Hands All Over

Ch. 27 Taking Care

For the first time in a long time, Juice managed to wake up before Angela. The sun was in his eyes because he'd forgotten to close the blinds the night before and one ray just happened to be shining directly on his face. He glanced down at Angela, who had managed to move away from him some time during the night. Though her ankle was still hooked around his, her back was to him, meaning the annoying sunbeam that had woken him up hadn't bothered her in the slightest. He wondered if she moved around a lot in her sleep. If she did, it wasn't ever enough to wake him up. He glanced at her sleeping face curiously, knowing it was a rare event for him to be able to see it since she always woke up first. His mind drifted to all those romantic movies where the couples watched each other sleep making him wonder what the big deal was. Yeah, she looked peaceful and beautiful, but she always looked beautiful to him. In fact, he'd rather see her awake, her dark eyes sparkling as she laughed than lying there with them closed.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Sighing, he tossed back the sheets and got out of bed, careful not to disturb Angela. He yawned loudly as he padded his way to the front door, grabbing his gun off the side table just in case. He glanced through the peephole not all that surprised to find Happy standing there. Setting down his gun, he unlocked the deadbolt and pulled open the door. "Sup, Hap?" he asked, standing back to let his brother in.

Happy looked him over, taking in his state of undress with a look of disapproval. Juice shrugged it off; he was in his own house, he could wear whatever he wanted. "How's she doin'?" Happy asked, clearly referring to his cousin.

"She sprained her wrist," Juice answered on a sigh. "Well, I sprained her wrist when I tackled her during the shooting."

Happy nodded. "That it?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"She's still hurt, Hap," Juice pointed out, confused about Happy's nonchalance.

He shrugged in response. "She ain't made of steel. She's gonna get hurt. Long as you protect her from gettin' killed, it don't matter to me."

Juice glanced down at his feet and sighed. Happy was taking it a lot better than he'd imagined he would. But his words made sense, better for Angela to be injured than dead. "Guess so."

"She awake?"

"Nah, not yet. I thought I'd let her sleep a little. Long night last night."

Happy's eyes narrowed suspiciously at his brother. "She decent?"

Juice blinked at him, confused by the question. "What?" he asked, at Happy's dark look, he got the message. "Oh! Uh...I don't...no... I mean yeah, we didn't...I mean we have but...not last night so...she should be..."

Happy rolled his eyes at Juice's stammering and headed down the hallway where he assumed the bedrooms were. He stopped in front of one that was open and peered in, feeling a little relieved when he saw her sleeping on the big bed fully clothed. He lifted up a booted foot and nudged her thigh. Angela groaned in response, her brow furrowing before she opened her eyes. "Hap?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.

The corners of Happy's lips twitched with just the hint of a smile. To see her rubbing her eyes like that brought him back to when she was little, and he'd wake her up early to take her on a surprise trip somewhere far away. Back then she'd perk right up, shout his name, and throw her arms around him, not letting go until he had physically lifted her out of the bed and carried her to breakfast. "Hey kid," he greeted on a nod. "Just checkin' in."

Angela yawned as she nodded. He glanced at her wrist, holding out a hand for her to put it in. She complied, watching him carefully unbandaged her wrist to inspect the damage. She grimaced at the lovely shade of purple her wrist had turned. "Pretty, huh?"