Counting Down

Chapter 6 - The World Has A Funny Way Of Working

My head was throbbing like mad. The cool tile I had collided with was beginning to numb the side of my face. I picked myself up and swayed and stumbled to the kitchen counter. My phone was still lying on the ground. I pressed my index fingers to my temple. Remember, remember, remember, I ordered myself.

Riley.

It hit me like a bus.

She's awake.

I dashed to the bedroom and ripped off my sweatpants and replaced them with a pair if skinny jeans and a large t-shirt. I turned around to look in the mirror and shrunk away in disgust. My hips were jutting out like shards of glass from my skin, and my ribs were even more prominent than last I had checked.

"Get a grip, Jackie," I muttered under my breath. My long trench coat was thrown over me and I started my way out the door to my rental car. I put the keys in the ignition and started my way to the hospital. Light snow was falling.

-

"Riley?" I asked.

"Mmhm?"

I turned over in the tiny bed - well, it was a mattress - of our first apartment and held her hand in mine. She smiled and pecked a small kiss on my lips.

"Do you ever think about getting our own place?"

She shrugged. "This is it for now, I guess," she said before adding, "and I couldn't be happier."

I grinned, but I still asked, "Are you sure you don't want...I don't know...more?"

She pondered the thought and answered, "Maybe in the future, but this is now. You know what they say, this is the present and the present is a gift. Hold on to it."

I smiled wide. "You're a cheesy dork," I laughed.

"Ah," she said while putting a finger in the air, "but I am your dork. I'm your cheesy dork. Sad to say, but you're never getting rid of me."

"I'm sure I could think of some way," I said sarcastically.

She giggled as some strands of hair fell into her face. I tucked then behind her ear and watched her blush at my touch. She nuzzled up to me, her head under my chin, and closed her eyes. I silently began running my hands through my hair and listened to her breathing begin to steady down as sleep took over her.

"I love you so much," I whispered while planting a kiss on her forehead. "I'm never letting you go. Never." I wrapped my arms around her waist tighter and began falling into a deep sleep.

-

I must have been going a little too fast down the highway, because I gained quite a few dirty looks from all of the cars I was passing. I paid no mind to them. I had to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

I pulled into the hospital's parking lot and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My shaking legs barely carried me through the front doors and to the security desk to ask for Riley's room. They pointed at the elevator and told me to go to floor five. Once I reached her floor, I practically fell out of the elevator. The lady at the desk for this floor looked at me in shock until recognizing me from my latest visit. She called me over to her whispered, "She's very weak. I'll get you in as soon as I can, okay?"

I mouthed a thank you, but no words left my mouth. I was in a huge panic. What would she think when she saw me for the first time? She doesn't even know me, I thought to myself. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and struggled to find a good position.

-

I stepped out of my room in a pair of black skinny jeans and a button up shirt. I smoothed my hair back and checked the time. "Baby, are you ready?" I called from the kitchen.