Chapter 7
Xander
A knock soundedon the door. It was a light tap.
It woke me up but realistically I should have been awake already. Although my body felt stronger, I was still suffering from the effects of the torture.
The tap sounded again, more cautious this time.
It was Frankie. He opened the door and poked his head inside.
“It’s three fifteen. Didn’t know if you wanted to get up early and get something to eat,” he said.
“No, I’m still full from the ten course meal your mom gave me.” I smiled groggily, straightening up and focusing on him. My movement made Jia wake too.
He chuckled when he saw her. “That’s alright man. I’m gonna go get the truck ready.”
“Thanks, I’ll be down soon.”
“Cool.” He tipped his head and left us.
According to my plan we had forty five minutes but honestly the sooner we left, the better. We’d just get to Idaho quicker. It was gonna be one hell of a drive. It would take us the whole day. I counted around fifteen hours with stops for breaks. I knew I’d feel better once we got out of state.
Jia straightened up and moved to kiss me but pulled back.
“What? No.” I reached for her.
“I am not kissing you with morning breath. Ughh, and must you look so gorgeous. You’re supposed to be injured. At least look like it. I look like I woke up in a barn.”
I didn’t know what she was saying to me, she was the one who looked gorgeous with that platinum blond hair cascading down her shoulders in long graceful waves. When she tried to slip off the bed I pulled her back and planted a kiss on her lips.
“You have gorgeous honey breath,” I told her, loving the feel of her in my arms. “And you look sexy, just-woke-up-in-my-arms sexy.”
I could easily get used to this. Definitely get used to it.
Not now though.
We had things to do.
She backed away and looked me over. “How are you feeling?Truly. I shouldn’t have come in here. I should have allowed you to sleep.”
I shook my head at her. Having her the two times I did wasn’t something I’d regret. “I’m okay. I’m not a hundred percent but I’m okay.”
That was part truth. I was probably around sixty percent myself and would have preferred to be a hundred percent me for this venture into uncertainty. I trusted my body and wasn’t used to this near useless version of me.
“I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t, I’m a lot better.”
“Xander, I wished we could have taken you to a hospital. I would feel better if you had some kind of scan.”
“There’s no time for that. I’m gonna have to be as okay as I can be, but I promise I’ll go as soon as I can.”
“You’d better, I’m not going to go through so much to lose you to something I should have taken better heed of.”
It was nice to have her care about me the way she did. I hadn’t had that in a very long time.
“Are you okay with today?”
