Meg looked around the room and watched small conversations start among the family members. Cole was talking with his dad in hushed tones. Farrow was watching Alik intently as he shared something with just her and Evan and mom and walked toward the kitchen, heads bowed in deep conversation.
She looked down at Maze, who hadn’t left her side. “What do you think of all this, buddy?” Meg asked him. He licked his chops. She frowned. “Please tell me you’re just getting hungry for your normal puppy chow and not developing a taste for my blood.” He grinned at her letting his tongue roll out of his mouth and cocked his head to the side.
“Great…that’s all I need. I better not start looking like food to you.” She looked warily at her best friend.
“Hey mom? Would you fill a bowl of dog food for Maze, please?” She called to the kitchen.
Chapter 23 Choices
The evening passed without incident, but also without epiphany. Living in a family of doctors can be pretty annoying. They hovered and adjusted and monitored until Meg couldn’t stand it anymore and kicked everyone out of her room except Cole. She had already been given three I.V. bags of fluids and forced to eat a hamburger with a fruit salad and downed a handful of vitamins.
Meg felt stuffed.
Evan insisted she take the sleeping pill before he’d leave her room, so as she lay feeling full and warm in her bed, she also started to feel a little drowsy.
“I’m so glad you finally talked with the family and are letting us help you, Meg,” Cole said hesitantly, then continued when she didn’t respond right away. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve been right here.”
“No, you haven’t. You’ve been far away and you wouldn’t let me help you come back.” Cole’s eyes looked tired.
Meg sighed, knowing he was right.
“Come here,” she said and patted the space beside her on the bed.
He looked unsure for a moment then stood from the chair in which he had been parked for the last hour, walked around her bed and carefully stretched out on his back next to her. Ever the gentleman, he stayed above the covers. Feeling the effects of the sleeping pill loosen her inhibitions, she scooted closer to him, laid her head on his shoulder and curled against him as much as the thin blanket separating them would allow.
She felt a deep, contented sigh slip past her lips and draped her still-bandaged arm across his wide chest.
“Meg?”
“Hum?”
“Are you asleep?”
“Not yet.” Though her eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed, she knew exactly what she was doing. Meg loved the feel of Cole beside her. She felt safe with him.
“Tell me how you feel about finding out Creed is alive.” The words came out of Cole’s tense body in a rush.
“How I feel?” Meg asked, stalling.
“Yeah.”
“Well, he’s our friend. I’m thankful he’s alive, but I worry about how we’re going to keep him from being a pawn in Williams’ sick game,” she said, trying to sound logical.
“And?”
“And, what?”
“Meg, do you have feelings for him?”
She blinked her heavy eyes open to look at Cole. He was watching her face carefully—tension in his locked jaw. “Creed is a good guy. He has lived a hard life and fought to do the right thing despite his teachings. I admire him.”
“Do you love him?”
Knowing Cole had just laid his heart out to her, Meg treaded carefully.
She sighed deeply, feeling gently tugged under by the sleeping pill before speaking. “I don’t know. I may have, but he’s not the same anymore. It’s very likely the Creed I had feelings for is gone. His emotional signature is—unrecognizable.”
Cole held perfectly still as he listened to her. She could feel his heart beating, steady and sure under the hand she had draped across his chest. Something about the constant of it drew her in. She snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder, and her leg curled up and over him. Sleep was desperately becoming a reality.
His warm hand began to gently massage her back causing her to stir. With her dark eyes still half closed, Meg peered up into his face. Realizing what his hand was doing, his face blushed causing his green eyes to look even greener. The effect was beautiful.
Unable to resist, she reached up and held his warm cheek in her palm for a moment before moving her fingertips slowly over the curve of his lips. She felt the heat of his breath slip between her fingers as he moaned softly. His eyes had closed as though the sensation of her touch was too intense. Instinctively, Meg replaced her fingertips with her lips, offering him a tentative, quivering kiss. His beautiful mouth was even softer than she had ever imagined.