Page 78 of Steeling Her
“I’m sorry, not to be rude, but I’m kind of in a rush.” I hand her my card so she can swipe it so I can get a move on. Carter might fall back to sleep. She nods, slightly taken back by my blunt tone. She hands me my receipt with her number scrawled on the back of it.
As soon as I leave the store, I rip it up and throw it in the trash, making my way to the elevators. No hope for me taking the stairs to the seventh floor. Once the doors part for me, there’s a group of girls in the elevator. One of them is in a wheelchair and a cast. The friends around her stand up when they see me, and I try not to roll my eyes.
Every time I’m out of the house, I get hit on. I didn’t mind it at first but now I don’t even bother. There’s only one girl I want. She’s lying in a bed upstairs, awake, and all I want to do is to hug and kiss her.
I stand to the side of the steel cage and press the button for the seventh floor. Flowers in hand, I slip my protein bar into my pocket along with my wallet. Not looking at any of them, I hear a whisper across from me that makes me look up. I catch one of the girl’s eyes as she looks away immediately. Looking around, I see each of them look away when I make any eye contact with them.
“Who are the flowers for?” the girl in the wheelchair asks me. I smile at the bunch in my hand and hope that she’s awake. The doors open to my floor, and I step off and reply with, “A very special girl.”
Seeing their faces drop a little gives me so much satisfaction. They were secretly hoping I’d say my mom, sister, or grandmother. But no, they’re for a different girl who has forcefully planted herself in my life and is staying right there.
I hear my own footsteps echo down the hallways until I reach her room. Austin is sitting on the chair, slouching and just staring out the window. I knock to get his attention and he waves me in. I open the door and trudge in to see Carter’s eyes open and stare at me. A smile breaks out on her face, and I feel my own grin forming at the sight of her. She still looks drained, but much better than when she first came to the hospital.
“Hey!” She grins like a kid on Christmas Day.
“Hey! These are for you.” I hold the flowers out and she reaches out for them.
“Thank you, Nick, they’re beautiful, and so were the others you brought me. Thank you!” As she smells them, she shuts her eyes to savor it. My mom always told me to bring flowers to someone in the hospital. It reminds them of being outside.
“You’re welcome. I didn’t know what your favorite flowers are though. Sorry.” I shrug as she rests them on her lap.
“I love white roses the most. Any colored rose, actually, but white is my favourite. Oh, but these are so pretty!” She sniffs them again, and her mom stands up to put them in a vase beside the window.
“Do you mind if we go out for something to eat?” her mom asks as she rests a soft hand on my shoulder. I nod, telling them that I’ll keep her company. Her dad and Austin stand up. Chris isn’t in the room; he must have gone out for a walk.
“I’ll watch over her.” I smile to her mother and she nods, taking her jacket and bending over to kiss her daughter’s head. Both of the guys do the same. I watch them leave the room, the click of the door soon following after. “How are you feeling now?” I ask Carter.
“Better. I’m still tired, and I still feel sick sometimes, but it’s not as bad as the first day I came here.” She grins back at me. Her pale complexion takes me back to that day, when I couldn’t wake her up.
“You scared me,” I whisper to her as I sigh at the memory. She takes my hand in hers, drips going in via tubing. It’s cold, and I feel my stomach drop at the mere sight of all the needles piercing her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, Nick. But if it wasn’t for you, I would be so much worse. Thank you for helping me. My doctor told me the extent of what happened and that you got me here just in time. I owe you so much, Nick.” Her eyes begin to water, and I feel my heart clench at the sight of her being upset.
“I just did what I had to do to not lose you.” I shut my eyes and lean my forehead on hers, still feeling that fever she has.
“I didn’t mean to scare you and everyone. All I remember is you holding me then it going black. The next thing I knew, I woke up here with my dad holding my hand.” Her voice starts to shake. I feel heavy when I hear that everything went dark for her, her body giving in and not being able to fight off the silent infection. “I tried to stay awake to see you all yesterday, but I didn’t even realize I fell asleep.” She chuckles, and I feel her breath on my lips, making my eyes open again. My thumb brushes her cheek back and forth. I take the side of her face in my palm. I kiss her cheek, letting my lips linger on her skin.
“You just focus on getting better and coming back to college. Don’t worry about not being able to stay awake to see us. We want you healthy, all of us,” I mumble on her cheek. I kiss the side of her head and embrace her. I hug her tight while she does the same back. “I missed you,” I speak truthfully.
“I missed you too,” she replies back. I bury my nose in the crook of her neck, wanting to feel her again. I’ve never missed someone so much in my life, even if it’s only been four days. It felt much longer than that. I kiss her neck feeling the goosebumps rise on her skin. “Thank you for coming to visit me everyday, even if I was knocked out and drugged up most of the time.” We laugh at how true that was.
“You’re cute when you sleep though. That’s the only reason why I came today, but you’re awake now so you ruined my entertainment,” I joke, making her laugh even more. I feel her body shake as she giggles uncontrollably, and I smile while listening to her. Pulling away from each other, I kiss her forehead for the first time in a while.
“My bad,” Carter says sarcastically. I can practically feel her eyes roll upwards. Kissing her once more, I step back a little and smile down at her. She’s so cute right now. She’s cute all the damn time, and it’s not fair.
I reach back to pull the chair closer to her bed and sit down, allowing the cushion to deflate beneath me. Scooting closer, I reach for her hand and hold it in my own, intertwining our fingers.
“You look much better now. You don’t look as pale,” I comment and she nods in agreement.
“I don’t know what I looked like that day, but my mom told me I looked like a ghost.” She shakes her head and laughs a little. “I won’t get out until next week, but you guys can come visit—”
“We have an away game on Sunday against Auburn, so I won’t be able to see you then. I’ll come in all the other days though.” She rubs her thumb on my skin in circles as she listens to me. “I’ll get Danielle to bring the laptop in here so you can watch me play if you want?” She takes a breath, yawning a little and covering her mouth with her free hand.
“Yeah, I’d like that. I would prefer to be at the game, but it’s the next best thing.” She slouches down into her sheets and we both get lost as we stare at each other. I missed those blue hues staring at me. The way the light hits them makes them brighter than ever. The way they flicker back and forth between my own. I miss her voice, her touch. I miss her, plain and simple. “What’s on your mind?” she asks me.
“What’s been on my mind since the first party of the year,” I answer her. Yeah, I’m cryptic but I like to keep her guessing. I know I’ll be blunt after she wonders what the hell I’m talking about. I just want to spend some time with her, alone. I want to be around her all the time. She’s increased my need for her every time I see her.
“And what’s that?” She tilts her head like one of those cute puppies you see in a kennel, and a lock of hair falls down the side of her face. My hand twitches at the need to tuck it back into place; to give me another reason to touch her. But I refrain from doing so, photographing in my mind what she looks like.A true beauty.
