Perfecting Patience

Page 26

Hearing that he was fighting back made me so happy. Not that I wanted him to hurt himself, but Zeke was a fighter; he had been for his entire life. It gave me hope that he wouldn’t give up any time soon.
“When can we see him?” I asked in a rush.
I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to see him and watch his breathing. As long as he was breathing, then he was still here with me.
Thirty minutes later, I was being led to Zeke’s floor. Finn and Chet went back to the condo to get me a change of clothes. Walking around with blood spatter covering my clothes wasn’t a great feeling.
I stepped up to his bed and gasped at his swollen face. I leaned over and softly kissed his forehead. His right hand had been crushed by a tire, so he had a cast that went up to his elbow. His left arm was wrapped tightly in bandages. There were spots of red where the blood was starting to seep through.
His legs weren’t broken, but they were cut up pretty bad as well. It was the cut on the back of his head that worried everyone, but knowing Zeke, if he were awake, he’d be more freaked out by the fact that his hand was crushed. The doctor said it would be months before he’d ever use it again, if he ever did.
When I couldn’t stand it anymore and I didn’t think my body would hold me up any longer, I sat on a couch across the room. Another hour passed as I sat in that one spot and stared at him. If there was any movement, I didn’t want to miss it. And when he woke up, I wanted to be there.
I closed my eyes for just a second to let them rest, and when I opened them again, the room was completely lit up by the sun. It took me a minute to gather my wits, but once I did, I jumped up from the couch and rushed to Zeke’s side. He was lying still, but he was breathing, and at that point that’s all I needed to see.
“Good morning,” I whispered softly as I planted a tiny kiss on his lips.
“Good morning to you, too,” Finn said from behind me.
I jumped and turned around quickly. He was standing in the doorway with two cups of coffee in his hands.
“I brought you a pick-me-up.” He made his way over to me and handed me a cup. “Any changes?”
“No. We’re just waiting for him to wake up. The doctors came in a few times last night, but that was it. Thanks for the coffee.”
“No problem. I brought you some clothes last night, but you were asleep on the couch. I’ll stay here with him if you want to go back to our place and grab a shower.” He sat on the couch and took a sip from his coffee.
It was weird seeing Finn so serious and drinking coffee. He was usually on something, drinking anything alcoholic, and none of the boys were ever serious.
“No. I’ll stay here. I want to be here if he wakes up.”
“Okay. Chet’s supposed to be bringing some lunch later. You should probably eat something when he does.” He gave me a friendly smile.
“I will.” I sipped my coffee. “Thanks again for last night. I’m sorry if I hit you or anything. I didn’t realize what I was doing.”
“No worries. Me and Chet are big boys. I think we can handle getting knocked around a little. No way could a pretty little thing like you take us down.”
I nodded and smiled over at him. He was right. No way could little ol’ me hurt either of them physically, but still I felt like I needed to apologize.
“Quit flirting with my girl, assface,” Zeke rasped.
Gasping, I turned my attention back to him. His eyes were still closed, but I could tell he was in pain from the expression on his face.
I set down my cup and grabbed his good hand.
“Zeke? I’m here, baby.”
“Snowflake.” My name slipped from his lips like a prayer.
I leaned down and pressed my cheek into his palm. “Yes. It’s me. It’s Snowflake. I’m so sorry, Zeke. I’m so sorry. I love you so much.”
His lids slowly worked their way open and then I was staring down at bloodshot brown eyes. A tiny smile lifted his lips, but the pain set back in and he flinched and closed his eyes again.
Finn went to get a nurse, and I sat on the bed beside Zeke. It only took a few seconds for him to come to his senses and start trying to get up. I pushed with all my might to get him to lie back down, but even with broken bones, he was so much stronger than me.
“Zeke, please just be still until the nurses get here,” I begged.
“I’m not staying here. I fucking hate hospitals and that bitch drugged me. I’m going home. Take me home,” he said as he pulled at his IV.
I cupped his cheeks with my hands and forced him to look at me.