He's That Thug

❤️ Chapter Twenty-Three ❤️

When I opened my eyes, I saw nothing but white ceiling and a fluorescent light. I felt numb and surprisingly tired. I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was sore. A voice startles me, and I moved my head to find its source.

"Thank God you're okay." Anthony. "Are you okay? Are you in pain? Do you want anything?"

It was too many questions at once.

"Anthony, right? Can you step out for a second? I want to ask her some questions." I turned my head to see who else was in the room and saw a short doctor with blonde hair. She had glasses on her face and a clipboard in her hand. Anthony gave her a reluctant look but stepped out anyway. The doctor faced me again, giving me a small smile. "Hello, Roxanne. It's good to see you're awake!"

"H-how long..." I trailed off and winced.

"Water?" The nurse offered. I nodded. She walked over to a table and picked up a small plastic cup. She handed it to me and I swallowed it down.

Once my throat felt a little more moist, I looked back up at her and spoke. "How long have I been..."

She nodded. "About six hours. Do you remember anything?"

I tried to think back, but drew a blank. I shook my head and she nodded slowly.

"What...what happened?"

She sighed. "You need some rest."

"I've been asleep for, like, six hours. I want to know what happened. Why am I in here?"

The doctor shook her head. "Rest. I promise we'll talk about it when you have a little more energy."

There wasn't much I could do so I agreed and closed my eyes. But the sound of the door opening and closing made me open them again. My eyes followed Anthony as he walked over to me and sat down on the chair next to my bed. He looked worried and stressed and he looked line he needed a large cup of coffee. He leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees and stared into my eyes.

"Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes at his idiotic question. "Do I look okay?"

He bit his lip. "I just..." He trailed off and shook his head. "I was worried about you."

I smiled. "Thanks. I just...not remembering anything is annoying."

Anthony froze. "What? You--you don't remember?"

"No. Why? Do you know what happened?"

Anthony looked down and inhaled deeply. "Vince--"

"Vince?" I gasped, sitting up. "He put me in the hospital?!"

Anthony opened his mouth and closed it and then opened it again. "He's...the reason why you were put in the hospital."

"What does that mean?"

Anthony shook his head. "Vince is a bad guy, Roxie. You gotta promise me you'll stay away from him. Okay? Promise me."

I nod quickly. "I promise. Anthony you're not telling me something."

"Roxie, I care about you. I'm a real dick. I'm a bad guy. But I care about you and I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I am going to protect you from now on."

I felt tears come to my eyes.

"I'm not saying you're not going to hate me sometimes. I'm just saying that even if you do hate me...I don't want you to give up on me."

I gave him a smile and took his hand in mine. "Why would I hate you?"

He shook his head. "There are things about me you're not going to like. Things about my past. I can promise you that you're going to find out things that will make you want to turn your back on me in a second."

"Anthony." I stopped him from continuing. "Shut up."

He smiled and pressed his forehead to mine. "Roxie..."

"Anthony." I forced, shaking my head. "Stop. Why are you acting like you're some terrible person?"

"Because I might be."

I shook my head. "No. You might be...the best thing that's happened so far."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.

They discharged me three days later. Instead of going to my empty house, Anthony's mom let me stay over. She gave me Anthony's bed. She suggested he take the couch in the living room. He agreed, but I told him it was okay. It's not like we were going to be doing anything. Anthony helped me up the steps and into his bedroom which was neat. I was still a little sore, so it was nice having someone help me out a bit.

Anthony led me to his bed and sat me down. "I'll get you some clothes."

He walked over to his closet and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and a white wife beater. He handed it to me and stepped out so I could change. It was hot in his room and the shirt was pretty big on me so I decided not to wear the basketball shorts. I threw then back into the closet and climbed into the bed. When Anthony came back, he had a tub of chocolate chip ice cream and honey barbecue chips. He climbed into the queen sized bed next to me and handed me the ice cream. I gratefully took it and gave him a smile.

"Thanks."

We began watching movies and then flipped off the tv and began talking about anything and everything. An hour later, we got comfy, with him spooning me. I drifted to sleep.

I still don't remember what happened to me. Anthony told the doctor he wanted to tell me himself but he still hasn't. The doctor told me that my memory would soon recover in bits and pieces.

Soon, I'll know why I was in the hospital.

You guys are the BEST, I swear! I know it took me FOREVER to finally update this chapter, but when I told you I had writer's block I was serious :( . I had no idea how to form my idea into words, I had no idea what I wanted...But I've cleared out my head and I updated. I PROMISED that this book will be finished by the end of the summer and I'm going to keep that promise. I was suprised to see that people still even look at this book, because it's been almost a month and two weeks since I've updated (I think). 

Anyway, I'm back on track and I know where I'm going so Yaaay!

When do you think Roxie's gonna get her memory back? Will Anthony tell her or will she figure it out on her own? Will she forgive him or get pissed off all over again?

Please keep reading, keep voting and try to comment a little more. Dont be a silent reader! :P

The next update will be Monday, July 7th. I promise <3 I even have a reminder on my phone :D

On another note, it would mean SO much to me if you would check out my other stories ESPECIALLY Hold Me Down. That's my newest one and I'm feeling good about it soo it would really mean a lot if you just check it out. :D