“AJ, close your eyes,” she told him.
“Why?” he asked.
“I’m getting changed!”
“Babe, it’s not like I’ve not seen you changing before,” he answered as she slipped her jeans off.
He gave a low whistle. “Leave them off,” he instructed.
“Like hell I will. Your medical team already probably think I’m a trouble maker. Last thing I need is for anyone to walk in and find my bare arse in the air.”
He laughed. “You’re paranoid, Lis, I’m sure they like you just fine.”
As she lifted her leg to put her pj bottoms on, she heard movement behind her. Spinning around, she squealed. He was out of bed, which she knew was ok, but he had a look of mischief on his face. He was wearing some of his new pjs. Harder to access than the open backed hospital gown, I grant you… Lisa! Get his ass back into bed! But...he looks so freakin’ good…
Shaking it off, she scolded him.
“What the HELL do you think are you doing?”
“Shhhhhhhh!” he said, moving towards her with clear intent. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“AJ the door doesn’t lock! It’s a hospital! You shouldn’t be out of bed. You’re tired, you’ve had a long and draining day. What if you collapse, Pim?” Her protests gave themselves over to her racing heart as he slipped his arms around her waist.
“Then put me back to bed,” he winked at her.
“You must be feeling better,” she said returning his smile and slipping her arms around his middle. I’ve missed holding him so damn much.
“I was out of bed for a while earlier, just after you ran off in a ball of fire. I’m allowed to be out of bed, nurse said so, doctor said so, physio said so,” he insisted.
“Well. Nurse might say so, but girlfriend says your sexy butt needs to get back into bed, ok?”
“Only if your sexy butt comes with me,” his hands slid down slightly below her waist and, squeezing gently, he bent his head and kissed her deeply.
“I guess at least Jeremy is gone and can’t walk in on us this time,” she giggled as she climbed into bed next to him.
“Well, I’m sure if he knew what we were up to, he’d try and walk through that door,” he replied as he drew her close to him. “You two seem to be getting along better.”
“He kept me sane.”
“That’s what he said about you.”
She shrugged and kissed his cheek lightly. “I guess we kept each other sane. He had my back. I had his.”
“Backs I can handle. As long as no one got any ass.”
“Ooooooh. Are you jealous, AJ?”
“No. I’m just saying.”
“Oh yeah? But it’s my ass!” she argued.
“Yeah…” he thought for a moment, “but-”
“AJ?”
“Uh huh?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
She didn’t need to tell him twice. She stopped in a moment of realization and moved herself to look squarely into his eyes, “Are you sure you’re up to this, mister? Don’t wanna drive you back into that coma of yours,” she joked. “Actually, on second thought, don’t answer that. I see you’re more than up for it,” she giggled and kissed him again.
Undressing her caused some technical difficulties for him, as did his injuries for her. But they managed eventually. With the door closed and the blinds closed they got gently reacquainted after their traumatic time apart.
During the time AJ was asleep – Lisa had taken to calling it that rather than being in a coma – she’d missed being able to hold him, to look into his eyes, to read him. She’d missed being able to kiss him whenever she wanted. She’d missed him more than she ever thought was possible to miss anybody. The fear of losing him forever had clutched at her and also overcome her hope of seeing him awake again.
That night, they more than made up for the time apart. And, when they eventually went to sleep, he held her close and so tightly that she couldn’t help but smile. At random points throughout the night, she checked and double checked that he was still really ‘just sleeping,’ as opposed to the ‘sleep’, he’d just started to really wake up from.
Chapter 39
“Good morning people!” Jeremy announced as he burst into the room. “Oh shit!” Lisa heard the door close again and people giggling.
Where am I?
She blinked awake and looked down.
Shit! I have no clothes on.
She blinked again and looked at the door.
Shit! People.
She shrieked, rolled out of bed, trying to grab the top sheet and fell onto the floor. On her way back up, she misjudged and smacked her head, hard, on the bed frame.
“Ow! Mother Fucker!”
The laughter continued. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw AJ was awake and propped up on his elbow, grinning at her widely.
“You two ok in there?” his mom asked.
Bollocks.
“Uh. Yeah, we’re fine. I just hit my head.”
More laughter as she scrambled to wrap a sheet around herself.
“On what?” Jeremy.
Of course he’s here.
Looking to AJ for some kind of bailing out, she was met with giggling from him, too. She was flying solo.
Shit.
“The bed frame?” Her face was hot as coals. She ran a quick hand through her morning, post-sex hair, which she was pretty sure, looked wild as the jungle.
“Why were you under the bed in the first place?” Brad called innocently.
Oh joy! Can’t a girl catch a break?
Opening the door, she stepped back to let them in, avoiding their accusing gazes and knowing smiles. She searched for some other witty retort – and her clothes – or swift change of subject to distract from the fact she was standing wrapped in a hospital sheet having had sex with the son of the woman who was standing in front of her. She failed to find that witty retort and instead opted for brazen.
