[[[the wonderful mess that we've made]]] [[[part iii]]]

40.

It was ten days since the incident when she was finally, officially, allowed home. I wheeled her out of the hospital to a waiting taxi and she gave the address. She looked so much better. Her head bandages gone, showing a little bold patch and the healing wound. And now she only had two little patches on her thigh where the pipe had been. I'd never get the image out of my head of the way it had jolted out of her skin. They'd operated again and managed to repair a lot,of the damage but she was warned to take it easy and stay off it as much as possible. I knew she was already itching to get back to work, but I'd made it my job to look after her and make sure she didn't over do it.

We got to her apartment block, a run down building above some take aways and an off license. The lift, though it smelled suspiciously of urine, worked. She must've felt a bit embarrassed as she explained why she lived there.

'Its the flat I shared when I was at uni, just never got around to moving out. I'm never home so it's just a place to keep my stuff really.' I had got hold of a set of keys from her estate agent while she was in hospital. I'd also been to the shop to buy some food and milk so she wouldn't need to leave the house for a while.

'Its nice, quaint.' I smirked, looking around the tiny place, pretty much bare except for a few suitcases and piles of clothes. I made a space for her on the sofa and sat her down. 'Tea?'

'Oh my god, yes.' She sighed. I found my way around the little kitchen in the other room and by the time I came back out five minutes later with two cups, she was already asleep. It reminded me of that first day when I'd bought her back to my place. I draped a blanket over her and tucked the stray hairs away from her forehead and behind her ear.