Chapter 9
CHLOE
I woke up slowly to find myself in a strange, white place.
Beep, beep, beep…
An incessant beeping noise sounded to my left. I turned my head in its direction to find a heart monitor. The green line that kept spiking up and down had me entranced for a moment.
Then, the realization hit me like a freight train.
I sat up quickly, only to find that someone had their head on my lap.
Adam.
He woke up with a start, his eyes wide with panic. “I’m up! I’m up!” He exclaimed, getting to his feet. Doing so caused some of the needles to rip out of his arm. “Ow! Bastard.” He held the crook of his arm, his teeth gritted together.
A flock of medical professionals poured into the room. “What are you doing out of bed?” An older nurse chastised, looking like she wanted to hit Adam upside the head.
It was then that I realized I was the one laying on Adam’s hospital bed. How had that happened?
Quickly, I got out of the way as the nurses helped Adam back onto the bed, ignoring his griping.
“I’m fine. Really...” he kept telling them, but no one cared to listen. “Geez. Careful with that thing…” Adam’s voice shook as he watched one of them grab a new sterilized IV needle.
Could it be that he was afraid?
It seemed preposterous that a guy like Adam could be afraid of a tiny needle, but the pallor of his skin and the wideness of his eyes gave him away.
Without thinking about it, I took his hand in mine, squeezing it. “It’s okay.”
He looked away, his cheeks coloring with embarrassment but he didn’t let go of my hand.
Eventually, the nurses stopped fluttering around him.
“Do you know how much longer he’ll be here?” I asked.
“His vitals seem good. If he keeps this up through the end of the day, he should be able to go home.”
I nodded, relieved that he was getting better.
The nurse left, drawing the curtain behind her to give us some privacy.
Neither one of us said a word.
“Um…” I spoke up first, unnerved by the silence.
“You know, you’d think that they would make these beds more comfortable given that they’re for patients,” Adam said, trying to make small talk.
“Haha. Yeah,” I forced a laugh.
Again, we fell into silence.
***
By five o’clock we hadn’t said much of anything to each other.
“The nurse is just getting your discharge papers,” Adam’s father said, peeking his head through the gap in the curtain.
At some point, we thought to call our parents and they had immediately rushed to the hospital to be with us.
This only made it even harder for us to have a conversation about what happened.
But, what did happen?
One second, we were eating takeaway, bickering back and forth, the next Adam was swelling up like a balloon. Then, somehow, we were in the bathroom. I had yanked his pants down, plunging his EpiPen into his thigh. Of course, I kept that tidbit out of the story. I didn’t need my mother to know that I had seen my stepbrother half naked… or that I had liked it.
Adam rolled out of bed, grabbing his clothes from the foot of the bed.
“Do you need some help?” My mother offered, a look of worry on her face.
“No, thanks.”
“Chloe could help…”
He looked at me for a second before shaking his head. “I think I can manage to dress myself.”
I was actually a little disappointed by his response. Of course he wouldn’t want my help. Why would he want me to see him naked?
My mother waited for him to disappear into the bathroom before she turned in my direction. “How are you holding up, sweetheart?”
“I’m fine, Mum.”
She pursed her lips together, unconvinced. “You know you can’t lie to me.”
“Seriously, Mum. I’m fine.”
Her frown deepened. “Okay… but if you need anything, come talk to me, alright? I know this must be hard for you.”
“Mum,” I stressed the syllable, trying to get her to stop.
“Sorry. I just worry about you.” She patted my thigh, finally letting the subject go.
Just then, Henry returned with some papers in his hands. “Alright. We are all ready to go.” He cocked his head when he noticed the bed was empty. “Where’s Adam?”
“He’s in the bathroom,” I answered, glancing at the door, a feeling of longing lingering in my heart. I couldn’t understand why I felt such a strong attraction to him, but a part of me wanted to barge into that bathroom, push him against the wall, and kiss him.
My thoughts shocked me. It wasn’t like me to have such desires. Usually, I knew how to keep my emotions and urges in check, but there was just something... Adam seemed to awaken a hidden part of me.
The door opened and Adam emerged as if nothing had ever happened. His thick hair was slicked back, giving him a mature edge. His eyes seemed darker than usual. “Can I get out of this hellhole now?” he asked, walking forward with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
He looked like the epitome of a bad boy.
Henry shot him a stern look before nodding. “Yeah. But, you need to remember to carry your EpiPen with you no matter where you are.”
“I know, dad,” he said, already heading for the door.
“Seriously, Adam. I don’t want another episode like this happening. If Chloe wasn’t there… who knows what could have happened.”
“I would have died.” His words sat heavily in the room.
No one knew how to respond.
How could he say such a thing?
“Not like you would have cared…” he mumbled under his breath so low that I barely heard him. From the expression on his father’s face, he hadn’t heard the remark.
There was definitely more to Adam than meets the eye.
***
Eventually, we returned home.
Adam immediately walked up to his room, not bothering to say a word to anyone.
“Is he alright?” my mother asked, hanging on Henry’s arm as we walked inside.
“He’s…” he sighed like explaining his son’s actions was an exhausting task. “Sometimes it’s just better to leave him alone when he gets into one of his… moods.”
“Maybe he needs someone to talk to?” my mother offered, looking over at me.
I took the cue, heading upstairs. I tiptoed toward his bedroom, my heart rate accelerating the closer I got to it. Softly, I knocked.
“Go away.”
“It’s me, Chloe.” I tried the knob, but it was closed. “Let me in.”
“I said, go away.”
I couldn’t understand what had gotten into him. Just when I thought maybe we could get along after all, he did a complete 360 and started to act like a jerk again. What had I done?
“Adam. I just want to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m fine. Quit trying to baby me.”
“I’m not trying to baby you,” I said through the door, pressing my ear against the wood, hoping to hear footsteps, but they never came.
“Just leave me alone. I was perfectly fine before you and your mother showed up!”
The words felt like bullets piercing through my heart. After everything that had happened, did he really hate me just the same?
A turmoil of emotions swirled inside of me. Confusion. Hurt. Longing. Loneliness.
Quietly, I walked into my room, locking the door behind me. I leaned against it, letting my body slide downward until I was sitting on the ground. I hugged my knees to my chest, feeling the corner of my eyes burn with tears.
This shouldn’t matter. He was just a jerk that shouldn’t affect me.
But, he did.