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I side-eye Max.
“Come on.” Max pouts. “I need to snuggle with her. You can’t kick me out.”
The small smile across my lips falls away, and my heart thuds heavily in my chest at the anguish in his voice.
“Maybe we can all sleep on the floor?” I offer, liking the option of us all curled up together in a puppy pile. At least then I can relax a bit knowing we’re not separated.
“No,” Nate dismisses quickly, dropping the bedding to the floor. “Don’t fucking think about it with your arm.” He stares down at me, jaw ticking. “I get tomorrow night. And the one after that.”
“Deal!” Max exclaims, quickly shimmying under the covers and snuggling up to my side.
Bry walks in through the door, clad in sleepwear too.
Apparently, we were in the hospital from late last night and until early evening today. Which has meant we’re all too exhausted to stay up after being awake for close to thirty-six hours.
“You join Max,” Nate instructs, gesturing to the bed.
“Are you sure?” Bry asks.
I suck in a breath as I watch Nate grit his teeth before he nods.
“Nate?”
His dark eyes lock onto mine, and my chest swells at how much he cares for me. He doesn’t often use words, and between us, they’re not needed. I can feel it in every little action, every gesture and look.
After a moment, he prowls over to me, and I crook my fingers. He leans over Max and pauses, leaving our faces a breath apart.
“I’m yours,” I remind him.
His pupils dilate, and the tightened furrow in his brow relaxes slightly, not completely, but for Nate, it’s an improvement.
“Always,” he promises, then leans in and covers my mouth with his briefly before he straightens.
“Aww, did he just admit he loves you? Because I always you too, Nate.” Max snickers, bringing his pointer fingers and thumbs together, creating a heart shape.
“Fuck off,” Nate grumbles, then yanks the pillow out from under Max’s head and throws it on the floor. “Get your own pillow.”
The lights are out, except for a small bedside lamp, and the curtains are drawn, leaving the room cosy and perfect. So why am I still awake? Noah gave me some more medication, so whilst I’m uncomfortable with the sling on, I’m not struggling too much with any pain. Yet, here I am, staring up at the ceiling as everyone else around me breathes deeply in their sleep, and I’m just…not.
Warm fingers thread through my good hand and squeeze. My throat clogs thickly at the sudden rush of emotions that flood through me at his touch, almost as if he’s opened the floodgates. I wiggle my hand free and carefully roll myself over onto my undamaged shoulder. The discomfort of the position I ignore and I cushion my face against my pillow, only a short breath of space away from Bry’s.
“Can’t sleep?” he whispers so low I strain to hear him.
I shuffle closer until my knee knocks against his thigh, and my sling-covered arm brushes against his chest.
I sigh and keep my voice just as quiet. “No. You?”
“No,” he says, lips curling at the corners into a sad smile. “Tell me yours, and I’ll tell you mine?”
I tug my lip between my teeth, indecisive about what to tell him. I want him to offload the thoughts in his mind, to share them with me. For that, I need to give him a piece of myself, too, even if he dislikes how dark some of them feel.
“When I close my eyes, I’m back there. Except it’s not any of the parts where he was hurting me,” I whisper, swallowing too loudly.
“Okay,” he replies, sliding a hand over my hip and settling it on my lower back. He rubs soothing circles across the fabric of the shirt.
“I’m watching as she has him tied up. When she…she—”
“Hurt him?” he finishes.
