Finding Grace: The Guardian Chronicles Book One

Chapter 34. PRN*

Chapter 34. PRN by Blue October

Evan sagged against Emil, unsure of what to say. He had said he loved her. She had wanted to hear those words her whole life, but now they brought with them a vastly different set of possibilities than she had ever imagined. Emil was the man of her dreams, literally. She hadn't said so to him, but the elusive man in her dreams had finally come into focus over the last few nights. She had planned to tell him tonight when they went out and see what he thought of it. That opportunity was not going to happen any time soon, it seemed.

She hurt all over. Her head began to throb, making it hard for her to concentrate. The staples were beginning to ache. Evan needed to have this conversation out with Emil, so she would be able to get over her disappointment of his decision to leave her human, even though it didn't make sense. She pressed her eyes closed as she nestled closer and reached for Emil's cool hand. She lifted it up and gently laid it over the back of her head where the throbbing was the worst.

"Do you think you could just put your hand there, Emil? It's like an ice pack, only not quite so hard," Evan asked. She looked up at him when he hesitated.

He nodded slightly, and she relaxed her head back into his palm. "Do you need something for pain?" he asked quietly.

"Probably, but I'm not ready to go back to sleep just yet," she answered. She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping to stop the spinning in her head. "Here's the deal. You just told me that you loved me, and that has me a little stunned. I want to know what is going to come of it. I've fallen for you, too. I was going to tell you tonight..."

Her last words were torn from her in a choked sob as Evan tried to control the anguish of the day's events, trying not to fall into the torrential burst of tears that threatened to spill over.

"You don't have to talk about this right now..." Emil started to say.

Evan interrupted him, "I want to talk about it! I want you to know that I love you and want to spend forever with you. Your forever, not mine. I hate being weak and breakable!"

Emil's eyes clouded over stubbornly and Evan turned away from him, her frustration at his unwillingness to further discuss the subject made her head hurt worse. She reached up to cover her eyes and winced. She had not touched her face yet and the light contact sent sharp stabs of pain through it.

"Oh God! How bad is it? What did he do to me?" she cried out, running her hands lightly over her face trying to feel the unfamiliar irregular contours.

"Evan," Emil said softly, pulling both her hands from her face. "Don't."

"I want to see!" she yelled.

"Not yet. Just wait. You need to get a little stronger," Emil said.

"See there you go, me being weak again. I want to see what the bastard did to me, so I know what I am facing," Evan said, a bit more softly. "Move that table over here. It has a mirror in it. Please."

Emil got up and reluctantly pulled an awkward bedside table toward Evan and slid it across her in the bed. He stood by, worry etched on his brow at what her reaction would be.

Evan winced again at the effort it took to make her arms work enough to pull the mirror from the underside of the multipurpose table. She took a deep breath then looked at her reflection. Her chest fluttered as her eyes settled upon an unrecognizable mass of purple and blue. Her eyes were so swollen; it explained why she felt like she had blinders on. Her nose was swollen as well, dried blood still in the folds of skin around it. Her bottom lip had been stitched, but her mouth was misshapen because of the swelling that was present.

"At least whoever stitched up my lip did it right," she said with a laugh that sounded more like a hiccup as she began to cry quietly. She couldn't look any longer and folded the mirror down. She leaned back slowly in the bed as every move she made brought about multiple protests from her bruised body. She did not want to see what the rest of her looked like.

Emil pushed the table out of the way and sat on the bed. He put one arm around her and gently pulled her close to him.

"It is going to be alright, Evan. You will heal and no one will be the wiser. Except me, of course, and I will always think you are beautiful. Even now, with your puffy eyes and purple cheeks," Emil said, trying to lighten the mood. "Just settle back and try to get some sleep. It's nearly midnight. You've been through more than anyone deserves. I will stay right here, and be here when you wake up."

Evan nodded against Emil's shoulder and winced again. She called the nurse and asked for some pain medicine. She could see relief in Emil's eyes when she finally gave in. Emil sat in the chair next to her bed, the dim overhead light making the shadows of his face sharper. Evan lay on her side facing him and quickly succumbed to the mind numbing haze of the narcotic drug. His face blurred and the last thing she remembered were his black eyes staring into hers.