The door closed behind him with a soft click. I immediately glared at Mel.
"Mr. Yummy?" I exclaimed. "You really had to call him Mr. Yummy to his face?" My cheeks were still burning from embarrassment. This was just another thing Tyson could add to his little "Noah's Fumbling Moments" list, which was growing rapidly.
Mel gave me a sheepish grin then stepped out of the way, giving Dr. Greenburg access to the cut on my chin. She sprayed some sort of disinfectant on it, causing it to sting fiercely.
"I said I was sorry. It just slipped out." Mel bent over to pick her bag up off the floor, placing it on the empty bed beside her before swinging herself up to perch on the edge of it. With the black pencil skirt she was wearing, it was quite a feat. The material rode dangerously up her thighs, but she yanked it back into place and crossed one leg over the other. "But oh my, you weren't kidding when you were gushing about him in my office the other day. Yummy doesn't even begin to cover it."
I made a noise of indignation in the back of my throat that ended on a hiss as the doctor began cleaning the cut. "I was not gushing," I said, trying to move my lips as little as possible. "I was merely describing his appearance to you. In an entirely objective manner."
Dr. Greenburg moved so I could no longer see Mel, but her snort was audible. "Sweetie, objective parties don't use "tall, dark and yummy" as their opening line."
Done cleaning my cut, Dr. Greenburg peeled the edges of the bandage away and pressed it against my chin. Her smile told me she was holding back laughter.
"Whatever," I grumbled, not able to think of a suitable comeback. I shifted in my seat, causing several sharp pains to flare to life in my back and shoulder. I halted abruptly, breathing shallowly and leaning to my left ever so slightly in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain without alerting either woman to the fact that I was hiding something. It seemed to help some.
"Objectively speaking or not, that boy is definitely good looking," Dr. Greenburg said, peeling off a set of disposable gloves and tossing them into the special medical trash receptacle on her right. "And he also gets bonus points for giving the guy who was pounding on you a good hiding."
I arched an eyebrow at her, ignoring the lingering twinges and throbbing ache. "And here I thought doctors didn't condone violence."
She gave me a sad smile, gently touching the left side of my face. "And I thought men weren't supposed to beat women, yet you sit in front of me now."
I sighed. The doctor definitely had a good point. She turned from me to her computer, typing in a few notes. "Right. I need you to scooch forward for me," she said without looking up.
"Why?" I asked. "Haven't you finished looking me over?"
She nodded. "I had. Until you moved slightly in your seat and you grimaced visibly. Is it your shoulder or your back?" she asked, giving me a knowing look.
I gaped at her, equal parts annoyed and impressed. "Both actually," I admitted reluctantly. "But it's nothing to worry about. Just a few bruises. I'm good to go, doc."
Dr. Greenburg cast a questioning glance to Mel, who in turn narrowed her eyes at me dangerously. "Either you move your butt forward on your own or I come over there and make you. Choose wisely."
Fifteen minutes later we were leaving the medical clinic after a thorough examination of the remaining injuries I had tried to keep in the dark. Dr. Greenburg had ordered me to bed rest for the next twenty four hours and had also crossed out my original prescription for Tylenol, replacing it with a higher dosage painkiller to help with the various aches and pains. She'd proclaimed my back and right shoulder to be badly bruised, and Mel had gasped at the colourful state both were in. Unable to see it for myself, I had listened as Dr. Greenburg ran her fingers ever so gently across the surface of my skin, telling me what shade of purple lay under her touch. After hearing that, I wasn't sure I wanted to see the state of my back. My stomach had a nice sized bruise on it as well, the centre a rich purple, the edges tinged an angry red. Although that one looked a lot worse than it felt. It was hardly giving me any grief at all. She also disinfected my scraped palms, picking out the little bits of gravel stuck under the skin. Surprisingly, this hurt the most, the stinging making me complain and moan like a big baby.
Mel squared away the bill, paying for both Tyson and I. The receptionist informed her that Tyson had tried to pay before leaving, but they'd refused his money as per Dr. Greenburg's request. I smiled. The good doctor definitely knew a thing or two about Tyson if she'd warned the receptionist beforehand. I had a feeling he would've tried paying for himself. He seemed the type of person to only accept help under heavy protest. Very independent and always wary of others. And for him to be that way, I had to wonder if something major had happened in his life, or if he had always been this way.
After paying, Mel helped me to her car and had me home in no time. The last thing I remembered before drifting off into a deep sleep was taking two tiny pills with a sip of water and Mel whispering something into my ear. It sounded like "Sweet dreams", but I couldn't be sure.
