14. Waking up in his arms

The story continues...

The doctor arrived and Ed accompanied him up to the suite where Abby was resting. The doctor wanted to give Abby a shot of medication in her hip. Abby grunted a response like, “Go for it,” still cradling her head. Ed sat beside Abby on the bed and held her hand. Abby had to pull down her pants and underwear just enough for the injection. The fact that Ed would see didn’t faze her. Ed had to look away as the doctor gave Abby the injection; but he did notice that at that instant Abby squeezed his hand a bit harder. Ed saw the doctor to the door and turned off the light in the room. “Your wife will be fine by morning. Call if anything changes. I’ll send you the bill,” the doctor told Ed. Ed nodded to him. He should have corrected him and told the doctor that Abby was not his wife; but he didn’t know exactly what Abby was to him. He sighed and went to tell Bethany good night. He wanted to get back to Abby to be sure she didn’t need anything. On top of that, he didn’t want to linger in the house and risk running into his mother that evening.


Abby stayed on her side, her hip still throbbing from the shot. Her stomach felt a little calmer and the pain in her head seemed more distant. Abby was asleep when Ed returned to the room. He had to turn on a desk lamp to find his luggage and was fearful that Abby would awaken, but she did not. He changed into sweat pants and a t-shirt. Ed crawled into the bed and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He rolled over and watched Abby sleeping with her back to him and he watched her breathing. In his mind he kept recalling her being sick and miserable and it hurt him deep down; it hurt him to see her in pain. He scooted over to her and snuggled close to her, putting his left arm around her. She let out a soft sigh but remained in deep sleep. Ed murmured her name and closed his eyes.

Abby awoke as soft sunlight filtered through the window. She felt achey all over and realized that she was starving. She tried to recall the last time she ate something when she became aware that Ed’s arm was draped across her. She carefully slipped out of the bed trying not to bother Ed. The cold marble floor of the bathroom felt good on her feet; as if it was nice to feel something other than headache pain. She returned to the bedroom and Ed was still sleeping. He looked very attractive; his lips slightly parted, his hair tousled. Abby took a deep breath and forced her body to move towards her suitcase. She dressed and decided to put on makeup after seeing how pale and tired she looked in the mirror. Her stomach growled as she slowly shut the door behind her. The house was alit with radiant sunlight coming through a huge window over the atrium. Abby gasped, looking around at the mansion. She descended the white marble staircase. Huge green plants and magnificent watercolor paintings in gold leaf frames were everywhere. A butler headed her way and Abby felt herself grow nervous.