I leaned forward to close the gap between our lips, but he dodged and kissed the side of my neck. Creating a blazing trail up to my ear, he breathed, “The nurses said no kissing till your numbers improve. Get better and we’ll make up for lost time.”
He gave me a devilish, dimpled grin, then pressed his lips to the V of my pajama top and traced a finger along my waistband. “Don’t tell me it’s not worth the risk—don’t tell me we’re not worth it.”
I couldn’t tell him those things without becoming a liar as well as a coward. So I pushed his hand away from my stomach and inched backward on the bed. “I think you should go.”
He recoiled like I’d slapped him. “Fine. But I can’t keep doing this. I’m not coming back until you’re serious.”
Chapter 34
I wasn’t going to answer my phone—until I saw who was calling. “Gyver?”
“Hey, Mi. Meagan told me you were sick. How are you?”
“I’m …” I couldn’t think of an answer to that sentence that wouldn’t require a lengthy explanation. “Will you come visit me?”
“You want me to?” He sounded surprised, like it hadn’t been him avoiding me since last Sunday in my kitchen.
“Of course! Always.” It was the simplest, truest thing I’d said all day.
“I’ll be there soon.”
While I waited for Gyver, I tried not to think about my fight with Mom. Or the tension with Hil. Or my frustration with Ryan. Or the enthusiasm of the crowd, the flip of my cheer skirt, the laughing pulse of the party. Now that I’d decided not to hide, the things I’d sacrificed crushed me with their absence. Like she knew what I was thinking, Ally sent me a photo of them smiling in spirit shirts and cheer skirts. Wish u were here 2!
I was fidgety with emotion that thrummed just under my skin. Annoyed or not, I felt something for Ryan, but it was Gyver’s company I needed right now. He’d help me figure out what to say to the girls and how to fix things with Mom.
“Hey, Mi.”
“Hey!” I knelt up on the bed and held out my arms. “You’re late!”
“Well, Impatient One, we stopped at Scoop’s to get milkshakes and there was a line. I didn’t know if you’d want strawberry or vanilla, so I got you both.” He set them down on the bedside table and hugged me.
“Vanilla, please.” I pulled away. “Wait, we?”
“Hi. It’s okay I came, right?” Meagan stepped from behind Gyver and gave me a hug of her own.
No! I wanted Gyver to myself. I needed his perspective. I needed him to defuse everything in me that was about to combust.
I smiled plastically. “Of course.”
“Meagan!” Doctors and nurses flooded my room and she was engulfed by hugs and questions of “How are you?” All my nurses, even Business Nurse, went out of their way to greet and pet her. I added bitterness and resentment to my internal cesspool—this was my hospital now, not hers.
While Meagan was treated like returning royalty, Gyver relaxed into his spot next to me. He reached over and tapped the IV line. “What good stuff are they feeding you today?”
“Just fluids. They’re going to disconnect me for the night after this bag. My fever’s down and I stopped puking.”
“Not puking’s good,” he answered.
“You sure you don’t mind babysitting me? I’d hate to interrupt.” I looked at Meagan and held out my hand to him.
He took it. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“I’m so glad you’re here. It’s been such a—”
“Your hair?” Meagan asked in surprise when her adoring horde had subsided.
“A wig,” I pointed to the foam head on the windowsill.
“It’s a good one; I didn’t know.” For someone who had seen this before, Meagan was edgy and twitchy. She stood awkwardly at the end of my bed and avoided looking at the IV tubes sprouting from my chest. The whole benefit of her friendship was supposed to be that she’d been through this before, yet she was the visitor who made me feel the most uncomfortable.
I tried small talk. “I can’t believe Business Nurse hugged you. I’ve never even gotten a smile out of her.”
“Who?” Meagan stared blankly at the wall above my head.
“Denise,” Gyver translated.
“Oh,” was her insightful response.
“Where are your parents?” Gyver asked.
“Probably at dinner.”
Meagan surveyed the room, her gaze lingering on the door. She was twisting her hands in her lap, miming the process of lathering.
“I’ll try and refrain from kidnapping you while they’re gone.” Gyver smiled and I felt some of my chaos dissolve.
“We’d have plenty of time to make a getaway. They’re staying home tonight.”
“They’re not staying with you?” Meagan was appalled.
“Mom doesn’t sleep well, then I don’t sleep. And she had a major meltdown today.” Gyver met my eyes with a knowing gaze and squeezed my knee through the blanket. I opened my mouth to confess the awful things I’d said—
“What about your dad?”
“He snores,” Gyver and I answered simultaneously.