It was sure to be the family joke until I died. I could almost hear Simon now, at every family gathering, re-telling the old story of how Chloe wanted Derek to look after her so badly that she threw herself down a flight of stairs.
Of course he'd leave out the details that he dismissed as "unimportant", like the fact that during my fall I'd broken my femur which is incredibly painful and takes forever to heal, and that my fall was more because I was trying to push Tori out of the way of a spell than a deep-rooted desire to be babied for weeks by Derek.
But that didn't stop Derek from growling at Simon, or Kit from biting the inside of his cheek to hide his smile as he and Aunt Lauren lectured Simon while Tori laughed at his discomfiture. And where was I for all this? After getting my leg set by a shaman at a supernatural clinic under a false name, I decided I'd had enough of my family for the day and popped a pain pill. Bye-bye family squabbles, hello happy land. I fell asleep with a blissful smile on my face.
When I woke up, Derek was easing me out of the car.
"Where are we?" I mumbled, completely disoriented but still happily pain-free for the moment.
"We're back at the motel." He carried me through the front doors and down the hall to the "girls'" room as Tori went ahead to unlock the door. Derek carried me into the umpteenth bland room we'd stayed in and laid me carefully on the bed as Aunt Lauren fussed with pillows, getting my leg propped up and fluffing up more to stuff behind my back.
"I'm fine," I yawned. "Just a little thirsty though." My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.
Derek, bless him, was already coming back from the fridge with a bottle of water in hand, easily twisting off the evil cap that never failed to splatter me if I attempted to open it on my own.
"Thank you," I mouthed, gratefully downing half the bottle in a long swallow.
Tori hopped onto her bed and crossed her legs, flicking her hair behind her shoulder. "So she can't walk?" she asked Aunt Lauren. Derek rolled his eyes at her and came to sit on the foot of my bed, careful not to jostle me.
"No thanks to you," he muttered."
Aunt Lauren sighed. "Don't you two start, please. And, no, Tori. In a couple of weeks the cast can be changed for something a little less…well-"
"Mummy-like?" I quipped, eyeing the white bandages that encased my left leg up to my hip.
"Sure. For now, though, Tori and I will take turns being on call."
"On call for what?" Derek asked as he took the empty bottle and brought me a second one without waiting for me to ask.
"For everything," she replied. "Books, magazines, you name it, we'll bring it. You're officially on bed rest for the next couple of weeks, kiddo."
Tori sighed, but then her brown eyes widened. "Wait! Chloe, you can't walk at all?"
"Nope," I replied cheerfully. Wow. These were some fantastic drugs. I giggled. I was as high as a kite. Derek noted my glazed eyes and a little smile touched his lips before it fled at Tori's next comment.
"Lauren, I'm not doing bathroom runs."
Aunt Lauren sighed again. "Yes, Tori, I know. I'll take care of helping Chloe to the bathroom." She eyed the second empty water bottle I was placing in Derek's outstretched hand. "And I'm guessing you'll be ready for one of those pretty soon."
I shrugged apologetically, the buzz from the painkillers keeping me from embarrassment. "Sorry. I'm really thirsty."
"Side effect from the pills," she said absently, listening as Derek stooped to murmur something to her. Her eyes widened and she wrenched her head around to glare at him. "What?"
He stood his ground, arms crossed, which did interesting things to his biceps, I noted with a little titter. God. I really was stoned. Chloe Saunders doesn't titter. Ever.
"I said that I'll take care of her," he said loudly enough for Tori and I to hear.
Aunt Lauren sputtered, cheeks reddening. "Derek, don't be ridiculous!"
Wrong argument, I thought, a little uncomfortable with the idea, but not really bothered by it. After all, I had seen Derek at his worst; helping me to and from the bathroom and fetching magazines didn't sound as bad as watching someone's bones re-arrange themselves while spewing vomit everywhere. He was getting off easy, the lucky bum.
He cleared his throat and used what I called his "you're wrong but I'll try to tell you that nicely instead of saying you're stupid" voice. "Actually, Lauren, it's more ridiculous for you and Tori to look after Chloe alone. You're either going to hurt yourselves or her trying to lift her or move her."
Eyebrows lowering, Aunt Lauren matched his glower. "I can take care of Chloe very well without your help-"
He waved a hand to brush off her protest. "Of course you can take care of her," he said impatiently. "But you're going to have trouble lifting her."
I scowled, my amusement at their back-and-forth argument while I sat right over here gone. "Are you calling me fat?"
He actually rolled his eyes at me as Tori snorted with laughter. "You're stoned on pain meds, right now. Of course I'm not calling you fat."
Tori cleared her throat. "Lauren, as much as it pains me to admit it, wolfie's got a point. He lugs her around like she's his teddy bear already. There's no way he'd drop her. I can't say that I wouldn't."
