Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 72616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
My eyes go crazy as I look around at the people coming and going. My palms get sweaty from my nerves, and I fear that he could pop up at any time. "He’s dead." I hear Quinn’s voice in my head, but nothing can stop the fear in my body that he will show up.
My whole body starts to shake, and I look up at Shirley. “I’m going to be sick,” I say, and she springs into action, grabbing a steel basin from under my bed and putting it in front of me as I vomit.
The pain rips through me as I shake so much my teeth are clattering. A warm hand rubs my back, and when I look up, I’m expecting it to be Shirley, but it’s not. His blue eyes look straight into mine. I’m about to tell him I’m fine when Shirley comes back with a wet hand towel and puts it behind my neck.
I close my eyes, trying to catch my breath. “Take a sip of this,” Quinn says, and I open my eyes to see him holding a cup of water in his hand. "It should make you feel better."
"Thank you," I mumble as Shirley takes the bowl away from me.
I take a deep breath. “I’m good. It was just,” I say and then I stop talking. "Must be the motion of moving the bed."
“Must be,” Quinn says, and just from his tone, I know he doesn’t believe me. He looks at me, brushing the hair away from my forehead. “Drink a couple more sips of water,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine. The thumping in my chest is starting to calm down.
Shirley clears her throat, making Quinn look over at her as he steps away from me. "We’ll get you all cleaned up in a second,” Shirley says as she pushes me down the hallway. I close my eyes and just feel myself being wheeled down the hallway.
I open my eyes when the light becomes a little bit darker and see I’m in the X-ray room. "Okay,” Shirley says, locking the wheels on the bed. “Let’s get these covers off you."
I look at her and then look at Quinn, who stands there and watches everything. "I’m okay,” I say softly, and his eyes go just a touch lighter.
"Here we are,” Shirley says as she slowly takes the cover off my legs, making sure that my hospital gown is in place.
I look down, seeing it pulled up more on one side. The sounds of hisses fills the room, and I look up at Quinn, who turns around. “I’ll be outside,” he says, pushing through the doors.
I look back down at the side of my leg, seeing my whole upper thigh a deep purple, the insides of the bruise turning blue. My hand flies out as I pull the gown down and look up at Shirley, whose eyes are filled with tears as she blinks them away and pretends that everything is okay. "In a couple of days, the color will fade," I mumble to her.
"Let’s get you covered,” she says, and then I have clean sheets on me in record time. "We are going to lower the bed," she tells me everything as she’s doing it, making me relax just a touch more.
I close my eyes as the machine comes down, and she walks out of the room to take the X-ray. "All done."
"What next?" I ask as she unlocks the wheels and pushes me toward the doors.
"The doctor is going to get the images and then let us know,” Shirley says, quietly pushing through the doors, and I see Quinn standing there with his back to the wall.
I avoid looking in his eyes. Instead, I close my eyes as she wheels me toward my room. "Can she eat?" Quinn asks Shirley, and I open my eyes.
"It depends on what is in that bag today,” she says, shaking her head.
I watch Quinn look at her and smile shyly, and I look back at the brown bag. “She sent something for you, too,” he says, and I look over at Shirley, who raises her eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" I ask them, looking back and forth.
"My grandmother," Quinn says, going over to the brown bag and bringing it to me. “She likes to cook and bake." He looks at me, and his blue eyes shine when he talks about her. “She especially cooks and bakes when she is nervous. She’s been on edge since everything went down." He puts the bag down, and I swear the bed dips. “So she sent a couple of things for you."
"For me?" I ask him, putting my hand to my chest. There has been no one in my whole life that has ever done anything for me.
"Well, yeah," he answers like it’s a normal fucking thing. "Obviously."