Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 10

I wake up. No one is here. I am alone in the hospital; a blanket is draped over me. Caleb comes running through the door of my room with a muffin in his mouth and one in his hand. "Caleb?" I whisper.

"Hey," he says. "Are you okay?" I nod.

I check my watch. It's 6:00 a.m., two days after he was supposed to leave. "But I thought you were supposed to leave. What are you still doing here?"

"I told the lieutenant general that I could not just leave the country when you are lying unconscious in a hospital bed, and that I would stick to the original plan of leaving next week, and he said not to bother, so I will always stay with you." I can't keep my smile from inching its way across my face. He kisses me again, and I can't help but laugh. I lift up my arm and feel a shooting pain go up it. I pull away, confused. I didn't break my arm. What's wrong now? "Oh, I'm so sorry. That crazy woman shot you in the arm. She pulled out a gun, and I tried to knock it out of her hands, but she must have had an iron grip. She was aiming for your heart, but because I knocked into her, she shot your arm instead. Security detained her until the police could get there," he explains. "Luckily, the airport had a first aid kit with all I needed to pull out the bullet. I then checked the rest of you over. You have bruises all over your stomach, three bruises on each leg, a bruise on your chest, two bruises on each arm, and your cheeks are both bruised." When he explains, my cheeks warm. I think they would become pink if I didn't have the bruises, but I'm sure now they more of a dark magenta. Anyone can still tell that I am blushing. Even though, with all the bruises, I'm sure I look even less pretty, he still kisses my lips, and then each bruise in turn. I smile as he kisses my arm.

Something I didn't notice before catches my eye. His hands are cracked with dried blood. They would crack there only from a very powerful punch. "What happened to your hands?" I wonder.

"Nothing," he answers.

"Don't tell me it's nothing. What happened?"

"It's not as bad as your injuries," he says.

"But it's still an injury nevertheless."

"But it's nothing. I just punched her hard enough to knock her out, and my hands cracked. That's all."

"Why did you do that?" I ask. "You got hurt! You didn't have to do that!"

"My hands are fine! I am more concerned about you."

"But-"

"My hands are fine. You, however, are not." He looks at me.

"Do they hurt?" I ask.

"They're fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay." I smile. "You really hit her?"

"Yeah. I knocked her out. She's at the hospital right now. When she gets better, she'll go to jail."

"Really?" I ask. He nods. "I am not going to break up with you even if some girl threatens me. You know that, right?" I ask. He nods again. "Wait, so you aren't going to the army, right?"

"No."

I can't contain my smile again.

"Should I be happy for me or sad for you?" I ask.

"Happy for us." I smile again.

"We should go," I say. I start to get up, but a shooting pain darts up my legs, my arms, my face, my chest, everywhere. I contain my scream, but a groan escapes me.

"You can't go. You're too badly hurt. Stay here just until you're healed. Then we can go."

"But that's going to be a long time. Why can't we leave now?"