"But…" We all waited for Aunt Lauren's comeback, but after looking at me, she shook her head. "Fine, as long as Chloe's alright with it."
I nodded, which made the room spin. I was clutching my head with both hands as the bedroom door opened to admit Kit and Simon.
"Derek giving you migraines again?" Simon asked, grinning. "You should've gone with me, love. Eternal servitude, remember?"
I rolled my eyes at him, which just made me dizzier. Stupid pain pill trippiness.
"Ok, so Derek'll stay in here with you ladies then?" Kit asked, leaning back against the closed door.
Tori groaned. "Fan-freaking-tastic. I've always wanted to wake up and find people doing it in the bed next to me."
Derek choked on his mouthful of water. Aunt Lauren nearly dislocated a vertebrae spinning around to pin him with an icy glare. "What?"
Simon let out a guffaw but shut up after Kit grabbed him by the ear. "Ow. Jeez, dad, I was just-"
"Uh huh," Kit said. "This is one of those times where you'd be better off being quite, buddy."
"Yes, sir." Kit let go of his ear with a resigned sigh and went over to pound Derek on the back.
"Honestly, Tori," he sighed, "I meant that this way Chloe just has to wake him up instead of waking Lauren up to ask her to go get him in our room." He added a semi-threatening whack to make his point. "That's all, right, bud?"
"Right," Derek wheezed and I cleared my throat. All eyes turned to me and I chose my words carefully, proud of the progress I've made lately with my stutter and not wanting to ruin that.
"Now that that's been settled, I could really use a bathroom break, please." Not a single blush or stutter after announcing to a roomful of people that I needed to pee. These pills were awesome.
After a long look between Derek and I, Aunt Lauren harrumphed quietly. "Of course, hon."
Simon winked at me as he opened the door. "Lauren, why don't you and Tori grab some cards or something and spend the afternoon in our room so Chloe can rest?"
Grabbing her laptop, Tori bee-lined for the door, fake-punching Simon in the stomach as she passed. He flinched and she laughed. "Sucker."
Aunt Lauren kissed my forehead and reluctantly let Kit usher her out. In the silence that was broken only by Derek's soft breathing, I let my eyes slide closed but then forced them back open.
"Pee now, sleep later," I muttered to myself, using my arms to shift towards the edge of the bed.
"Here, let me." Derek's arm slid carefully behind the backs of my thighs as his other arm curled around my back. Without even a tiny grunt of effort, he lifted me and manoeuvred my awkward cast around the bathroom doorframe.
Conveniently, the motel bathroom had a handrail next to the toilet, so Derek carefully lowered me to my un-broken right leg and waited until the head rush had passed before letting go.
"Can you manage from here?" he asked with his usual bluntness, but the tips of his ear were red. Silently thanking the heavens that I didn't need help shimmying my loose sweats and underwear down, I nodded.
But instead of leaving, he turned his back. What was he doing?
"Uh, Derek?"
"What?"
"You can't stay."
"Why not?"
It took an effort, but I restrained myself from bopping him with the toilet brush.
"Because I have to pee," I said slowly, like I was talking to a child.
He muttered something that I'm sure I'm better off not knowing and turned the faucet on full blast.
"There. Now I can't hear anything."
Yeah, right. Normal people wouldn't hear anything, but Mr. Bionic Ears over here definitely would.
"Derek…" I sighed.
"Chloe.." he replied evenly.
"I'll be fine. Can you just wait outside, please?"
"No."
"Derek." I felt him starting to cave. "Please?"
He grunted but left, closing the door behind him.
"Can you hear me now?" I whispered, barely able to hear myself over the rushing noise of the water.
"You know I can," he grumbled from beyond the door. "Now stop being such a baby and pee already."
"Cover your ears," I ordered, squirming. I really had to go.
"Jesus…Ok, they're covered." He sighed. "I'll hum, too, how's that?" He started humming the chorus to Daydream Believer, probably one of the only songs he knew the tune to.
Mushy feelings filled me and I smiled widely, alone in the bathroom. "I love you," I whispered, half-hoping he'd hear me. I hadn't gotten up the courage to say it to his face yet. No answer. "Derek?" Still nothing. Oh, well. This wasn't the best way to do the whole momentous declaration of love thing anyways.
So finally, to the tune of running water and my boyfriend's off-key rendition of Daydream Believer, I peed. Picturing this scene made me laugh, and when I finally knocked on the wall to call Derek back in, he found me still high on painkillers, weaving on my one good leg, clutching the handrail next to the toilet, convulsing with giggles. I must have looked like a total head case, and it says a lot about my werewolf that he only sighed, scooped me up, tucked me back into bed and curled up beside me until I fell asleep, still humming tunelessly to me. But that's Derek, you know?