The sound of a door opening draws my attention. Jade comes into the room. Her hair is disheveled and she is clad in her pajamas with no makeup on her face. A steaming cup of coffee rests in her hands, but she makes no move to drink it. When she sees me looking at her, all thoughts of the coffee evade her, she drops it and comes charging towards me. She hugs me so tight, for a second the pain disappears.
"Jade," my throat hurts like hell. My voice sounds scratchy and my tongue is like sandpaper. Jade releases me abruptly.
"Am I hurting you?" She is on the verge of tears and she keeps fumbling with her fingers.
"No." I want to comfort her but I need to know what happened first. "What happened to me?"
Guilt clouds her face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you. -" a bout of sobs erupts from her throat. "I fell asleep on the couch and in the middle of the night I heard noises at the door. There was a lot of banging, I was so scared." Her face looks so miserable, I hate making her relive whatever happened. I tiptoed to the kitchen and grabbed the nearest thing. I followed the noise in the pitch black. I saw the outline of a person and I-" her voice breaks. Her sniffles have gotten louder and tears are falling down her cheeks like rivers. She wipes them away but still they keep coming. "I thought it was a thief so I panicked and attacked without first making sure. When I turned on the lights, I saw you lying there unconscious, with a huge bump on your leg." Her sobs increase, and she puts her head down on the bed. I extend my hand and pat her hair as she cries.
With knowledge of the situation, it is as much my fault and I do not blame her for defending herself. "It's not your fault." I try to convince her.
"It is." Her answer is muffled because her head is still on the mattress.
"No, I should have told you that I sleepwalk." She raises head to look at me with questions swarming in her eyes, "I've had this condition since I was a child. I am sorry I didn't tell you."
"Did you get help?" She asks cautiously.
"Yes. My ex-husband is my psychologist." She looks at me weirdly. I should absolutely get another one.
"That's messed up." I totally agree with her. I get a mental image of me sitting across from Glen telling him how my life was upended because of my divorce from him. Definitely not! I realize I never told Jade about the divorce either.
The door opens and in walks Luca, Asher and Kystan. Jade wipes her tears and gets up to greet them. Suddenly, she loses balance and falls forward. Thank god, Asher is close by, she would have broken a bone from that fall. "That dratted coffee." She mutters. Asher helps her straighten up. She greets all of them and leaves the room to get tissues to wipe it off.
Asher hands me a 'get well soon balloon' which I receive with relish. "Recover soon, okay?" It's the first time I see him up-close. He is as good looking as his friends, more on the softer side than the other two and a lot more empathetic. His conspicuous worry makes him even more genuine.
"Thanks." He exits the room, probably to look for Jade.
Luca comes and starts playing with my cast. Such a child. I try to kick him away, but he evades my left leg's attacks properly. "Go away." Instead of leaving, I see a mischievous glint in his gaze. No. with my feet exposed, he accosts them and starts tickling me. I burst out laughing. "Go away." I repeat. After a few futile attempts to dispel his attack on my feet, I give up to great gales of laughter.
"Luca." Kystan calls, "I heard there are amazing burgers in the cafeteria downstairs." Luca stops teasing me and leaves after exchanging a look with Kystan.
"What toppings do they have?" I ask expectantly. It wouldn't hurt to get a burger in this place.
He looks at me like he doesn't know what I am talking about. I raise my eyebrows at him quizzically? "Oh right, I think cheese and ham." He sounds uncertain himself.
"Those are the most basic toppings," I complain, "Is there no chicken?"
"I don't know." He answers noncommittally. He moves away from the wall he was leaning on and comes to my side. When the confusion clears, I can sense some agitation in his countenance. His hair is tousled, and his shoulders are tense. But it all contradicts with his eyes: his gaze is a storm to behold; emotions of worry, fear, affection, care and others I can't decipher are all jammed in his mystique cobalt eyes, I am transfixed.
He pulls up a chair next to the bed but keeps his eyes on me all the way. The room suddenly feels too small. I look away to escape the surge of feeling that had started to rise from the pit of my heart. Upon looking around, I notice that there is no one in the room except the two of us.
I glance at Kystan and I see that he has come to the same realization. He focuses his attention on me, "How are you feeling?" He asks. I am stuck on the sound of his voice; it feels like I am hearing him for the first time. What is wrong with me?
I console myself by saying it may be the medicine that is making me so edgy and sensitive.
I remember that he was talking to me, "I am okay. Nothing major got hurt." I catch a glimpse of disbelief from him. I don't sound convincing I know, to top it off I sound like a hoarse old lady in flu season. I clear my throat to expel the hoarseness, but it doesn't subside.
The way Kystan is looking at me is like I am on my deathbed and I hate it. "Don't look at me like I am dying." I say in a cheeky tone; it doesn't take away his worries but at least he smiles.
Silence reigns again. I can see the wheels turning in his head and from his expression they are not producing nice thoughts. I put my hand on his to diverge his attention from whatever is going through his head.
My plan works because the moment our skins touch, he becomes conscious and looks at me attentively. But I hadn't expected the surge of chills that erupt all over my arm.
"I'm fine." I persist.
"I know I just-" He seems to reconsider whatever he was going to tell me. He lets go of my hand and stands up. "Do you want anything?" He asks.
"A burger would be great."
"Chicken, right?" I nod and he leaves. As he is getting out, he combs through his hair multiple times, which I discern as frustration. He leaves me with questions. More so, why is my skin still tingling?
"Is everything ok between you two?" Jade asks as soon as she enters the room again.
"I don't get him. Why did he just clam up? I- I just don't get it." I rumble suddenly interrupting Jade mid-speech. Jade had been talking to me. I tell her to repeat. She gives up when she sees how inattentive I am and leaves me to get some rest. No matter how much I want to wait for Kystan, I start getting drowsy. My eyes are barely open when I hear the door open. The sweet smell of a freshly cooked burger does little to wake me up. Someone chuckles beside me and softly brushes hair out of my face before I completely black out.