A/N: You guys are amazing and I LOVE reading your comments. I am so happy you all are enjoying this. At this point I don't know where it is going, but it keeps growing. Hopefully I can reign it in soon and wrap it all up in a neat bow for you guys. Enjoy!
Noelle hated that he wanted her to talk, she didn't know what to talk about. She had tons of medical knowledge that she could quote to him, but she very much doubted he'd be interested in the appropriate way to flush a wound. Noelle watched as Mac tried to even out his breathing, he was still hurting and she very much doubted it would stop anytime soon. She watched his eyes scan the ceiling and then fall back down to her face.
"Are you going to talk?" he asked, that small smirk appearing. Noelle sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"What do you want me to talk about?" she asked, glancing down at where his fingers were resting around her wrist still. His other hand was wound up in the sheet.
"Tell me about your family." He said. Noelle frowned, that was the last thing she wanted to talk about, but she honestly couldn't think of anything else. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to figure out where to start.
"My dad's name is Joseph and my mom was Lucy. They were both born and raised in Texas, my dad was from a very small town, one that his own father practically owned." Noelle cleared her throat and looked down at the bedding.
"My dad wasn't interested in the family business, he wanted to forge his own path." Noelle smiled, remembering her father telling her about his younger years.
"Is that why you're here?" Mac asked, looking over her face.
"What do you mean?" Noelle asked. Mac glanced around the room and then brought his eyes back to her face.
"Is that why you left the United States and came over here, to forge your own path?" he asked. Noelle chuckled and nodded, she'd often been told how similar to her father she was.
"In part." She said. Mac nodded and closed his eyes, grimacing as he shifted a little, so Noelle continued, hoping to pull his mind away from the pain.
"When my father fell in love with my mother, his whole family practically disowned him. My mom didn't come from wealth and she had no status, so my father's family immediately hated her and didn't approve of them, my father didn't care, he loved her despite all of it." Noelle grinned.
"Good for him." Mac huffed and opened his eyes again.
"They got married a few months later at the court house. Because dad went against his father, his father gave the business to my uncle. My dad didn't care though, he didn't want any of it, he was perfectly content with his simple home and his little family." Noelle smiled and looked down at her hand, not realizing she'd begun to draw patterns on Mac's hand, she stopped quickly and retracted her hand, sitting it on the bed beside her leg.
"What made him decide to pursue a political career?" Mac asked, glancing down to her hand. Noelle sighed and let out a small chuckle.
"As ridiculous as it sounds, he wanted to change the world." Noelle smiled and pulled her feet slowly up onto the bed, trying not to jostle Mac.
"Has he?" Mac asked, searching her face. Noelle shrugged and looked down, meeting Mac's venturing eyes.
"He's trying. He's a good man." Noelle nodded slowly.
"But?" Mac asked carefully. Noelle scanned his face and he was staring straight at her.
"But nothing." She said shaking her head.
"No, there's more to it than that." He shifted a little and pressed his lips together tightly to keep from making a noise. He could see through her and she hated that, how did someone she barely know have the ability to see through her bullshit so clearly. Finally, she rolled her eyes.
"He's got a lot of his father in him. He thinks he knows what's best for me, wants me to follow in his footsteps. He means well, I know he does." Noelle said. At that, Mac gave her a knowing look.
"He just goes about it the wrong way." He said. Noelle nodded and curled one of her legs up beside her.
"He's great at giving speeches, he can woo a room, but he's never known how to talk to his children." Noelle stopped short, realizing too late, where she was headed. She didn't want to talk about Nathan, not at all. Mac watched her for a moment and then raised his eyebrows.
"Did your mother know how?" he asked. Noelle grinned and looked up at the ceiling.
"Oh yeah, she was the expert." Noelle nodded.
"What happened?" he asked. Noelle pressed her lips together and frowned. Talking about Lucy wasn't as hard as talking about Nathan, but it still hurt. Plus, these were her secrets, she didn't mind telling Mac a little, but some things were just too close to her heart. Plus, at some point, he'd had to spill as well.
