Worth It

Chapter Twenty-One

Katarina

I should have bought a bigger size of mouthwash. That was something I knew for the future. My motion sickness proved to be traitorous, and I threw up every half hour. It made the two-hour trip seem like an eternity, but I was finally in Santa Barbara.

I had tried calling Gabriel the entire ride there and even messaged to check up on him, but his phone was shut off, or he had it on airplane mode. I don't know. He wasn't picking up, which made me even more worried.

I was exhausted, and even though I had drank four lattes, I was sleepy and had no energy. Still, I pushed through until I was right outside the hospital. My hands were sweating, and my heart was juddering inside my chest.

I felt nervous, but more than that, I felt terrified.

I had bought some coffee with me for his family, and I had to guess what they drank and how many were with him. I decided seven was a good bet, but my anxiety was still level high as I walked inside the hospital.

I really hated hospitals. I despised them, despised doctors and nurses, and you couldn't try to debate with me on this. I was set in my ways. Milos spent most of his life in them. I hated the smell of antibacterial spray and the look of absolute heartache on the doctor's faces as they spoke to their patient's families.

I felt a twinge in my heart as I remembered how often we had to come here because Milos would get sick so much. I held back the tears and tried to look around to see if I could spot Gabriel, and I knew they wouldn't let me in because I wasn't family.

I tried calling him again at the door, but when he didn't pick up, I paced back and forth like a lunatic. Pathetic was probably a better word to describe me in this situation, and I knew I'd end up having this car ride of shame if I couldn't find or get into contact with Gabriel.

Then, suddenly, a rush of patients overcrowded the lady at the desk, and I snuck in slyly down the hall.

"Kat?"

I spun around to see Gabriel standing there. My heart broke and mended itself at the same time. He looked exhausted, his shirt was all wrinkled, and he looked in shock as he looked at me.

"What? How? How did you get here?"

I set the coffee down on the nearest flat surface and stomped to him.

"I drove over here."

"You drove here?"

I shoved my finger at his chest. "You didn't leave me much of a choice," I said. "Did you think I would let you leave and be here alone?"

"Kat-" He tried to protest, but I put my hand over his mouth.

"You don't get to do this, Gabriel. You don't get to push me away whenever you want and reel me closer whenever you want. It doesn't matter if we hooked up; you're still my best friend, and you mean a lot to me. Get it through your head."

He removed my hand and stared at me like he was in shock. "You drove here? By yourself?"

"Yes. Your location is on. I just put it into my GPS and came here. It wasn't hard to do." I muttered.

"You get car sick." He whispered.

Finally snapping out of whatever shock trance he was in, he cupped my face just to smash his lips onto mine. He kissed me hard, demanding I give in to him, and I did without question. We stood like that in the middle of the hallway, where nurses, doctors, and patients passed by us while he kissed me.

I held onto him even tighter than he was holding onto me as if we needed this, needed each other to breathe. I don't know about him, but I needed this kiss more than anything now.