Page 101 of Surviving the Merge
He called me by my full name more and more these days.
A hand came to rest on my shoulder. “You guys go and get some rest. We’re going to settle in with her. I have your number; I’ll call you if anything changes, good or bad,” Norman said.
I gave in, and I told Max he didn’t have to bother coming back. Ash gave us some scrubs and other supplies from the hospital to get us through until the later hours of the morning. I didn’t predict that I’d be getting any sleep, though.
Changed, I got onto the small uncomfortable bed and lay on top of Damon. He’d spread his legs to accommodate me. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply at the feel of his rough hands plunging through my loose hair and scraping lightly across my scalp.
Opening my eyes, I asked, “What’s changed?” I held his gaze. He got what I meant.
His fingers stilled for a moment while he took the time to think about his answer. Firmly curling his fingers in my hair, he peered deep into me and said in a hushed voice, “My pain is no longer the biggest thing in the room.”
Running my fingers along his lower lip, I told him, “I love you.”
“I know. Now sleep—”
“But—”
“Now.”
I stubbornly rested my head on his chest and allowed his hands to anchor me.
* * *
I didn’t recall dozingoff, but the hustle and bustle of hospital activity outside the room door, along with the sun blazing through the window, woke me up. Damon still slept underneath me. I checked my phone. I had a text from Sam's mom, received ten minutes ago.
Patting Damon’s cheek lightly, he roused. “The doctors are in with Sam. They’ll be providing an update on her condition soon.” I was halfway off the bed when he grabbed me, bringing me back down onto him. “Damon, we don’t have time for this,” I said impatiently.
“We’ll make time. If there’s one thing we should take away from what happened last night, it’s that life is short. Nothing is too important for me to not take a second after waking up to show you what you mean to me.”
With that said, he hugged me to him, burying his nose in my hair and inhaling.
A knock at the door broke us apart. I glanced in that direction to see Ash enter with Pete.
“Look who I found hassling the front desk to let him up without an adult present.”
Getting to my feet, we met in the middle of the room. “Pete? How’d you find out?”
“On the news. I’d recognize that bike anywhere, and they gave a brief description of the rider.” His voice rose as panic set in. “They said she wasn’t likely to survive. Why are they even allowed to say things like that?”
Tugging him into a hug, I urged him to take deep breaths. “How did you get here?”
“My bike.” His words were muffled by my shirt.
Pulling back, I asked, unbelieving, “Yourbike?” I didn’t want to hear the wordbikeagain.
“It’s not a motorbike. I had to know. I had to come,” he said, on the verge of tears.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I murmured, embracing him tighter. “Does Debbie know?”
“Yeah. I told her I would call once I found out…”
I’d have to tell Max that a statement would need to be made at the center. If it made the news, everyone would be panicking.
“She’s in bad shape, but she’s strong. She’ll pull through. Give us a few minutes to get ourselves together, then we’ll all go up.”
I looked to Ash, and he got the hint. “I’ll take him to the break room to grab something to eat. Meet us down there when you’re done,” he said.
I mouthed a silent “thank you” to him as they left.