"You don't want to talk about it." Mac said. Noelle looked at his face, his eyelids were low and he looked like he was seconds away from passing out.
"You should rest, it's been a very long day for us both." She said, glancing down at his bandages. The bleeding had slowed significantly and his bandages would be fine until dark.
"You're right." He said, letting his head fall to the side a little, she noticed that he didn't have the ability to hold it up any longer because he was so tired.
"Stay here." He said softly, while his eyes closed. Noelle gave him an odd look and he could obviously sense it because a lazy smile tugged at the edges of his lips.
"I know how tempting it can be to wander around, but I need you to stay here. If you get into trouble out there, I can't help." His eyes fluttered and he peeked up at Noelle who was grinning and shaking her head.
"You couldn't help even if you wanted to." She replied. Mac nodded and lifted his hand, putting it over his side. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for him to sleep while in pain, he'd told her not to go anywhere, but she needed to find something to give him some relief. Nabil had made her leave the bag which meant she had no bandages and no antibiotics. She had nothing to work with and she couldn't just sit by and watch him suffer, not when this was all on her.
"Just stay." He whispered. She could tell he was drifting off and she hoped his pain was lessening, at least a little bit. Noelle glanced over her shoulder and saw that Aya was sitting on the couch, looking very tired, but since Noelle only spoke English, she needed Aya. She still wasn't sure she could trust her, but right now Aya was all Noelle had as far as help went. Noelle watched Mac for a little bit longer, waiting until his breathing evened out. Once she was sure he was sleeping, she stood up and walked over to the couch. She didn't want to leave him alone, she didn't trust anyone here, but if she was going to help Mac then she had to take some risks. Aya glanced up as she came over.
"I need to find bandages, tape, antibiotics, and pain medication." Noelle said. Aya stood up and shook her head.
"They won't let us leave." She said.
"His bandages have to be changed often and if I can't change them he'll get an infection, if he gets an infection, he dies because I have no antibiotics to treat it. He's in constant pain and there's nothing I can do to help, please Aya, I need help." Noelle said. Aya glanced around the space and frowned.
"One of us has to stay to cover for the other." Aya said.
"I can't communicate with anyone, but you don't know what to get." Noelle said.
"Can you explain to me?" Aya asked. Noelle glanced back at where Mac was sleeping, his brows were pulled together in obvious discomfort. She couldn't just let him lie there. After a few moments she nodded and turned toward the kitchen, it only took her a minute to find paper and a pencil where she quickly scribbled down what she needed. She also wrote down some different medicines that could be combined for the same effects in case pain medicine or antibiotics couldn't be found. She passed the note to Aya who read over it slowly and then nodded. When Aya walked toward the back of the house Noelle raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"What are you doing?" she asked. Aya smirked and paused beneath one of three windows in the home.
"I can't go out the front door. They'll never let me. This is the only way." Aya nodded to the window. Noelle watched as Aya slowly opened the window, trying to make as little noise as possible. She didn't know who she could trust, but if someone was willing to climb out a window for her, and risk being caught and punished, then Noelle could give her the benefit of the doubt. Noelle stepped forward and grabbed the bottom of the window, pushing it up and holding it open while Aya hoisted herself up and straddled the frame.
"Help me." Aya waved her hands. Noelle locked the window in place and then grabbed Aya's hands and stood on her tip-toes to help Aya lower herself to the ground.
"I'll be as quick as possible." Aya whispered. Noelle nodded and let the window close gently while she watched Aya run off. Noelle's nerves began as soon as Aya was gone. What would she do if Nabil, Salim, or Khyri came in looking for Aya? What would happen if Aya was caught? They wouldn't kill Mac, but would they kill Noelle? Doctors and even nurses were hard to come by, but an English-speaking person wasn't hard to find. Aya had put her life in danger to help Mac, why? Noelle did believe there were good people in the world, but she wasn't nearly as naïve as most when it came to trusting others. Did Aya have an ulterior motive? Was she helping in order to get something in the future? Or was it possible that she was setting Noelle up?
