It felt nice, gabbing with the girls. I told them all about the soup, the fresh bread, and the fruit salad. I told them about how courteous Doc was, or how insistent he was last night that I eat and save my strength. I told them about the fireflies, and how they seemed to ignite around us, simply because we were there.
I told them everything.
It felt so good to smile.
Then a knock came at the door.
“Ariel?” Cap asked through the door. “You in here?”
“We all are!” Ariel called out with a chirp.
Cap swung the door open and nodded at me. “Hey, Lizzie.”
I lifted my hand and waved. “Hey.”
Cap turned his attention back to Ariel. “Church in five. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Twenty, at the most.”
Ariel blew him a kiss. “Let the guys know we’re up here, would you?”
Cap simply nodded. “Will do. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“AWWWWWWW!” I said really loudly.
I stuck my tongue out playfully at both Cap and Ariel.
“Hey,” Cap said as he pointed at me. “Don’t think we aren’t giving Doc a hard time today. Heard you guys were on a rollercoaster last night or some shit. Lots of yelling.”
I balked as the girls busted into laughter.
Ariel threw a pillow at him just as he whipped the door closed.
15
DOC
I was aware of all of them as they stared at me when they came into the room. I sat in my chair in the corner, my leg crossed over my knee as I sipped on my third coffee of the evening. I stayed up most of the night last night just watching Miss Elizabeth sleep. I worried she’d wake up in pain. That I was too hard on her healing body last night.
No such thing happened, though.
“Well, well, well,” Wrecker said as he came up and clapped me on the shoulder. “Look who’s still sucking down caffeine this morning.”
Cap chuckled as he came into the room with Scout. “She wore you out last night?”
I flickered my gaze to our president. “You don’t get to talk about her being in such a vulnerable space.”
The room froze as Cap crooked an eyebrow. “Oh?”
I just nodded. “You stick to the sounds of your woman, and I’ll stick to the sounds of?—”
Mine.
I wanted to say ‘mine’ more than anything, but the word got lodged in my throat. Cap crossed his arms over his chest, a cheeky little smirk on his face.
“Uh huh,” he said before he took his place in front of the room.
I hated that they heard us. Hated that they knew what Miss Elizabeth sounded like. I’d have to find a way to keep us quiet next time. Because therewouldbe a next time.
