When your pride is on the floor
I’ll make you beg for more
Stay with me
Stay with me”
It’s surreal to be here on a hospital floor with a half-naked girl that was just up my shirt, singing to me in a beautiful voice that is full of pain and sadness causing others in the room to start crying, begging the Reaper to let me live. I can never ever predict what she will do. My mind is silent trying to work out what to do. I can feel my head pounding with the frustration of this clever entrapment.
My heart? All I can feel is another layer of the frozen protection thaw and mix in with the blood on the floor. It’s then my brain finds the one thing that kills me. That I hurt her.
Av starts battling suddenly above me, and I pry open my eyes a millimetre to see the Reaper just before he slides the sickle under my neck and pulls my head up.
“Stay limp,” Av hisses. My body misses her touch and starts to crave it like a drug.
Nathan’s singing is not so angelic.
“You’d better hope and pray that you make it safe
Back to your own world.”
Shit! That demonic voice causes people to squeal again.
“You’d better hope and pray that you’ll wake one day
In your own world.”
He lets me fall from the sickle with no warning, I’m glad Av catches my head because my blood would be definitely flowing.
They are in a tug of war now and these two don’t hold back. I’m a ragdoll my arms being almost ripped from my sockets my bony fingers until Av lays over my torso. She resettles herself at my head again when he lets go.
‘Cause when you sleep at night they don’t hear your cries
In your own world.”
He is bent really close to me and I feel the pressure again of his boot on my stomach and then it disappears before he kicks me savagely in the side. Pain rushes through me like a starburst and I relish it. I’m glad. Paying me back for what I did to Av. I don’t make a sound I just let it sink into the part of me that needs it.
Only time will tell if you can break the spell
Back in your own world
The sickle once more lashes my side, scratching between my ribs sending me a loud and clear message that if I hurt her ever again, he will kill me. I won’t. And if I do, I’ll let him.
Av’s voice sounds heavenly when she starts again. And her soft hands feel like they pull electric currents from places deep within me, charging me up like nothing else. They massage my side, secretly sending their own message of apology. I want to shake my head at her, no.
“Stay with me
Stay with me
Stay, stay with me
Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay
Stay with me.” (*1)
She pinches me. I open my eyes to see her act like it’s a miracle. The Reaper roars and storms off, parting onlookers like a shark’s fin at Bondi beach. She hugs me, pulling me to my feet and drags me along behind her.
Applause follows our progress until we get inside an elevator.
“That was fricken amazing!” she jumps up and down on the spot before jumping on me and kissing me. “I can’t believe we did that!”
Me, either.
*1 – Shakepearse’s sister – Stay – Listen to it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCYaALgW80c
I think we’re alone now
Avalon
My adrenaline levels would scare even the most hardcore adrenaline junkie or ... make them jump off a cliff in a fit of jealousy. I’m that excited my hands are shaking.
I love this sensation that comes after the main act has been carried out, but we still have a bit to go. Usually, the escape bit. I feel invincible like I can do anything.
So, I do. Ribs and kidneys can’t stop me jumping on him right now. Especially with blood smeared over his cheek and flecked over his bare sculpted chest. I have no idea what’s come over me… well actually I do have an inkling, a certain escapee octopus; it’s squeezing its tentacles and pushing its poison like wildfire rife through my body.
I can’t stop kissing him. A very romance novel thought passes through my mind; I just fit with him.
The loudspeaker hums to life.
“Rest in peace tonight, citizens, I’m going to leave you alone due to the unforeseen negative outcomes of my plan, the overabundance of flabby butts. So... enjoy your lives to the maximum every time you can.” Nathan’s grim reaper, scuttling swarm of rats voice filters through the speakers making me smile against Noah’s lips. “And please remember squats are your friends. The two souls in the elevator - I can see you - and I’m coming for you, now!”
I giggle and tear myself away from Noah’s luscious lips to see if he finds it as funny as I do. My breath hitches as I get a load of the coolness settling in his eyes.
“By the looks of it either Nat’s voice scares you to death, or I should be handcuffed and buried alive for being a terrible... and over-enthusiastic kisser,” I raise my eyebrow as the trembles through his body hit mine.
He doesn’t speak. Instead, he morphs into something downright feral. Oops. I was so happy to see him and that he mucked around with Nat and I that I forgot his issues with being mauled by girls. I’m unsure what to do or how to fix it. Probably the best first action would be to untangle my legs from around his waist careful that my hands don’t snag the stitches on his back.
I slide down fully expecting him to push me away, but his hands don’t let go of my waist. One point to Avalon.
I smile at him. “Or maybe... maybe you look like that because your mind is just getting around the overwhelming image of me competing over you in a singing duel with a grim reaper... pretty much naked to finally remembering all those other people in the nudie! I’m guessing, you totally appreciate me now, right? Did you see that old guy? We totally need to go back to get you another tattoo of that moment!”
I can’t help but crack up, thinking of how cool Noah’s back will look by the time I’m finished. That moment in stick figures will be epic. Noah’s chest doesn’t look too ’un’epic either. I should grab a photo for my memory wall.
