Whispered Curses

"But–"

"Eden, you know that I would never tell you what to do. But right now, I order you to go to sleep."

We laughed together, then settled down, her breathing becoming smoother and slower. Being completely still with Eden in my arms was beautiful. It felt so peaceful, as if everything in the universe was precisely how it was supposed to be.

~ Chapter 19 ~ Eden ~

* Flight *

I woke up slowly, not even startled that someone's arms were around me. Eric felt right. Even when I was unconscious, my body and mind were completely comfortable with him. Somehow, that said something important.

I turned to look at his unbelievably handsome face, still asleep. He looked so peaceful.

It was funny how I had always feared change, but somehow not with him. I'd always been terrified when I wasn't in control of a situation. But when Eric took control of me, only wonderful things happened. I'd always been quiet and shy, yet here he was, encouraging me to speak up and become a bit louder. It was adorable that he didn't want to change me. Only enhance me.

After seeing so many friends change for the worse once they'd been dating a guy for a while, this connection was positively inspiring.

Stretching slightly, I wondered whether I should bother going to my ten am lecture. It was on a topic I already had completely covered, so there was really no reason to go. I had an essay due for the end of the day. It would probably take about two more hours of writing, and one hour of proofing.

Watching Eric's eyes slowly flicker open, I somehow knew that he would tell me to put my schoolwork first. Even though I would have loved to spend the day with him instead.

"Hey," he said softly. "How is the most beautiful girl in the world?"

Rolling so that I could snuggle into him tighter, I said, "I have no idea. But I am doing just fine with this sexy man beside me."

His enormous grin was adorable. "Should I go put the coffee on, or should we do some very important snuggling first?" he asked.

Before I could tell him that snuggling was always more important even though coffee was the essence of life, I was interrupted by my phone ringing.

Sitting up quickly, I grabbed it, glancing at Eric. He placed his finger over his lips, indicating that he wouldn't make a peep.

As I answered it, I saw that it was my sister Eva. "Hey, what's–"

“Mom’s in the hospital, she broke her leg," Eva blurted.

"What?" I sat up straighter.

"She's okay, I think, but it might mess up her new hip."

“Sassafras," I muttered through grit teeth. Eric reached out to place a hand on my leg reassuringly. It was comforting to know that he was right here with me.

"They're going to operate today, to reset her leg and put pins in it or something, to make sure it's stable and doesn't pull her hip out of alignment," Eva said. She sounded frantic, speaking way too fast like she did when she was upset.

"Take a breath," I said. "Is she still in Vancouver?"

"Yes. I’d go to her, but we have a gigantic release on Friday. My team would kill me if I even thought of taking off."

"I'll go to her," I said immediately. "Text me the name of her hospital, her doctor, whatever you've got. I'll get on a plane as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Eden," she said. "I can't stand the thought of her being there without one of us."

"I'll talk to you soon," I said, ending the call.

Turning to Eric, I said, “I'm so sorry."

He grabbed my hand. "Don't be sorry. Be clear. What happened and what do you need?"

"My mother broke her leg," I said, hearing my voice quavering. "She just got a hip replacement six months ago, so they have to operate and straighten it out or something so that it doesn't injure the new hip."