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We stayed silent for a long moment, engrossed in aFriendsrerun.
I didn’t look at him when I said, “You’re worrying your parents and Mandy.”
“And you?”
“Think you’re being a drama queen.”
“Fuck you,” he cursed under his breath, his hands clenching into fists.
I’m sure if I was in his position, I would have felt the same—angry at the world for still spinning. But if roles were reversed, he wouldn’t allow me to wallow either.
“Your panties riding up your ass today?”
“I’m sick of this place.” The emotion made his voice thick. I was used to seeing Nick vulnerable, but physically, he was withering too. His well-defined muscles were fading, melting away into the white bedsheets.
“Pretty sure it’s just as sick of you.”
“I just…” he stuttered, swallowing the lump from his throat. “I just want to go home, Claire.” Tears of frustration glistened in his eyes.
Wiping the crumbs from my hands, I grabbed his fingers, forcing them apart so I could place my palm on his.
“I know. I want you home too. It’s strange not seeing you when I look out my bedroom window. Although, I don’t miss catching you and Mandy in compromising positions.” He laughed, but it caught in his throat. “We can’t change how things are, so how about you focus on getting better for now?”
He sighed, defeated.
I searched my mind for ways to distract him. “I found a new hiking trail.”
His eyes darted to mine, a line of worry between his brows. “I told you not to go on your own.”
“I’m not. Garry comes with me.”
“Mandy never said. Does she not go?”
“She loves you too much to leave your side. We practically had to drag her home this morning.”
He winced but quickly replaced it with a smile, his eyes brighter than I’d seen them since I arrived.
There’s a subject he never got tired of talking about—Mandy.
Their love always made my chest swell.
For long hours, we sat in silence, watched sitcoms, and stuffed our faces with too many calories. He often dozed in and out of sleep, muttering things that didn’t make sense.
“Can you tell Mandy…”
Nothing.
He never finished the sentence.
We still have no idea what he wanted to say.
We only spoke when a nurse came to poke at him with something.
Before I left, I hugged him and squeezed his calf. “I’ll show you that trail soon. Promise.”
He was getting better.
He had to.