I was dragged into the land of consciousness by a dull yet persistent ache encompassing the left side of my head. Not ready to join the living, I tried to ignore it, rolling over to get more comfortable. Big mistake. I cried out as various sharp pains erupted over my back and right shoulder, opening my bleary eyes in shock. Trying to make it stop, I rolled back over the other way - and crashed into Riley, who until that point had obviously been sound asleep. He sat bolt upright, the sleep clearing from his eyes a lot slower than the speed at which his body was moving.
"Noah?" he asked, his voice sleep heavy. "What's wrong? Is it your head or your shoulder?"
I groaned in response as tears formed in the corners of my eyes, unable to force words past the growing agony in my shoulder, and now my head.
His hands reached out to grab me, and in one smooth but painful motion he dragged me upright into a sitting position. For a second, the pain in my shoulder flared to unbearable heights, but slowly receded when my brother settled me back onto some pillows. I gasped for air, and shivered as cool air hit the thick layer of sweat coating my arms, neck and face.
"Better?" he asked, eyes full of concern. He pulled my comforter up high, tucking it under my chin.
I grunted an affirmative, then leaned left slightly so my head was resting gently on his shoulder. Without a word, Riley nestled closer, making me more comfortable against him. We stayed silent for a few minutes, me breathing heavily against the aches and pains, and him giving me time to do so.
"What's the time?" I said at last, and was surprised when my voice cracked. It sounded like I hadn't used it in days. My throat was parched, and a foul taste resided on my tongue.
He checked his watch. "Just after midnight."
"What?" Had I really slept the last seven hours away?
"Yeah," he said as if in answer to my thoughts. "You've been sleeping like the dead for several hours now. But Mel has been in and out, waking you periodically to check for any changes."
"Really? I don't remember."
He looked sideways at me, and I could feel more than see the humour on his face, though worry was still present. "Well, going by the incoherent mumblings you gave in response, I'd say you weren't entirely pleased with being disturbed."
I attempted a smile, but it felt more like a grimace. With the pounding ache in both my head and shoulder it was no wonder. "I bet if she'd brought ice cream every time she'd woken me, I would have been more than happy."
Riley's laughter was soothing to my ears. A comfort that I was in desperate need of. I found myself relaxing, cuddling even closer to him. "I did suggest that, but got an earful about bad habits and unhealthy eating. I hope she doesn't find the stack of takeout menus in the otherwise empty fruit bowl."
I laughed, stopping abruptly when my tender stomach twinged in pain.
"Where is Mel now?" I asked, not spotting her anywhere in my dimly lit bedroom. Not that I'd expected to, seeing as how she hadn't come running when I'd cried out earlier.
He shrugged, jostling my head, causing me to whimper softly. "Shit, sorry No." He brought his left hand up to cup the side of my face, gently pushing my damp, tangled hair away from my forehead. "I don't know where she is. Either downstairs or in the guest room."
I raised my eyebrows. "She's still here? I thought she would've gone home by now."
Riley shook his head. "I asked her to stay. I have no idea what to do in a situation like this, and though I suspect she doesn't know much more than I, she seemed to have everything under control by the time I got home."
I cast a glance downwards at his crumpled suit. He'd shed his jacket and tie, both of them laying haphazardly at the foot of the bed. I looked beyond the bed to see his briefcase and laptop bag near the door. They looked as if they had been thrown there in haste. And seeing as he still had his shoes on, I'd say my guess was accurate.
"When did you get home?" I asked, stifling a yawn. Despite seven solid hours of sleep, I was still bone tired.
"Mel called me just after she'd tucked you into bed, so about six."
"And you didn't think to grab a shower and some food before camping out in my room?" I asked. Though he didn't stink. Through my blocked nose I could just make out the scent of his Calvin Klein aftershave.
He chuckled. "No, I had more pressing matters on my mind, like the state I found my baby sister in when I got to her room. You forgot to clean all the blood off your face before you passed out."
I grimaced, knowing I looked a mess. When Mel had gotten me home I'd gone to the bathroom long enough to glance in the mirror, and just about leapt out of my skin thinking it was Freddy Krueger staring back at me rather than myself. My nose was red and puffy, something that was hard to see with all of the dried and drying blood smeared across my face. How I managed to get it across my forehead and pushed back into my tangled hair I will never know. My eyes were red rimmed and slightly bloodshot, the undersides a little puffy. As a whole, it looked like I'd gone ten rounds with a champion fighter, not one round with a parked car, Aidan, and the pavement. I'd grabbed the glass sitting on the sink and downed a couple of painkillers. Then staggered back to my room, flopped into bed - which was very stupid given the immense amount of pain it caused me - and was out like a light before Mel could say "Sweet dreams". Those painkillers worked a charm. Not only did they dull the pain, they knocked you right out. Or, given my sensitivity to pain medication, I could have been having a particularly unique reaction to them.