“Because I was naked, Brad. Ok? A girl’s gotta cover her bits when her boyfriend’s mother shows up and hospital doors have no locks. Also, because I couldn’t find my freakin’ clothes and thought I’d be kind and not scare the crap out of you by opening the door without my sheet!”
She flashed a cheeky grin in the hopes that would be the end of that, still scanning the floor for her discarded clothes. Where the fucking fuck are my clothes? Calm down. They have to be here somewhere. I came IN wearing clothes. Inanimate objects don’t just grow legs and run away!
They obviously weren’t expecting her bluntness.
“Well, ok then. I don’t think we need any more detail on that topic.” Cindy swiftly put the lid on the conversation.
“I agree. AJ, where the hell are my clothes?” Lisa all but screeched at him as she carefully bent over to survey under the bed.
“You’ll never know.” He teased as her cheeks flushed red.
“You’re lucky you’re in a hospital bed right now, AND that your parents are here, or I’d… I’d… I really dunno what I’d do, but it wouldn’t be very nice.”
Unable to contain his laughter, he half spoke, half laughed, “Please don’t make me laugh any more, everything kinda aches.”
“Man, you coulda gone easy on him, Lis!” Jeremy spoke up again.
“Well. You brought this on yourself, Pim. You hid my clothes! I don’t even know how. How DID you? Wait. When did you? I don’t underst-” She had opened the cupboards and drawers in his bedside unit, but come up empty.
Still laughing, he patted the space next to him on the bed and motioned for her to sit down.
Lisa shuffled back to the bed and climbed in beside AJ. She felt less naked and more protected as she lay with her head on his chest, his arm around her tightly and listening to the soft thudding of his heart. He was still smiling as his dad came into the room. His eyes widened as he saw Lisa’s bare shoulders over the top of the bed sheets.
“Please tell me you didn’t interrupt,” he said to his wife.
“No, they were finished by then,” Jeremy answered.
“I think they were asleep to be fair,” added Brad.
“ANYWAY!” Lisa attempted to steer the topic in the room away from her sex life, “What time is it?”
“It’s only eight thirty a.m,” his mom offered, “AJ, your father and I need to go back up north for a while, I have a trial. We have some things to take care of. We plan on calling multiple times a day. I need to see your face and know you’re ok, ok? I know we’re leaving you in very capable hands.” She looked at Lisa, who blushed again. “And the doctor says you’ll probably be out of here in the next couple of days. As long as you have someone to keep an eye on you at home, they’ll let you go.”
“I’m going with them, cause I gotta get back, too,” Brad chimed in, “so we all came to say goodbye!”
After a rather embarrassing set of goodbye hugs, which involved her sitting up in the bed with AJ firmly gripping the sheet so it didn’t reveal too much of his naked self – and hugging while simultaneously holding her own sheet, which wasn’t as tightly wrapped as she wanted it to be, they all left. Jeremy was driving everyone to the airport, so they were alone again. When the door closed, she waited a few minutes for her heart to come back down to normal, and pretended to collapse on his chest.
“AJ! OhMyGOD! Thanks for the help there!” she exclaimed, jabbing him in the ribs. He rested his hands in the small of her back.
“You did pretty well on your own, babe.” He grinned at her and pecked her nose.
“Well, I had no choice. They all knew what was going on and I’m hardly going to try and lie to your mother, am I?”
He laughed.
“Apparently not. I don’t think anyone expected you to come out with what you did. Even Jeremy was kind of flabbergasted – and it’s not easy to shock him!”
She kissed him. “Yeah. Well. It’s hardly surprising really, and so very typical that we’d get caught again! Do you think we’ll ever have uninterrupted sex?”
“You looked seriously hot standing there wrapped in that sheet,” he told her grinning. “If my mom wasn’t on the other side of the door I’d have-”
The door opened and the doctor came in.
“How’s the patient this morning?”
She jumped out of her skin, rolled off AJ, but misjudged and went crashing off the side of the bed again, landing flat on her back on the floor, clutching her sheet for dear life, whilst AJ grabbed a quick hold of the only sheet keeping him decent.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” she shrieked. “Don’t you think about these things before you barge into the private room of a twenty-three-year-old guy who has been asleep for days? I mean, you’re a guy. You get guy urges, right? Can’t two grown-ass, consenting adults just be naked without being interrupted? Just once?”
Lisa was still on the floor, so she didn’t see that a nurse had come into the room. She struggled to her feet; AJ was laughing again.
“I’m sorry, doctor,” he began, through his laughing.
“I’m sorry, too,” the doctor laughed somewhat embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just came to do some final checks for release later today. Certainly seems as though you’re more than ready to go home.”
“Well, trust me, he’s fine. And if he’s not fine, then let’s just say, between friends since I’m sitting here mostly naked and all, that if he isn’t fine, I’m not sure I could even handle him fine. Send him home. I’ll look after him and keep an eye on him. I’ll even spoon-feed him if you want.”
He was properly laughing at her now. She didn’t blame him. Had this been anyone else, she would have been laughing, too. She was sure when everyone else heard, they’d all find it hilarious. They’d probably end up as some mortifying viral twitter feed or Facebook post.
