Page 16 of Saving St. Nicolas

“That’s Marines, you fucker,” I croak.

“Stop it,” Leia says, lightly slapping Noah as he laughs at his own joke.

Leia looks at me. “There was a fire, and the Christmas tree fell on you,” she starts to tell me, and I remember tossing Payton to Jake.

“Payton, is he okay?” I ask.

“Yes. Jake caught him, he’s alright. He thought it was fun until he saw St. Nicolas under the tree that was on fire. How do you feel?”

“My throat is a bit dry, and my head is pounding, but other than that, I feel okay. So, what happened after I passed out?”

“Riley saved you.”

“Excuse me, what did you say?”

“She said, I saved your ass from burning alive, basically doing my job, you’re welcome,” Riley says from the corner of the hospital room.

Seems our roles have reversed, me on the bed, her in the corner looking surly.

I try to focus on her, but I’m still seeing double, and it’s very hard.

“I think I have a concussion,” I mumble.

“Yes, you do. Want me to ask the nurse on duty to bring you something for the headache?” Leia asks.

“Yeah, that would be great,” I tell her.

“Okay, I’ll be right back, and you,” she points at Noah, “Better be nice.”

“I’m always nice,” he says, mumbling.

Leia walks out of the room, and Noah looks over at me. “You are alright, right?” he whispers.

“Yeah, I’ll live. There’s no way in hell I would miss you getting stood up at the altar by my sister,” I tell him with a chuckle that hurts.

“She’s not going to stand me up,” he says, though his voice says his confidence is wavering.

“Hmmm, sure,” I say, closing my eyes to keep the room from spinning.

“Noah, Leia will not leave you at the altar, and Mike, quit being mean,” Riley says, sounding bored.

I open one eye, so I can look at her, but even with one eye, I’m still seeing double, so I close my eye.

Leia walks in with another nurse, who looks me over, gives me some meds and a glass of water. I take them, then lay my head back down.

“You all should allow him to rest,” I hear the nurse telling the group in my room.

She walks out, and Leia says, “Okay, we will go and let you rest, but I will come check on you when I come on shift in the morning, okay?”

“Sounds good,” I tell her, still not opening my eyes.

“Glad you’re okay, buddy. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Noah says, and I grunt. I hear their feet move to the door, and I listen to the door open and close.

“Why are you still here?”

“Don’t worry about it, sleep. Leia would be upset if you didn’t walk her down the aisle,” Riley says.

“Hmfff,” I grumble out, but sleep pulls me under.

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