Thanks to those who have reviewed/followed/favorite! I appreciate it so much! Here's chapter 3.
Mike was still asleep when I walked into his room. My heart sinks the minute I lay eyes on him. His cuts have been bandaged, but he still looks so battered. He has a tube in his nose and an IV in his left hand.
I pull the brown chair in the room close to his bed. I sit down and gently take Mike's hand.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here for you," I tell him.
I continue holding Mike's hand. There is no sound, except for the beeping of Mike's heart monitor. Everything is motionless, except for the steady drip of the IV fluid.
An hour passes and he is still not awake. I am getting sleepy, so I get up and go into the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee. I am determined to be there when Mike wakes up. The thought of him waking up alone and scared makes me uneasy. I take his hand again.
A few minutes later, I hear the sound of footsteps coming into the room. I snap my head around in paranoia that it is a follower coming in to hurt Mike. I let out a deep breath when I realize that it's only Parker. I think about letting go of Mike's hand, but Parker already notices. She looks somewhat shocked.
"Has he woken up yet?" she asks.
"Not yet."
"Did the doctors tell you anything?"
"He's going to need oxygen for a few days, but he should be ok."
"I'm glad we got to him when we did," Parker says.
"If we would have been any later he would have been gone," I reply.
I squeeze Mike's hand. It's hard to believe that he is alive. Broken, but alive. I realize that what I just said is true. If we would have shown up any later, he wouldn't have survived. He would have been another victim to my death curse.
"Are you ok?" Parker asks me?
"Yeah," I reply. "I'm fine."
"I'm going to head out. It's been a long day."
"Take it easy," I tell her.
"I know I've said this before, but you can always call me if you need to talk," Parker reminds me.
"Thanks," I reply. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Parker walks out of the room. As soon as I know she is gone, I let the tears pour from my eyes. I bend forward in the chair, and rest my head on the edge of the bed. I continue sobbing.
A few minutes later, I feel Mike's fingers moving. I sit up and quickly wipe the tears from my eyes. I look and Mike and his eyes are beginning to flutter open.
"Mike?" I whisper.
Mike looks at me once his eyes are completely open.
"R-Ryan," he barely manages to say.
"Don't talk," I tell him.
I take Mike's hand in both of mine, careful not to move the IV needle.
"You pulled through," I tell him.
I try to smile so Mike won't see that I am overwhelmed with emotion. Although I just told him not to talk, he speaks again. His voice is soft, but I can understand every word he says.
"Are you ok?" he asks.
"I'm fine," I reassure him. "I'm just so relieved that you're here right now."
I stroke Mike's hand with my thumb.
"Did you get Alex?" he asks.
"Yes. I shot him dead."
The corners of his mouth form into a small smile. I smile back at him. I want to say something else to him, but I don't know what to say.
"This isn't your fault, Ryan," he says, breaking the silence.
I nod my head. No matter how many times he tells me that it's not my fault, I won't believe it. Mike should be angry with me. I want him to blame me. If he was angry with me we wouldn't be working together and he wouldn't get hurt anymore.
"I mean it. It's not your fault."
Mike starts coughing.
"Don't say anything else," I tell him. "Just relax."
Mike's eyes meet mine again. I can tell he is tired, hurting, and scared, but he holds himself together so well. I try to fight the tears, but I lose all control. Mike raises his right arm, motioning for me to come closer. I move the chair as close to the bed as I can get it, and gently rest my head against Mike's stomach. I bury my face in his hospital gown and sob. I feel him place his hand on the back of my head. He runs his hand through my hair.
I let out all of my emotions. After about five minutes, I feel Mike's hand slide off of my head. I look up, and he has fallen asleep. I slowly get up and move the chair back to its original spot. I start to walk out of the room, but I turn around to look at Mike.
I have a flashback to the first time I saw him in a hospital bed. It was after he had been beaten and stabbed by Charlie. I remember how young he looked. He has that same look about him now. The truth is, he is young. He has incredible knowledge for his age, but deep down he is so young. I feel that I have robbed him of being able to enjoy his young age. After all of the trauma he endured in such a short period of time, he's going to be out of commission for a while. He won't be able to do all of the things that people his age get to do. I know he chose to be an agent, but he shouldn't have ended up like this.
I walk back over to his bed. I lean over and kiss his cheek. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that he doesn't get hurt again.
Right now, I'm thinking there is going to be one more chapter. I will see how it goes when I am writing chapter 4. Just to warn you, I might not be able to update as quickly because it is the last two weeks of classes for me so I have been getting a lot of homework. I will try my best to update soon. :)