"I'm guessing she called you at work?" I asked, breaking from my thoughts.
"She did." He looked at me with such serious eyes I gulped, thinking I was in major trouble. "What I want to know is why you didn't tell me some boy was bothering you in the first place." His voice was stern, making me cringe. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off. "Yes, you mentioned it in passing a few of weeks ago, but you forgot to include the little details like the fact that you ended up in the E.R during summer vacation because of him."
Guilt washed over me. He was right. I should have told him, and yet I was fairly confident at the time that I could handle Aidan on my own. How wrong I had been.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, turning my face into his shoulder and ignoring the sting in my nose as I did so.
He sighed wearily, running a hand softly through my hair. "I'm not angry at you," he said, voice softening. "I just wish you'd told me, that's all. I would have stopped things from going this far. Hell, I would have stopped things from beginning in the first place." He paused before saying, "Let me see your hand."
I pulled my right hand into view and placed it in both of his. He ran his fingers over the still vivid scar. It hadn't begun to fade yet, and I doubted it would for a long time.
I didn't think Riley could have stopped anything from happening to me where Aidan was concerned, but I liked knowing that he would have done everything in his power to try. Though I supposed if he'd packed up house and taken me to China with him that would have been effective.
"Must have been nasty," he commented, still tracing the mark.
I shrugged, then yelped as the ache in my shoulder flared to life again. Damn it, I'd have to remember not to do that for the next few days. "It wasn't that bad. Only ten stitches," I said through clenched teeth.
Riley sighed again, this time in defeat. "I suppose this is partly my fault," he said. "If I was around more, maybe none of this would have happened."
I twisted around to face him without thinking, spurred into action by his ridiculous comment. My back and shoulder screamed in protest, causing me to groan in pain.
"Jesus, Noah, what're you trying to do?" He helped settle me back down, cradling me gently against his body. When I could breathe properly again, I stared daggers at the wall opposite the bed. Daggers that were meant for my brother.
"You're stupid, Riley," I muttered. "You couldn't have done anything. Yes, the first time you weren't here. But today you were here and I still ended up needing medical attention. Let's face it. Short of chaperoning all my outings you couldn't have stopped something like this from happening."
Before he could respond the door to the room was flung open, startling us both. Courtney stood in the doorway, well, huddled would be more accurate. She was wrapped in a red duvet that was trailing the ground behind her. Her usually springy curls were hanging limply at her shoulders and the upbeat happy energy she normally exuded was notably absent.
"Courtney?" I asked perplexed, as if maybe I was seeing things. I craned my neck around to look at my brother. "You kind of forgot to mention she was here," I said to him. Though even as I said it I was smiling, glad to see her.
He laughed. "I was getting to that." He patted the bed next to him. "Come here, mischief number two."
She cracked a grin - and in her flu stricken state, it looked to be quite an effort - before shuffling over and snuggling up on Riley's other side.
"You missed a great day at school," I said to her dryly.
She sniffed, though I couldn't tell if it was at my dry joke or because she was, well, sick.
"If I was there, Aidan wouldn't have hobbled away. They would have needed an ambulance for his crippled ass." Oh, and there was the mortally wounded frog taking its last breaths. Cripes, she was no better than Saturday, which made me wonder how she'd gotten her mother to give her permission to come over. My guess was, she hadn't.
"Courts, not that I don't love your company, but does your mother know you're here?"
Her smile was sheepish. "Yes, she does," she croaked, then coughed into a wad of tissues I hadn't noticed she was holding. The sound had the fine hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge. It was like something rattled around inside her lungs. Riley rubbed her back vigorously in an effort to help.
"Courts, if you pass your germs on to me, I will be one very unhappy camper," Riley said. Then to me, "Yes, mischief number two over here snuck out of home and stole her mothers car while she was at it."
"Borrowed," Courtney piped up, back to sniffing again.
