Page 70 of The Future Play

“You’re beautiful.”

She opens her mouth to say something, but the nurse walks in before she can.

“Okay, I hear someone is ready to be set free. You just need a little something special to get you through.”

Amanda whimpers at the needle the nurse holds up.

“The good news is you don’t have to look at it going in.”

“What do you mean?”

“This one goes in your butt cheek.”

I stifle a laugh as Amanda squeaks, “In my butt?”

“Come on, baby. You’ll be fine. Just flip over and stick your butt out.”

She hits me with that death glare, so I drop a kiss on her forehead.

“I hate you,” she grumbles.

“Nah. You could neverhateme. Come on. Roll over. I’ll hold your hand.”

She slowly rolls onto her stomach, and the nurse pulls the tie on her gown.

Amanda buries her head in the pillow. “This is mortifying.”

“I don’t know. You’ve got a cute butt.”

The nurse snickers, and Amanda whips her head to look at me, but when she sees my eyes locked on her, she softens.

“Perfect,” the nurse says.

“Ow!” Amanda whines.

“It’ll burn for a second, but I promise it’ll help. You can roll back over now. I’m going to get this IV out, then you can getdressed.” The nurse looks at me. “If you want, you can go grab the car, then pull up to the entrance.”

I look at Amanda, uncertain. “Are you going to be okay getting dressed?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” I lean down and kiss her forehead again. “I’ll see you soon.”

She grabs my hand as I pull away, the touch sending sparks through me. Her eyes glisten with tears, and it breaks me.

I wrap her in a hug. “It’ll only be a few minutes, then you’ve got me all night.”

She nods and wipes her eyes, and reluctantly, I walk out of her room.

The whole walk to the car, I’m twisted up. I don’t think I’m just trying to date her anymore. I think I’m falling for her. Ihavefallen. I told her I’m going to consider her mine, but even that isn’t strong enough to explain what she means to me. All too quickly, she’s become a massive part of my life, and that’s how I want it to be.

As grateful as I am that she’s letting me take care of her, I’m also pissed no one else is around. How long would she have laid on that bathroom floor before Pete found her? I know the girls were going to check in too, but it drives me insane that she’s so afraid of bothering someone to let anyone take care of her. And I’m a little pissed that her parents would go on vacation while she’s obviously really sick.

She said they had it planned for a long time, but that’s no excuse. I can’t imagine my parents doing that with any of us. My mom still brings me Gatorade in a kiddie straw cup when I’m sick and makes sure I have everything I need.

I wish Amanda wasn’t so used to being an afterthought. That’s something I need to change.

When I pull up to the entrance, they haven’t wheeled her out yet, so I grab my phone and type out a text.

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