Page 17

CHAPTER 17

EDIN

I stare at the ceiling. My entire body throbs and now my ass does, too. At least it’s not the same kind of pain. I don’t think it’s actually pain, anyway. It’s just… pleasantly uncomfortable. But the rest of me? Yeah, that hurts. Everything about me hurts to the point where tears keep filling my eyes.

I’d give a frustrated scream except that Mo is sitting on my bedroom floor with her coloring book. She’s already been watching me like I’m on my deathbed, so I don’t dare do anything other than lie here uncomfortably.

I’ve already taken my ibuprofen, but that’s just a joke. Every breath hurts. It all hurts far more now than it did yesterday or the night before when it happened. I know that’s how injuries go. They progressively become more painful until they’ve reached their pinnacle and then get better.

But fucking hell, I’d rather jump in front of a bus than continue to lie here like this. I fucking hurt. I’m beginning to think those x-rays lied. There has to be like fifty broken bones, all on the left side of my body.

There’s just too much pain for there not to be something internal going on. But Doc assured me and Coach that I wasn’t seriously injured. I stayed really fucking late while they checked me out, too.

A knock on the door has me turning my head and then scowling because I had to turn my head. I’m surprised when I see Elijah standing in the door with a brown paper bag. His eyes are on me, clear worry in them. I suppose me lying here looking like death doesn’t persuade anyone that I’m fine.

I offer him as much of a smile as I can, which only makes him frown. He looks down at Mo and I’m relieved to see them exchange real smiles.

“Hey, Mo. Watching over your dad?”

Mo’s troubled expression is back as she turns her attention back to me. “Yeah.”

Elijah steps into the room and sets the bag down. “Have you eaten?” he asks, looking at my daughter.

Mo nods. “I had some cereal earlier. And Mario made me some toast.”

“Good.” He turns his attention to me. “Have you eaten?”

I nod but Mo says, “Liar. He hasn’t eaten since half a piece of pizza last night!”

I frown at Mo. “Traitor.” There’s no conviction in my voice as I try to move, but stop when a jolt of pain streaks through my ribs, forcing my breath from me.

“Dad?” Mo asks. I can hear the tears in her voice.

Elijah sits on the edge of my bed, but I can barely see him through the frustrated tears in my eyes. “How opposed are you to taking pain meds that aren’t prescribed to you?” he asks.

“If I can function, I’ll take anything.”

“Well, they’ll likely put you to sleep.”

I glance at Mo.

“I swear, I’ll make sure Mo is taken care of. There’s a house full of guys who will make sure she’s taken care of. And I brought us a puzzle to do together while you nap. I also brought you some soup. I know you’re not sick, but bedridden seemed to be the same expectation when I asked what I should bring you to eat.”

“Please, Daddy?”

Her voice sounds terrified. “Come here, Mo.”

She gets up from where she’s still sitting and leans over me, her legs against the side of the bed. “I know I look horrible, and I’m probably making some scary faces, huh?”

Mo nods, big crocodile tears running down her cheeks. I reach up, ignoring the way it pulls on my sore muscles, and wipe them away.

“I promise you, it’s just a bit of pain. Okay? I’ll be fine in a few days. You don’t need to be upset, sunshine. I wouldn’t lie to you and tell you I’m fine if I didn’t mean it.”

“But you’re not fine. You’re hurt.”

“I will be fine, though. You’re right. I hurt a lot right now. But I will be fine. I promise you. Okay?”

She doesn’t want to agree. I can see the helplessness in her eyes. She wants to be able to do something but knows she’s a kid and doesn’t know how or what to do.

Mo looks at Elijah. “Will you help my dad?”

“That’s why I’m here,” he tells her.

The way my heart dances has everything to do with the constant pain flooding my body and nothing else.

Mo nods. She meets my eyes and gives me a nod.

“Want to help me get your dad settled?” Elijah asks.

Mo looks relieved. “Yes.”

“I brought soup, but I didn’t bring anything to drink. Want to grab something from downstairs? And maybe a clean kitchen towel?” Elijah asks.

“Okay,” Mo says. She turns to run out the door but pauses just inside.

“I won’t leave him at all. Not even for a second,” Elijah swears. He even draws an X over his heart.

It does the trick. Mo believes him and she leaves the room.

Elijah turns back to me, and I feel like I’m on the spot. Like I’ve left out some very important information. “Pain meds shouldn’t be taken on an empty stomach or they’re likely to make you sick. Vomiting, or dry heaving since your kid says you haven’t eaten in a while, will be extra painful and I think you’d like to avoid that.”

I nod.

“So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to help you sit up. You’re going to eat some soup. Then you’re going to drink a lot because I’m betting you’re dehydrated as well as starving. When I’m satisfied you’re not going to vomit the pain meds back up, I’ll drug you. Then you’re finally going to get some sleep while I play with Mo.”

