No Strings Attached

Chapter Thirty

Tori watched as Shannon’s frail body was once again racked with her dry sobs – she’d ran out of tears over the past three days, as she’d sat next to Nate’s hospital bed, changing position every few hours.

Anxiously, she looked back over to Jay, who was winding Ava over his shoulder. His pale eyes were just as concerned as they met hers.

“Babe,” she said quietly, “I know you said you don’t want to leave him – but maybe you should go home and rest for a little while.” She laid a hand on Shannon’s shoulder – wincing as she felt the delicate bone beneath her fingertips. She’d barely eaten since the accident, and she’d not carried enough weight before for it not to show in her slender  figure, “You’ve not slept for more than a few hours at a time.”

“What if something happens?” her voice was wispy and thin from the tears.

“The doctors have only just decided that they’ll be bringing him around, and according to Dr. Evans it won’t be until at least tomorrow, and he’ll need an MRI before that to make sure that he can cope,” She pulled Shannon’s lank dark hair away from her pale face and tucked it behind her ear, “Let’s go back to the apartment, and get you a good night’s rest before they do. You could be seeing him tomorrow, he’ll kill me and Jay if he sees you like this – thin and pale and exhausted. Please babe.”

Shannon gave a small chuckle to that, looking down at the now familiar, but just as painful as ever sight of him on the hospital bed. They’d taken out the chest tube earlier this morning, and the damn Darth Vader machine had gone – although she still heard that hoarse, rattling noise ringing in her ears.

“He would, wouldn’t he?” she smiled softly, running her fingers over his pale skin – now somewhat comfortable with the unresponsiveness of his flesh, something that had bothered her no end in the beginning, “Well, not you, but him he definitely would!” She gestured to Jay with a nod of her head.

“Hey!” he groaned with a smirk, “Until he knows what it’s like to deal with both of you alone he’s got no argument as far as I’m concerned!”

They’d fallen into the routine of making quiet, almost nostalgic jokes trying to pull each other from the sorrow – and sometimes – like now, it would work, and they would chuckle softly, silently praying that he was there to enjoy them. And other times, they could only hold each other, and watch as it became too much to see him there like that, and they broke down in tears.

Tori took her seat on the plastic chair next to Shannon’s once again, reaching for the hand that rarely left Nate’s, and ran her fingers over the back of it tentatively.

“I’m serious though, honey. Let’s get a bottle of wine, have some good food, and get an early night ready for the morning. I’ll run you a hot bath, and you can just ... rest. You’ll be no good to him like this.”

Her eyes darting between Tori’s concerned expression, and Nate, she nodded softly, “Okay. I guess you’re right. Did you tell the hospital about the tea?” she asked Jayden suddenly, “When he wakes up? The hotel in Milan had the wrong one ...” She was frowning slightly as she looked back at him, “He’ll never shut up about it if you’ve paid for this place, and they give him the wrong brand of tea!”

“I’ve told them,” he smiled, gently placing Ava into her carry seat, “I’ll let them know we’re leaving, and to call us in the morning before he goes in for the MRI.”

They watched him leave the room quietly, Ava cooing from her seat at the soft toy he’d placed with her.

“Thank you, babe,” Tori said quietly, weightily, as she took Shannon’s free hand in both of her own.