She blinked and squinted. “Can’t focus,” she said. “Oh. Words.”
I chuckled and moved to sit in the chair next to her. She sounded drunk, and I wasn’t sure how much was the anesthesia and how much was the wired jaw, but it was easy enough to understand her. “Hey.”
She turned to me, still trying to focus. “You.”
I smiled. “Yeah. Me. You’re coming out of some serious drugs. Take your time. You want some juice?” I picked up the bottle and started to hand it to her.
“No. You.”
I kept smiling. “Still me. And you have to drink this before we can bust you out of here. So. Juice?”
She hummed and took the bottle, then aimed the whole thing in the direction of her face.
Yikes. Professional or not, I wasn’t ever around for this part. I leaned in. “Maybe I’ll help, okay?” She nodded as I took the bottle back and held the straw to her lips. “Remember your jaw won’t open,” I say, right as she clearly tried to do just that.
“Owwww,” she whined softly.
I bit back a laugh. Definitely not the time, and I’m certain it really hurt, but she was adorable. Finally, her lips closed around the straw and she drank. I wiped her mouth with a napkin, then met her eyes. They were hazy with drugs, but it didn’t matter. They were still heart-stoppingly beautiful, an ice blue ringed with navy.
“Let me know when you want more,” I said, leaning back in the chair.
She nodded and took a deep breath and let it out, then closed her eyes and relaxed against the mattress. “Long time ago.”
I stilled. Where was this going?
“You saw me, didn’t you? Like, saw me saw me.”
I sent a prayer to the gods of anesthesia and nodded. “I did.” I wet my lips. The way she’d connected with everyone around her, giving them her complete attention. How she’d laughed, full-bodied and loud. She’d been the center of every room she was in, but never seemed to notice. My heart pounded. “I still do. See you, I mean.”
She lifted her head and met my eyes. They still weren’t focused, and I wasn’t sure how much, if any, she’d remember of this conversation later. “You scare me.” She let her head fall back and stared at the ceiling. “I like you, and I shouldn’t and that scares me.”
Holy. Shit. I looked around, like someone else would be there to confirm what I’d heard, but it was just me and her. Wired or not, and coming out of drugs or not, she wasn’t that hard to understand.
She…liked me?
“All this scares me,” she repeated. “I’m talking so slow. Am I slurring my words? I think I’m slurrying. I mean slurring.” She giggled. “I’m like Voldemort. Only not.”
I beamed at her, taking all of it in. She was higher than a kite and so damn cute. And she liked me.
Then she focused on me again, or at least tried to. “Do you like me?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t answer fast enough.
She huffed and flailed her hand. “Not like a friend but like, do you like like me.”
I grinned, my heart soaring with the wings it now had. “Yes, I like like you.”
“Good.” She smiled and I got a look at the impressive amount of metal holding her mouth shut. “Cause I like you. We’ll be like Daisy and Samson.” Shamson. She giggled again. “I’m Voldaisy. Daisemort. Voldaisemort!” She snorted and laughed.
I laughed again. If she remembered any of this, it would be a miracle. I’d been given this gift of knowing, but a kernel of doubt planted itself in the back of my head. She was interested, sure, but that didn’t mean she’d stay. My own mother hadn’t stayed and my record hadn’t gotten any better since then. How in the world was I enough to keep a woman who barely knew me in town?
“Juice,” Devon said. It came out like ‘juish.’
I jerked back to the present and handed the bottle to her. “You got it this time?”
She nodded. “Think so.” She sounded more coherent as she took it and drank. “Did the nurse say something about you getting me dressed?”
“Ah, she did. But I’ll leave.”
A voice sounded behind me. “Damn right you will.” Rick walked into the room.
I stood and grinned at Rick, then shook his hand. “Good to see you. I was wondering when you’d get here.”
“Ceci,” he said, as if that explained everything. “She was supposed to be here but the twins apparently decided a mud fight was in order. So I got tagged in. But that doesn’t explain your presence.”
“Rick!” Devon said, smiling and oblivious to the way Rick was frowning thoughtfully at me. “My favorite. You’re the best. Ow, hurts,” she whimpered.
“You gonna sound like that the whole time, little sis?” Rick grinned at her. “Am I the besht?”
“I’ll get going,” I said.
Rick tipped his chin at me. “See you.”
“Aaron?” Devon looked over at me, her eyes clearer than before. “When did you get here?”
My heart squeezed in disappointment. Guess there would be exactly no remembering the conversation on her part. It was for the best, I knew that, but it didn’t stop my stomach from twisting. “I brought you. Been here the whole time. I’ll be in touch?”
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
