Culinaria L'amore

Culinaria L'amore Chapter Twenty-Six

My attention was diverted to a small cut on the side of his cheek oozing blood, with dried red flakes already surround the shallow abrasion.

"What happened here?" I asked, gently touching his cheekbone, trying to avoid getting any of my germs on the wound.

"You're not even listening to me now are you?" He asked with a sigh, rolling his eyes.

"Answer my question Garrett." I was going for a stern voice but it came out wobbly and tired sounding, making me burying my face into his warm chest. 

"The bastard had a damn pocketknife. He managed to knick me but I'm perfectly alright. It doesn't even hurt anymore." Garrett said, batting my hand away and instead holding it in his large palm. I could feel the roughness of his palm and fingertips and the warmth of him skin next to mine.

Tracing his palm with my free hand, I glanced over at the woman next to us with a drowsy child in her arms, who was in turn glaring at Garrett for his use of language.

I tried to give her a small smile but my lips trembled too much as I noticed the pink princess costume the young girl was wearing. Halloween seemed so long ago and it felt like ages since Garrett and I were enjoying coffee and chocolate donuts together.

My eyes welled up with tears from sadness, a few escaping and running down my face. Garrett immediately noticed and whispered, "damn it Kirsten. Are you alright? Do you need a doctor or something?"

Sniffing, I shakily wiped away my tears with the back of my hand. "I'm fine Garrett. Really."

Before his scowl could get any deeper than it was now, the phone in his pocket buzzed, forcing him to release his grip on my waist and allowing me to sit up in my own seat. I was immediately dizzy and missed the warmth of his chest but I managed to recline in my chair.

Garrett was talking on the phone with a frown on his face, walking briskly to the entrance of the ER and stepping outside into the cold parking lot.

I looked down at my watch, staring for a couple seconds because the hands seemed the same length before I realized that it was well after midnight. Who would call Garrett at this time? His parents?

Dwelling on it for a second, I noticed that the same nurse who gave me Halloween candy was walking towards me.

"You're Kirsten, correct?"

I nodded, suddenly alert.

"Amelia wants to talk with you. Please follow me."

Giving one last fleeting glance to where Garrett seemed to be yelling at whoever was at the receiving end, I walked behind the nurse, suddenly nervous at the prospect of talking to Amelia.

The plump lady led me through several passageways until we got to a room labeled 'Recouperation Rooms' where she knocked on the first vanilla door. When Amelia's voice resonated into the hallway, we entered.

Amelia's room was simple, white on white with a bed in the middle and two comfy chairs next to it. Several pills lay on the small white nightstand along with a cup of water, untouched.

"I'll leave you two along then. Press this button if you need any assistance."

She left us, closing the door quietly behind her, leaving Amelia and I in silence. The redhead looked better than she had two hours ago. Her face was clean, though pale, dotted with bruises on her face and neck. Amelia's wrists were red and abrased from the rope and a massive bruise was forming on her forearm.

"I'm so sorry Amelia." I whispered, choking back my tears and sitting on her chair.

She frowned at me, looking with concern in her green eyes. "That's funny. I was just about to thank you." Was her reply, as she took my hand in her cold ones.