The Long Road

For The First Time

Steve was awakened by a body wiggling in his arms. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself looking into Maddie's blue ones. He was relieved when he immediately noticed they were a little brighter than they'd been that morning. "Sorry," she whispered.

Using his right hand, he sleepily rubbed his face while reaching for his cell with his left. 6:15pm, he thought. "Why are you awake? There's still another 20 minutes before I have to wake you up," he asked her.

"I can't lay in this bed anymore... I'm gonna go crazy," she admitted.

Sighing, he closed his eyes. Deep down he knew it was a good sign she was getting antsy, but he was still worried about her, not to mention exhausted himself. Plus, he knew when she was finally rested she'd fight him tooth and nail. "Well, how do you feel?"

"Honestly?"

Annoyed, Steve looked at her. "No, Maddie, please lie to me."

"Someone's grumpy. You always get cranky when you don't have enough sleep," she wrinkled her nose at him as she bit her bottom lip.

"Sorry... Yes, honest answer, Mads."

Glancing out of the corner of her eyes she made a sort of kissy face with her lips and squished them to the side, something she sometimes did when she was thinking. He suddenly realized how much he'd missed her silly facial expressions. His eyes looked to her mouth, and he was shocked that he had an urge to kiss her. 

"Crappy," she answered, pulling him from his thoughts. "I feel a little better. My head's still killing me, and my body hurts. I just," her eyes widened for effect, "I've been in bed all day." Steve arched his eyebrows. Rolling her eyes, she added, "Well, for the most part."

"You mean minus your little stunt this morning," Steve countered.

Narrowing her eyes, Maddie asked, "You gonna let that go anytime soon?"

"I'll think about it," he smirked.

"Brat," she murmured, pinching his arm.

"If you weren't broken, I'd retaliate for that pinch." Steve sent her a look. Although there was laughter in his eyes, she saw a spark of something else. Something she struggled to identify, but whatever it was, it caused her heart to speed up.

"You're all talk, Steven," she countered, sending him a saucy look.

"Who mentioned talking?" he asked without thinking. Did I just say that, he pondered, shocked by his response. First he'd had the urge to kiss her and now he was implying he'd like to. What was going on?

Maddie hid her surprise, and the fact she wanted him to show her exactly what he had in mind as his retaliation. Are we flirting? she wondered. Suddenly nervous, she cleared her throat and said, "If I don't get out of this room I'm gonna go crazy." She pulled away from him and eased herself into a sitting position groaning at the soreness she felt in her body. Immediately she felt dizzy, like every other time she'd gone from laying or sitting to sitting or standing. "You can stay here if you want and sleep. I know you're tired," she said as she disconnected the empty bag of fluid from her IV. Malia had shown her so she wouldn't rip it out again. Trying to ignore the dizziness, Maddie swung her legs over the edge of the bed preparing to stand. Feeling her mouth begin to water and her stomach churn, she prayed she wouldn't get sick.

Maddie was doing her best to act as if the change in position wasn't making her feel worse, however she wasn't fooling Steve. Watching her intently, he slowly sat up.

Scooting closer to the edge so her feet would touch the carpet, Maddie closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Once standing, she wished she wasn't. Her whole body ached, her head was pounding as if it was going to explode, and her right foot throbbed. With her inability to put much pressure on her injured foot and her worsening dizziness, she began to wobble. Just slightly at first, but more so by the second.