Tainted

26

~Poppy~

The bed dipped behind me, duvet shifting until I could feel Bash wrapping himself around me carefully. He grumbled, pulled the ribbon out of my hair and instantly I felt a huge relief. I hated having my hair up but when I'm angry it just makes things worse and it's so much better to have it out of the way so I can focus. He knew that. Pushed his fingers into my hair and scratching softly as he kissed along the top of my shoulder.

"How do you feel Pip?" I grumbled. Exhausted. I feel like I could sleep for a solid month. Not move from right here and just sleep nonstop. "Can you shift back for me, I'll come round the other side." I nod and the weights gone, footsteps and it's in front of me and I'm being pulled into Bash's chest. "Tired?"

"Mhm."

"I'd let you sleep babe but it's coming up to 5 and you won't sleep tonight." I scrunch my face up at him. I doubted that me not sleeping tonight would be an option. I don't know how often I can take whatever he gave me earlier but if I can't sleep, I have no doubt he'll dose me up again. The same if I let him know I can still feel all the pain. It's not as bad. By no means. But my back feels like it's broken and my ankle feels like it's been ripped from my body. They're dull though. Like if I was busy I'd be able to forget about it. I'm not though. I'm laid here still a little pissed off, upset, feeling horrible and sick and this sucks. It sucks so bad. "How's the pain?"

"Fine."

"Liar." He kissed my forehead, turning onto his side slowly. "Tell me Pip."

"It's fine. I'm just tired."

"Well, I can try fix that. Can you sit up for me? Nice and slow." I nod. Fighting against the urge to throw up as I do. He presses a hand to my head and then my chest, sniffing as he tugs the first aid kit closer and getting the thermometer out and taking my temperature. "You're a little warm."

"Really?"

"You're cold?" I nodded and Bash sighed. "Okay. Wait here."

"Yeah it's not like I can go anywhere with my janky ass foot." He came back into the room, pulling one of his shirts over my arms carefully. "I have my own shirts."

"Yeah well I'm putting my shirt on my wife because she's sick and I'm trying to fix my fuck up."

"By making me wear your shirt because I'm cold?"

"It's a first step in a whole plan Pip." He sits back down beside me and I know how serious he is. He hasn't smiled once. Not even at my use of the word 'janky'. "Warmer?"

"A little." He nods.

"Okay I went and got you another coffee. Not extra hot and I've let it cool a little. Look at me Pip." I turned to him as he took the reusable coffee cup off the bedside table. "Please don't burn yourself with this one. I'll have to ban hot drinks or make you use a really really long straw."

"Or you could have Nicky follow me around holding it for me." His lips lifted slightly and I took the cup. "I didn't tell you what I got."

"I went back and found your cup on the floor and made them make it again."

"You picked my cup up off the floor and took it back into the coffee shop?"

"Mhm. Drink up." I took a sip and sure enough he'd brought the temperature right down so it wasn't going to burn at all but it did warm me up slightly. "Good?" I nod at him, pouting when he took it back off me. "I'll give you it back in a second Pip. I've got something else." He pulled a bag up onto the bed, laying it on my legs and putting his arm around me, pulling me into him a little closer.

I look up at him and he nods. Open it.

I love some of the Cartier collections. Some of them are not something I'd wear myself but some of it I would never take off.

I slowly pull the flowers out first.

"These are for you to pull apart. The ones downstairs are in vases."

"Can I hit you with them instead?" He smiles and I tap the handful against his head lightly. "Didn't answer quick enough."

"Pull them apart later and I'll put them in your bath when your burns are a little better." He takes them from me slowly. "Rest of the bag please." I take the boxes out of the bag slowly opening them one at a time.

I know these pieces. I've seen them on the website over and over again when I was scrolling for fun. I laughed at their ridiculous prices for jewellery and wondered who'd spend that amount on something they'll probably wear once a year. Apparently I was because I'm looking at what has to be at least half a million dollars' worth of jewellery.

"Bash."

"Oh. I got these too." Oh my god. He leaned down, almost falling out of the bed but stopping himself, coming back and opening a flat box filled with chocolate covered strawberries. I haven't even seen whatever other flowers he said are downstairs.

"You- This-" I look around at everything. "Bash this is like-"

"If the next words out of your mouth are going to be anything related to money or it being too much then I don't want to hear it." He grabs one of the berries. "Open." I open my mouth and he feeds me, smiling softly as he watches me chew. "I didn't know how else to show you how seriously sorry I am Pip."

"Not by spending a stupid am-" He interrupts me with a kiss and I instantly forget what I was saying. 2 days without him and I was having withdrawal symptoms like he was a drug and I was addicted. I exhaled, giving in as he pulled back.

"It's just money Pip. It's worth knowing you know how serious I am."

"A lot of money."

"Not to us." He rubs his nose against mine, placing a soft kiss on the tip before sitting up and pulling one of the necklaces closer. "Here, put this on." An oval of diamonds with one large ruby in the centre. "I want you to wear this as much as you can Pip. Everything else can sit in the closet and never see the light of day as far as I care. But this one. This is us. You're the diamonds. I'm the ruby. You're the most wanted, pure thing in the whole world."

"My birthstones diamond." He chuckles. "Wait is that what you meant?

"Yes baby. Yours is diamond, mines ruby." God I'm dim. Of course, that's what he meant. I shuffled down the bed slightly, lying my head back into his chest and holding up one of the boxes. "You like them?"

"Love them." I look back up at him and let out a slow breath. "Love you."

"I love you too Pip."