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The question died in my head as Vic pulled me into his chest again, his arms strong and encompassing. Vic rubbed small circles on my back. It was such a small gesture, but it was so sweet and comforting. I could feel myself drifting to sleep, my head tucked under his chin.
Vic murmured in my ear, “Those pills will make you sleepy. You're probably starting to feel them. They work fast. Are you feeling them, Lennox?”
His voice was a little bit above a whisper and it sent shivers down my spine. “Mm-hmm.” I hummed, nestling further into Vic. He was so comfy.
I woke up dizzy and confused, with a vague memory of Vic whispering to me. You know how when you blackout and the moment you wake up feels just like the moment you faded away? I turned on my side, trying to get my eyes to focus. Everything was grey-black except for a small blue light coming from a faraway corner. My head hurt. How had I got here? Where was Vic?
I sat up. Ow! I hurt like a motherfucker, but at least I could do it. Every blood vessel in my body was pounding with the force of ocean waves.
“Ooooh.” I said out loud. I tried manually willing the roaring in my head to stop. No luck. Still, I pressed on. I needed to find Vic.
“Lennox?” The blue light was moving toward me and it had Vic's voice. “What are you doing up?”
“I had to find you,” I managed to say. The roaring was subsiding, but it was leaving me a little breathless. Boo, concussions were not fun. I was going to have to rethink my hiking strategy. Perhaps I would wear a helmet next time.
“Do you need something?” Vic asked. The blue light shut off with a faint click. A laptop.
Just you, I wanted to say, but now that I was regaining my faculties I realized how dangerously close we were to tipping the friend-scale. Was that so bad, though? Why had we erected this fence between us? Maybe it was the concussion, but I couldn’t remember why we kept dancing around the idea of “us.”
“No.” I said, because I'm a pussy. “What were you doing?”
“Getting some work done,” Vic replied, eyeing me like I was expensive china. “You sound better.”
“I feel better.” Lies upon lies upon lies! I feel like I've been crushed in a dump truck. “I think I'll go for another hike.”
“Lennox,” Vic growled. Actually growled. I could hear the timber change in his voice. It was scary, and hot.
“I'm kidding, He-Man,” I joked, trying to defuse the situation.
“You think your health is funny?” Vic was on me quicker than I could blink, biting off each word. He had me pinned to the mattress. “Do you think it's a joke to get so concussed you pass out on the bathroom floor?”
I couldn't breathe. Part of me was incredibly turned on having Vic so close to me, and the other part was just flat out in pain. As he pressed me further into the mattress, my head screamed out in mutiny. I don't know if it was the spot I hit on the tile or the spot I hit falling down the rocks, probably both, but my head was fed up with the abuse.
“Do you?” Vic spit out at me.
“I . . . uh . . .” I was seeing stars. The pain in my skull was increasing. So much for improving. My eyes were rolling around in their sockets and I forgot what I was talking about. Shit, I think I’m passing out again.
“That was incredibly stupid of you.”
“I know.”
“You could have seriously harmed her.”
“I know.”
“Someone with your training should know better.”
“I said, ‘I know.’”
“Are you sure you are capable of taking care of her? There are private facilities nearby.”
“Goddammit!”
I opened my eyes to see a blurry vision of Vic with an older man. The older man was probably in his early fifties, his temples graying around light brown hair. He wore glasses. He looks smart. The smartypants was chewing Vic out. Not many people could do that.
“She's waking up,” the older man said.
They both stared at me. I suddenly felt very exposed, or like I should do cartwheels or something. I tried to smile, but my face felt extremely tight.