Noelle paced in front of the window until she heard a small noise from the bed. Mac's eyebrows were drawn closer together and wrinkles marred his forehead. She made her way over and stood, staring down at him. He was still sleeping, but not peacefully, and she imagined it wasn't a deep sleep either. He'd lost a good deal of blood and while the bleeding had slowed, it still concerned her. She hadn't been able to properly flush and clean his wound, hopefully Aya would find something that would assist Noelle in that, being able to clean it would go far in preventing an infection, which would be deadly. Either way, there was nothing she could do now except wait. She sat down on the bed and curled a leg beneath her, after carefully propping her chin on her knee, she let her eyes roam over Mac. Despite his sleep, he still looked exhausted. His strong jaw was clenched and his broad shoulders were pressed deeply into the bed while his long lithe fingers were wound into the blankets beneath him. Anyone with two eyes could see how handsome Mac was, she'd noticed the first time she'd laid eyes on him, she'd just been too busy worrying about him to admire it. Noelle let her eyes run across his face and down his strong features and she found herself wondering if he was married. Noelle smirked at the thought, she couldn't think of Mac as a husband no matter how hard she tried. He didn't seem like someone who wanted to be anyone's husband, he was young and free spirited, being tied down wouldn't suit him, Noelle could see that. She reached up and lightly brushed his light blonde hair back from his forehead. His skin was already so pale that Noelle wasn't sure she'd even be able to tell if he began to get sick.
"Look at yourself Ellie, your only ally might be dying. What now?" She chuckled in spite of herself and ran her hand over her face.
"I take offense to that." Mac mumbled causing Noelle to jerk.
"How long have you been awake?" she asked, watching as his eyes opened just a little.
"I drifted for a few minutes, it's hard to sleep." He said. He was looking at the furthest wall, his forehead still wrinkled.
"I know, it must be. I'll find something to help with the pain, I swear." She said.
"Two questions." He said softly. Noelle could hear the weakness in his voice and it tugged at her heart roughly.
"Ok Mac." Noelle nodded and peered down at him.
"Do you really think I'm dying?" he asked. Noelle felt her heart hammer harder and her stomach dropped. She looked down at Mac and watched his eyes drift up toward the ceiling and then back down to her face, when she saw the humor in them and his barely contained smile. Noelle frowned and she nearly hit him as her heart beat slowed.
"You're such an ass." She shook her head and pressed her cheek into her knee, trying to force her emotions to calm down. Mac chuckled a little and it only made Noelle angrier, so she narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm sorry, really." He continued to smirk and it was so close to a normal one that Noelle couldn't help but forgive his attempt at humor. She chuckled a little and soon she found herself laughing rather than chuckling, which made Mac laugh as well, but as soon as he let out a throaty laugh, he hissed in pain and his eyes clenched. Noelle stopped laughing immediately and looked down, she reached for him, but Mac put a hand up stopping her.
"I'm fine." He said quietly.
"That's what you get." Noelle mumbled, she didn't mean it, she didn't want him to be in pain, but her earlier aggravation was placated by the fact that he'd caused himself pain. Mac huffed, but it sounded more like a noise of laughter.
"That's actually really mean of you, I'm shocked." He said, his eyes were still closed, though not as tightly.
"You're shocked that I'm mean?" Noelle asked.
"Yeah, nothing about you looks even close to mean." He said. Noelle felt her resolve soften. Mac finally opened his eyes and Noelle searched the beautiful color hoping to find a relaxed look, instead she found only pain.
"Mac I'm so sorry this happened to you." she said suddenly, guilt whipping through her.
"Who calls you Ellie?" he asked, completely ignoring her guilt filled words. Noelle was thrown by the question and the fact that he didn't even acknowledge her statement.
"My brother did." Noelle said, her words were slow and deliberate, answering just his question and no more. Mac nodded and looked out toward the living room area.
"We need to find a way out of here." He said slowly. Noelle peered down at him and his eyelids were fluttering, she put her hand over his forehead, checking his temperature, it was fine. Noelle looked down at his bandages and once again, Mac caught her venturing hands.
"I'm not dying yet, just tired." He whispered.
"I know…I know." Noelle sighed.