I Can't Own You? (BOOK 1)

68 (NEW)

At noon, after resting more, I wake to Chris placing a breakfast tray across my waist. "Oh, you woke up, damn it! I was gonna surprise you."

I look at the tray of bacon, sausages, eggs, and waffles. "You did."

"Not how I wanted to..." He says, bummed. "Surprise!"

"Thank you." I grab his arm, yanking him into a deep smooch, so steady that I feel my jaw muscles tightening. My lips melt onto his.

"Mister, please control yourself, this is a hospital," Chris says against my lips.

"I love you." It didn't matter that I was in this bed, broken and unable to move on my own. Nor did the idea of returning pain haunt me. Not when sweetness is here.

Chris pecks my cheek quickly and takes a seat on the bed. "I love you too..."

I glance down at the white cast on my leg, a turn in my stomach ignites, a bizarre deflation fires through me. Weighing down on my heart... my lungs. What if this caused me to not walk again? Was it smart to challenge a fucking car? To have everyone sitting targets in this hospital? What am I thinking?

"You know who else loves you?"

My attention races to him. "Who?"

He rubs my hand, which still grips his arm. "My parents...how haven't you noticed?"

"I picked that up with your mom...I'm not sure about your dad."

"He shys away from it, but it's there...and to think I was all frantic about them hating you."

I break off a piece of beacon and chew. "Reba did hate me when we got here."

"I don't think that was hate...that was more protective and upset. if she disliked you, you would have never been invited in." Chris grabs a fork and scrabbles my eggs around. "Trust me; I've seen her hatred. We had this one neighbor who was psycho over us cutting our lawn too close to his. Mama was ready to fight. No joke, I mean boxing position and all."

We both chuckle. "Guess I'm lucky then."

"Yeah..." Chris's eyes go to the door. "I think she's listening in" He says in a whisper.

"She wants answers to this." I gesture to my leg.

"I do too...can we talk about it now?"

I eye the door, feeling that Chris is right. Reba had to be on the other side of the it. My voice lowers to a whisper as well. "The guy was staking out the house. That was too close; Phil and Reba have to know the truth. We can't lie to them anymore... what if another tail is put out, then what?"

"I'm not ready..."

I scoff. "Chris, it isn't just about you."

He roughly squeezes his hands together. "I'll disappoint them...they didn't raise me this way."

"Look..." My stare follows his to the door. "If that happens, it won't last forever. People fuck up, all you have to do is apologize. Phil and Reba love you; they won't cast you out over this. They'll heal."

Chris freezes in place and stares down at his feet. His eyes watery and doubtful. "I don't know...don't think it will play out that way. I did illegal shit...knowing that it was wrong; that's more than a fuck up. Everything I did was purposely done."

My response to this doesn't come...because I know he's right about it.

The rest of the day goes forward very solitary. Chris and I watched tv in silence, while a time bomb ticks in my head, hoping he would address his parents. I could read his face so well...Chris doesn't want to fail Reba and Phil. I understand that, but his home isn't safe. His family isn't safe. We all need to stay here until a solid exit strategy is thought out Until a new location is in plan. I stage pain in order to stall our stay...buying time.

Occasionally, Reba popped into the room for a fast checkup, not wanting to rob us of our privacy. Chris took his same odd position on the bed with me. The sporadic beeping of my monitor faded away with Chris around, removing all tension.

The drugs knocked me out like a infant. I felt absolutely nothing, not my legs, or my body lying in bed, nor my own presence. This sensation was strange, but I accepted it.