The Love of My Death

Part 6

   I was the one sitting on the chair next to Anthony's hospital bed since he was more hurt than I was. We got to the hospital the same day but in the late afternoon, and we've been in this room for a while now. Before getting comfortable, I was able to wash the blood from my forehead and hair. As soon as we were brought in the ambulance, Anthony was quite weak.
    He started to shuffle around in his bed. "Hey," I murmured. He turned to face me while rubbing his eyes,
    "Oh no, did I doze off?" he asked.
    "Yeah," I chuckle.
    He sits up to stretch and says while laughing, "I'm sorry."
When he triggers the wrong nerve, he winces and grunts. "It stung, I probably shouldn't do that."
    "Yeah, you should just lay down and stay put for a little while longer," I advised.
    "Leya, you don't have to be here if you don't want to," he says as he turns to face me.
    I said, "No, I'm staying here and I'm not going anywhere." I take hold of his hand and squeeze it. He puts his other hand over mine and squeezes. I smile.
    "Can I ask you a question, Anthony," I asked hesitantly.
    He responds, "Sure, go ahead."
    "How did you know I needed help?" I ask. He smiles.
    He says, "Your door was boarded up when I arrived to check on you because you weren't returning my calls. So I tried to open a window, but they were all boarded as well. But the guest room's window wasn't completely closed. I tore the board off and then slashed through the window's screen. Then I simply crawled through the window and there I was your superhero."
    I giggle as my eyes start to tear up. "Thank you, Anthony," I said. I gave him a little kiss on the top of his hand. His smile starts to wane. Should I have not done that? "I'm sorry-"
    He cuts me off, "I want to tell you something, Leya. Something I've been keeping hidden for a while." he speaks without eye contact.
    I wipe away my tears and say, "Oh, okay. Go ahead." After some time of silence, he finally speaks.
    "I... I love you."
    What?
    "I always have. Since the beginning of our friendship in our first year in high school."
    Okay, wait, this is crazy because I used to like Anthony when we were freshmen. But I never pursued it because I always thought he was way out of my league. Is this really happening right now?
    "Anthony-"
    He interrupts me, "We are best friends, I understand that. But I have to stop keeping my emotions from you. I want to be with you." I lean back and grin. He turns to face me and waits for my response.
    "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I ask.
    "I didn't want to lose you. I could see right away that you didn't like me at all," he claimed.
    Either he's blind, or I'm terrible at expressing my feelings.
    "Are you kidding me? I always believed I wasn't your type, so I didn't even try to get with you," I confess. He chuckles while shaking his head.
    "You're playing a joke on me," he says.
    I tell him, "I'm serious," again grabbing his hand, I say, "Let's give this a shot."
    "Really?" he asks.
    "Really," I reply. He grabs me and laughs as he gives me a tight embrace.
    A knock on the door cut off our moment of laughter. "Come in!" Anthony yells. Opening the door is a nurse with a large grocery bag.
    "Mr. Urbina, your mother delivered some of your requested stuff," the woman says.
    "Oh thank you. Leya, will you get that for me, please?" he asks.
    I say, "Yeah," and get out of my chair to take the bag from the nurse. Instead of handing Anthony the back as I head back to my seat, I open it and stick my hand inside. "Let's see, what do we have?" I say jokingly.
    "Oh, nothing special," he quickly replies. I start taking things out.
    I held it up, laughing, "Deodorant, you'll need this."
    "Just give me the bag," Anthony says. I disregard him and carry on.
    "A comb. Your hair needs this now, it's so messy!" I chuckle.
    "Leya," he says, trying to get me to stop looking through the bag. But it was too late. I take out a book. A light wood-colored leather that has been pressed and sewn securely around it, serving as the cover. In the center, the title indented into the leather reads, "Anthony's Story".