Page 122 of Rastor

"This?" She leaned close and whispered in my ear. "I love you." She paused. "But you're still in big trouble."

I focused on the first part, and forgot the second. "I love you, too. You know that, right?"

She nodded, and her eyes filled with tears. "But damn it, you aresuchan idiot."

"Please," the nurse told her yet again, "no yelling at the patient."

"I wasn't yelling," Chloe said. "Much."

I wanted to smile. Chloe had called me worse names than that over the last couple of hours. I'd been mostly out of it, but not so far gone that I hadn't heard.

Screw all the other stuff. She loved me.

I was still too damn groggy, but awake enough to realize that I was feeling almost human again. The reason for that was obvious. Over the last couple of hours, I'd gotten a bunch of shots, an IV, and yeah, unfortunately, had to have my stomach pumped.

It's not like I hadn't seenthatcoming.

The nurse checked off something on my chart and hung the clipboard at the foot of the bed. With a final warning look at Chloe, she adjusted my IV drip and left the room.

Blinking away the tears, Chloe looked down at me. "You're looking a lot better."

Better than what? How I'd looked in the rear-view mirror? If so, that wasn't saying much. Even so, I felt myself smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She squeezed my hand, and the tears kept coming. "But you're still an idiot."

"Not this time," I told her. The last couple of hours were a foggy blur, and I tried to recall exactly what had happened after leaving her dad's place. The last thing I remembered was asking her to drive. "So, you know how to drive a stick, huh?"

"No. But I know how to call an ambulance." She bit her lip. "I think I forgot to lock your car."

The car was the last thing on my mind. "Eh, no biggie."

"And, uh, I might've left your keys in the ignition." She winced. "I'm sorry. Your car's probably long-gone by now."

"Don't worry," I told her. "It'll turn up. Or not."

She scooted her chair closer and leaned down so our faces were just inches apart. "You shouldn't have done that." Her voice caught. "The doctor told me you could've died."

I tried to shrug. "They always say that. Hasn't happened yet."

"Seriously," she said. "Why on Earth would you do that? It wasreallystupid." She gave me a desperate look. "And don't try to tell me you didn't know."

"I would, but like I told you, I'm not a liar."

"So why'd you do it?"

I told her the truth. "Because I couldn’t stand to see you hurt."

"You think I like seeingyouhurt?"

"This? It's nothing."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay,nowyou're a liar."

I shook my head. "Baby, I'm not lying. Seeing you cry? Hurts way more than this."

She reached up to wipe at her eyes. And then, she gave a weak laugh. "Oh so,now, you tell me." She closed her eyes as if wanting to block out the memories. And for some reason, it made me close my eyes too. But then, I forgot to open them and must've drifted off again.

The next time I woke, it was dark outside. I heard a new voice – Bishop's. Silently, I turned my head and spotted him a few feet away, talking to Chloe in a quiet voice.