Don't be sorry, Nat

Part 12

  I wake up in a dark room. I try to sit up before I feel the wires and IVs and whatever else attached to me. I'm in a hospital bed. Because we were just robbed. My head is pounding, because I was hit in the head.

"Are you awake?" I hear a whisper from my side. I turn to see David, curled up in a chair, his face is puffy and he seems so small sitting there.

"Sorta." I say but it comes out more of a croak.

"Oh my God Natalie." He lets out a big sigh like he's been holding his breath for hours. He pulls the chair closer to the bed and grabs my hand. "Do you need anything?"

"Water?" He frantically opens a water bottle from the bed side table, puts a straw inside and brings it to my lips. "Thanks." I say a bit more clearly. "So what the fuck happened?"

"You don't remember anything?"

"Oh no, I remember all that. I certainly remember the gun in my face."

"I was one second away from jumping between you and that gun." David still looks frightened, like the gun is still pointed at me.

"Well I'm very happy you didn't do that."

"They took all that cash from my room and the key to my car but nothing else. I was hit in the back of the head, they said I'll be fine but to look for concussion symptoms. You lost a lot of blood, did he stab you or something? It was so much."

"Head butt."

"Jesus."

"Head wounds bleed a lot."

"Yea, so I've seen." David attempts a joke but neither of us feel like laughing.

"So, what did you see, what do you remember?" I ask, tightening my grip on his hand.

"You are the smartest person on the planet, I should not have gone in there. I should have left on time for the airport, I should have gotten us on that plane then none of this would have happened."

"David, it's okay. Those things didn't work out, but that doesn't make all this your fault."

"Yeah well catch me owing you for the rest of my life. So I walked in, called out to see if someone was there and I see the guy just as he whacks me on the head. I come to and you're bleeding on the ground next to me and he's pointing a gun at you. I was frozen, I didn't want him to panic having two conscious captives but there was an actual gun. I was trying to wait until he wasn't pointing it right at you so I didn't make him shoot you or something. My thinking was that if I jump on your face and he shoots me, there's a much higher chance I'd survive getting shot in the back than you would in the face."

"David, don't say stuff like that."

"Ok I'm sorry, but you handled it so well. You were like a fucking superhero. Then when they heard the sirens and left, you just like," He pauses, shaking his head at the memory. "you just like died, it looked like you were dying from whatever happened to your head.

"The police came and the paramedics and they were asking us questions but I was hysterical because you were dying and-" David starts crying and I squeeze his hand tighter. He takes a deep breath before continuing, "they put you on the stretcher and they weren't going to let me come but I was like 'they took my keys so they let me. We got to the hospital and you were rushed off right away. They checked me out, but I was fine. I gave a statement, they said they'd secure the house and have an officer nearby in case they come back for the car or something."