"Are you ever going to stop staring at me?" Ian has been sitting beside me in my small hospital bed for almost an hour, and the entire time his eyes have only left my face maybe once. His long body is stretched out, careful to not lie on top of any of the wires and IV's attached to my body, and I'm curled into his side, our faces just inches apart.
"Probably not." He gives me a small smile and leans in to kiss the top of my head. "I'm just glad you're here, I don't-"
"I'm here. That's what matters." I cut him off, not wanting to talk about the accident right now. I'd already had to relive it while talking to the doctors about my injuries and that was enough for me. I'm alive and that's what I want to focus on, I don't want this to throw me back into the dark place I had just dragged myself out of.
"I know, I was just really fucking scared." He pulls me closer to him and I breathe in the scent of him, letting it relax me as he strokes my back, both of us lost in our own thoughts.
"Hey, Ian."
"Hmm?"
"Maybe it was all a dream, but...were you and Drew talking about how I don't like icing?"
He pulls back and looks down at me, his eyes wide, "You heard that?"
"I heard bits and pieces of different conversations. I kept drifting in and out of consciousness for a few days." I explain as his hand moves up and down my back.
"What else did you hear?"
"I heard my parents talking to the doctor, Nate take Fieldan home, Fieldan's rant about Harper, and some other stuff. I was never conscious for more than a few minutes, but every time I tried and tried to open my eyes or say something and I just couldn't."
"What about today?" I hadn't told him about how I woke up, there was so much other stuff going on and it was such an emotional moment that it just slipped our minds.
"The first thing I heard was Colby telling you to go see your mom, and then you tell him you didn't want to leave me alone." I put my cast free hand up to his face and his kisses my palm, "When you left I heard him turn on the television and for awhile I just listened to the show, wondering why I was awake for such a longer period of time. Then Colby started to talk to me about how worried you are and how you haven't been going to school or practice...I tried harder than ever before to speak, and when he told me that I had to wake up, the words finally came out of my mouth."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here." He lowers his eyes and his hand squeezes mine gently.
"You needed to see your mom." My hand is still on his face and I move my thumb across his cheek as he brings his eyes back to mine. "Did you tell her about me?"
"It was kind of hard to hide, I was barely holding it together by the time I got there. As soon as she saw me she knew something was up, and I lost it when she hugged me." I rest my forehead against his. "She was worried about you."
"You told her I'm awake, right?"
He nods, causing my head to nod along with him. "I called her from the car after I hung up with you." He takes my hand in his and moves it from his face, resting them in between us. "When I saw Colby calling me I thought something else had happened, the last thing I expected was to hear your voice."
"I'm sorry, I didn't think about that. I just wanted to be the one to tell you, and I didn't have a phone."
"God, no. Don't be sorry, Annie. I'm glad it was you, there was no other voice I wanted to hear more." Ian's smile has always made my heart flutter, ever since the first time I saw it. Back then his smile was so rare and he was so reserved, it made me feel special that I was the one he smiled for. Right now though, so much has changed - things about him and me and us - but the fact that Ian's smile can make me melt, that will never change.
"I love you." The words flow so easily out of my mouth, like they've been reserved for him. Even when I dated Drew, I didn't tell him that I loved him often. I'm not sure why I didn't, I was sure then that I loved him, but it just never came naturally to me, not like it does with Ian.
"I love you, too." A nurse walks in just as he's about to kiss me again, and Ian untangles himself from me so that she can check my vitals and IV's. I watch as he stretches his arms over his head and yawns. He gives me a smirk when he notices me watching. "You want anything from the cafeteria?"
The mention of food makes my mouth water. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until just now. "Pizza sounds amazing."
While Ian goes to get us some food, the nurse chats with me about how I'm feeling and when I'm expected to be released - which is in a couple of days, once they are for sure that all my injuries are stable and under control. I remember the words I overheard my dad say to the doctor about how they had said they had my internal bleeding under control, only to be wrong later. My stomach churns at the thought and I switch the conversation to a safer topic like her engagement ring.
A few minutes later, I hear Ian's voice as she opens my door and steps out into the hall. Seconds later Ian opens the door and steps through, his phone pressed to his ear. "Yeah thanks, man. I'll ask her. Okay. See ya."
I raise my brow in question as he hands me a soda and a slice of pepperoni pizza. Ian pulls a chair up to the side of my bed and sits to eat his own slice. "That was Colby."
I let out a small moan as I take a bite of my pizza, causing Ian to laugh. "I forgot how good pizza is. I'll never take it for granted again."
"You're weird." He laughs as he takes a bite of his own pizza.
I roll my eyes at him. "What did Colby want you to ask?"
"Oh yeah, his girlfriend wants to know if we want to go on a double date when you're out of here and feeling better."
"Colby has a girlfriend?" I'll admit, I'm surprised. Not that I had ever paid much attention to Colby, but I'd never seen him with anyone at school, and he didn't really seem like the relationship type.
"Yeah, her name's Emma. She goes to a different school."
"Yeah, I'd love to double date with them. I like Colby, he's a really good friend."
"Yeah, he is. I haven't had a best friend in a really long time, and I'm glad I have one now or I don't think I would have made it through this." He says quietly as he stares down at his half eaten slice of pizza.
"I'm glad you made friends here. The people at your old school suck."
That makes him smile, and even though I said it jokingly to lift his mood, I meant it. They did suck, and they missed out on knowing him - which is a shame.
When we finish eating, Ian gets back in the bed with me and we find a movie to watch. I'm just about to fall asleep when Ian's phone starts to ring, and he hands it to me after checking the caller I.D.
I smile as I see Fieldan's name on the screen. We'd been trying to contact her all day but her mom said she was asleep and no one wanted to wake her since she hadn't really been sleeping since the accident. Ian had sent her a text telling her to call him as soon as she woke up, but didn't mention that I was awake, since I wanted to surprise her the way I surprised him.
I slide my finger across the screen and accept the call, "Hey, Field."
I'm answered by silence and then an ear splitting scream. "It's really you? You're awake? Oh my god, Annie, you scared the shit out of me." I can tell she's crying, and it causes me to start crying too.
After she calms down some, we talk for a few minutes before hanging up after she promises to come visit first thing in the morning. I hand Ian his phone back and he plugs it into the charger he brought with him before wrapping his arms back around me. "How did you get them to let you stay? Visiting hours are over at nine." I ask as he rests his chin on top of my head.
"Your mom told them to let me stay or she would go ballistic again."
"Again?" I tilt my head back and look up at him.
"She might have gone a little crazy when they kept missing the hole in your stomach. She threatened to bring in lawyers and everything. At one point I thought she was going to punch the surgeon."
"Go, mom." I laugh, having no trouble at all picturing my mom doing what he says.
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I wake up in the middle of the night to a new nurse sticking me in the arm with a needle and taking my blood.
These nurses are like vampires, coming in every few hours and stealing my blood.
When she notices that I'm awake, she motions towards Ian, who has his head resting on my chest while he snores lightly, "That boy is a keeper."
I look down at him, he looks peaceful while he sleeps, and I know this is probably the first time he's been able to sleep soundly for a week, maybe even more. I move my hand to his head and run my fingers through his hair while the nurse changes my IV. "Yeah, he is."