“No naughty business allowed yet, Mr. Garcia,” Lucy, the nurse currently on duty, playfully remarks. Lucy also happens to be the nurse I encountered on my first day on the fourth floor. Thankfully, she’s a little more lenient when it comes to the rules. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she greets Matt while checking his I.V. bag. Satisfied, she looks down at him. “On a level of one through ten—ten being the worst—where is your pain level?”
“Like shit,” he replies.
My eyes go wide at his unexpected answer, but Lucy simply laughs at his response.
“Okay, I’ll make sure to get you something for the pain,” she replies. After taking his vitals, she’s about to leave the room but turns to him and says, “I’ll let your friends know you’re awake. As long as you all promise to be quiet, I’ll let them visit for a bit.”
“I promise,” I reply with a thrilled smile. A few minutes later, everyone is filing in with apprehensive expressions on their faces. Taking them in, Trey looks exhausted, the lack of sleep is clearly showing on his face. David has Kelly tucked at his side and she looks as if she’s just awoken as she rubs at her eyes. Julio looks like he can use some rest as well. They all stand at the foot of the bed looking down at Matt with worried eyes.
As usual, it’s Trey that breaks the ice. “Glad you made it back to us,” he announces, his tone quiet and lacking his normal sense of humor.
“Did you miss me?” Matt teases.
“Fuck yeah, I did. It’d be a shame to lose you. Nobody knows how to give head like you do,” Trey playfully replies.
“Fuck you,” Matt throws back.
“You can’t. The doctor told Abigail no sex for four weeks,” he jokingly answers.
The playful bantering helps break the dreary setting we’re surrounded in as we all laugh. Matt is holding onto his shoulder as he grunts. “Fuck, this hurts,” he groans, throwing his head back onto the bed looking miserable.
I begin to worry and I’m about to go search for the nurse when she walks back into the room with a new I.V. bag. “Brought your magic juice,” she says, wiggling the bag up in the air for him to view. “You’ll be loopy in no time.”
“I like her,” Matt responds.
A pang of jealousy hits me as I watch him smile up at her, but I just as quickly push it away, blaming my attitude on my lack of sleep. When she’s done switching the bags, she informs him that he may grow sleepy again.
“Have you been here the entire time?” Matt asks as he looks me over. Looking down at myself, I’m wearing a simple tee with yoga pants that Trey brought me so I could change out of the bloody dress I’d arrived in.
“She hasn’t left the room,” Kelly tells him.
“When was the last time you slept?” Matt asks, making me wonder if I truly look as bad as I feel.
“She hasn’t,” Julio replies, making me pierce him with a glare.
“I’m fine,” I say aloud to no one in particular.
“You look like shit, supermodel,” Trey snorts.
“Yeah, thanks,” I clip out.
Reaching for my hand, Matt gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Why don’t you go back to the hotel and get some rest. I can already feel the drugs starting to kick in and I’m pretty sure I’m going to go back to sleep.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” I somberly say. I’m about to argue again that I’m fine, but Matt’s pleading eyes are staring back at me when he asks, “Please? For me?” I’m unable to deny his request since I’m too exhausted to argue.
Wanting to take a shower to wash the stench of blood I know is still lingering on my body, I surrender to his request. “I’ll be right back after a quick nap and shower,” I inform him before I kiss him and climb off the bed.
“I’ll be waiting here,” he jokes.
Taking one last glance over my shoulder as Kelly urges me away, most likely knowing I will not go willingly, Matt’s contented smile looks back at me. My steps are heavy as I walk with her to the elevator feeling the need to return to Matt’s side, but my body is agreeing with him and demanding its rest.
I don’t recall the car ride back to the hotel, nor do I remember climbing into bed. I was beyond exhausted by the time we’d walked into the hotel room, and the moment my head hit the pillow, I was instantly dragged into a deep slumber. My last thought before I surrendered to sleep was how grateful I was to have Matt in my life, and happier that Bill was now a part of our past.
