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I didn’t open them again for another two hours.
***
Bobby was sitting by my side when I woke up again. He was reading the same book he had been glued to for the past week, and if it weren’t for the drugs, I could have sworn that he was still on the same page. He looked adorable when he concentrated like that, sometimes making me wonder if he was just reading for show.
I moved my arm painfully to a side, rustling the sheets. In the otherwise silent hospital room, the sound was deafening, and Bobby quickly looked up and over his book at me. When he saw my eyes open, he sat up quickly and moved to sit beside me on the bed, holding my hand in his. He squeezed, and I wanted to tell him that it hurt, but I was just happy he was there.
“Hey,” he said, smiling. “Rise and shine. What are you planning to do? Sleep through the whole day?”
I smiled and coughed, wanting to tell him that I had every right to do just that, but my mouth was still too dry, and trying to speak felt like shards of glass scratching the inside of my throat.
“Water,” Bobby said, reading my mind and turning to the jug by the bed, pouring me a glass. He put his hand under my head, helping me up so I could drink. His touch almost made me scream, and I didn’t want to even think about the extent of damage done to my body. A quick scan let me know that at least I wasn’t in any casts.
Then why the hell did everything hurt so much?
He let me back down gently, making sure I was comfortable before he sat back down in his chair, moving it closer to the bed so I wouldn’t have to raise my voice to talk to him.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse and my throat burning.
“We pulled you out of the wreckage, Andy and me,” Bobby explained. “You were unconscious, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait too long for the ambulance. They got you here in record time. You suffered a lot of internal injury, and they rushed you into surgery.”
That explains the damn pain.
“Dennis?” I asked, forcing my eyes to stay open.
“Yeah, we had to save him, too,” Bobby said. “Although I tried to convince Andy to just leave the bastard there. He was awake when we got there, and he didn’t look like he had suffered as much damage as you had. At least that was the case before Andy broke his nose.”
I groaned, and Bobby smiled. “Completely an accident,” he winked. “Dennis accidentally hit his face against the steering wheel when we were pulling him out. At least that’s what we’re going with.”
I coughed in laughter and winced when the pain reminded me that there were some luxuries I couldn’t enjoy, at least not right now. Bobby grabbed my hand and patted it gently.
“Andy’s outside, if you want to see him,” he said.
I looked at him, tears welling up in my eyes. I did want to see him, but I still couldn’t get the image of the naked woman at his apartment out of my head. I didn’t know how to talk to him about that, and I would have to, eventually.
“You do know it wasn’t his fault, right?” Bobby asked.
“I saw –” I coughed, clearing my throat. “I saw her, Bobby. That woman.”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah, crazy Hannah, I know,” he said. “He told me. She drugged him, Andrea. She’s one crazy, messed up woman, and she’s strung up on him bad. This was just one of the many extremes she goes through to get what she wants.”
I looked away, a tear running down my cheek. I wanted to believe him, but the explanation sounded far too ridiculous.
“He’s been here since they brought you in,” Bobby said. “I’m not exactly the biggest fan of your relationship, but I’ve never seen him care that much before. There’s got to be something there.”
“Can we talk about something else?”
Bobby sighed and leaned back in his seat. “I’m thinking of repainting the garage.”
***
It took me a week before I could finally sit up properly, and in that time, I tried hard to find some way to forgive Andy for what had happened. He was outside every day, sitting quietly in the waiting room, from the minute visiting hours began until they ended. He never came in, giving me the space, I needed, even though I wouldn’t have stopped him if he had tried. It was Bobby who was trying to convince me to talk to him, forever the loyal friend, even though he had his reservations.
I guess my brother saw how serious Andy really was and was slowly changing his mind.
On the day the doctors told me that I was good to go, and could be discharged whenever I wanted, I finally gave in. The truth was, I missed Andy. A lot. I knew the whole naked woman in his apartment incident was just one crazy bitch’s idea of getting back at me, and I needed to get past this. I wasn’t punishing him. It was just really difficult to get the image out of my head.
Andy popped his head through the open door, giving me a weak smile. His eyes were bloodshot, and he lo
