Thoughtful(196)

Denny frowned as he backed away. “I’m sorry. I never meant…” His fists clenched and he closed his eyes. “You slept with my girlfriend, Kellan.” His eyes reopened and heat crept into his voice. “You slept with her.”

Scared that Kiera wouldn’t make it, I unintentionally bit out, “No, actually, we didn’t do much sleeping.”

Denny pulled his arm back, like he was going to slug me again, then he glanced over at Kiera and let it drop. “You should go. I’m with her now. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Walking over to Kiera’s bed, I gingerly sat down near her feet. “I’m not going anywhere until she wakes up.”

“Kellan…”

I snapped my gaze to him; it made my head hurt, but I ignored it. “If you hate me, fine, I understand, but I’m not leaving…so deal with it.”

“Fine, but sit in the chair, not by her.” He pointed over to the seat he’d been sitting in. I wanted to tell him to go to hell, that I’d sit wherever I damn well pleased, but I really did feel like shit, and relaxing back in the chair sounded a hell of a lot better than sitting at the end of a stiff bed. Although there was a certain appeal to the thought of being as close to Kiera as possible…

Pushing that thought from my mind, I stood up and moved to the chair. Kiera and I were many things, but still together wasn’t one of them. If she woke up…when she woke up…I’d have to tell her we were over. Regardless of what Denny’s plans with her were now, I was done. I couldn’t do this anymore.

I sat in the plush chair while Denny sat on the bed. I think I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, bands of sunlight were blinding my eyes. Blinking, I looked over at Kiera. She was stone-still on the bed, asleep or unconscious. The bruise on her face looked atrocious in the sunlight. Nurses were in the room checking on her, but Denny was nowhere to be found. “How is she?” I croaked.

A nurse looked over at me and was about to answer when a trio of nurses burst through the door. I frowned as I recognized them as my nurses. The blond one wasn’t so bubbly anymore. “There you are. You can’t just leave like that. You need to come back to your room so the doctor can check on you, and so we can check your bandages…”

Very carefully, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You can do whatever you want to me, but unless you plan on knocking me out and dragging me back to my room, I’m staying here.”

The girl behind the blonde frowned; she looked extremely disappointed that I wouldn’t be returning with them. “Well, you at least need to fill out the paperwork…”

I lifted my good hand. “Gladly. You know where to find me.”

The nurse taking Kiera’s vitals gave me an amused smile while the other nurses left in a huff. “And I thought I was stubborn,” Kiera’s nurse said. Standing straight, she gave me appraising eyes. “How is your pain? Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. The only pain I had was from the uncertainty revolving around Kiera. “How is she?” I asked again.

The nurse frowned. “Better than before, but not out of the woods. I’m sorry. I wish I had better news.”

Swallowing, I nodded. It wasn’t her fault. Denny reentered the room with a steaming cup of something that I had to assume was tea. My gaze swung his way. It was his fault…and my fault. We’d both done this.

Denny asked the nurse the same thing I had, and she gave him the same answer. After she left, Denny sat back down on Kiera’s bed with a sigh. He glanced over at me with irritation in his eyes. “You should go home and change…”

I looked down at the shirt streaked in red. I probably should, but I couldn’t leave Kiera. “I’ll change later.”

Denny’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think she’s going to want to see you like that? Covered in her blood? Do you think that will help her recover?”

I leaned forward in my chair. “Do you think it matters what the fuck my shirt looks like when my face looks like this?” I pointed at the eye that was so swollen I could barely see out of it.

Denny sighed and dropped his eyes back to Kiera. A tense silence built up in the room and I gritted my jaw and closed my eyes. Denny and I snapping at each other wasn’t going to solve anything. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Evan knows where my house keys are hidden. I’ll call him and have him bring some clothes over.” I opened my eyes to see Denny staring at me. “But I’m not leaving, so stop trying to get rid of me.”

“I know,” he quipped. “You just can’t leave her alone, can you?”