I inhale and hold it as I stare at him.

“If you trust me with her,” Elijah adds. “We won’t leave your room. I promise.”

Closing my eyes, I nod. “Okay.” I don’t try to argue. I’m fucking tired. And now that he’s mentioned food, my stomach is achingly hungry too.

Elijah helps me sit up and I’m really fucking glad Mo isn’t in the room because my entire body is stiff, which makes every little movement hurt like someone is hitting me with a hammer. I’m breathless by the time I’m sitting upright.

I’ve almost caught my breath when Mo comes back into the room with an armload of drinks. She stops beside the bed and dumps them. “Okay, I brought lots of water because my teacher says it’s the best for staying hydrated.” She looks up at me and says, “You know you’re hydrated when your pee is clear. I bet yours is really dark yellow.”

Elijah covers his mouth to hide his smile while I’m reprimanded by my child for not drinking properly.

She turns back to the drinks. “Mario gave me one of his ginger ales for you. I brought up a juice bag too, in case you want juice.” Mo picks up the last two bottles. “I don’t know whose apple juice this is, but it makes me feel better when I don’t feel good, and I also brought this chocolate milk.” She turns it in her hands as she looks at the lid. “It’s new. It’s not going to go bad for a week, so it’s safe to drink.”

Setting down the drinks, she hands Elijah the towel. “What did you want this for?”

“I think your dad needs a bib,” Elijah says and sure enough, that fucker tucks one end into the collar of my tee. He doesn’t even look a bit remorseful when I glare. He has the audacity to share a sneaky smile with Mo, who giggles appreciatively.

“Want to clear an area to do a puzzle with me after I feed your dad?” Elijah asks, and I stare at him while he pulls out the contents of the paper bag he brought. He doesn’t give me the satisfaction of looking at me when I glare like any decent man should.

“Yep,” Mo says and turns to my desk as if it’s a mountain she’s scaling. She’s excessively exaggerating. There’s very little on it.

Elijah turns to me with a smirk that he tries and fails to hide. “What you might not know about DI—” His gaze flickers to Mo as he stops himself from saying DIK in front of my little girl. “Uh… Delta Iota Kappa is that we have a dozen Crock-Pots running daily and at least half of them have soups. I brought two options. This one is heartier, more like a beef stew. Thick and it’s delicious. The second is your classic chicken noodle, which is a staple in the house because there’s always someone with the sniffles who needs Grandma’s chicken noodle soup to feel better. I have to say, we’ve really perfected the recipe.”

At this rate, I could probably eat them both. My gaze moves between the two with indecision. Elijah puts the chicken noodle down and begins opening the stew. “I’m going to go with this one since you haven’t had a proper meal in a while, and I need something to coat your stomach before I pump you full of pain meds.”

I don’t argue. Honestly, I don’t care if he feeds me sawdust right now. I’m starving. However, he’s not wrong. This might be the best stew I’ve ever eaten.

It’s slow going as I hold the bowl in the arm that impeded my fall and feels like a feather is too heavy. I precariously try to bring the spoon up to my mouth without moving too much so I don’t hurt with every single breath. Not entirely possible since breathing hurts all on its own.

While I eat, I watch Elijah as he sets the beverages on my end table and conspires with my daughter about snacks and shit. I’m staring at the little bottle of prescription pain meds in front of my assorted drinks when he turns back to me.

“Where did you get the meds?” I ask.

“I’ll answer you if you want to tell me how you got hurt?” he counters.

Mo turns to listen and sighs, giving him a glare. This time he at least has the decency to give me an apologetic smile.

“There’s not a whole lot to tell. I’d just gotten out of the shower—hence no padding—and stepped into the locker room. A couple of the guys were roughhousing. I didn’t see exactly what happened, whether someone tripped or was shoved or whatever. But someone flew into me with some fucking speed and I… it felt like I flew through the air and came down on the edge of the bench like I’d been launched from a car.” I shake my head and take another sip of soup.

“Who was it?” Mo asks, her cute face pinched with anger.

“Don’t worry about it. Coach has already got it under control.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m going to find out, Dad. Coach will tell me.”

I’m willing to bet she’ll figure it out all on her own. Conner and Mikky feel guilty as fuck. I’ve had to silence my phone because they won’t stop texting me with apologies.

“Remember what I said? I’ll be fine.”

Mo rolls her eyes and turns back to setting up my desk for her and Elijah to do whatever. When I meet Elijah’s eyes, he’s no longer looking apologetic. He’s… pleased.

“I love her fierce protection of you when it’s not pointed at me,” Elijah says.

