena. Stop being so stubborn for once, okay? Even if it’s for one hour, and then I promise I’ll go.”

“…Stay.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Just… stay. Please.”

I don’t know how to answer. But, to my surprise, she takes my hand and holds on to it, tightly. We stay like this for a long time, until I slowly lay back behind her, with gentle movements.I can tell she’s not sleeping, but she doesn’t move, and rests her head on my arm, breathing slowly.

Chapter 31

I slowly wake up to that familiar feel of the sunshine on my skin. Where am I? I look around but nothing’s familiar. Shit, it’s painful. I look down at my arm, and remember. I am at Nate’s place, with Estelle. What time is it? I’m alone in the bed, but I’m pretty sure I fell asleep with both of them by my side.

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