Page 102 of Unexpected Kisses

I calm down enough to tell Mel everything, and when she offers to grab me a change of clothes from her apartment and bring them to me after her shift, I thank her profusely. When I step back inside AJ’s room and return to my spot on the edge of his bed, he smiles at me sleepily, so I take his hand in mine and kiss him gently. “Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake,” I whisper against his lips, noting the dullness in his eyes.

“Promise?”

“Promise. I’m not going anywhere.” He closes his eyes, leaving me with his family, who stay for a short while, then leave with promises of returning tomorrow.

CHAPTER43

–aj–

Soundsof machines infiltrate my consciousness and I slowly wake. I don’t know what they gave me, but whatever it was knocked me out. Sluggishly, I open my eyes. Squinting, I peer around the small, sterile room. When I look to my left where Sarah was when I fell asleep, my heart rate spikes to find the chair empty.

She promised she would stay.

The disappointment of finding her gone is overwhelming. I was sure she told me she loved me, but maybe the drugs in my system had me hallucinating the whole thing because that’s what I want. Maybe she was never here at all. I turn my head and stare up at the ceiling, working through everything that’s happened.

I can’t believe I fell. I’ve never fallen, even when I was starting out. I run through the last moments before I knew I was going down. I was holding on and then I had to push up and across to reach my next hold, then … A retching sound comes from the bathroom, breaking into my thoughts and startling me. It continues for a few minutes and I would prefer to investigate, rather than lie here on the uncomfortable hospital bed, but with my leg in a cast and the pounding in my head, I’m reluctant to move so I call out, “Hello. Are you okay in there?” The retching happens again and the need to know who’s being sick in my bathroom outweighs my need to remain still.

Pushing myself into a seated position, I ignore the aches and pains in my body, then twist so my legs are dangling over the side of my bed. Fighting the pounding in my head, I inch my butt closer to the edge and place the foot of my good leg on the floor to test my balance, then using the furniture, I collect my bag of fluids in one hand and drag the IV pole with me as I hop slowly to the bathroom—it’s tough to balance with all the shit I’m carrying. My head spins while the pounding on my brain feels like the drummer from AC/DC is practicing a solo.

I knock on the bathroom door. “Are you okay in there? Do you need me to call a nurse?”

“I’m okay. I’ll be out in a sec.” That’s Sarah’s voice.

Shedidstay. Relief swiftly replaces the disappointment I was feeling.

But why is she sick? If she’s sick, she shouldn’t be here watching over me. She should be home resting. Has she even been home?

Ah, fuck!Grayness pulls at the edge of my vision and my head spins. The floor comes up to meet me and I barely get my hand out in time to stop my face from smashing into the linoleum. Shit, that fucking hurts. I grunt as I try to push up but before I can move, the door swings inward and Sarah stands in the doorway. Her face is blotchy and the loose hairs around her face are stuck to her cheeks. I can see she’s been crying.

“Shit, AJ, are you okay? What on earth are you doing out of bed?” She immediately crouches down, hooking her arm around my waist to help me back to my feet. She awkwardly guides me back to bed, permanent creases marring her normally smooth forehead. She helps me sit on the edge of the hard mattress, then carefully lifts my broken leg, followed by my good leg onto the bed. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be up yet. And I definitely don’t think you should be putting any weight on your leg,” she chastises me as she covers me with the starchy sheet and thin blanket, efficiently ensuring the tubes going into and out of my body aren’t twisted. I lie back on the pillow and close my eyes to catch my breath. I feel as though I’ve run a damn marathon with that short trip to the bathroom.

“Are you okay? You were sick.” I study her closely. She looks pale beneath the blotchiness.

She waves me off. “Yeah. I’ve been feeling off all week. I think the anxiety of all this”—she waves her hand in my general vicinity—“tipped me over the edge. I’m sure I’ll start to feel better now I know you’re going to be okay.” I take her hand to pull her closer, but she resists. “I need to brush my teeth. Back in a sec.” She pulls her hand free and steps back into the bathroom, returning a couple of minutes later. “I hope you don’t mind. I used your bathroom to have a quick shower while you were sleeping.”

“Be my guest. I’m just happy you’re still here, but if you need to go, don’t feel obliged to stay. Shouldn’t you be at work?” I figure I should give her the option since work is so important to her. Maybe she only said she loved me out of worry and she doesn’t really mean it.

She frowns at me. “Are you trying to get rid of me?” I shake my head, ignoring the thumping. “Good. Because this is exactly where I need and want to be. I’m not going anywhere, AJ.”

I blow out a relieved breath and hold out my hand to her. When she puts her hand in mine, I tug her forward, cupping the back of her head to pull her down to me. Our lips are mere inches apart and this close I can see the residual tears in her dull eyes. She must have been genuinely worried about me. “Trust me, Cupcake. I don’t want to be away from you either, but if you need to go and rest, you should do that.” I press up, ignoring the pounding in my head, to swipe my lips across hers. Closing my eyes, I remind myself she’s here. She’s with me and she’s not going anywhere. “I missed you,” I whisper on a breath, then press more firmly against the soft pillows of her lips. My arms shake as I try to hold my body up, but I’m not about to stop what I’m doing, so I hold her to me as I lower my head back to the starchy hospital pillow. I kiss her soft bottom lip, followed by the top. Sarah opens, willingly inviting me inside and I don’t waste a moment, plunging my tongue into her mouth to reunite with hers, tasting the minty toothpaste. Our kiss is slow and sensual, full of apology and forgiveness, of love and passion, knitting the cracks in my heart back together.

This woman is it for me. I knew it from the second I overheard her talking about wanting to have a baby and my feelings for her have only deepened the more time I’ve spent with her. I’ve been in deep from very early on, waiting for her to join me. Even while we’ve been living together, I still felt as though she wasn’t in as deep as I was. But this kiss is showing me she’s finally caught up.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that I fell after all? I always like to find the positives out of a negative situation.

“Ahem.”

Damn it, between the doctors, nurses, and my family, I can’t catch a break. We separate, and the dazed expression on Sarah’s face makes my day. She goes to step away from me, but I grip her hand to keep her close. She’ll be lucky if I ever let her go.

“It seems you’re feeling much better this evening, Mr. Jackson.” The doctor steps further into the room, checking the machines. I’m pretty sure it’s the same doctor from before, but I can’t be sure. I’ve been finding it difficult to keep track of things since I woke up. They said it was normal to experience some confusion and disorientation after a concussion, so I’m not too worried.

“I am, thank you.”

“And your head? How are you doing?”

“Still have a bit of hammering if I move too fast, but I’m okay.”

“And how’s the pain level for your leg?” She asks as she squeezes each of my toes. “Can you feel that?” I nod. “Good.”

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