Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 65 - Recovery ... and a Favor

"How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to get a free meal."

"You ... you ..." she spluttered at him. Automatically she hit him on his shoulder.

"Owww!!" he jerked in surprise. "Hey! I'm still the patient here. No hitting patients!"

"You deserved that! You should be ashamed of yourself pretending to be asleep just to get free meals!"

Jace was still smiling in amusement when he tried to sit up. Immediately he blanched, one hand going to his ribs before he fell back onto the bed.

"Aaaaahhh," Jace hissed in pain.

"No, don't get up. You just came out of surgery! The doctors said you should rest," Aria said in alarm. "Are you o'kay? Should I call the nurse?"

"No-ooo, just give me a second to catch my breath. I did not expect that." His face shone with sweat at the effort of controlling his pain. He would need time to recover from the operation.

Aria watched him closely ready to call the nurse as he got himself back under control.

"Jace, just rest o'kay? The doctors said you will be in here for at least two to three weeks, maybe more depending on your recovery rate."

"What? That long? But I can't, I have stuff to do," the youth protested. He racked his brain for something they had in common, something she would understand. "Orc Wars ..."

"Shush now. Orc Wars is nothing compared to your health. Simtrixx can go shove their contract up their asses!" she said fiercely.

He would have laughed if he was not in so much pain. When was the last time he had logged in? He was getting stressed just trying to work out the time frame. What day was today? Oh Gods, how much time had passed? He gritted his teeth and struggled to sit up again.

"Jace Carter!! Don't you dare sit up!" Aria scowled at him whilst pushing him back down firmly onto the bed. "If you try to get up one more time, I'm going to call your mom, wake Ash up, call the doctor-in charge and the nurse!" she threatened. "Seriously!! Boys!!"

"B-but ..."

"NO buts!!You need to rest to recover and that's final!" Aria cupped his face firmly in both hands and stared intently into his startled eyes. She felt him flinch and tried to pull back from the physical contact but she held on stubbornly. She needed him to understand that he came first, he needed to recover, everything else was secondary. Fierce dark brown eyes glared into haunted grey green eyes as she brought her face centimetres from his, willing him to understand.

Jace froze, his mind shutting down. His hands gripped the bed sheets and tightened into fists, white knuckles showing as he fought against his inner demons. He was almost hyperventilating with the need to escape the irrational fear of being touched when he heard her vehement declaration.

"Screw Orc Wars! You are more important!!"

He blinked. Something in him shifted. The suffocating darkness receded slowly allowing reason to return. He gulped for air, breathing raggedly as the overwhelming anxiety faded away.

Aria still held his face close to hers, but there was nothing sexual or threatening about it. She was not hurting him. The unreasonable fear faded. He realise he could break away at any time by pushing her away. She was trying to drive home a point.

Her gaze softened as her hold on his face relaxed. She brushed his cheek gently with a thumb. One hand rose to gently cover hers. This was not so bad. Jace stared at her in wonderment.