Chapter 7
I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again, trying to block out the intense fluorescent light that flooded a white room. I groaned, wanting it all to go away. Someone was instantly at my side.
"Eliza, are you awake?" It was Ian. I opened my eyes and squinted at him. He smiled and sighed, relieved. I tried to ssit up, but he held me down gently.
"Don't, you need to rest." He said. I looked around the room.
"Am I in the hospital?" I asked. He nodded. I was quiet for a few seconds, trying to remember why.
"Is Anthony ok? Is he here?" I said in a rush, remembering his blood dripping onto the floor.
"Shhh, yes, Anthony is fine. They ran some tests on him- apparently he was drunk. While I was getting some food he tried to drink his worries away, and, well, he certainly wasn't himself. But they have him on watch; he had to get 4 stitches." Ian said.
"Why am I here, though? I'm fine." I said, pushing his hands aside and sitting up. Before I could swing my legs out of the bed an intense pain kindled in my left temple, and the world started to tilt dangerously. Ian eased me down before I could black out, and he touched my head gently where the pain was. I winced, then reached my fingers tentatively up there too. I had a good part of my head swaddled in bandages.
"When you fell, you hit hour head on the corner of the counter. You got away with only 2 stitches, but you also got a concussion." Ian said quietly. He grasped my fingers and sat down with me on the bed. I looked over towards the guest chairs, which were empty.
"Is… is Ev here?" I asked.
"He went over to talk with Anthony a few minutes ago, he'll be back soon." Ian said soothingly. I flinched, because I didn't know what Ev and Anthony were going to exactly talk about. Thinking it was from pain, Ian kissed my fingertips.
"How long until I'm able to go?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Depending on how you do, tomorrow morning or a few days."
"How long was I out?"
"About 7 hours."
I sighed and tiled my head back to look at the ceiling. I wanted to rest.
"Ian?"
"Yeah?"
"Stay with me…" I thought I heard him speak and felt him kiss my forehead, but my eyes closed to fast and I couldn't open them again. So I slept.
When I woke again there was nobody holding my hand. I looked over to see Ev sitting watching me in the chair, with Ian curled up sleeping in another. I smiled and Ev.
"Hey." I said quietly. Ev leaned forward and pressed his lips to his fingers, tersely.
"Hey." He said.
"Ian said you went over to talk with Anthony…" I ventured after a few tense seconds. Ev nodded.
"He explained what happened and how it was his fault." Ev said. He looked deep into my eyes.
"Ms. Eliza, you don't fully understand how deep you get yourself into the minds of men." He said slowly. I blinked, struggling to understand the words. How on earth could that be me? The unlikeliness of it made me giggle, but giggling made the pain flood my head. Before I could stop myself, I whimpered.
Ev was sitting next to me in an instant, holding my hand with one of his and tracing the contours of my face gently.
"It's ok, I'm here." He said, a small smile lighting up his face. I smiled back, but then started to cry, remembering the fights we had and the scale of what I had done, how it compared to what I said I wouldn't do.
"Ev, you must hate me now." I sobbed, burying my head in the pillow. Suddenly Ian was awake.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, sitting bolt upright in his chair, hair mussed up.
"Could you give us a minute?" Ev asked gently. Ian nodded and rose, leaving the room. He patted my leg comfortingly on the way out. Once I finished hiccupping I started to talk again.
"Ev, I'm so sorry. I should have told you but I thought I made it clear to Anthony that I was staying with you. I didn't know the matter would resurface and I didn't think it would have been necessary to tell you, but I should have. Ev, I'm so sorry, I don't think you'll ever be able to trust me again." I said, big fat tears rolling down my cheeks. He silently brushed them away with his thumb. Waiting for me to calm down before he spoke, he was silent.
"Elizabeth, I know that the situation was more than you could have handled. I am proud that you stuck by me, and it makes me an even luckier man to be chosen over a guy like Anthony." When I raised an eyebrow at that, he shrugged and said "Anthony is a good looking guy, I'll give him that. But when we were talking, he apologized profusely and explained how you were upset by his actions. He knew it was not his place. I forgive him for that, and I forgive you. The good relationships are always the rocky ones, after all." He said with a smile. I smiled back, and he kissed me softly on the lips.