“I’d heard the Irish were brazen, but I thought it usually involved alcohol!” the nurse joked.
“Well, they aren’t all like me. I’m just a frustrated girl who would just like some alone time with her boyfriend, without his best friend, or mother, or random physiotherapist, nurse or doctor walking in. Is that too much to ask?” she questioned desperately as she grabbed her shower bag.
“You,” she said to the doctor, “please do whatever tests you gotta do. I’m going for a shower and to get out from under your feet because I’m afraid I may end up even more embarrassed and I’m honestly not sure what that might even look like. And you,” she turned to AJ, “don’t go jumping in to my defense or anything stupid.” She kissed him lightly on the forehead, “and don’t fail his damn tests, because we all need me the hell out of this place!” She shuffled over to the bathroom, still wrapped tightly in her sheet.
Chapter 40
AJ was released later that day, with strict instructions to remain in the house for a few weeks. He still needed plenty of rest and was only permitted light exercise alongside his physio appointments. Nothing too taxing the doctor had said, with a wry grin.
That evening, Lisa picked up take-out, a couple movies and a truck-load of junk food. They lay on the sofa chilling out. As they lay there, she watched him. His movement was slowly returning to “normal”, and he said he was feeling pretty good – all things considered. Although she believed he was feeling better, she still needed to reassure herself fairly regularly.
They sat up all night, talking, laughing and eating way more than they should have, but they didn’t care. When the movies were done, they stuck on some music and talked some more. The conversation topics were light, nothing too deep or emotional, until she came back from the bathroom and sat down next to him. She was staring at him again, her gaze rested on his wound for a few seconds, before she realized that he was staring back at her.
She laughed quietly as he held his arm out for her to come closer to him. She did, resting her head on his shoulder. She let out an involuntary sigh.
“What’s on your mind, babe?” he asked.
“It’s the first week in April,” she replied.
“I know. I didn’t hit my head that hard.”
She elbowed his ribs lightly and continued, “You kinda did though! I have to go home soon. I’ve already stayed longer than I intended. Playing hooky kinda took a turn. I know I got permission from the university and all, but I have stuff to deal with, like finishing up my degree, paying bills and finding a grown-up job.” She sighed again. “But I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you. I’m afraid something else is going to happen and I’m going to lose you. I don’t want to wake up and not be able to hear your voice, or see your face.”
“That’s understandable. The last couple weeks can’t have been easy for you.”
She laughed a humorless laugh. “Isn’t that the understatement of the century?”
“Sorry,” he started, “I know I don’t really know what it was like for you. We can talk about it you know? Assuming you even want to talk about it.” He paused again and kissed her forehead.
I do love it when you do that.
“My memory is still kinda blurry in parts, especially leading up to the accident,” he continued. “But, I can guess it was far from pleasant. And I honestly don’t know what I’d have been like if it had been you lying there on that bed. I don’t know if I could have kept my shit together.”
“You would have done just fine,” she told him. “If someone had asked me how I’d deal with it before it happened, I would have said that I wouldn’t have dealt with it at all. I’d have guessed complete and utter meltdown and inability to function and perform the simplest of tasks. In many ways, that’s actually what happened. I mean, I managed, don’t get me wrong. I had my moments, but I pushed through. I tried to stay positive as best I could. But man, it was so hard. The thought of never having you wake up again? Of never being able to talk to you, or see your smile, or hear your voice? Not knowing if you even know how I truly feel about you, or-” her voice broke and she was suddenly crying, “and now you’re awake, and I have to go home soon, and
it royally sucks.”
“Hey, hey. It’s ok,” he soothed. But it really wasn’t, they both knew it. Her trip, in its entirety, had been an emotional rollercoaster. Between finding out he was married, the guy in the bar, the coma, meeting his friends and family, it had been far from easy for her and a lot to take in.
I wonder if everyone’s lives are this dramatic?
She had a week left and was determined to spend as much time as possible with him, taking care of him and making sure he was going to be ok when she left. Before the accident AJ had been planning to visit Ireland over the summer, but now it would have to be delayed due to his accident though at least they had something to look forward to when she left. She needed it. They both did.
***
Of course, the week flew past.
Before Lisa knew it, she was standing in the airport struggling to find the strength to say goodbye to Jeremy and AJ.
She’d sat pretty much in silence all the way to the airport. Struggling with her tears, she faced out the window so neither of them could see her cry.
AJ wasn’t really supposed to be out of the house yet, but the doctor had given the all-clear for Jeremy to supervise his trip to see her off, on the condition he would go straight home afterwards. He was also going to be permitted a beer or two, to drown his sorrows.
Jeremy gave her a hug, said he’d see her soon and that he was thinking of going to Ireland with AJ when he’d recovered. She nodded silently as he gave her a second, slightly longer hug.
“I’d say it was good to finally meet you, but that’s not really something you say after all we’ve been through together.” He paused, “It’s certainly been eventful – I’d love to see you and Chelsea try and scrapbook this trip.”
Intimate Strangers (The Lisa Millar Series Book 1) Page 21