Chapter 39
Chapter 39:
True to the doctor’s words, Asher’s healing process was fast, although I beat him to it when I reached the finish line first. His recovery felt like an immense reward he earned for surviving the longevity of his coma. For sticking it out for me. For saving my life.
Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened to me if Asher had not interrupted my kidnap situation with Kai. Sure, I may have had whatever stupid conversation Kai wanted us to have, but what next? Would Kai have left me alive? Or dead? My mind tells me it would have been the latter.
After three complete weeks in the hospital, the doctor finally certified that Asher could go home and continue the rest of his treatment in the comfort of his house. Although I was discharged a week earlier, I still visited the hospital frequently to look after him. Leaving his side felt like staying away from my source of air, so I stayed with him. All the time.
During those three weeks, Asher and I talked. A lot. We talked about the latest movies, the Premier League, the variety of street foods we would eat once he was out of the hospital. We talked about many things, but we never talked about the confession of his love for me when he was dying in my arms.
In the deep silences between our conversations, I felt that he wanted us to talk about it. But I could not allow him the luxury of bringing it up while he was still recovering. I wanted him to get better first. After all, my answer to his confession was already waiting patiently for him to recover fully.
The familiar scent of the hospital hits my nose again as I walk down the corridor toward Asher’s room. I was still limping a little, but thanks to calcium and plenty of bed rest, I was already feeling much better. Besides, the pure joy I gained from seeing Asher every day helped me recover. And I did the same for him too.
As I enter his ward, I catch Asher as he tries to hide his pills under his pillow. Asher has this unique fear and great distaste for pills. We had tried to talk to the doctor about it when he first attempted to administer them…
But the doctor sadly informed us that the drug could only be found in solid form, and that Asher needed to take it with nothing but water for it to be effective in helping him recover fully.
Sandra, Ethan, and I literally had to coax and trick Asher into taking his medicine all the time. I was always the scapegoat, frowning at Sandra and Ethan’s plan of using me as bait to get him to swallow his pills—especially the night ones. Asher would only agree if I promised to spend the night at the hospital with him. Sandra and Ethan never thought twice about it, always eager to do whatever he asked as long as the medicine went down his throat.
If I didn’t know them well enough, I’d think they actually enjoyed having me stay with Asher while they went home to do God-knows-what together.
Asher’s head jerks toward me, his unsteady hands pressing hard into his pillow.
“Hey, Isla,” he says, trying to smile. But even his broad grin betrays him.
“Just bring it out, Asher.” I groan. “I promise you won’t even taste it as it goes down p>
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He tilts his head to the side, feigning ignorance. “What are you talking about p>
“Oh, so you’re pretending not to know what I’m talking about?” I scoff, folding my arms under my chest.
He shrugs, his hands brushing at the pillow. He is such a terrible liar.
“Okay then,” I say, striding toward him. In one swift motion, my hand slips under the pillow, and seconds later, I’m holding the exposed tablets in my palm, my eyes glinting back at him.
“Isla, see? It tastes so gross,” he whines. “I’m so tired of taking them p>
“Asher, you’re lucky this is your last medication. Why do you want to mess it up? The doctor said it’s dangerous not to finish your prescription p>
I huff, turning around to grab the glass of water from the table beside me. But as I’m about to turn back, I could feel his arms wrap around my waist from behind, their warmth seeping through my tank top into my skin. His head rests gently against my back.
“Isla, thank you p>