Blow (TKO 3)

“Let me help you,” I say, startling her.

She jumps, nearly knocking her wine glass over. “Shit, you scared me.”

“I’m sorry. Tell me what you need me to do.” I chuckle.

“You can finish rinsing these dishes so I can start the dishwasher.” She grabs the broom.

“What made you change your mind about going to the hospital?” I look over and her eyebrow is raised.

“Don’t push it or I’ll change my mind.” She places her hand on her hip, trying to look serious. I know if she wanted to, she could easily change her mind.

I throw my hands up in surrender. “I’m not trying to push it, I swear. I’m just curious.”

“I just realize that I need to let go of my selfishness and go see him. It’s not his fault that our secret caused this mess.”

“I’m so proud of you.” I place a plate into the dishwasher and saunter over to her. I place my hands on her hips and pull her close, so close the tips of our noses touch. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“I don’t feel too amazing,” she whispers.

“Well, you are.” I place a soft kiss on her lips.

“I don’t deserve you, not after everything.” She tries to pull away slightly.

“You don’t get to decide what you deserve, Tammy Lou, I do. You’re perfect for me. I can’t stand that we’ve argued since that night when all I’ve wanted to do is hold you.”

“I’m sorry I pushed you away. I wasn’t trying to, but I just didn’t know how to deal with everything. I’m not as strong as you are.”

“That’s what people do, Tam. It’s human nature. We push people away when we need them the most. I won’t hold it against you. It upset me. I can’t lie. It hurt a lot to see you acting like you were, but I knew eventually you were going to come around.”

She nods as she listens to me. “Thank you for understanding. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“That, my love, is something you’ll never have to worry about. You’ll never be without me.” I kiss her lips one more time. I haven’t tasted her kiss since that night, and I miss it.

“All right, Prince Charming, we’d better finish cleaning this kitchen. You’re distracting me.” She giggles as she pulls away from my hold and begins sweeping the floor.

I watch as she focuses on the task at hand. I came here tonight expecting the worst and got a complete surprise. I know when we go up to the hospital, she won’t regret her decision. She’ll see that Austin is okay and there’s nothing to be worried about anymore.

Chapter 34

Austin

It’s a new day and I’m glad to be alive. I’m staring at cream colored walls, but it’s better than not staring at anything. I’d love to stare at Paige again, but I haven’t seen her since I was in ICU. Maybe she just doesn’t know where I got sent to. Oh well, I’m sure she’s busy and was just doing her job. There’re so many patients inside this hospital, why should she be worried with me?

An older nurse with short gray hair walks in carrying a tray of food. I cringe when I realize I have to try to feed myself. I was once right-handed. I can do some things with my left hand but I’m not good at it. I’m preparing myself for the anger and frustration that I’ll encounter in a few moments. I thank her politely and wait for her to walk out of my room. My left hand is shaky as I reach for the lid to see what they brought me this morning. I raise my eyebrow as I stare at the plate before me.

The thin brown cardboard is what I’m assuming to be bacon and the pale yellow square must be eggs. I groan at the thought of having to eat it but I don’t want to starve myself. My mom has been up here constantly and I told her to rest a little this morning. I don’t want to bug her to bring me something edible, so I grab the fork and struggle to hold it right. Once I feel comfortable with it, I poke at the egg and bring it toward my mouth. The egg slides off the fork and lands in my lap.

“Fuck.” I mutter as I set the fork down and grab the egg. I pop it right into my mouth and soon realize that I did myself a favor by dropping it. This is disgusting. I force myself to eat a few more bites before pushing it away. I eyeball the orange juice on the tray. There’s no way they could mess up orange juice. I manage to open the straw without breaking it and insert it into the cup. I bring the straw to my lips and take a small sip. Yep, they did something right. I drink every sip of the juice before placing the cup back on the table. I slide the table as far away as I can get it. I can’t look at that so-called food anymore.

A knock at the door catches my attention. No one really knocks when they come in. Well, the only person who’s come besides Mom was Aunt Paula and Ruston, and they just walked in with her. “Come in,” I call out. Maybe it’s Paige.

My heart sinks when I see it’s Tamilyn and Ruston. Not that I’m not glad they’re here, it’s just not who I was expecting.

“Hey, man, we wanted to come by to see you,” Ruston says as he walks in.

Tamilyn stays well behind him. I know she must feel responsible for what happened and I want to tell her it’s okay, but I’m waiting to see if she’s going to say anything to me or just stand there.

“I’m glad you came. You missed the cardboard bacon and square eggs they served me for breakfast,” I joke.