She spread her legs a little and the hanger fell out and we both started to laugh. Carefully, I pushed her forward until we were able to collapse onto the bed and I pulled her into my arms. She laid on my chest and I rubbed my hands into her hair.
“Avion,” I started quietly. “I’m so sorry. I swear, I will never hurt you like that again.”
She was walking a couple of her fingers across my abs. “Good. I didn’t like that.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’m just so all over the place right now. I’ve never felt so out of control.”
She looked up at me, her eyes sparkling. “We’ll figure it out together.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Together.” I kissed her forehead. “You know, you said something when we were with your dad that I’ve been thinking about. You said he’s the last family you have.”
“Yeah?” she replied.
“What about your grandparents?” I asked.
She gave me a small smile. “Well they don’t even remember me and they’re in France.”
“Yeah, but I know where they are,” I said. “What if… Once all of this is over, we go and see them?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. If that’s what you’d like.”
Her eyes started to fill with tears again. “I’d like that.”
“Then it shall be done.” Looking down at her, I noticed that her eyes were suddenly struggling to stay looking straight at me. “Avion, do you feel okay?”
She shook her head. “I feel really lightheaded all of a sudden.” She tried to sit up, but fell back to the bed almost immediately. “I don’t think it was the sex. It’s been happening for the past couple of days.”
“What?” I demanded. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I thought it was just stress and I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Okay, come on. Let’s go talk to Dr. Aurora,” I said.
She grabbed my hand and stopped me. “Is it okay if we go to a different doctor? It’s just a hunch I have?”
“Why?” I said.
Her eyes fluttered open and shut. “Um… Because.” She shook her head, but it didn’t work.
“Hey,” I said, lifting her and holding her in my arms. “Stay with me, okay? Just look at me.”
She smiled up at me and murmured out, “I love you,” before her head fell back and she passed out.
55
AVION
Waking up in hospital beds with drips attached to me was getting old fast. My immune system had never behaved this horribly before. I was the same woman who would sometimes set out for the day at five or six in the morning and be out until well past midnight and only have time for one small meal throughout the day. Sure, I was maybe dealing with slightly more stressful circumstances, but only slightly, not enough to turn me into such a helpless person.
“Gio?” I moaned out.
“Hey.” I looked over and he was sitting to my right with his head in his hands. We were in a hospital I didn’t recognize, which was both a good and bad thing.
Good because it meant that Gio heard my request to speak with someone other than Dr. Aurora, but bad because it meant that he may have also heard my embarrassing and premature confession of love. I really only said it because that was what I felt in the moment, so it wasn’t like it was necessarily untrue for me, but I knew it was way too soon to be saying I loved him, especially with how much relationships freaked him out.
Right?
