Love... or something like it

Part 21

Charles didn't even care that everyone could see his tears as he stood in the room staring at Nell. She was sitting up, leaning against her pillows smiling and the twinkle in her eye made his heart melt. 

"Nell!" The twins said in unison running to hug her.

"Woah careful boys, she is still a little fragile." Phoebe said with her eyes shining.

"Alder thought you were gonna die." Ander said hugging her.

"Nuh uh! You said that!" Alder argued.

"Nope, when I said I hope she is ok, YOU said that she might DIE!" Ander argued back over Nell's bed. 

"BOYS! This is not the time nor the place for this!" Phoebe hissed at them. 

"Didn't mean I really thought she was gonna!" Alder said. 

"But you-" Ander started.

"BOYS! ENOUGH!" Phoebe snapped stopping them in their tracks. They sneered at one another but stopped arguing. "Persey why don't you take the boys for a walk?" She said with a pointed look and the three of them left quietly. Phoebe looked from Charles to Nell and back and smiled. she slipped around him. "I'm just going to go make some phone calls." She said and then she was gone. 

"Sunshine." was the only thing he could say. He felt overwhelmed and hadn't moved since entering the room. 

"Come here." She held out her arms and he rushed over to her. He lay his head on her chest and she hugged him. 

"You have some explaining to do." He said muffled into her hospital gown. 

"I know." She said stroking his hair, like he had done to her while she slept. 

"I was so worried." He said sitting up to look at her directly. He held her hands to his mouth and kissed them. 

"I'm so sorry, believe me I never wanted any of this." Nell assured him. 

"Tell me what happened." Charles said quietly.

"From what the police can gather, I was walking on the ravine side of the road and I was hit by and SUV, they said my injuries were consistent with a side rear impact of a modified thigamadooey." She relayed her understanding

"Cool, and have they found the offending 'madooey?" He asked grinning at her.

"I have no idea. That is totally a them problem, while this is a me problem." She said gesturing to her full leg cast. 

"Well you had a huge you problem. How the hell did you drag yourself out of the ravine? The police said you dragged yourself like half a kilometer or more!" Charles was holding back the tears as he spoke. 

"I dunno, my amazing murder skills trained me for this. I could totally be like a black ops spy now!" She teased trying to lighten the mood. "There was a girl, broken but not beaten, determined to get home, she battled the elements and exhaustion to find her way back. Dun Dun Dun!!!" She mimicked a movie trailer making him laugh. 

"Seriously though. I thought maybe you went to see Bash, you should call him by the way." Charles said kicking himself for brining it up so soon. 

"Yeah I will." She said. 

Nell lay against her pillows studying his face. Charles looked warn and tired like her mom. He had obviously been missing sleep and he looked like crap. She was happy to see him though. She didn't remember too much from her ordeal, but she remembered thinking about him. She remembered a little pain and the smell of the putrid mud, but the thing she remembered most was her dad's gentle touch and his voice humming her a lullaby. She wasn't going to share that though. She wasn't ready to have everyone intrude on the memory. She wanted to keep it safe next to her heart.