Starting Over

Chapter 15

I have been stuck here in the hospital for two days now, and I am beyond ready to be home, and in my own bed to recover. The hospital staff have been wonderful, but I want to continue my recovery at home, and not be woken all the damn time during the night. Again, I know the staff are doing their jobs, but is becoming very annoying.

I managed to convince Aria, Jordan, and Finn to attend school or work today, and not miss another day because of me. I used the 'I will be fine here because the hospital staff is taking care of me,' to convince them to return to their normal routine for today. The doctor that came in forty-five minutes ago to check on me, said that if all goes well today and tomorrow morning, I will be able to head home tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong.

"Good morning, Hayden," nurse Amy warmly greets as she enters the room to check on me and the machines. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"I am feeling okay, and some pain in my wrist, but nothing horrible," I shyly admit, not wanting to be any trouble by fully admitting that my wrist is throbbing like it has it's own pulse.

"Okay, on a scale of one to ten, what is your pain level?" she seriously asks, her eyes boring into mine as if she is daring me to lie to her.

"Um," I mumble, dropping my gaze to my lap where my hands are resting as I am sitting up slightly, so it does not hurt my ribs. "Like an eight, but I am okay, and do not need any pain meds."

"Hayden, if you are in a lot of pain, I can give you enough pain relief to help you be comfortable. Is it okay, that I give you some pain relief?" Amy replies gently with a soft expression on her face.

"O-okay, just this time," I softly agree, then chew on my lower lip. "I do not want to become addicted to the pain meds."

"That is an understandable reason, and I promise the meds you are receiving will not cause you to become addicted," she promises, and I nod in understanding because she should know.

"Thank you," I sigh after she has placed the liquid medication into the I.V. drip, and now I just have to wait for the relief to kick into my body as I lean back further into the pillows with a lazy smile.

"You are welcome, and I will be back in a while to check on you again," she replies with a kind smile.

Flipping through the available channels on the television, I finally settle on the movie, 'Save The Last Dance.' This is one of my favorite movies, and strangely enough, I will admit this is one of my comfort movies when I am feeling off in any way. Falling asleep a little while later because the pain relief has kicked in, and has made me sleepy. I am jolted awake sometime later in surprise when someone kisses my forehead in a gentle manner. My breath hitches as I look above me with wide eyes, and I find Finn hovering over me.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you, Hayden," he softly apologizes, kissing my forehead again in apology. "If you are still tired, you can go back to sleep, and I will be here when you wake."

Humming at him as I sleeply mumble; "Why aren't you at work?"

"I took the rest of the day off, perks of being my own boss," he grins with another light kiss to my forehead.

"You should be working, so you will have the money to pay your bills," I mumble with a frown as my eye lids slam shut.

"I have more than enough money in my savings account to last me a long time, so it is okay for me to miss some time, and spend this with you," he seriously states as he runs his fingers lightly through my hair.

Humming in understanding, I let myself drift back off to sleep, assured Finn will be with me when I wake again. When I do wake, I am in pain, but I do not want any more pain relief because I do not want to sleep while Finn is here with me, or the kids.

"Hey, how are you feeling? Do you need or want anything?" Finn murmurs with a gentle smile as he places his phone in his lap.

"I am good, but could I have some water, please?" I rasp out with a dry throat.

Finn refills the cup with lid and straw with cold water from the pitcher, and holds the cup near my mouth, so I can take a drink through the straw. When I have had my fill, I let the straw out of my mouth with a content sigh.

"Thank you, Finn," I murmur with a small smile as I lay my head back against the pillows again.

"You are welcome, love," he replies with a wink as he places the cup back where he had gotten it from. "Are you hungry?"

"A little, yeah," I shyly admit with pink tinted cheeks.

Finn smiles with a nod; "What would you like? I will order, and pickup whatever you want."

"Can we please have pizza?" I excitedly asks with wide eyes.

"Of course, what do you want on it?" he replies sweetly, picking up his phone off his lap to place the order.

"Um, pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers?" I ask hopeful that he agrees with my topping choices.

Finn nods in agreement; "Sounds yummy."

I remain silent as he calls in the order, and once he is off the phone, I shyly tell him; "If any of the toppings did not sound good to you, I would not have been offended."

Finn frowns at me as he leans forward to rest his bent arms on the bed next to my hip; "Hayden, I know, and I would have compromised with you on the toppings. I like all that you picked, I promise."

"Okay," I mumble, rubbing my fingertips gently over the baby blue colored cast covering my left wrist from the middle knuckles of my fingers, and stops halfway up my arm.