California Dreaming

Chapter Twenty

   I stood at the door to his hospital room, biting at my fingernails anxiously. I just needed to knock on the door, before I lost my nerve. I twirled my hair around my index finger, fidgeting my legs like when I was trying to avoid something. Knock on the door. What if he was mad? What if he was upset that I hadn't visited him before now, what if he didn’t want me anymore? I wouldn’t blame him, if I were him, I would get out whilst I still could. 

   I took a deep breath and held up my right arm, clenching my fist and knocking three times on the thin, wooden door. I began biting my lip before I heard his familiar voice call me in, and with those few words, I felt that pull towards him again, like gravity. I had forgotten what he sounded like, how his eyes looked when he was smiling; I couldn’t believe I had been willing to throw it all away by ending my life. I could never lose him. 

   Opening the door a crack, I peered in mischievously, beginning to smile as I saw his widening grin from the hospital bed. I slipped inside and stood by the door, my hand on my hip as I assessed his condition. He looked better than I had expected, less sallow and more alert. I had been a wreck after Harry had got to me the first time, he made it look so easy. 

   “Hi,” I shrugged slowly, a smile growing across my face, so wide I felt my cheeks begin to ache. 

   “Jia, I missed you so much,” Gabes grinned, and I walked slowly to the side of the bed, pulling up a chair and sitting down. I stretched out for his hand and held it in mine, squeezing tight. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

   “I’m okay?” I laughed. “You’re the one who got stabbed!” I exclaimed, raising my eyebrows. “My knight in shining armor,” I put on a Southern accent, making him chuckle delightedly, like a child receiving some kind of treat. My smile faded then and I began chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Gabes, I’m so sorry,” I said sincerely, beginning to frown and look down at the creased, white bed linen. 

   “Jia-?” He started, but I interrupted him. 

   “I’m the one who got you into all of this, I’m the one who brought this psycho to our town, I’m the one who nearly got you killed; this is all my fault,” I apologized profusely, refusing to meet his dark eyes with mine. 

   “Jia, stop,” he begged, his voice urgent. “None of this is your fault.” 

   “But-” 

   “-No, it’s not,” she said confidently. “I was the one who insisted on staying in the house, I was the one who tried to fight him off when really, we should have just left the house and gone fro help. I’m the one that got you arrested.” 

   “You didn’t get me arrested, Gabes! That was those idiot police officers, they didn’t know what they were talking about!” I insisted. 

   “What happened, how did you get them to believe you?” 

   “I didn’t, my dad came to the rescue,” I explained. 

   “Your dad is awesome,” Gabriel admired and I couldn’t help but giggle and nod. 

   “He is pretty amazing,” I agreed. The room fell silent and my smile faded, I squeezed his hand tighter and began to frown, thinking about that lunatic being out there somewhere. “You know, he was worried about you, my dad that is.” 

   “He shouldn’t worry, I’m fine,” he reassured me, and I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Gabriel began to laugh. “It’s going to make a pretty cool scar, you know,” he said lightly, lifting up his shirt to reveal the stitched up wound.  

   “We’ll be matching,” I beamed, lifting mine up too, showing him where my healed up stab wound was, the straight, white line, etched into my stomach. A nurse entered the room, stopping when she saw I was there and grimacing apologetically.