I WATCH ABIGAIL walk out of my room, when I know she’s far enough not to hear, I turn to Julio to ask for details. “What happened?”
Julio apprehensively looks at me and it takes him a few moments to answer. “He’s dead. After you were shot, I was still struggling with him, but I managed to knock the gun from his hands before he could fire again.”
Knowing he didn’t answer the question I really wanted an answer to, he continues. “The gun was close enough for Abigail to pick up and she fired back,” he grimly tells me, his words sounding pained.
He doesn’t need to further explain for me to figure out the rest of the details. The blood feels as if it’s drained completely from my face and my heart is now resting in my stomach. I’m left speechless as I imagine the scenario.
When I find my voice again, I ask, “How is she handling it?”
Julio’s lips go flat for a moment as he shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t think she’s had time to completely process it. Her main concern was getting to you after they took you away.”
Confused, I ask, “She didn’t come with me to the hospital?”
Shaking his head with saddened eyes, he says, “She was about to climb in the back of the rig when you first coded. They didn’t allow her to tag along. It gave the cops an opportunity to drag her away and start questioning the both of us for details.
“I thought she was going to have a reaction while being questioned, but she kept calm the entire time. To be honest, it’s worrying me. I’m afraid when she finally does have time to process everything, she may not take it so well. I know from personal experience, killing someone will eat at your conscience, even if it was in self-defense,” he explains.
Understanding his meaning, I can only imagine how Abigail would react. She may hold the persona that she’s strong, but I know deep down inside she can be fragile sometimes.
“She’s a strong girl,” I tell him, more to reassure myself than anything else.
He nods in agreement and I soon start to feel the drugs taking effect as my eyes slowly start to drift shut.
“I’ll let you rest and make sure to bring her back in a couple of hours,” I hear Julio state before I open my eyes once more to look at him.
“Thanks,” I tell him as I watch him leave the room.
Although my eyes close, I don’t immediately fall asleep as I wonder what would have happened to Abigail had I not returned. I’m grateful to Emily once more for giving me another chance, because in all reality, it’s because of her I found Abigail again.
I’M LOOKING AT Matt as he fiddles with my phone, thinking back to the trials of these last couple of days. Almost losing Matt has given me a whole new perspective. At this point, I don’t think I could ever live my life without Matt, and I don’t think I ever want to find out. Looking back down at Matt’s phone in my hands, I finish the task of choosing my ringtone. When I look up, I find him deeply staring at me.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look when you smile?” he huskily says to me. I hadn’t known I was smiling and his question causes my body to light up. His lips slowly tug up to the side as he continues to keep his eyes locked onto mine, handing me back my phone and I return his.
Today Matt is finally being released from the hospital. Although we don’t actually get to go home to Portland because I have to stay behind to fulfill my obligation of the photo shoot that never occurred, we no longer have to endure being stuck in this room. Another commitment I still have to satisfy is the event that Hans had voluntarily obligated me to. I had wanted to back out
of the commitment, but Matt insisted I go, not wanting to draw any bad publicity towards myself. So now, we are spending the remainder of spring break in New York.
Already dialing Matt’s number, we’re soon listening to the lyrics of Cupid’s Chokehold. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud when I take in Matt’s shocked expression. “Now, that is just cruel. You know I can’t laugh right now and it’s taking all my will power not to,” he states, still listening to the final chorus. Not wanting to risk making Matt laugh, I bite down harder on my lip to keep from letting my own out.
“I thought you’d be upset about the words.”
With an arched brow, he looks at me. “Being that I won’t be able to make love to you for a couple of weeks, it’s suitable.”
I sigh as I remember the doctor’s orders. “The doctor said four weeks to be exact, mister,” I lecture him.
“I’ve had to wait that long to make love to you before and I swear it was hell. I’m not going through that again,” he complains.
“You kept count?” I ask, surprised by his statement.
“Of course I kept count. I had to jack off during that time. It wasn’t the same.”
