'I woke up in tears

With you by my side

A breath of relief, and I realized

No, we're not promised tomorrow.'

*ALTHEA'S POV*

November 2, 2023.

"Asher can't talk to you right now. He's in the ER because he fell during PT and hit his head."

"No, no, it's not possible." I shook my head, my trembling fingers digging into my palm, although I couldn't feel anything under the obliterating pain tearing through my chest.

I was living the nightmare again.

"I don't know how it happened. He wanted to do extra hours of PT, and I stayed with him. He lost balance, and I tried to hold him back, but I think I only pushed him more, and the next second he was already on the floor," Sarah rushed, her voice echoing faint and distant as she was probably whispering in a crowded hospital hallway.

Or maybe it was because I was the one traveling back to a cold waiting room, the day my world had crashed down.

"Tell him I'm coming, please."

"Wait, what—"

Her gasp was cut off as my phone's battery died down at this instant, and with it, my last indication of time, past and present blurring before my eyes.

The only thing leading me was this tug inside my chest, while everything happened as fast as flashes of color: the orange pendant my quivering hand clutched like some would have held prayer beads... the metal zipper of a still-filled suitcase... the blue 'sorry' I scribbled on a white card... the beige of the front door closing behind me... the red of a large apple on an airport sign... the purple silhouettes I glimpsed on the other side of endless aisles... the dots of light illuminating a square of darkness... the yellow car I jumped in...

... And finally, the wide brown of Carol's shocked stare.

"Althea?!" The nurse let me in as soon as she recovered from the initial shock of her night shift being interrupted by restless thuds on the backdoor, even if her eyes stayed as big and worried when she took in the suitcase behind me. "Oh god, Sarah didn't imagine it when you said you were coming. What are you doing here?"

"I need to see Asher. Where is he?" I glanced frantically around, in case his jade eyes would have miraculously appeared out of the darkness.

They didn't. Nevertheless, after waiting for so long, I found my glimmer of hope when Carol replied that he was in his bedroom, and I ran to the familiar forest-colored door before she couldn't even finish her sentence.

I couldn't risk anyone or anything stopping me, this time, not even the lock of the door, which my shaky fist was about to land on when Carol joined me with her master key.

"He's probably sleeping right now with the medication they gave him. But he's fine, don't worry."

She opened the door anyway, surely sensing that a 'fine' wouldn't be enough to let me breathe, and indeed, only when I walked into the quiet room and caught the steady sound of his faint snoring, did the oxygen reach my lungs.

Still, my respiration was as shaky and uncertain as my steps at the sight of his asleep figure on the bed, which the faint lighting of his bedside lamp illuminated just enough for me to take in the white bandage around his left wrist and the darkening bruise near his eye, and I realized how erratic my heart rate was as I felt the calm rhythm of his under my fingertips.

Yes, I was checking his pulse, and while he was too deep into sleep to let out more than a raspy sigh that sounded a lot like contentment, the nurse beside me undoubtedly noticed.

"He is fine. Because of his past injuries, he got a CAT scan to make sure there was no brain hematoma, and there's nothing. He just sprained his wrist, and you know him... Since he didn't feel the pain, it was hard to make him rest.

"That's why the doctors gave him some sleeping pills, and he'll surely be snoring for the rest of the night," she explained with a patient, almost knowing smile, as if she understood why I still hadn't let go of his hand, when I, myself, couldn't explain it. "But you can stay if you want."

Or maybe it was just a professional quirk as she pulled me a chair and offered to make me a hot milk, like she did with the kids calling her in the middle of the night because of the monsters haunting their sleep.

Was I really different from them, actually?

I'd rushed here as fast as I could, chased by ghosts of my past, traveling miles and miles, which hit me all at once as I plopped down on the seat, my knees giving out under the weight of this long day.

And yet, my hand was still holding shakily onto Asher's fingers as I whispered as faintly as a child's sob in the depths of the night, "No, thanks, I'll only stay a few minutes."

***

*ASHER'S POV*

November 3, 2023.

Warmth. That was the first thing I detected, my brain still too groggy to process from where, except that it was engulfing me whole, even the usual soreness in my muscles.

Fuck, what strong shit had the doctor given me?

I inhaled deeply, trying to clear my thoughts, but they only blurred more with the hints of a familiar perfume invading my nose.

The warmth. Now, I knew where it came from, and my heavy eyelids opened instantly to find the figure that, even in the dimness, I couldn't have missed.

My Peachy. She was seated right here, within hand-reach. Her fingers were even gripping mine, so delicately that I couldn't feel it.

I caught the heat of her top half resting on the mattress, though, her head even grazing my left thigh as she was fast asleep, her glasses half-fallen off her nose letting me see the light crease between her closed eyes, and her plump lips slightly parted... looking like a dream.

But that possibility was ruled out when a throbbing awakened through my skull within a few blinks, and the skip of my heart was too real as I tried to comprehend how long I'd been out this time.

I'd only tripped while standing from my full height and 'sprained my left wrist', from the last memory I had of the ER doctor sermonizing me.

