Page 107 of Break the Ice
Finley scoffs, anger edging her words. “He said that yesterday.”
“They’re not going to allow us all to stay, Finley, and I need to talk to Eli.” Lex brings one of the chairs closer and sits it beside the bed, bracing himself on the backrest. “I won’t be taking my eyes off him for one second.”
Finley nods. The smile that tugs at her lips is so faint it doesn’t have a hope of reaching her eyes.
“If you need anything, let me know,” Jayden says, pointing at my phone on the bedside table where it’s been put on charge. “We’ll bring back a change of clothes and food. Hospital food sucks even if you’re the VIP patient.”
“Stay with Fin... please,” I tell him, watching as he dresses Finley in my sweatshirt.
Jayden isn’t typically harsh, but there’s always a devil may care roughness to his actions.
Not with her.
With Finely he’s gentle. There’s a softness to him when he’s with her that leaves me in awe of him and his ability to care so reverently for someone so new to his life.
“Rest.” Jayden leans closer. For a moment, he pauses. Hesitates. Then his hand grips mine, holding it between our chests as he touches his shoulder to mine. His breath warms my jaw with the whisper of licorice gum. I swear I can taste it when I suck in a shallow puff of air as he murmurs in my ear, “Don’t scare me like that again.”
Everything falls too silent for too long. The air grows thick and hot. It doesn’t matter how hard I try to think of something to say, my brain draws blanks.
“Thanks, Morrow,” Lex announces as he shifts beside me,rearranging some of the things on top of the bedside table before he grabs an empty bottle and throws it in the waste basket.
“Yup, you’re welcome,” Jayden replies tersely as he backtracks toward Finley and begins to usher her out with his hand firmly anchored at the bottom of her spine.
“See you later, Elijah,” she peers back into the room while he continues without a backward glance.
I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t feel anything. Jayden and I don’t typically hi and bye.
Except today it irks me.
Without him and Finley here I'm untethered and...alone. Like my safety blanket has been torn away from me when Lex begins to pace the length of my bed.
“Can you sit? The pacing’s making me giddy.”
He pauses, spinning to look at me while I finish the last of my water and his thumbs continue tap-tapping away on his phone.
“Excuse me while I smooth over the mess those two have made.” His eyes narrow on mine. “What’s going on, Eli? What’s the deal between the three of you?”
I freeze, clutching the bottle in my hand as I figure out what to tell him. Hell, I’m figuring out what to tell myself at this point because...What is happening?
Sitting up, I attempt to get out of bed, only for my body to buckle. Frustration and exhaustion cloud over me. My muscles are weak and my reflexes are lagging.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he mutters, his arm coiling around me as he helps me onto the chair he moved beside the bed earlier.
Then he pockets his phone and sits on the edge of the bed facing me. “This migraine... this episode was different from the others.”
“It didn’t feel different. I thought I could sleep it off and?—”
“You should’ve seen a doctor sooner.” He levels me with an unwavering glare.
“Stop staring already,” I mutter, picking off some of the dried blood on my skin, next to the cannula. “Just tell me what’s wrong with me.”
A loud exhale flares his nose when he finally diverts his worried gaze to the floor. “The Neurologist said everything came back normal. He called it a hemiplegic migraine.”
“Hemiplegic? What does that mean?”
“It means that it’s a migraine with severe aura and stroke-like symptoms. It means you need to avoid stress and rest more.”
“I do. I eat clean like the nutritionist recommended to avoid migraines. Every advice I’ve been given, I’ve followed.”