Unable to resist any longer, I hunch over and let out the laughter I was containing. I swear he’s going to make me pee my pants at any moment. My eyes are full of tears that I have to wipe away and my stomach is cramping up from laughing so hard. When I can see clearly again, I notice Matt clutching at his shoulder as he winces, but the smile that spreads across his face is priceless. Standing up from the chair, I sit next to him on the bed to give him a kiss.
“I’m sorry, buddy, but the last thing I need is for me to kill you from having a heart attack during sex,” I say on his lips.
He angrily complains while trying to sit up. “It’s not fair.”
“You need to stop trying to sit up,” I lecture at Matt as I gently shove him back, earning me a scowl.
“I need to go pee again,” he informs me.
“Oh. Sorry.”
He chuckles, causing him to grasp my shoulder while wincing. Waiting for him to bring his hand down, I take it into my own as I usually do when I’m going to help him up, but this time he pulls me down to land on top of him. His other hand wraps around my neck to hold me in place as he deeply kisses me. Pulling away, but leaving our lips mere inches apart, I feel him say, “Now tell me if you’re going to be able to wait, four fucking weeks for me to satisfy that craving.” I now have an agonizing ache in between my legs and he knows it from the chuckle that soon follows his words.
Playfully shoving him back down, he lets out a groan, most likely from the impact of hitting the bed. Normally his groans would worry me, but from the laughter in his eyes, I know he isn’t really in any major pain. At this point, I see it as equal punishment.
“If you’re trying to get me to feel sorry for you, it’s not working,” I shamefully lie to him, knowing damn well that it is. “Guilty, maybe, but not sorry.”
“Why would you feel guilty?” My silence is his only answer. I don’t want to reminisce as to why I feel guilty. I don’t need to as I stare down at Matt’s chest.
“Come here,” he beckons, tapping at the spot next to him on the bed. Unable to resist, I’m about to sit on the bed when he pulls me further onto it so I can climb on top of him.
“Matt, this is not right. We can get in trouble. And I already told you I’m not having sex with you,” I whisper, as if someone would hear my words, looking over my shoulder at the door as I try to wiggle my way out of his grasp.
He digs into my waist to keep me firmly planted on his body. “It’s not my shoulder that hurts anymore,” he states, lifting his hips for me to feel the erection now rubbing between my thighs.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I ask, “Is this why you wanted me to climb on you? So I can dry hump you to finish?”
He throws his head back in full-blown laughter, ignoring the pain he must feel in his chest. “Fuck!” he groans out next.
“That was your fault,” I reprimand. When he’s recovered, I feel him tenderly tuck my hair behind my ear as he looks up at me with a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“I love just staring at you. I could stare at you all day,” he says, causing me to blush. He manages to make me light up from the inside out with his tender words, which I love.
“Now tell me why you feel guilty.”
I carefully choose my words before I speak. “You wouldn’t be in this hospital bed if it weren’t for me. You almost died, Matt,” I confess, holding back the tears now lodged in my throat.
Matt pulls my body to drape across his and his hand starts to rub up and down my back to comfort me. “It was my choice to put myself in front of that bullet and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat for you. You may have almost lost me, but I swear I would keep fighting to come back.”
Deeply sighing into his chest, I’m soon saying, “I love you.”
“I love you just as much.”
We lay in Matt’s hospital bed for a couple more minutes until I feel him pushing me to sit up. “I really have to pee and your pressing on my bladder.”
“Oh,” I reply, realizing I’m still straddling him.
“If I didn’t have to go, I’d keep you right here. That dry humping idea doesn’t sound so bad now that I think about it,” he relays with a wink of his eye. Lightly swatting his stomach, I quickly hear another grunt.
“Serves you right, you pervert. I swear you always have sex on your mind,” I answer as I’m starting to climb off.
“How can I not when my girlfriend is hot!”
This time I actually help him up from the bed while shaking my head at his response. I’m flattered, but I’m also realizing we may not make it to the one month mark after all with that attitude. Matt doesn’t need much help walking. The only struggle he has is with the I.V. machine.
