“Sometimes you have to laugh to keep the tears away,” I responded. It was stupid, but it was how I’d gotten through life since my first accident.
“I can still have my parents watch Jagger,” he continued. “I don’t want you to think I’m asking you to move in just because it’s convenient.”
“I didn’t think that,” I told him. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. “But you don’t have to do that. He should be at home in his own bed. If we’re being honest here, I like my time with him. I’m not sure you’ll ever understand how much it means to me that you trust me to take care of him.”
“You take care of both of us,” he corrected me. “I’m not sure how I’ll repay you for everything you’ve done for us.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” I told him. “Just being with you is payment enough.”
“Oh, my God. The two of you are cheesier than those Spanish soap operas.” I looked up and saw Matt standing in the door with his arm wrapped around Justin’s waist. “Are they always that sickeningly sweet?”
“Worse, sometimes,” Justin corrected. He led Matt into the room and produced two more folding chairs from inside the closet. “You through giving my boy heart attacks?”
“Hopefully, but no promises,” I told him. Michael groaned and we all laughed. “Don’t worry, babe. You may not believe it, but I’m really not a fan of being laid up like this.”
“That makes three of us,” Michael said. “Now that they’re here, I’m going to take Jagger home so he can sleep in his own bed. Olivia’s been pretty cool about letting me hang out, but once she goes off shift I have no doubt they’ll be kicking both of us out for the night.”
As much as I didn’t want him to go, it was for the best. Jagger was likely going to have a rough night and I didn’t want Doug and Bonnie dealing with that. I motioned Michael closer to the edge of my bed and fisted the front of his shirt. When we kissed, I was vaguely aware of the groans coming from across the room, but we both ignored them.
“Go home,” I told Michael when he was reluctant to let go of my arm. “I’m going to see if they’ll bring me more drugs soon. Hopefully, I’ll annoy them enough that they’ll let me go home within the week.”
Michael and I needed to find time to talk about the surgery and what to expect after. I’d been through this before and knew it was going to be a long, sometimes painful process. I’d come into the ER telling myself I’d simply aggravated the break from the accident, but no such luck. In the morning, I’d be under the knife yet again to have the bones set. And then I’d get to go through another two months of rehab. Yeah, they’d tell me four to six weeks, but this was the one time I wasn’t going to be overly optimistic. If Michael could stick by me through those crappy weeks without killing me, we’d be able to weather any storm.
“Which home?” Michael asked. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet while I thought about how to answer so I wouldn’t upset him.
“Probably yours for a while,” I finally responded. “I’m not saying I’m ready to move in just yet, but I know it’s going to be a slow healing process. Since I won’t be able to get around well, it makes sense if I stay with you.”
“Gee, way to make a guy feel special,” Michael grumbled.
Sensing the tension between us, Justin cut in and offered to take Jagger home. Michael handed over his house keys without a second thought. I waited until they were gone to say anything else.
“Babe, I’m not saying I don’t want to live with you,” I assured him. “But like you said, we told ourselves we’d take it slow, and we haven’t really done that so far. It’s already going to be stressful enough with me staying at your place while I’m healing.”
“I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you’re making it out to be,” Michael argued.
“You’re right. It’ll probably be worse.” Michael shook his head, vehemently disagreeing with me. “I’ve been through this before. It’s going to hurt like a sonuvabitch, and I’m going to get pissed when I can’t do everything I want. I’m going to have to ask you to wait on me. You’re going to move the wrong way in bed and it’s going to hurt. I’m going to wake up in the middle of the night when my meds wear off.”
Michael leaned down and kissed my forehead before taking my face in his hands. His eyes were alight with determination as he spoke. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it,” he promised me. “Yes, me asking you to move in was a bit impulsive, but that doesn’t mean I’ll change my mind.”
“I believe you, but I need to do what’s best for me,” I said, trying to ease the blow I knew he was feeling. This truly wasn’t about him in any way. It was all me and my own doubts that anyone would want to stick with me through this. I’d been through recovery once before, and the fallout could’ve crushed me if I hadn’t been too stubborn to quit. “We’ll see how it goes for the next few months. If we don’t kill one another, we’ll talk about it when I’m not lying in a hospital bed.”
“I suppose I can deal with that.” Michael sat back in his chair and stuck out his lower lip. He was pathetically adorable when he pouted. When he folded his arms over his chest and slumped back in his seat, I busted out laughing. “What’s so damn funny?”
“You.” I reached out to him, wishing I wasn’t stuck in the damn bed. “You look just like Jagger when you don’t get your way.”
There was a sharp rap against the door and we both turned toward the noise. The nurse standing at the door was someone I hadn’t seen before. Her brow furrowed when her eyes landed on our joined hands, but she quickly recovered. “Time to wrap it up, Michael.”
“Okay,” he grumbled. I was surprised that he hadn’t tried to argue for more time. Maybe that was why this nurse had come down instead of Olivia. This was a small town and chances were high that they all knew how stubborn he could be. “But you’d better take care of him tonight. He’ll tell me if you don’t.”
While Michael did his best to stare down the slightly scary nurse, I shook my head to let her know his threats had nothing to do with me. I wasn’t stupid; I knew better than to piss off the nursing staff who’d be checking in on me while I slept.
Michael fussed over me for a few minutes longer, making sure I had everything I needed for the night. “It’s going to be lonely without you tonight.”
“I know, but I have no doubt you’ll be back as soon as they open the doors in the morning.” I motioned for him to bend over so I could pull him closer. I sealed my mouth over his and dragged my tongue across the seam of his lips. Michael’s body went slack in my arms as he deepened the kiss. By the time he pulled away, both of us were breathless and I was fighting as hard as I could to not let him see my pain. “Go home and give Jagger a big hug from me.”
“I will,” he said, not moving toward the door. “I love you.”
“Goodnight, Michael,” I whispered. “I love you, too.”
