Before you go // Jonah Marais

Chapter 19: Hospital adventures

Days of sitting in the same hospital bed, doing the same thing. Sleep, eat, bathroom break, talk to my parents and doctors, and start all over again. I'm bored, I'm lonely, and I want to go to university. Mum and dad left an hour ago to meet Olivia and Dylan somewhere. I'm alone in my hospital room, and I'm sick of it. No longer having chords I can't sneakily take off on, I take the ones stuck to me off, sliding off the bed and onto the cold tiled floor.

My legs felt stronger than they had the past few days. Picking up my phone, I stride out of the room and down the halls managing to not get caught by nurses or doctors. I look in rooms that are open and pictures that hang along the walls but stop abruptly when I hear a familiar voice.

"Okay, that's enough smoking," the voice says sternly.

Walking further down the hall towards where the male voice is coming from, I see an elderly lady lying in a hospital bed. Who sits next to her? None other than Jonah Marais. His brown hair lays messily over his forehead, the same as it did a few days ago. He's wearing a black with a pink pattern button-up shirt and a black leather jacket to go over the top. He had black jeans on with Doc Martens to pull the look together.

Too busy checking him out to notice he had spotted me. Jonah strides over and out the door, placing his hands on my waist as if I would fall if he didn't. I look down, trying to hide the blush I feel rising up onto my cheeks. His hand moves under my chin, lifting my head up, my hazel eyes lock with his bright greeny-blue ones. His pupils, slightly dilated, worry swirling around inside of them.

"What are you doing out of bed?" his voice is full of seriousness.

Instead of answering, I look away, looking for something. Anything. His stare is burning holes into my head.

"You're injured Peyton, you should be in bed," he said sternly.

"I'm fine, Jonah."

his look says I don't believe you, but his mouth stays shut. One hand holds my waist tightly, the other moves up and down my arm. I bite my lip holding back a wince.

"Don't do that," he says lowly.

"Do what?"

He points to my lips, his eyes darkening and his pupils dilating. "Bite your lip."

I go to bite my lip again out of habit but quickly stop. My breathing picks up as his hand moves from my arm down my back, stopping just before my ass. His head moves down, his hot breath hits my face. Just when I thought he was going to kiss me, his lips move to my ear.

"Let's get you back to bed," he whispers.

The hand on my waist moves underneath my knees, lifting me up. The hand on my lower back stays there, holding me against his chest. I try to squirm out of his grip but soon stop, afraid I'll fall.

"Put me down," I plead. "I can walk, you know?"

"No."

Groaning, I throw my head back. His arms are strong, muscley, attractive. Nathan's arms are muscley, definitely not as big. Jonah holds me close to his chest, allowing me to feel how toned he really was. My arms wrap around his neck, my hands interlocking together.

"Don't let me fall," I mumble.

"I won't let you fall, I promise."

After another minute of walking, Jonah makes it to my boring hospital room. The door, slightly open, the once empty room now filled with my mum, dad, sister and Dylan. They looked worried, stressed. And it's all because of me.

Jonah cleared his throat, bringing all the attention to us, "I found her wandering the halls."

"You had us worried sick, Peyton. What on earth were you thinking?" Olivia demands.

"I was bored and lonely, I-I'm sorry," I quietly voice.

Jonah continues to hold me to his chest, more in a protective manner than before.

"You should've called us honey," mum says, slightly disappointed.

I look down at the ground, knowing she was right. I should've called them.

"Why don't you all go let the doctors know she's okay and maybe get something for her to eat. I'll stay here and read to her," Jonah speaks up.

After a minute of talking, they agree and leave the room. Jonah swiftly moves over to the bed, laying me down gently, pulling the blankets over me. I notice Jonah pull out a new book from his leather jacket. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, a bestseller.

"We finished the last book so I brought another one I thought you would like. It's different a different genre compared to the last one but I think you will like this one."

"When did we finish the last one?"

"Last time I was here, I believe you fell asleep before we finished," he chuckles softly.

The last time he was here with me was the day I woke from my coma. I had managed to convince him to lay in bed with me and read. Why the fuck I allowed myself to ask him that I don't know. I knew I wasn't going to ask him to lay up with me now. I have a boyfriend, only I lay with him like that.

"You ready for me to read?" Jonah asks.

"Very ready."

Jonah opens the book flipping to the first page. He looks up at me briefly before starting to read aloud for us both to hear. I never realised I missed him reading to me until now. His voice is so smooth, it flows over the words effortlessly, making them sound magical. Nathan has never read to me before. He doesn't like reading. He finds it nerdy and boring.

Dylan walks into the room with some food. Jonah stops reading, putting a bookmark in its place.

"I'll see you later, Peyton" Jonah smiles before leaving.

"I've missed you so much," Dylan breathes out, gently pulling me into a hug.

"I've missed you too, Dyl."