His eyes close for a moment, then open again. He's really out of it. It must be the drugs they gave him for the pain. I can't even imagine the amount of pain he's in. Every part of him is bruised or swollen, and that's just what I can see on the outside. His insides are damaged too.
"Danny was here," I say. "The other guys are coming later."
"Tell them to go," he says, his eyes closing. "I don't want them seeing me. Like this."
"They won't. They're not allowed in here. But they still want to come." I put my hand along his cheek. "They love you. So do I."
"I love you too," he whispers, taking my hand from his cheek and bringing it to his lips. He softly kisses my hand, then brings it down to rest on his chest. "I knew he'd come."
I assume he means his dad. I keep quiet, hoping he won't ask me what happened. He needs to know about Jacob, but not yet. Not when he's still in such a fragile state. There's nothing he can do about it so worrying him won't do any good. It might even make him worse.
"Where's Jake?" he asks.
Shit. What do I say?
The nurse appears. "The doctor will be in soon," she says to me as she checks on Dean. "I'm sorry, but you'll need to go."
"Okay." I look down at Dean, forcing out a smile. "I'll be back."
His eyes close, then flutter open before closing again.
"He's got a lot of drugs in him," the nurse says to me.
"When will he get out of here? Like go to a regular room?"
"When he's more stable. The doctor wants him to remain here until we start to see some improvement."
"Any idea how long that will be?"
She looks at him. "I really can't say. He's young and strong so the chances are good his recovery will be quicker than most. Do you need me to show you out?"
"No. I know where to go."
Dean's eyes are closed and he looks like he's sleeping.
I lightly squeeze his hand. "Bye, Dean."
His eyes flutter open and his lips move, just slightly, but no sound comes from him. I set his hand down and step back from his bed. I get one last look at him, then leave, walking quickly past the curtains and beds back to the waiting area.
Eve sees me and runs up to me, pulling me into a hug. "It's okay."
As she says it I realize I'm crying, my face wet from tears.
"He looked horrible. Every part of him was bandaged or bruised." I sniffle. "I barely recognized him."
"He'll get better." She pulls back, holding my arms. "It's only the first day."
"He could barely talk. And his neck. He kept trying to reach for it, like it was hurting and...I didn't know how to help him."
"You helped him by being there. Let's go sit down."
She takes me over to where my mom is sitting.
"How was it?" my mom asks, helping me to my chair.
"Bad. Really bad."
"I'm sorry, honey. Is there anything I can do?"