Riley gave her a droll stare before he continued. "Though how she managed to get past the 'rents without one of them noticing the absence of that hacking cough is beyond me. I had Mrs. Keller screaming in my ear an hour and a half after Courtney arrived, demanding that I bring her baby home or else."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "And you're still here?" I said to Courtney. It was no secret that Courtney's mother was a force to be reckoned with. A serious contender for mother of the year, she was fiercely protective of her children, especially Courtney who was her youngest.
Her sheepish smile grew. "Yep. Mel had a talk to her."
I looked at my brother for an explanation. "Yes, well. After half an hour of repeating myself, I gave up and chucked the phone at Mel," he said. " I'm surprised that I didn't wake you up."
I raised a questioning brow, to which he elaborated. "It got to the point where I was yelling at the woman." My mouth dropped open in shock. He'd yelled at Marie Keller? Did he want to die? "Hey," he said in mock outrage. "Half an hour of saying the same thing and I was beginning to think she was deaf. But yelling didn't help either. She just raised her voice to match mine and kept going."
Courtney giggled, the sound more akin to nails on a chalkboard rather than the smooth tinkle it usually was.
"So Mel saved both your butts then," I mused.
"That she did," Mel said, coming into the room with a large wooden bed tray. I frowned, wondering where she had found it. I certainly didn't know we owned anything like that. But then again, I hardly knew where any of the kitchen appliances were unless they were a spoon for ice cream and a mug for coffee.
"And both of those buttheads owe me big time," Mel continued, placing the tray of food at the foot of the bed. She glanced up at Courtney. "Courtney dear, your mother is terrifying. I am never again going up against her. You're just lucky she understood enough to let you stay."
Courtney nodded. I on the other hand paled as a thought struck me. "You told her mother what happened?"
Mel nodded, dropping three bottles of water she'd been carrying under her arm onto the bed next to the tray. "Of course I did. I wasn't about to lie to a concerned mother as to why her daughter took off from home half dead with the sudden urge to see her best friend."
"And how did she take it?" I asked, pointing to one of the bottled waters. At the sight of it, my parched throat had reacted, reminding me I was thirsty as hell.
Mel smiled, handing me the bottle. "She was ready to meet me at the school bright and early tomorrow morning to demand the expulsion of the boy responsible. She wanted to involve the police."
I groaned, this time in misery, not pain, mind you I still had plenty of that as well. "She's not going to though, is she?"
Riley took the bottle from me and opened it. Mel shook her head, moving the tray over Riley's lap so the three of us could access it. "I convinced her I'd take care of it." And I had no doubt she would. She'd ranted and raved on the way home about student safety at schools and how Aidan's behaviour was completely unacceptable and that if she had it her way he'd either be dead or a eunuch in India.
I looked down at the tray and frowned. "Since when do we order from a place that sells chicken casserole?" I asked my brother. It looked delicious, bite size hunks of chicken with baby potatoes and baby carrots. My stomach rumbled in anticipation.
"We don't. Mel cooked."
My eyes widened in surprise. "Home made cooking?"
Mel snorted. "You say that like it's a foreign concept."
Courtney laughed outright, though I still cringed at the rattling sound. "In this household, it is," she croaked.
Mel clucked her tongue at us, shaking her head. "Do I even want to know when the last time you had a home cooked meal was?" She handed a box of tissues to Courtney. I downed the entire bottle of water in several large gulps before answering her.
"If I could remember, I'd tell you." I sighed happily as my thirst abated. One need down, one to go. I plucked one of the plates off the tray with my left arm, depositing it in my lap before grabbing a spoon. My mouth watered as the delicious scent made it's way past my stinging blocked nose and registered with my battered brain. The casserole was full of sweet smelling spices. Unable to resist any longer, I dug my spoon in and shoved a huge spoonful into my eager mouth. And it was like Heaven. Several flavours hit me at once. The tender chicken, the salt of the gravy, and the sweetness of the baby carrots. I closed my eyes briefly, savouring it for as long as possible. It was several more mouthfuls before I spoke again.
"There's seconds, right?"
Riley laughed, and Courtney rolled her eyes at me, an amused smile playing about her chapped lips.
"Yes, there's seconds," Mel said, handing me a napkin. "And thirds. And fourths if you can manage it. I got a bit excited and made enough to feed a small army," she said with a shrug.
After thirds, I conceded defeat, unable to take another bite, no matter how much I wanted to. Mel cleared the plates off the bed and onto the floor, then turned on the fifty inch plasma bracketed to my wall and stuck in the first DVD she saw. She slid into the bed on my other side, careful not to jostle me, and the four of us stayed up the rest of the night watching episodes from the Gilmore Girls.