After another several minutes of checking vital signs and adjusting wires, the nurse leaves. I hear her telling the guards outside in a hushed whisper that I’m allowed to be here, and to keep any nosy reporters far away from us. Good. The last thing Iris needs is a bloodthirsty journalist sneaking into her room for an interview.
Iris sleeps well into the night. I end up letting Hailey nap in the chair while I kneel at Iris’s bedside. It hurts like hell, but probably nothing compared to what Iris might be feeling.
By midnight, Iris still hasn’t woken. Her night nurse brings in another chair, so I can be more comfortable, and I thank him as I settle down for an overnight vigil. Nothing’s going to drag me from this bedside.
Chapter 33
Iris
I wake up a little confused and disoriented. There’s something uncomfortable over my mouth and nose, my head throbs, and a strange weight sits on my chest.
It’s a struggle to open my eyes. My lids are heavy, and I feel like I could sleep another year and still be tired. When I finally manage to wrench them open, I’m stunned to see Micah sleeping with his head on my chest. He’s seated next to the bed I’m in and leaning across me, which can’t be comfortable for him. His hands are clenched around mine, like even in sleep he’s afraid to let me go.
I look around the room a bit to orient myself. I’m in a hospital, that much is clear, but I have no idea how Micah ended up here with me. I lost my phone in the accident, so I know I didn’t call him.
Hailey’s out cold, curled up in a nearby chair. She’s sucking her thumb in her sleep, and in her other hand she grips a piece of paper. One of her drawings, by the look of it.
When did they get here? Everything’s so damn fuzzy; I can’t think, can’t focus.
“M-micah?” My voice croaks, and when he doesn’t immediately wake up, I figure he couldn’t hear me. I work one of my hands free from his and pull the plastic-smelling oxygen mask off my face. How is he supposed to hear me when this stupid thing is muffling me?
“Micah?”
He groans and lifts his head. From the way he moves, I bet he’s stiff. Sure enough, he rubs the back of his neck as he blinks a few times. “Iris?”
“Yeah. It’s Iris.” That was stupid. Of course, I’m Iris. He probably wasn’t asking that. “I mean, I’m here. I’m awake.”
Micah strokes my cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got sandwiched on the freeway.” I try to chuckle at my own terrible joke, but I just end up starting a coughing fit.
“Hang on! Slow down. Let me get you some water.”
He pours me a little from the plastic pitcher on the bedside table. The cup he hands me is tiny and cheap and a hideous shade of pink, but I guess I shouldn’t expect much from standard-issue hospital stuff. With Micah’s help, I sit up a little and take a few sips. He rests his hip on the side of the bed and lets me prop up against his chest until I feel like I can sit up on my own power.
“Everything fucking hurts.”
“Do you want me to get the night nurse, Devlin? He’s been giving you regular pain meds in your IV, but there might be something else he can give you now that you’re awake.”
I shake my head and rest my head on Micah’s shoulder. “No. Not just yet.” I glance over at Hailey. “Is she okay? I didn’t scare her too bad, did I?”
“She’s fine. She has a picture to show you when she wakes up.”
Speaking of waking up … “What time is it?”
Micah checks his watch. “About three a.m.”
“Shit.” Not that it matters what time it is. I don’t have a job to get to anymore. The reality of it hits me almost harder than the cars on the interstate did. Micah still has a job, though; he shouldn’t be here at three in the morning when he’s got work tomorrow. I say as much, but he brushes me off.
“My boss knows what’s up. I can miss a couple of days. I’d rather stay here and make sure you’re okay first.”
“How did you find me?”
“I just checked the closest hospital to the accident. The news channels weren’t reporting where you were taken to, but I got lucky. This was the first place I looked. Absolutely swarming with media outside, so I knew I had the right place.” He rubs my arm while he talks, gently, almost like he’s afraid he’ll hurt me just by touching me.
“Hey, Micah?”
“Yes, Iris?”
