phew! i finally got this chapter done ! took me forever! so enjoy !

Disclaimer: I wish I owned something. but i don't.

1 month after Nick is out of the hospital.

(Nick's POV) Wednesday October 28, 2001

I'm surprised that Miley hasn't gotten sick of me yet. It sucks being confined to a bed 24 hours a day, but I'm coping. In order for me to be "bedridden," Joe and Kevin moved our recliner that we had to the office and pushed the couch all the way to the wall. Then they moved in a twin bed that rests against the other wall. Miley has been going to her classes two days a week and working 4 days a week; she enrolled in NYU and got a job waitressing to help pay my medical bills, so usually Kevin or my mom come over to keep me company. My parents told her that she doesn't have to pay for my bills; she said she felt bad and they settled for her paying half. Joe is here every other day; I guess he was really scared about losing me. I appreciate everything that everyone has been doing for me, and when I got out of the hospital, I blatantly told everyone not to pity me or baby me. I said that I would tell them if something wasn't right, or something hurt, stuff like that. I don't want them to feel sorry for me, they have no reason to. And I'm handling everything really well, much to everyone's surprise. I guess being in bed with nothing to do but read, watch t.v., or write does that to you. I've been doing a lot of thinking; thinking about the wedding, our future, just little things in life. Joe left about 10 minutes ago, Miley had called him and told him she got out of class early and was on her way home.

Speaking of Miley, I hear the lock click and the door of our apartment open. Miley's tinkling laugh can be heard from a distance; I assume she is on the phone. I hear her say, "I'll see you tomorrow Lils," and hang up her phone. She walks into the living room and sets her school bag down by the love seat before coming over to my bed and sitting on the edge of it.

"Hey, beautiful," I say, kissing her lightly.

She returns the kiss, bringing her hand up to stroke my face. She pulls away and smiles. "Hey," she says softly, "how was your day?"

"Nothing special," I shrug my shoulders. "Joe came over today." I pull her closer to me, slipping my arms around her waist. She leans into me, being mindful of the IV line and catheter running in between us.

"Oh?"

I smiled. "Yeah, and I beat him at Monopoly 9 times."

She laughed, and I joined her. Once we both recovered, I asked her, "How was class?"

Miley made a face and said, "Boring. The professor assigned us a paper to write due Monday on something utterly ridiculous."

She rested her head on my chest as I wrapped my arms tighter around her body. We stay like this for a few seconds before I offer, "I'll help you start writing it tonight, if you'd like."

She picks her head up and looks at me. "You'd really do that? For me?"

I kiss the tip of her nose and say, "Of course. It's not like I can get up and move around like the busy bee my fiancée has been."

That got a smile from her, a smile she only reserved for me.

"How's your sugar level?"

I lift up the sleeve of my t-shirt and check my Omnipod. It's a little lower than normal.

"It was fine earlier when I checked it, but now it's a little low."

She untangles my arms from her waist and gets up. I pout, sticking out my bottom lip. She kisses it quickly, and then says, "Hungry? I brought home Chinese."

"Starved."

Miley disappears into the kitchen while I turn on the news. Every now and then, they post a report on the plot to catch Osama Bin Laden. And every time one of those reports comes on, I change the channel. 9-11 is so raw and fresh in my mind, it hurts so much to even think about it. Miley knows not to bring it up unless I do first. But what she doesn't know is that I think about it constantly. Joe, Kevin, and I talk about it when they come over to keep me company. I don't know what it is, but I am able to talk freely about it with my brothers than anyone else in my family. Maybe it's because of the bond we have, or the fact that they worked in the towers. Whatever it is, I wish I could talk to Miley about it like the way I talk about it to Joe and Kevin. I think the main reason as to why I refrain from talking about it to Miley is because she was so terrified of losing me, and that took a toll on her. From what I was told, Miley refused to talk to anyone but my unconscious form in the hospital, so to speak, and put up a wall around herself. She wouldn't even talk to Lilly, her best friend; that says a lot.

Miley comes back into the living room carrying two plates laden with Chinese food. I accept the plates with a word of thanks and she goes to get drinks. She comes back in with a bottle of orange Gatorade for me and a bottle of water for herself. I hand her plate to her, and before I start to eat, I open the Gatorade and take a couple of sips, then reset my insulin level.

We both eat in silence for a while, the TV on in the background. Once I finished, she took my plate and hers and put them in the dishwasher. She comes back into the living room and grabs her school bag, opening it and pulling out her laptop.

She boots up her computer while I play with her hair. She swats me away playfully, only to capture my lips in a heated passionate kiss.

"What do you say we leave the paper till tomorrow and watch a movie tonight?" I murmured, as I broke away from the kiss.

Miley looked up from checking her email and smiled. "That sounds nice. Promise you'll help me tomorrow? I don't have class."

"Of course I'll help you."

She kisses me on the cheek and then looks at my IV.

"Do you want more morphine?"

I shake my head. "No, I should be good till tomorrow."

My doctor decided to keep me on morphine for a month after I got out of the hospital, but he's slowly weaning me away from it. After being on such high doses of it at the hospital, he told me he didn't want me to become morphine dependent. He only gave a certain amount of the drug to last me the entire month, so if I use it all before I go back to the hospital, I'll have to deal with the pain. I only try to use the morphine when the pain gets unbearable.

Miley goes to change, reappearing a minute later in a pair of sweatpants and one of my v-neck t-shirts.

"Nice shirt," I comment her as she puts National Treasure in the DVD player. She pulls a face at me before saying; "it helps me sleep at night, since you can't be in the same bed as me."

I smile at that, because Miley is about to get some good news.

"Why are you smiling at me?" Damn, she caught me looking.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that I got some good news concerning your sleeping habits."

She looks puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"My doctor called me today and told me that it was alright for you to sleep with me from now on. He didn't want you to sleep with me right after I got out of the hospital because he didn't want anything to go wrong."

Miley's eyes lit up as soon as I finished speaking. "Really? I can sleep next to you now?"

I nodded. "So what are you waiting for? Get over here."

She immediately came over to me and lay down next to me, being as careful as she can to not touch my legs. "Miley, you're not going to hurt me. Trust me baby, I'll tell you if you're hurting me."

She relaxes against me, her head on my chest, my arms around her waist. We watch the movie in a comfortable silence.

When the movie is over and the credits are rolling on the screen, I look over to Miley and notice that she is sound asleep. I smile to myself, kiss her forehead, and move her head to the pillow next to me. Turning the TV off, I lie back on my pillow and close my eyes, awaiting sleep to overcome me. My dreams take me to places unimaginable, free of any pain. They take me to wherever Miley is, because with her, I am happy.