“I can’t wait until they take this stupid thing out,” he frustratingly mumbles.
Understanding his frustration, I simply agree. The sight of him is a reminder of when I’d awoken attached to an I.V. Those were not happy memories and I hope to never be in the same predicament again. When he’s settled back into bed, the nurse walks in—my favorite nurse, Lucy, to be precise. She’s the only one who hasn’t lectured me when I’ve climbed up into bed to sleep next to Matt at night.
“Hello, Matt. You ready to leave us today?” she cheerfully asks.
“More than ready.” She laughs at his response while starting to remove the I.V. from his arm.
“Now remember to keep up with your pain meds or else you’re going to feel like doo-doo again,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes.
Looking over to me, she repeats, “Make sure he takes his meds, or else he’ll be crying like a big baby. That injury of his is no joke.”
“I will,” I say with a smile, knowing full well what she means by the comment. With the I.V. removed, she begins the process of having Matt sign all his paperwork and with a smile says her final goodbyes a couple of minutes later. Trey walks in the door with Julio, both of them excited Matt is ready to go home.
Since it was still spring break , Trey is able to stay in New York another couple of days with us. Kelly and David had left the day after Matt had fully woken up. They both originally planned on visiting with her family after Matt’s draft, but the Bill incident postponed their plans. Plus, it was also an important week for David. He was planning to propose to Kelly, but wanted to ask for her father’s permission first. He looked like a nervous wreck just telling me. I can’t imagine how he was going to react while popping the question. His only fear was that she’d say no, but I think I was to blame for that idea. My eyes find Matt and with a forced smile, I remember the day he proposed, feeling guilt-ridden all over again.
“Hey there, fucker,” Trey greets Matt as he stands at the edge of the bed. “You ready to blow this popsicle joint?” he asks with his usual Trey humor.
“Fuck, yeah,” M
att replies, making us all laugh.
“Abigail, can I speak with you for a minute?” Julio asks, looking concerned.
“What’s wrong?” Matt immediately demands before I can reply. Julio looks torn whether to answer, but Trey gives him a curt nod.
“There were several paparazzi hanging around outside the exit when we arrived. I think it has to do with how much the media has been blowing up the news of the shooting.”
“What are they saying?” I have to ask since Matt and I haven’t exactly been watching the news. We’ve sort of been avoiding watching anything to do with the shooting since we were starting to get upset at how out of proportion they were making it.
“They haven’t stopped talking about how your manager tried killing Matt out of jealousy,” Trey says. “They’re claiming he was so in love with you that he shot Matt and then offed himself because he couldn’t live without you.”
My knees go weak and I practically collapse. Julio, being only a couple of steps away, catches me and sets me down on the bed next to Matt who is already pulling me into his arms. The shock of Trey’s words leaves me breathless, my heart feeling as if it’s plummeted to my stomach.
“But that’s not true,” I squeal out when I can speak again.
Trey snorts. “Of course it isn’t, but somehow the cops are not telling them it isn’t true. At least for now it sounds better than the world knowing you killed the dude. Imagine if the paps got a hold of that info. They’d have a field day with it.”
Trey’s sarcastic words don’t lessen the mood, instead I now feel as if I’m going to throw up and the room is uncontrollably spinning. Matt’s doing his best to comfort me by rubbing my back.
“I’ve already spoken to hospital security. They’re aware you’re leaving soon and the car is already outside waiting,” Julio notifies us.
“Sounds good,” Matt tells him as if the whole situation doesn’t faze him.
It takes me some time to get my thoughts and breathing under control. The entire time Trey’s words kept repeating in my mind and I don’t know what sounds better: The love stricken story the press has been releasing, or the fact that I’ve killed a man and it’s being covered up like a secret for now. I know eventually the truth is going to be leaked out as Trey had so kindly put it, and I know they’re going to have a field day with it when it happens.
Unspoken Endings Page 15
