"Jace…" I breathed.
I slowly opened my eyes, throwing my hands to my head, as an intense pain shot through my skull. I noticed right away that I was in the local hospital as I blinked my eyes rapidly, fighting to stay open. I could smell the room even before I could manage to see it.
Tears instantly rolled down my puffy cheeks at the fresh memory of Jace and our first kiss. For a second I had almost forgotten that he was gone. Jace is gone. He's never coming back.
I forced my body to roll over as I gripped my pillow and slammed my face into it. "Jace," I cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
I heard the sound of footsteps as someone slowly approached the bed, but I refused to look up. I just wanted to be alone.
"She's awake," said an unfamiliar voice. The soft voice of a female nurse was my guess.
"It's been a few hours. Give her some more pain medicine," another voice replied. "It should help her be more comfortable when she fully awakens."
I felt something cold shoot through the IV in my arm, causing my body to flinch. It made the tears flow even faster. I felt dazed and sore. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for jace, but I knew it would be useless.
I wanted to reach out and touch him. Feel the warmth of his soft skin against mine. It hurt like hell knowing that it would never happen again.
I buried my face into my tear-stained pillow and listened as the nurses left the room, leaving me alone in my silence.
A few minutes later, I heard heavy footsteps. I was too weak to attempt to look up. So I didn't move. I didn't have the will too.
The footsteps stopped in front of my bed and suddenly I felt a hand touch my arm from through the blanket. It made my chest hurt and I wanted to scream. I didn't want to be touched.
"Don't touch me," I said, voice shaking.
It was silent for a moment as the person slowly removed their hand from my arm.
"Avery," a voice called.
I ignored it. I couldn't make out who it was. No one else mattered to me except Jace and now he was gone.
"Avery."
I felt someone grab my arm again, but this time they didn't let go. They pulled my body so that I was facing up again and then cupped their warm hands around my face.
I looked up with blurred vision before blinking away the tears. I knew that touch from anywhere. My whole body shook as I broke out in a sob. "Jace!" I cried, still trying to focus my eyes.
"I'm here for you," Jace said. "I told you that I always would be." He rubbed my cheek.
I was in so much shock that I couldn't even manage to speak. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't. How could he be here in front of me?
"It's okay, Avery." He bent down and pressed his lips against mine, causing my heartbeat to quicken. "The nurse said that you just bumped your head pretty hard. You're going to be fine. You can leave later today."
I gripped his face as hard as I could before running my hands over every inch of his perfect face. I wanted to be sure that I wasn't just seeing things. "I thought that... you... you were dead. How did..." I squeezed my eyes shut before opening them again and pulling his face down to mine. "I thought that I had lost you."
A smile spread across Jace's face before he trailed a finger over my lip and then kissed me. "You'll never lose me," he said simply. "I was on my way home when I got stuck in traffic because of the accident. I got out seeing what was going on and that's when I noticed you on the stretcher. I ran over to you, but you wouldn't wake up." He pressed his lips to my forehead and then grabbed both of my hands. "You have no idea how happy I am that you're okay."
I was so relieved to see Jace alive that I suddenly burst into laughter. I was worried about him dying and yet he believed that I had no idea how happy he was to see that I was okay. I had only bumped my head. "I have never been so happy in my life," I laughed, feeling a bit dazed from the medicine kicking in. "I really-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that the medicine should wear off in a few hours and you will be all clear to go then." The older nurse turned, but then stopped to look back at us. "Oh and the medicine can make her a little..." She stepped closer to Jace. "Loopy," she whispered and then smiled. "That will go away soon."
Jace nodded his head in understanding and smiled at the nurse as she grinned at him. "Thank you for your help."
The nurse nodded back at him and then walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind her.
As soon as we were alone, I got the sudden urge to laugh. I had no idea why, but I just burst into a fit of laughter. "You're okay," I laughed. "You're… I'm in the hospital."
Jace leaned in closer to me and rubbed my head. "It's okay. It's just the medicine," he laughed. "How's your head feeling?"
I grabbed for Jace's hair and ran my fingers through it. "Jace, you are so beautiful. I have something that I really need to say."
Jace went silent. His body stiff as he reached for my face, looked me in the eye and waited for me to speak.
"I love you, Jace," I whispered. "I really love you."
A look of happiness crossed his face, but then was quickly replaced with pain. He looked as if his dog had just been hit by a car. "I know that the nurse said you will be a little loopy from the medicine, so I'm going to guess that it's the drugs that are talking. Maybe you should just get some rest." He smiled and then gently kissed my hand. “I’m sorry for leaving.”
My heart broke as soon as I realized that he was serious. He didn't even believe that I loved him. How could he after all that I had put him through? I didn't even believe him when he told me how he had felt. "I do-"
"It's okay, Avery." He smiled and rubbed my face. "Get some rest and then we can go home."
I grabbed his hand and kissed it. Making him believe me now would just be useless. He was right. I really did need some rest.
"Okay," I whispered, my voice pained.
Jace crawled into the bed next to me and threw his arms around me. He snuggled his body against mine and pressed his lips to my ear. "I'll wake you in a few hours."
I nodded my head and reached for his arms for comfort. It was the best feeling in the world. He was the best feeling in the world.