With that decided, Nicole showed me around the makeshift bedroom a little bit and told me Jeremy was going to get some of my clothes and stuff from the house so I didn't have to go back there. Again, my emotions were completely ambivalent—I was extraordinarily grateful but hated that it had to be done that way.
“Oh!” Nicole suddenly cried out. “I almost forgot!”
She left my side and went around the bed to the nightstand. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a sketchbook and a box of drawing pencils.
“It's kind of a welcome home gift,” she explained as she placed them in my lap. I looked do
wn at them with widened eyes. “I didn't really know what kind of pencils to get, but the guy at the art shop in town said these were kind of all-purpose. Lots of different types, I guess.”
I opened the box and looked over the different pencils, each labeled for hardness.
“They're perfect,” I whispered, trying to keep the tears from coming back again. I looked up at her. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome,” she replied with a smile.
Shakespeare said it best: “I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks.” Somehow, I knew that there would never be enough words to express my gratitude to both Greg and my Rumple.
Now I was about ready to fall asleep right where I sat.
CHAPTER 31
GOAL
I wasn’t sure if it was my complete breakdown or just the weight of the entire day, but my eyes burned, and I could barely keep them open. Nicole seemed to sense that and asked me if there was anything I needed before I took a nap. I hadn’t actually mentioned needing one, but that’s just the way it was with my Rumple—I didn’t have to say it.
As I proved to myself that I could get in and out of the specialty-built bathroom, Greg decided he needed to go into the station to catch up on a bunch of paperwork or something. By the time I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, he was on his way out the door.
“I’ll see you kids later,” he announced. “Don’t hold up supper for me, though. I probably won’t be back until late.”
Nicole rolled her eyes toward him and then shook her head.
“He thinks he’s being subtle,” she said.
I snickered but was too tired for a full laugh. I reached down and pushed the wheelchair over to the edge of the bed. I slid onto the mattress, immediately noticing the purple pillowcase over the pillow, and ran my nose along it, smiling. I glanced up to see Nicole smirking at me, but I didn’t care. I rolled to my side, using my hands to pull one leg over the top of the other so I could get more comfortable. I wrapped my arms around the pillow and inhaled the scent surrounding me.
My eyes started to close almost immediately though I forced them open when I felt Nicole’s soft touch on my shoulder.
“You okay?” she asked softly. Her smirk was gone, and only concern remained in her eyes.
“Just tired,” I told her.
“Get some rest,” she said. Her fingers trailed down my arm, and when they reached my wrist, I caught her hand in mine and held tight. Her head tilted slightly to the side. “You want company?”
I nodded and pulled at her hand.
Her scent and warmth enveloped me, and I realized we had not been together like this since before I had dumped her at my father’s insistence. Even in the hospital and rehab center, there hadn’t been room for her in bed with me. Just having someone sit on the side of the bed had jostled me in ways that hurt.
I wrapped my arms around her, and as her body melded against mine, I exhaled heavily. All at once, the exhaustion of the day, the mental fatigue of the funeral, and the explosion of everything I had held inside of me for so long seemed to seep out of my body as I sank against my Rumple.
Sleepily, I tilted my head to look at her, and her arm went around my neck. I reached forward to press my lips to hers once and then twice. I would have kissed her a third time, but the combination of her hand soothing my cheek and the warm comfort of the bed overtook me. When I closed my eyes for the third kiss, my head dropped onto the pillow instead.
I woke when Nicole moved from the bed and tightened my grip a little bit and grumbled until I felt her lips on my temple.
“I’ll be right back,” she whispered. I released her reluctantly, and she climbed out of bed and headed into the kitchen. I dozed back off, and when I woke again, Nicole was sitting up in the bed with one arm draped around me and the other holding a copy of Hunger Games. From the direction of the kitchen, something smelled really good, and I lifted my head to tell her so.
“It’s kugel made from potatoes and carrots,” she told me. “It has to bake for a while, so I wanted to get it in the oven. I didn’t know how long you would want to sleep, but I thought you might be hungry when you woke up.”
“What’s a kugel?” I mumbled as I tucked my head against her stomach and wrapped my arms around her middle.