Page 23 of Johnathan

“You don’t need to.” She didn’t move an inch, but the minute he had her scooped into his arms, she settled against him. “Thank you,” she whispered as he placed her on her bed.

His throat was tight. John hadn’t had a woman in his arms in a very long time, and yet, as he held Abby close to his heart, it felt right. Not that she was sick, no, but the way she’d just fit. It felt like he was always meant to have her in his arms.

“I’m okay, John. You can let go now,” she said, her eyes opening a little in the darkened room. He felt her hands squeeze reassuringly against his arms.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he stepped away from the bed.

That’s when he realized she’d changed out of her shirt from school. Instead of one that covered her neck, she was wearing a t-shirt that scooped below her scar.

It was intrusive, he knew, but he couldn’t stop looking at it. The spot where all her life bled out into his hands. What if he hadn’t been there? What if the knife had gone a little deeper? Or the ambulance had been a few minutes later?

His skin pebbled at the chilling thought that instead of getting to look into the most beautiful pair of blue eyes, he’d almost had to attend her funeral.

Was she hiding the scar behind her shirts because she was embarrassed of how red and raised it was? He’d had more scars covering his body than he could count, a lot thanks to his ruthless brothers and their shenanigans growing up. But none looked quite like hers did.

Maybe she was afraid to see the reminder of what had happened to her. Or maybe she was afraid of what other people would say if they saw it. No matter what the reason was, he needed to make sure she knew just how powerful the mark made her. She was a survivor. The slash across her neck changed things, but it certainly didn’t change how fierce, courageous, or beautiful she was.

John turned and walked out of Abby’s room, closing the door gently behind him. How was he supposed to leave? What if she got sick again and couldn’t move? What if she didn’t wake up because they missed something with her head?

Jesus. How did people fucking deal with this? Abby dealt with migraines foryearsand the first time he’s around someone with one, he falls apart with worry.

The couch seemed like as good of a place as any to sit and try to figure out what he should be doing to help her. He pulled his phone out, finally taking a full breath for what felt like the first time since he’d seen her collapse.

“Hi, John.”

“Hey, Mom.”

“How is Abby doing? Did she have to go to the hospital? Does she need anything?”

“She’s okay. Or at least, she keeps telling me she is.”

“Did you call Sam or Sylvie?”

“She asked me not to. Refused to go to the hospital, too. I drove her to her apartment, but she shouldn’t be alone tonight. I guess that’s kind of why I’m calling.”

“You need us to keep Katy tonight?”

“Would you mind? Abby got sick as soon as we got back to her apartment, and all I keep thinking about is what happens if I leave and she gets sick again.”

“Honey, it’s no problem for Katy to stay here. You know we love having her. You stay with Abby as long as you need to.”

“What if she’s not comfortable with me being here? We didn’t really talk about it before she fell asleep.”

“John, she obviously felt comfortable enough around you for you to take her home. Why don’t you just play it by ear and see. You could maybe check and see if she had some food that’s easy on the stomach and if she wakes up, see if she wants to eat something with you.”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“I’m sure there’s a list online for foods that are good for migraine relief. If she’s been sick, she’ll need to re-hydrate too, or that could make her feel worse.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see what I can come up with. Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. You let me know how she’s doing a little later on, okay?”

“Will do.” John said his goodbyes and pulled up the search engine on his phone. He could figure out what foods were okay for someone to have when they were suffering from a migraine.And once he had a list, John would make sure she had what she needed, whether he stayed or not.

Eight

“Hey, how are you feeling?”