Chapter sixteen

Dylan was sitting in a chair beside Zoe's bed. His hair was scruffier than usual, his stubble more rugged and his shirt was crumpled. He had stayed the night, refusing to leave her side. Sam had offered to stay with her whilst he went home to sleep but he had passed off the offer, telling her he'd be fine here.

Zoe was hooked up to an IV line. Her face was bruised and scarred and a bandage was wrapped around her head. A bandage also covered her chin.

When Zoe awoke from her drug filled sleep she saw Dylan fast asleep in the arm chair and couldn't help but smile to herself. Only, smiling hurt. Everything hurt. She stretched and moved her arms and legs in an attempt to assess the damage that had been done. She came to the conclusion that the worst of the damage was to her right side as that was where most of the pain was originating from. She had found that Mrs Kennington had done a number to her head too as it was throbbing. Darting her eyes around the room she scoured for some pain relief. Finding none she sunk back into her bed and waited for someone to come.

Several minutes after Zoe had awoken, Dylan awoke too. His eyes lazily fluttered open revealing his beautifully blue eyes. He sat himself up straight and put his arms in the air, opening his mouth as wide as he could, he clenched his shoulder blades together causing his spine to click and then relaxed his body into the chair. He caught glimpse of Zoe looking at him and smiled at her.

Standing, he walked over to her bedside and took hold of her stray hand. He brought it to his lips slowly before pressing it against his soft pale lips.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked her compassionately.

Zoe shrugged her shoulders slightly trying not to agitate the pain in her side further. "I've felt better." She let out a small sigh, "How bad is it?"

Dylan's smile faded and he released her hand, "It's not as bad as it could have been."

Zoe's voice was stern but the underlying shakiness to her tone showed that she was scared, "Dylan, how bad is it?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand, "Well, you, um, you have a couple bruised ribs and you needed four stitches in your right side. You also split your chin and required six stitches there." He looked down at his feet and tapped his toes gently.

Zoe looked at him, "What else Dylan? I need to know."

After a short period of him Dylan returned her gaze, "You also have a hairline skull fracture. If agitated it could cause a bleed on your prefrontal cortex. The area of the brain that is responsible for natural thought which means-"

"I know what it could mean." She snapped at him

He sighed and turned to sit on her bed. He lay down beside her and brushed a tear away from her face with his thumb. Looking into her brown eyes he could see how scared she really was. He moved closer to her and allowed her head to rest on his chest. He gently caressed the back of her head before moving his hand to the bandage on her head. Whilst his casted hand lay on her back the other one was busy running fingers over the bandage, feeling the fabric overlap as it went around her skull.

They both lay there listening to the sound of their breath and the sound of their hearts beating together and for a while they both forgot their troubles.

It wasn't until Zoe felt a sharp pain in her side that caused her to jolt up and off of Dylan's chest. She sat hunched over, with her hand clutching her right side. She moaned under her breath.

Dylan slid himself off the bed and took her by the shoulders, trying to make her sit up.

"Where's the pain?" he questioned her

"My right side. Just below my ribs" she said behind gritted teeth.

She was still hunched over with her eyes tightly shut. He knew he had to do something to make the pain go away so he looked around the room. When he clocked a crash cart at the end of the room he went to it and flung open the cupboard doors. Brushing his hands over the contents he found a syringe and a small bottle of morphine. Sticking the syringe into the bottle top he drew out 2mg of morphine and hurried back to Zoe's side where he jabbed the needle into her IV line.

It took a while but the medication soon kicked in and Dylan laid her back onto the bed.

Zoe's eyes were closed but her vitals were normal. She was just sleeping.

Dylan bent over her and kissed her forehead before leaving to fetch her attending. He needed to know what put her in such discomfort but most of all, he needed his Zoe.