Page 141 of Bind Me

I nod in the direction of his tattoo. “That says otherwise, man.”

“You really aren’t helping.”

“You’ve helped me.” I laughed again.

“Like that sound. Do it again,” a soft voice whispered.

“Nee,” I cried, leaping up.

“Good to see you awake, Nee. I’ll go tell Lea and Fox.” Dawson stood, closing the door quietly as he left.

Leaning over her, I danced my fingers down her jaw, making her moan.

“Are you in pain?”

“Bit. What happened?”

“You had a seizure. Eliza was spouting some horrible stuff at you. You had a go at her and put her in her place and then you just… God, are you okay? I was so scared.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m so sorry that you had to go through this.”

She groaned, trying to push herself up to sit.

“No, no, no. Stay there. The doctor is coming in soon. We’ll talk to him. We’ll get the results of your scan, but I want you to know, no matter what he says, I want a future with you, a life… whatever that looks like. Nee, I want to marry you.”

“Still?”

“For eternity, my little octopus. That has never and will never change.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but winced.

“Just rest for now. We have all the time in the world to talk.”

Her eyes fluttered closed, and her breathing settled into a steady rhythm as she fell back asleep.

“Hi, Archer.” A nurse stepped into the room. “I don’t want to disturb Ionee, but do you happen to have her medication with you? Whatever she’s taking?”

“Yes, of course. We move about so much she keeps it in her purse.” I dug through her bag that was sitting on the side. “Here you go.”

I handed her the box. “She carries what she needs for the week and refills the previous day’s pot each night, so she knows she won’t run out.” Taking the tablets from me, she offered me a small smile. “And she takes them every day when she’s supposed to. She has alarms on her watch so she doesn’t forget.”

“Thank you. I’m going to go and chat with the doctor and he’ll be in to speak to you both.”

It was another four hours before the doctor came to see us. I was curled up next to Nee, who was slowly becoming less groggy, her words flowing better and her eyes looking brighter.

“Hi, Ionee. How are you feeling?”

Sliding off the bed, I let the doctor check her vitals, never letting go of her hand.

“Better, I think.”

“Well, that’s because we’re giving you the good stuff through your drip. Pain meds and your anti-seizure meds.”

“Do I need more? Will I have to increase my dose?”

“Can I sit?” He points to the bed and Ionee nodded. “Let’s start with some good news, shall we? We did a scan and there is no sign that your tumor is growing back or that you have any sort of internal injury that led to your seizure… everything looks really good inside your head.”

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