[--Benji's Point of View--]
"I...Love...You"
Never before had I been so excited by three simple words, but at this point any words coming out of Connor's mouth were the most amazing sound in the world. Just hearing those words coming from Connor's lips instantly transforms me to a kid on Christmas morning.
I lean down and kiss that boy, that amazingly wonderful boy. I plant a good fifteen kisses on him before I figure that I should probably tell someone.
"Heather, he's awake!" I yell out, hardly able to control myself.
Heather comes running into the room. She must notice the ear to ear grin on my face. She starts checking his vitals and calls out for more people to come in to help. She gives me a knowing grin.
"Everything is going to be ok now. The sun has come back to my world." I think to myself with a grin.
I sneak in between all the staff that has surrounded Connor and whisper into his ear, "I have to call your folks and let them know you're awake. Don't you dare fall back to sleep while I'm gone."
I sneak a quick kiss and rush out of the room. I pull out my phone and start fiddling with it, too excited to keep it in my hands. I find Connor's mom's cell number and dial it.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up" I shout mentally to the phone
"Hey love, what's up?" Connor's mom answers.
"CONNOR" I can't help but scream into the phone, realizing I am having a hard time getting out complete thoughts or sentences for that matter, "AWAKE!"
It took a couple of moments for Connor's mom to get exactly what I was trying to say. Once she realizes what I was saying, she replies. "Are you sure? Jim, we have to get back to the hospital right now." I could tell she is elated to hear the news as she yells to her husband. "We will be back as soon as we can."
Connor's mom simply hung up the call and I made by next call to Lexie.
"Hey Ben, is there news?"
"HE TOLD ME HE LOVES ME!" I yell into the phone, I was a most definitely a kid on a sugar high. I was over the moon in joy.
"Ben, who told you he loves you?"
"Connor did. He told me he loves me when he woke up."
"He's awake? I'm coming down."
When I hang up the phone, I was startled by a voice from behind me, "Boy you better get your ass back into that room." It was Heather, and she had the biggest grin on her face. "That boy of yours is asking for you.
I turn around and ran back to Connor's bedside. He was still out of it, but I couldn't help but smash my lips against his. Those lips are filled with the power of hundreds of suns simultaneously going supernova and right now that is where I need to be. I am trying to be considerate to the fact that he was probably going to be in pain, so I manage to reluctantly pull myself off of him.
"Wow," I hear him whisper, just like the first time I kissed him.
"Well, Connor Gavin Evans, you should be lucky I'm still talking to you , you stood me up on our first date." I joke, trying to choke back tears of joy.
I reach down and grab his good hand and interlace my fingers with his. I was never going to let go of this boy and I wasn't afraid to show it.
My excitement must have taken it's toll on me. It was either that or Connor's parents weren't very quick to show back up. They walked into the room to find me asleep with their son's fingers interlaced in mine. Connor's mom came over and gently rubs my shoulder to wake me up.
"Hey love," she smiles at me. I wondered how long I had been asleep. I look up and see the most amazing thing in the world- my Connor. He had fallen into a restful sleep and looks so peaceful.
I decide that I should probably give them some time and got up to take a walk to the nurse's station.
I lean into Connor's ear and whisper, "Your folks are here babe, I'll be back."
I didn't think about it, but I instinctively peck him on the cheek. I can feel his cheek move as he makes an attempt to make a smile while waking up to see his parents.
As I walk out of the room, I let my mind wander.
"Did I just call him `babe'? Not that it didn't feel right. I mean I am ready to shout out from top of the hospital that I am in love with him. I am in love with my best friend and he loves me back.
Heather came out of a room and I bumped into her, lost in my daydreaming of Connor.
"Careful there, lover boy," she says with a smile, "Why aren't you with your boy?"
"His parents are with him, so I decided that I should give them some time. He and I have the rest of our lives at this point."
"You are an amazing boyfriend."
I feel like I need to get a major question off my chest and Heather would be the one to know, "Hey Heather, Now that Connor is awake, what happens now?"
Heather goes into this long chain of events, how Connor needs more work on the leg, but the arm is starting to heal nicely and that the bandages on his face will probably come off today. She explained that Connor was going to need major physical therapy for his leg, it was not going to be easy, and he was going to need plenty of help to start off with. She did warn me that he was going to have a scar going through his eyebrow though, so that will look a little different.
"I don't know, I bet he is going to look even hotter now. My trooper with his battle scars. He survived that wreck and he's going to be ok." I don't know why the thought of that scar was hot to me. I know deep down that Connor was the strongest person I know, and I was ready to dedicate myself to making sure he was one hundred percent back to normal.
