part two
it was four days until they we're allowed to go in a talk to laura. she's doing a lot better, daniel observed as he walked in tuesday morning. she was sitting up in bed, with only one tube hooked to her arm. it was a big improvement. he had peeked in her room sunday and she was hooked up to so many things daniel had thought she was gonna die. now seeing her like this made him feel giddy with relief.
as he surveyed her small, private room, he saw a vase on the night table beside her bed was filled with flowers almost identical to the ones he was holding in his hands. there was also a stack of papers next to the vase.
" hi!" cassy cried, hugging her. " you look so much better."
" thanks." laura whispered.
" i was so worried...." alex murmured as he also hugged her.
daniel, sam, and jake followed in their pursuit, hugging her gently.
" hell-oooooo!!!!!!!" a nurse sang cheerfully as she burst into the room and pulled open the curtains, sunshine streaming in . laura flinched. "how are you feeling, laura? ready to walk?" laura nodded and smiled. " great!! hmmmm......i thought i told you this morning no mare than 3 visitors. " laura opened her mouth to say something, but the nurse cut her off. " these three will do." she said, shooing ben, chris, and sam out into the hallway. "well, aren't you going too?" she said curtly to jake.
" i don't see why i should leave." jake shot back, narrowing his eyebrows.
" i do. get out."
" i'll leave." alex quickly volunteered. glaring at jake, the nurse shut the door behind alex.
" ok, so, want me to help you up?" cassy said, casting a nervous glance at the two boys. " sure. " laura held out her hands. they managed to get her standing upright before she fell on top of daniel
it was at least three hours before laura was standing and walking successfully. the doctor told her she could go home if she stayed in bed for a day. agreeing, they wheeled laura out and home.
chris felt extremely guilty. even though laura didn't know he and ben hadn't been there, everyone else did. only sam was talking to them. the wait in the hospital had been hell, alex didn't even acknowledge them. it had been his fault he had gotten drunk thursday night and passed out, and everyone was making sure he knew that. following everyone in the house, he watched as they helped laura get herself comfortable on the couch. sighing, he sank slowly into the chair......
two days later, daniel found himself alone with laura.
" anything happens to her, i'll beat you up so bad you'll end in the hospital." were jake's parting words.
rolling his eyes, daniel wandered into the den where laura was sleeping. her eyes opened when he walked in and followed him as he sat down in a chair across the room.
" hi." she said, somewhat cheerful.
" hey, " he replayed.
pulling herself up, she swung her legs over the side of the couch and sighed. " i'm bored." she announced.
" watch wanna do?"
" anything that involves getting off this couch."
" how bout a snack?"
" k...." she stood up shakily, almost falling over. she looked at him expectantly. "well, aren't you coming?"
daniel grinned at her tone. " yeh, of course." following her into the kitchen, he watched as she leaned against the counter. he hadn't realized it until yesterday when he'd sat with her until she fell asleep, but he had feelings for her. they'd talked until about two in the morning, long after everyone else had gone to bed. he was amazed how much they had in common and how she understood him, maybe because she was going through the same thing he'd gone through.
he snapped out of his own little world to find laura staring at him. there they stood, just staring until they were interrupted by the phone.
laura reached over and snatched it up. while she was talking, he set out two bowls and filled them with cereal. taking out a half gallon of milk and two spoons, he poured the milk over the cereal and set the bowls on the table.
laura hung up the phone and smiled when she saw the cereal. " thanks," she said, sitting down next to daniel. "that was kris. cher's gonna come over tomorrow for a little while." she spooned some cereal into her mouth.
they ate in silence until they were finished. laura took the bowls over to the sink and rinsed them out. daniel noticed she was staring out the window. quietly, he got up and creaped over to where she was standing, slipping his arms around her slim waist. she tensed for a second, then turned to face him. not being able to resist her silky complexion, he reached up and touched her face, his hand sliding to the back of her neck. their heads drew together and their lips met.
jake whistled to himself as he got out of his car and let himself in laura's house. he was going to get them and bring them over to cassy's, where everyone else had gone. he peaked into the living room and didn't see anyone, so he figured they her getting a snack or something. ' i hope they are. laura needs all the food she can get....' he though to himself. walking into the kitchen, he stopped short as he saw the two bodies pressed together. the color drained from his face as he gasped. laura and daniel separated and they turned to look at him. laura's jaw dropped. a tear sliding down his face, jake spun around and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
laura stood there for a second. she felt dizzy and strained.
" l-laura? are you all right?" as laura turned to face daniel, her knees buckled and she collapsed. daniel froze momentarily, staring
at the body at his feet. something clicked and the next thing her knew, he was lifting laura with all his strength onto her couch.
then he called cassy.
jake ran, no knowing where he was going. he found himself running to the old tree he and laura used to climb to hide from the
others. lifting himself onto the branch, he began crying. letting go of himself, he cried until his sobs came out in choked little
breaths. after he stopped crying, he wondered if laura was ok. before he ran out, he had saw the expression on her face. the
last time she'd looked that shocked was when her parents announced their first overseas business trip. feeling guilty, he got
down and jogged back to laura's house.
as he entered the house, he heard everyone talking loudly and cassy running around hissing at them to shut up. when she saw
jake, she stopped so suddenly that she crashed into the hallway wall. alex ran out after her.
" cassy?! why did you - jake!!!! hey guys!!! jake's back!" he hollered into the living room.
" shut up! laura's sleeping! " cassy said from the floor. " help me up." ben, chris and sam filed out of the living room.
' hmmm.....where's daniel?' jake thought to himself.
before he could push past them, they started asking the questions that he didn't want to answer.
" why'd ya run away?"
" what happened?"
" have you been crying?" they stopped and stared at him, waiting for answers.
" uhhh.....guys?" jake interrupted. " is laura ok?"
" well........." cassy looked at alex.
" she kinda......collapsed." jake felt dizzy again.
" can i see her?" he asked shakily.
" yeh...daniel's in there now......."
" yeh..." jake exhaled as he pushed past them. he walked into the room and around the couch. laura was laying stomach-down
on the couch facing away from him. daniel was sitting next to her massaging her shoulders. he cleared his throat loudly.
daniel's head flipped around and when he saw jake, he popped up, looked afraid. ' he should be afraid.' jake thought bitterly. ' i'm
about 3 times bigger than him.' daniel walked slowly out of the room.
he gingerly sat down where daniel had been and began rubbing her shoulders.
" daniel?" she asked groggily. jake removed his hands from her back as she turned around. " jake?"
" yup, it's me." he said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. she sat up.
" are you ok?"
" am i ok? you're the one who fainted!" he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her closer.
" i''m fine." she said quietly. he stroked her cheek and cupped her chin, drawing her face closer. gazing into each other's eyes,
they kissed.
part 3
part 1
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