Yet Althea wasn't supposed to be back until next week. I'd even set a countdown on my tablet, which my right hand discreetly reached for, finding back my old reflexes from high school.

Sneaking away from a chick worn out by orgasms was easier than releasing yourself from the grip of a woman cradled in worry, however, and I could once more notice how much agility I'd lost since then when Althea's soft voice stirred next to me.

"You're awake?"

Yes, and probably half the building too as I jumped, dropping the tablet on the floor.

"And you're here?" I turned to her again, not needing to check the date when I had her tired doe eyes, revealing more than a sundial: the bloodshot white, the shadows slowly drowning into the dark brown, and the few specks of light holding on to each of my blinks. "Not in New York?"

"Yeah, I called you, and Sarah told me you fell during PT, so I..." She rolled her lips together, as if trying to weigh her hoarse words before they could fall too heavily in the fragile atmosphere, but that second of silence crushed it even more. "I wanted to see you."

"I only sprained my wrist 'cause I didn't get a good luck kiss and tripped," I corrected.

What in hell had Sarah even told her?

"Yes, Carol told me when I arrived, but Sarah didn't get the time to explain because my battery died."

"So you t-traveled all the way from New York to check on me?" I asked slowly, my voice strained by the opposing emotions in the back of my throat: disbelief, anger, and joy.

Lots of disbelief for what she'd fucking done, the joy of seeing her like every time, no matter what happened, and anger, though not at her.

I was mad at my body for failing me, at fate for making it all happen the same day as she'd resigned, at her phone for cutting the call, and at every single thing that had made her rush to my bedside.

It was the reason why I'd lied to her three years ago. I didn't want her to sacrifice her dreams, her well-being, or even her sleep for me.

"I was supposed to come back next week, and I have a lot of free time anyway." She shrugged, the gesture way too light for the thousands of miles weighing on her small shoulders, and my chuckle too as I cocked an eyebrow.

"You know you could've also p-plugged in your phone and called again?"

I knew I should have cursed myself for making her go through all that shit—and I would later. But right now, she was so close, and I could have forgotten how and why she was here.

Mamma Mia, I could have forgotten everything as her peachy lips fell open at my question.

"And then they say I'm the one 'xcessive..."

"You make me excessive." She closed her mouth, a shy smile still tugging at the corners as she pulled away.

Always that pull and tug.

It was there every time between us. Though tonight, it was sharper than ever, like a rubber band that had been stretched all the way she'd traveled in the past 48 hours and was now snapping back into place... with each of her shallow exhales and my deep breaths in.

Or maybe it was the quietness of the night heightening everything, until each crack of my husky voice as I murmured,

"And is it a good or bad thing?"

"I don't know," she whispered, even quieter, the words vibrating through all my nerves as her gaze found mine again. "You tell me."

If I was being the reasonable one, I would have replied that it was the worst thing. If I wasn't, I would have given in to the pull tightening through the few inches separating her plump, pursed lips from my dry ones.

But I stopped in the middle, something catching my attention over her shoulder.

"Guess you didn't think about b-booking a hotel room either?"

Finally, there were some good things about me making her excessive... And not only the perfect O her mouth formed once more as she glanced between my cocked eyebrow, the suitcase I was nodding at, and her watch.

"It's too late now..." I drawled, waiting for her large eyes to come back to me to pat the left side of the bed. "But don't worry. You can sleep with me for the rest of the night. S'not like it's the first time... this week."

Twice in four days, I could have gotten used to it again, especially when, this time, the only protest she put up was that with my wrist, it was safer for her to take the right side.

Nothing else. No other barrier, material or invisible, as she crawled under the comforter, and I took in how vulnerable she looked as she turned to me, after putting her glasses away on the nightstand.

"Why were you doing extra PT?" Her big doe eyes blinked at me, close enough to take in my features clearly and make sure I couldn't say anything but the truth.

"For the wedding."

Also close enough for me to catch the shadows of worry and guilt dancing behind the dark brown shades and make it clear I couldn't say the whole truth, as I swallowed the fact that it was because she would be at the wedding and I wanted to walk up to her.

"Nothing is more important than your life," she whispered softly, her gaze following the movement of my Adam's apple and down until the long scar that disappeared under my tee-shirt before climbing all the way up again, to my face and the recent bruise, which she traced with a featherlike finger. "Promise me you'll be more careful and rest when you need."

I flinched at those words, more than at her touch, because if both were featherlike, in the thick millimeters of silence between us, her murmur echoed louder than in a cathedral, the same solemnity weighing on my movements as I, too, lifted my right hand to caress the tired marks around her eyes.
eyes.

"Only if you promise me the same."

Asher is fine!! Phew!

And Althea is getting excessive! 😅

Whose heart melted at these two lovebirds? If so, leave a 😍 next to your favorite part, and don't forget to vote ⭐ and comment all your thoughts!!

You know how much I love to hear your feedback! And it's the best motivation when I doubt! So thank you from the bottom of my heart, my little Peaches!! 🥰🥰🧡🧡