Page 81 of Ache
Then she’s there. Holding my hand, smiling down at me with watery eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Ever presses loving kisses all over my face. “Welcome back.”
I find my bearings, then ask, “How long was I out?” My voice is foreign and groggy.
“Three days.”
“Whoa.” I clear my throat.
“Yeah. You gave us a scare.” She presses a button on the wall next to my bed as she wipes her wet eyes, smiling. “I don’t think I’ve stopped crying for one minute.”
That breaks my heart.
“Babe.” I pathetically pull on her hand. I’m seriously weak.
A nurse appears. “Welcome back, Mr. Prescott.” She’s cheery. It’s annoying. The nurse checks this and that, my vitals and pulse, and records them on the clipboard. Ever watches, seemingly overcome with joy. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake. He’ll be in to examine you in a few minutes. Great girl you have here. She didn’t leave your side for a minute.” The nurse with dark hair and fluorescent red lipstick winks at Everly.
Ever smiles in return.
Then it’s just us again.
“You never left?” I ask.
“Not for one second. The firm pulled a string and got you moved into a private room with an extra bed for me.” She thumbs behind her at the messy sheets.
“So, our secret is out?”
Everly nods. “I quit.”
“You what? Ever,” I scold her. That’s the last thing she should have done. Her future was so promising at the firm.
“Alec,” she silences me. “You saved me.” She sounds in awe. “You stepped in front of a gun for me.”
“It was the chivalrous thing to do.” I shift and am stabbed in the ribs with pain. “Fuck.”
“It was insane,” she goes on, trying to comfort me. Fluffing my pillow, kissing my lips, pouring me a glass of water.
“It was instinctual. I just reacted.” I sip slowly, the cool liquid quenching the desert-like thirst.
“It was heroic.”
“Tage is the hero. He was the one who kept me calm, kept pressure on the wound, and talked me through it. You know, until I passed out.” I recall the terrorizing moments. “I was freaking out. I was bleeding, they took you, there was so much happening so fast. Tage just kept reassuring me you were going to be okay. That we were both going to be okay.”
“Tage definitely has vigilante tendencies.” She sighs.
“Where is Riggs?” I make aLethal Weaponjoke. Tage definitely has the hair, the attitude, and the death wish.
“Gone.” Everly breaks the news.
“Gone? Gone where? Is he coming back?”
She shakes her head solemnly. “I don’t think so. Not this time.”
“What?” I squeeze her hand, seeing the devastation in her eyes. I know what he meant to her. Everything they’ve been through. He was supposed to change. He made a promise. We both did.
“Can I be honest?” Everly clears her throat of all the emotion.
“Always.”