“Hey Chilly Billy, do you have my phone by any chance?” he hasn’t moved a millimetre. He seems to be concentrating hard on breathing deeply, so I take my chance and slide my hands to his back pockets. Slipping them in to pull out two phones, one his, and yay my one.
Looking up at him again I see his glowing green eyes staring at mine, he’s fighting internally, so I leave him to it knowing that this is one thing he has to get through himself. As my eyes fall to the phone in my hand, I see the dark purpling bruising on his side matching the area around one of his eyes. I hope that pigs are flying outside and Nat believes that makes them even. I doubt it, and I don’t cherish the torn feeling that bubbles up in my stomach.
“Are you okay?” I nod and touch his side lightly.
His eyes take on an X-ray vision glaze as he eyes my side then he kind of sniff laughs out of his nose, like the answer to my question is impossible. One hand slides up over my side, pausing for a moment over my bruised ribs, I like the heat of his hand there. Then it goes up to my cheek and pushes my hair off my face. He holds me there for a moment, he needs to for some reason, and then I get the notion that he is going to apologise again, so I decide to ignore him and flick my phone on.
Whoa! I have a lot of messages. I scroll through, Seth has messaged me a ton of times. Interesting but I don’t check them yet because it reminds me of the challenge that was set at the restaurant. I can’t believe that I forgot about that!
Noah’s hand drops to my side again, and I like it. Actually, I like him touching me soooo... I figure he has to get a bit used to me being in girlfriend mode and me in a way other guys don’t see me. I don’t exactly know how to do that. I’m not sure what even my girlfriend mode is, but I I am affectionate.
I’m affectionate with all my family and animals. I thrive off touch. I think I’d wither and die without it.
/> I go to my gallery and find one of the pictures of me in the roses. I stare at it, thinking. I don’t want to send him a full body shot, even though my body bits are totally covered with roses... covering way more than a bikini would but I think my face looks different to other photos. I look like maybe I’m thinking of him. And only him. I crop it from my shoulders up and send it.
Just as his phone bings the elevator doors whoosh open, and a tall black figure glides in.
“Selfie time,” Nat says. “Get your hands off my sister, criminal.”
This time Noah ignores Nat, but I catch the fleeting glance in his direction. It’s not full of fear, not that I expected to see that, but a weird mixture of maybe gratitude and steel.
“Yes, it is,” I manoeuvre into position so that all three of us are in the shot and snap it, sending a shot to Nat, Noah and Dell.
Nat pulls everything off like a pro, wraps it in a ball shape and pushes me to stash it up my shirt (apart from the sickle - ouch) he then spends a few seconds fashioning the lump into a ‘baby belly’.
He turns to Noah, “I ever see my sister in this condition, and I will gut you.”
Noah’s eyes turn even colder than I thought possible and he mumbles something incomprehensible under his breath. His chest muscles seem to writhe under his skin.
Both Nathan and I turn to look from him as the doors to the elevator slide open on my floor to reveal a nurse waiting. We both stare back.
“What did you just say?” we both ask Noah, not moving apart from Nat holding the doors open with one hand.
“Bit late now to get all shy about knocking me up,” I cross my arms over my chest looking indignant. “Could have spoken up eleven months ago about not wanting kids!”
Noah’s eyebrows dip slightly before part of his mouth crooks up. “Eleven months? Maybe I’m shy about what type of baby we are having.”
Nathan holds up the sickle, “I told you I could have dealt with it. With him.”
The nurse backs away. Nathan peers out of the elevator. “Clear!”
I dash forward grabbing Noah’s hand in the process, but we aren’t safe. She’s waiting.
Angry and smug.
On my bed.
The doctor sitting beside her taps his pen on the folder of notes.
“Oh my,” she gasps when she sees Noah. “Did he hurt you? I better check you out, stat.”
And then everything becomes a blue or slow motion and I realise that Noah’s ‘cold’ look before wasn’t cold - like it is now, frosting the room up at the little redhead nurse’s extends her hands - but heated, that cold heat that you feel when you put your cold hands under hot water.
I smile at him happily, realising that maybe a big part of his inner wall has come down, before stepping in front of him, in the nurse’s way.
“He’s fine. He just slipped in a puddle of blood in the ER room. The hygiene in this hospital.” I tutt, turning turn to him and point to the little bathroom. “Maybe go wash it off?”
Noah doesn’t need to be asked twice.
She rounds on Nathan. “You are the most outrageous, psychotic person that I’m sure has ever walked the earth. How could you do that? You two are out!”
“You’d throw a heavily pregnant girl out on the street? Nice.” Nat asks unperturbed on the outside, most likely brewing on the inside.
I wink at the doctor as I climb back into bed, my best innocent look plastered over my face. I would dearly love to go back to Harry’s, but this IV is doing my insides some real good. Plus, I’ve been to the toilet which felt like heaven. I will remind my family of that when they say I’m high maintenance.
“Do you mind if we deliver that baby with the fastest gestation rate in the world, totally obliterating that Twilight baby and I can check you over?” The doctor returns my wink while Emily continues to try and provoke Nat to bite back enough in front of the doctor that we will be thrown out.
