Loyal

Chapter 74

 Vera's POV

There's a loud knocking on my door that pulls me from a deep sleep. Did I order pizza?  I sit up slowly, cursing the awkward position I decided to nap in, my back cramps. Attempting to stretch my back, I reach for my phone and check the time. Damn. I slept for three hours! Jumping up I head to the door, roughly pulling it open. I expect for Leah to be standing there because she always leaves her apartment key behind. But it's not Leah. It's not Leah at all.

            "Hi, Vera." Colin's voice is a familiar pain that sends a lurch in my stomach. The goosebumps erupt across my arms and I feel my cheeks flush a bright red. I stand there, immediately embarrassed at my disheveled appearance. The bandages still on my face, and although the swelling went down, I still look hideous. Standing in the doorway, I try to figure out if this is really happening. Fuck. Didn't I tell Leah to tell him to stay away? Maybe I'm seeing things. Damn those painkillers! They must be giving me visions. I put my hand up to my head.

            "Vera?" He asks again.

                        "Yeah?" I ask, dumbfounded. The apparition appears to be talking to me. 

            "Would you mind if I come inside?"

            I hesitate. He moves forward and I realize, this is indeed, real. Fuck. I move aside and Colin comes in. He's wearing a dark blue hoodie with loose shorts. They look like the shorts he wore that morning I spent in his apartment, and he made me breakfast. The nostalgia stings as much as the healing stitches under my eye. 

            "Do you mind if I sit?" I shake my head no and watch him as he takes a seat on the couch I'd just been sleeping on.

                        "What are you doing here?" I ask, once I finally grasp reality. The words come out harsher than I expect. I shuffle into the living room and sit across from him in the armchair. I had been thinking about this moment since I left the hospital, but I didn't expect for it to come so quickly. I'm not ready. I'm not ready for this. I'm not even ready to tell him about our baby. 

            "I had to see how you were." Colin looks at me with a deep longing, and I avert my gaze. No matter how much pain he has put me through, I can't deny my body's reaction to him. My mind's reaction to him. I want to be in his arms. My heart screams in relief that he's still alive, still thinking of me. Hopefully as much as I've been thinking about him. Wait, why do I care so much?

 "How are you feeling?"

                        "I'm fine." Oh, and pregnant with your child.

            "Healing ok?"

                        "You should have called."

            "You wouldn't have answered."

                        "It doesn't matter."

            "I had to see you."

                        "I didn't want to see you."

            "Dammit Vera!" Colin exclaims. I sit back in the chair, surprised by his tone. I look toward the teddybear with the blue wig sitting beside his feet, the one he gave to me when I was hospitalized, it's head leaning towards his knee. 

            "I.....I had to see you. There was no way I could wait anymore, and you're wrong for trying to keep me away from you. I can't stay away from you." Colin shakes his head in frustration and stares at the floor in front of me.