“Anyway,” I deadpan, ignoring how much I like the way he smiles. He has a pretty smile. “It was an accident. I was caught off guard or I’d have been able to get out of the way or at least prevent the ridiculous outcome. Your turn. Meds?”

Elijah picks up the bottle and turns the label to me. Vincent, Ezekiel. “My brother’s. He had his wisdom teeth out last summer and then three weeks later had to have his tonsils and adenoids out. But he’s weird about pain meds and didn’t take more than a couple.”

“So you smuggled them to school for…?”

“I get thrown ten feet into the air, Edin. And my brother uses his body like a damn slinky. It’s never a bad idea to have pain meds on hand.”

I hum in acknowledgment. Yeah, that’s fair. He takes a pill from the container and breaks it in half, setting one half on the nightstand and dropping the other half back into the bottle. I finish eating, then he hands me the chocolate milk first and tells me to drink up because I need the calcium for my bruised bones.

If it wasn’t so good, I might have refused based on the cheeky grin he flashed at me with his comment about my bones. With the chocolate milk gone, he hands me a bottle of water and the half pill.

“Bottoms up, buttercup,” he singsongs.

With an eyebrow raised and my gaze locked with his, I do as he says. With more grumbles as he helps me lie down again, I’m already half asleep when my head hits the pillow. I don’t think it’s the meds working that quickly so much as that I’m fucking tired from two nights without sleep and sitting up was a lot of unnecessary expenditure of energy.

Elijah covers me and then turns his attention to Mo. I drift off as they bend their heads together over the desk. I have a feeling they’re whispering instead of working on the puzzle Elijah brought, but I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face all the same.

My eyes flicker open with the quiet click of a door. The room is dark except for the bedside lamp. Elijah smiles at me as he stops by my side. “What time is it?” I ask.

“Nine.”

I groan and try to convince myself to get up. I have to put Mo to bed.

Elijah’s hand lands on my shoulder and he keeps me where I am. “I put Mo to bed over an hour ago. She instructed me how to go through her routine. Full Mo report: We did the puzzle twice. She went down for lunch and brought me up two sandwiches that Denny made. She put your soup in the fridge. We colored for a bit. Did some homework. Watched some cheer competition videos. Mo went down for dinner and brought me up some lasagna. I don’t know who made it, but it was amazing. We watched a movie, then Mo told me she gets ready for bed at seven-thirty.”

“Thanks,” I whisper as I continue to struggle to get up.

“Woah. I can take a picture to show you she’s in bed,” Elijah says, trying to keep me from getting up.

“I trust you, but unless you can piss for me, I need to get up.”

“Oh. Yeah, okay.”

Instead of trying to keep me prone, Elijah helps me to my feet. I ignore the quiet groan that escapes from the way my body doesn’t want to move.

“What do you need?” Elijah asks as I stand, not moving now that I’m on my feet. He’s hovering. “I can stay here or help you to the bathroom and wait outside. I can hold your dick while you pee or?—”

I laugh and wince while laughing. “Ow. Stop.”

Elijah grins.

“Just… help me to the bathroom and know I hate that I’m asking you to help me with this simple thing, but I can hold my own dick. It’s not that heavy.”

“I beg to differ,” he mutters as he does what I say. My cheeks heat, but I don’t comment.

Elijah doesn’t hover over me while I pee, which I appreciate since I feel a little self-conscious from him standing right there with the sole purpose of making sure I don’t fall on my face. When I’m done, I wash my hands and since I’m standing here, I brush my teeth too.

Then I turn and look longingly at the shower.

He doesn’t say anything as he crosses the room and turns the shower on. The only sound in the bathroom is the water running as Elijah helps me out of my clothes and under the hot spray of water. I lean my weight against the wall, exhaustion sweeping over me again.

“Eli…” I trail off, not feeling brave enough to ask him to join me.

Thankfully, this man reads my mind. A minute later, he’s pressed to my back, wrapping his arms around me and holding me on my feet. When I really think about it, the absolute trust I have in him is astonishing because I give him all my weight as I sag into him.

“You okay?” he asks, his voice low. His lips brush my ear, and I shiver.

“I hurt,” I admit. “It’s so fucking frustrating.”

“I know. I have you.”

I shouldn’t get choked up with his words, so I convince myself that my breathing malfunction is due to pain. Maybe something truly is broken.

Gathering all the strength I think I’ll have for the night, I turn in his arms and hug him. Elijah wraps me up and holds me tightly. We stay entwined under the water until it gets cold. Then he wraps us both in towels and brings me back to my room, where he helps me into underwear and into bed.

When I look at him, asking him silently to stay, he smiles and gets into bed with me. Where he holds me all fucking night as I doze in and out of sleep. He feels good around me. I feel like I’m… floating.