I pull the sheets over me and then maneuver the grim reaper from out under Noah’s shirt. “I think I’ll call her Chaos.” I grin. Dad said he wished he called me that.
“Very apt name,” the doctor smiles before pressing my side and tummy. There is one point I still can’t help but flinch at when he touches it.
“I don’t know whether there will be a hospital standing tomorrow morning, but you really need to stay tonight. The IV will aid in getting that last bit of inflammation. But you need to rest. Otherwise, it will be two nights... or three.”
No way.
Nat must hear that too because I hear him move past the little terrier of a nurse to sit on my bed.
He turns to the doctor. “If she rests, she can definitely leave tomorrow morning?”
The doctor nods.
“We’ll be good,” he lays down next to me.
The nurse scoffs. “Are you serious? Are you going to believe these two?”
“Yes,” the doctor replies as he sweeps past her out of our room. “Rewrap her bandages.”
The nurse rewraps me alright. The extra pressure actually feels good, but I don’t tell her that. Nathan stares at her until she pulls it off with this angry growl and redoes it a more normal pressure.
“Hey,” I nudge Nat. “I forgot to tell you that I got a twenty-grand dare!”
“Do tell,” he turns to me interested, one eye never leaves the nurses hands.
“At dinner the other night, I was dared to ride a cow up the main street of Sydney wearing a meat bikini and a tomato headband. I’m so stoked you bought Frank; we could do it this week!”
“Did they specify real meat, because I don’t think Pop will let you wear it,” he asks thoughtfully. “You know how Daryl goes on about raw meat and stuff. Unless we don’t tell Pop but...”
“No...” I hadn’t thought of that, and we both couldn’t not include Pop. “Maybe D could make me a fake looking one.”
“Pop has to go to the city one day this week, so we’ll go then. Do they let cows on trains? Because he was going to catch the train and I want to go because I want to climb up those streetlights in the busy time like Croc Dundee.”
“What the hell?” The nurse interrupts us. “Are you guys serious? They don’t let cows on trains!”
“Hello?” I turn to her. “We’ve seen movies where dogs are on trains. Same thing. Don’t act like it’s preposterous!”
“This is a dream, an awful dream,” she holds her hands on her head like it’s going to fall off. Nathan is smiling like he’s hoping it does.
“Probably,” Noah says from the side making my eyes flick to him and smile because he is relaxed again. His green eyes watch me with something that makes my insides warm.
Nat hops up instantly and moves inches from his face. “Touch my sister while I’m gone and I will kill you and hide you so they can’t resuscitate you. Hand over the keys. I’ve got a date with a giant vagina.”
Noah
Nathan waits expectantly while I see Av snuggle down on the hospital bed, over to the side, making room for me.
I take a deep breath.
I don’t want to hurt Av with my decision, and there’s nothing in the world I would rather be doing then be right next to her...
but...
I know how important Nathan is to her and to be honest, there is the fact that I’m not in control yet. I feel my brain keep sliding in the thought that Av is naked under my shirt, what she felt like against my skin. It grapples with my father’s words causing me to want to punch something to get the pain of the barrage out. I want to just rip his shit out of my head. And there’s other areas that have now awoken and never want to be put to sleep again.
“Since I’m privy to where giant vaginas frequently habit, least I could do would be to escort you,” I don’t smile. I don’t even attempt too. I can’t. The guy in front of me is way too much like me, but he is the lesser of the two evils facing my heightened unfamiliar state. It’s hard to even vocalise anything in front of him.
I do not want to lose control and hurt Av
accidentally right now, never again. I need to compartmentalise what I’m feeling... whereas Nathan can take it if I do lose control. And I need to face the fact I do need to develop somewhat of a tolerant relationship with him. I’m in this with Av for the long run and I can tell in the cold blue eyes narrowing in my direction he could make that difficult. Dead difficult.
“What?” Av chuckles but I can tell she’s masking her disappointment. Warmth floods my stomach that she can even miss me after I put her in here.
“You’re going to leave my sister, here? By herself? Alone?” his voice is way frostier than his eyes. Doesn’t affect me as I’m a cold son of a bitch too.
Although, there is more to that question than I feel I understand.
My gaze flicks to Avalon, she’s sitting up now. Whatever she says will go. “It’s okay. I’m hungry, and if Noah takes you it will save a vagina hunt, then you’ll both be back sooner than later. I’ll have grab a bite to eat and watch something.” She nods at the TV hanging silently above her bed.
Nathan swings around to face her, his broad back tense and bulging through his thin shirt. I’m already regretting this. Especially, when I look back to my girl, in that bed, she seems vulnerable and small.
“Serious?”
“Yeah, you’ll want to grab the Grim costume... trust me, it will go with the car,” she smiles.
Nathan pulls out the reaper costume and whispers something to her, she nods and reminds him to take a photo. He steps back.
I move forward not caring and pull her to me, she instantly wraps her arms around me, and I want to stay.
Avalon Expandable Heart: The Wild Heart Series Page 28