"With a boyfriend like you, how couldn't he be anything less than awesome. You take care of that boy or you will be my next patient, and I won't go easy on you." She gives me a little hug and moves on.
I make my way back to see Connor awake and talking softly to his parents. His amazing blue eyes lock sight with mine and he starts to get this grin on his face. His mom turns to look at me and smile. I've only seen this smile a couple of times from her, honest and caring, but with a hint of `you mess this up boy and I will mess you up worse' to it.
Connor uses his left hand to wave me into the room and to his side, as his mom gets up and walks towards his father. As soon as I make it to his side, he picks up his hand and grabs mine.
"I want you to know just how much I love you," Connor said softly, since talking still hurt a bit for him. " "Am I still in trouble for missing our first date or can I make it up to you? I am really sorry."
I kind of stand there stunned, I had figured Connor's mom must have started to suspect something, but I mean we hadn't even been dating officially for more than a few hours before the accident, and here is this amazing boy talking to me in front of his parents, people who have known me since I was five, like it was no big deal. I glance over to see his parents looking at us smiling. Mind you, I did just kiss their son before walking out of the room.
"Um..." I just said speechless.
"Boy, accept his apology and kiss him already," his mother blurts out at me.
I need no other permission or motivation to kiss him. As I lean into the kiss, I smell the scent of my best friend and now lover, and can feel myself wanting to let go and ravage him with my kisses. I try to be gentle as I can be, not wanting to hurt him. The kiss was amazing, I am so glad that he hadn't lost his ability to make me weak at the knees with his kiss.
I pull off and still have a funny look on my face. His mom is the first to pipe up, "The way you spent the last week practically glued to him, the way you kept holding his hand, it wasn't hard to tell you guys are a couple. The kiss when we got here pretty much summed it up for us."
I look down to see Connor smiling. I love that boy. I reach down and intertwine my fingers with his and can't believe that I was ever going to be so lucky to find the person I wanted to spend my life with, let alone that it was the person I have already spent my life with.
"Well," Connor's mom started, "We are going to head out. Glad you are awake love, and you -" she points directly at me, "don't wear him out."
They give Connor one last pass before walking out of the room. As they walked out, Heather walked in carrying a small tube.
"I need to take care of something real quick here and I promise I will let you have your way with him," she chuckles and winks at me. "Plus, I think me taking off these bandages will be better for both of you."
She reaches down and slowly removes the bandage from the side of Connor's face. The right side of his face was covered in small red spots, probably from the glass of the truck, but I could see the cut on his eyebrow, being held together by a couple of stitches.
"This looks good," she remarks. She looks at me, "Take this cream and gently put it on the cut on his eyebrow. I can trust you with that assignment, right?"
I gave her a half-hearted salute and she hands me the tube and a cotton applicator. I made my way over to Connor's other side and under the observation of Heather, gently put the cream on his cut. Heather put a hand on my shoulder and smiled as she walked out of the room.
Connor looks at me with his beautiful blue eyes and feel like I am going to melt. I lean down and put my lips over his.
"I'm sorry Ben," I hear him say after we break from our kiss, his voice starting to crack while resisting the urge to cry.
"You came back to me Connor, there no need to be sorry."
"Yeah, but you probably don't want to spend the rest of your summer with a cripple at this point."
"Babe," this is the second time I have called this boy that, I just let it slip out of my mouth like it was second nature. "I will not now or ever want to be away from you. First off, you are my boyfriend. Second, you are now and forever my best friend and I would be here for you regardless."
"You are breaking the rules with that kind of talk."
I never once this past week think about the rules. At this point, life is too short to play by the rules.
I lean down and whisper into his ear, "Fuck the rules, you are my boyfriend first, and when you get out of here maybe I will show you something else you can fuck."
I don't know where this new brashness and bravado came from, all I know is, I want Connor to be mine, just like I was already his. The only thing that came to mind was the thought of a puppy rolling onto his back to get his belly rubbed. For as long as I have known Connor, this is the first time that I could admit these feelings for him, and it was fine by me. I almost lost him after he said he'd be my boyfriend, I was not about to lose him again.
"Shut up and kiss me bud," he said, a big bright grin forming on his face.
I didn't argue, I just did. If this is what life was going to be with Connor, this is what I wanted it to be.
He wanted to scoot over to let me in the bed with him, but between everything he was hooked up to and all the casts, he slowly gave up the idea. I pull the chair next to him and sit down in it, putting my head next to him. I grab his right hand in mine, interlocking our fingers once more. I was intent on holding on and never letting go.