Chapter 19: Speechless

Finishing the last swallow of coffee, Angelica stared at the back of the hospital room door, where there was a poster proclaiming Chuck's rights as a patient. Next to her on the table she could feel Chuck shift in discomfort, his paper gown crinkling loudly, and his thigh brushed up against hers. Her breath caught at the sudden contact.

"Angie?"

Why had she told him that story? She'd asked herself that question even during the telling. There was still no good reason.

"What is it, Finster?" But that wasn't what she'd meant to say. Wasn't what she wanted to say.

"Why did you … I mean, do you still … uh, back then, when you … " Tongue-tied, Chuck trailed off with a loud frustrated sigh, and had it been in another context, Angelica would have laughed.

But it wasn't in another context. She shut her eyes. So very inadvisable. After several interminably long moments of silence, she heard him clear his throat.

"Chuck, whatever it is, just spit it out for God's sake." She sighed, feeling suddenly tired. "You know I'm not a particularly patient woman."

She felt cold fingers graze the back of her hand, and her eyes flew open in surprise. She turned to look at Chuck and saw that he was looking at her and wearing his half-smile. A lump rose in her throat when she noticed his left eye, a dark ugly bruise already framing it, looking so very wrong against his otherwise pale skin.

Fresh, sharp anger rose within her chest. Matt would pay for doing this to Chuck. Oh, how she would make that creep pay.

He was squinting just a little because of his nearsightedness, and Angelica couldn't help noting how beautiful his brilliant green eyes were. They always had been, but they were more easily seen when he wasn't wearing his glasses. Those same eyes were perfectly inscrutable as he whispered, "You are the most amazing woman I have ever known."

For perhaps the first time in her life, Angelica found that she was completely speechless.

Meanwhile his eyes just kept staring into hers, and she felt that he was looking right through her. That should have made her feel uneasy, but instead it filled her with an odd sense of warmth. Without stopping to think, she reached forward and ran her fingers through his unruly red mane. He closed his eyes, and she pulled him towards her.

As she kissed him gently, mindful of his injuries, she found herself noticing that his lips were slightly chapped. A moment later, she realized she didn't mind. She felt Chuck reach up and cup her face in his hands. When she finally pulled away, breathing hard, she saw that his eyes were no longer inscrutable—they were filled with awe and longing. Angelica smiled and wondered, a bit uneasily, what her own eyes revealed.

Chuck opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get out a word, the door opened. The doctor who'd just stepped in looked from Chuck to Angelica to Chuck. He pursed his lips.

"Hi," said Chuck, blushing a little.

Angelica rolled her eyes.

Seeming a bit uncomfortable, the doctor cleared his throat. "Mr. Finster," he said, glancing down at his clipboard, "all your tests are in. You don't seem to have any brain trauma nor broken bones. Congratulations."

Angelica breathed out a silent sigh of relief. Next to her Chuck reached over and gave her hand a small squeeze.

The doctor, with still-pursed lips, looking for all the world like he'd just sucked on a lemon, continued, "You're free to leave whenever you're ready. Just drop by the nurses' station to sign some paperwork on your way out." The doctor headed back towards the door, turning back to add, in a tone of barely-repressed revulsion, "You might want to consider getting dressed again before you leave, by the way."

While Chuck's jaw dropped and he stammered in embarrassment, Angelica grinned. "He's right, you know. I'm afraid that paper gown doesn't work with your skin tone at all."

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Author's Notes: This was perhaps my favorite chapter to write, for obvious reasons. But wait! There's still more to come! We haven't heard from Dil and Kim in a while, and what's up with Tom and Lil, huh? All this and more shall be revealed.