"I love you, Ev. I'm so sorry." I whispered, my hands cupping his face. I felt him smile and peck the corner of my mouth.
"I'm sorry too, I need to give you some slack." He whispered back. As his lips skimmed my jawline, he whispered "I love you too, Eliza."
We were able to sit talking for a while after that, holding hands. He massaged the center of my palm with his thumb, relaxing me all over. Soon my visiting hours were over, and I slept dreaming of him rubbing my back as we watched snow fall back in Vermont.
I was let out the nest morning, and I walked as fast as I could without pitching over to see Anthony. When I saw him lying there, tubes in his arm, the tears came out before I could stop them. As silently as I could, I sat on the hospital bed next to him and took his hand. He smiled in his sleep, and I brushed his hair out of his eyes. I sat there holding his hand until he woke up, sleepy eyes focusing on me.
"Hey sweetie, how ya doing?" I said, smiling. He shifted a bit and squeezed my hand.
"I feel… better." He said slowly, stretching his limbs. His smile fell. "Eliza, I'm so sorry, I hope I didn't ruin anything…" he said. I placed a finger on his lips before he could say any more.
"We worked it out, and Ev said he forgives you and I." Anthony sighed, obviously relieved, and stroked my hand with his thumb. We sat there in a companionable silence for a while, just being together. I broke the silence, even though I liked it.
"Anthony, We can still be friends, right? Really good friends?" I didn't like the way it came out, so I hung my head, embarrassed. But Anthony just laughed and turned my chin towards me.
"Of course we can. I would never give up the opportunity to be with someone like you." He said softly. I smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.
"When are you being released?" I asked. Anthony shrugged.
"I dunno, at least a week. They want to make sure that if it was some depression issue or whatever that I don't go home with suicidal thoughts again, and once I'm home I'm instructed to be quiet and rest. Ian's gonna make a vid to tell the fans, because Smosh will be paused until I can function again."
I bit my lip, remembering that they still had videos to make. I felt a pang of guilt, but hid it by pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"Well, you had better get well soon." I said, getting up to leave. Just then, the nurse came in with a checkboard.
"Alright, Mr. Padilla, the doctor is going to come in soon and examine you to see how you are doing, but I'm going to run some preliminary tests- Oh, Eliza, is that you?"
I recognized the voice, but I never thought I would hear it again. I turned around slowly on one heel, and there stood Sarah. When she saw my face, she laughed and pulled me into a hug.
"Oh, Elizabeth, it's been so long!" She laughed. I laughed nervously and pulled away.
"Yeah, it has been a while. What are you doing in Sacramento?"
"I was going to answer the same question to you!"
"Well, Ev and I wanted a change of scenery, See some different landscapes together."
"Oh, I see! I didn't know you and Ev were still together! Is he still as adorable as ever? Oh, how I wish I could see him again, it was so nice to hang out with him!"
She probably didn't mean her comment about Ev in an offensive way, but it still set my teeth on edge.
"Oh, I'm sure you had plenty of fun times together." I said tersely, a fake smile plastered to my face.
"Wait, so you guys know each other?" Anthony said. Sarah laughed.
"Yeah, we were best friends! We watched Smosh videos all the time, didn't we? Which reminds me, Elizabeth, how do you know Anthony?" Sarah asked. I sighed, remembering how we would fangirl over Ian and Anthony. Life certainly has it's twists and turns planned out for you.
"Oh, well, we're neighbors." I said, acting like it's no big deal. But Sarah's jaw still dropped.
"No way!" She screeched. I winced and nodded, thinking of some way to escape.
"Well, it was nice seeing you again Sarah, but I need to go home now, so… Bye Anthony, hope you feel better!" I pressed another kiss to his forehead and quickly exited the room, closing the foor behind me, wondering what this twist would offer up in terms of the future.
