FLY BOY - Completed

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

For once River slept soundly through the entire night and felt totally refreshed when she woke up. As she opened her eyes to the early morning light, three things became blatantly clear rather quickly. First - her head was nestled into Dayden's chest - his warm bare chest. Second - his arms were wrapped firmly around her upper body - his toned, tanned arms. And lastly - both of their legs were entwined together. She was at a loss as to what she should do. She could hear the low steady beat of his heart and could tell he was still asleep. Her first thought was to move away from him, but she was so comfortable and felt so safe and warm, she didn't want to move. Not to mention, she loved breathing in his unique and rather intoxicating scent.

She lay there for a few lazy minutes, and just enjoyed the safe feeling Dayden's arms provided. When her curiosity finally got the better of her and she could not wait any longer, she gradually tilted her head up, so that she could study his face. He looked so beautiful sleeping there. She couldn't stop staring. He was relaxed for the first time in days and all of his worry lines had magically disappeared.

She had always loved his caramel colored eyes, but seeing him up close with his eyes closed, she envied his long, dark, curly eyelashes and his thick, dark eyebrows. There was a tiny scar running through his left brow and she wondered what he had done to earn it. Her eyes skimmed quickly over his picture perfect nose, almost taking it for granted as she drifted down to his full, pale-red lips. The memory of their first kiss brought a sudden blush to her cheeks. She started to feel a little warm and thought it best to move on from Dayden's lips.

He had a days worth of stubble on his chin, which only managed to give him even more of a handsome rugged look. Her eyes quickly scanned the soft, dark kiss curls that peeked out from the bottom of his ear and she fought the urge to reach up and touch them. Still not wanting to wake him, she moved on to his upper arms. Even in sleep his arm muscles were well defined and nicely toned. Again her fingers itched to touch him.

Just then the slightest movement caught her eye and when she looked up, she saw that Dayden's eyes were now open and he had a huge smirk beaming down at her. He couldn't have been awake for long. By the look on his face though, it had been long enough for his darn ego to know that she had been gawking at him.

She expected to hear the typical, "Like what you see?" comment, but Dayden surprised her when instead, he softly uttered, "I could get used to waking up like this." Then he gave her a huge grin and a quick wink. She thought he might pull away or even be a little embarrassed by how close they had gotten during the night, but he only just snuggled in even closer.

Knowing that he was now awake, River pulled away from his warm embrace and moved closer to her side of the bed. She slowly swung her legs off the edge and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She gasped out loud at the sharp pain in her rib as the room tilted and started to spin.

"Woe... River what are you doing?" Dayden cried out as he sprung up from his side of the bed and quickly made his way around to her. Seeing her start to sway, he grabbed hold of her arms and moved in close so she could lean her head against his chest. "What were you thinking River," he scolded her. "You've been bedridden for days now. You have to learn to walk all over again, before you can run," he joked lightly, but she could hear the concern in his voice. "What were you trying to do?"

"I just want to go to the washroom," she admitted feeling her cheeks heat up. "Now that they have all the tubes and wires disconnected, I really just want to go to the washroom and get cleaned up."

"I can help you do that," Dayden said stroking her hair. "You just have to tell me what you want and I'll help you." She held on tightly to his arms, hoping the room would stop spinning. It was making her feel nauseous. "Let me help you River," he pleaded with her, "Just until you feel well enough to do it on your own." Seeing her discouraged face, he promised her she would feel better soon. He helped her to her feet and seeing her start to wobble, he moved in to lift her up, but River stopped him and insisted that she just needed a minute. She had to stop every couple of steps, but eventually she walked all the way to the washroom with Dayden's help. River was amazed at how hard she was breathing and how lightheaded she felt.