“Here you go Annie. A cheeseburger in the form of broth and jell-o! If those go okay, we will see about getting you some crackers.” Becky’s enthusiasm permeated through the room and Annie couldn’t help but stretch her swollen face into a smile.

“Thanks Becky. You really are a great friend. You always have been.”

Her mind flashed back to when they were kids in grade school. Becky was always the pretty blonde that was popular with everyone and anyone. Even though she had more friends that you can shake a stick at, Annie was always Becky’s number one. When it came time for Annie to start wearing bras, it was Becky that convinced her mom that it would be too much for a girl to handle going shopping with her dad for undergarments. When Prom rolled around, Becky used her own money to buy Annie a dress and carefully crafted a head-full of curls to match. Becky had always been there for her always being more of a sister than a friend. That is until Annie started dating Trent. Sure everything was great at first, but Becky was always leery. The two hadn’t really spoken since the night Becky told Annie that she saw Trent out with another girl. With the flair of an angry teenage girl, Annie vowed never to speak to Becky again. That is until today.

“Hey Becky, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, Annie. Shoot.”

“Well, um, did James really bring me in?”

“Yes, he certainly did. When I heard it was you coming in, I went straight to the ER to wait. In fact, I think half this hospital was down there waiting for you, not that it is that hard when there are only 50 people working in this building at one point in time.” Becky let out a laugh at her own joke. “I have never seen him like that. To be perfectly honest, I think he likes you, Annie. He hasn’t been gone from this room for more than two hours at a time.”

Annie’s face grew hot and she cursed under her breath. It all made sense now. How could she have been so stupid? Here she was thinking they were nothing more than friends and he was harboring feelings for her. She couldn’t handle another relationship right now, especially now.

“Annie?” Becky’s timid question brought her out of her thoughts and back to the room. “Did Trent do this to you?” Becky was only rewarded with silence. “Well, the police have been in and out waiting for you to be awake enough to talk to them. Too bad for them you have me for a nurse. I’ve been keeping you good and comfortable.” Becky winked with her usual exaggerated flair. Realizing she wasn’t going to get an answer, Becky sighed. “Well hun, you don’t have to tell me. I know. And you better believe he isn’t going to lay another hand on you. So help me God.”

Becky turned and left before her mouth got away from her.

Annie’s lips ached with dryness and pain. She slowly moved her parched tongue along the roof of her mouth in an attempt to create some moisture. She slowly moved her fingertips, inhaled sharply at the pain. Slowly she reached up to her face where her fingers found their way to her chin. Finding it barely swollen, she moved to her cheek and nose. She gasped as each stitch revealed itself. If she counted correctly, there were at least 25 if not more snaking their way from her ear to the bridge of her enlarged nose. Tilting her head to the side she cracked her eyelids and stared at the slumped form breathing slowly next to her. His arms were gently folded across his chest and his dark brown hair danced across his forehead. A hint of a smile crossed her lips as her eyes fell on the worn and tattered hat that rested on his knee as peacefully as the man who wore it.

She shifted awkwardly, trying to adjust her aching back only to realize the damage was far worse than she had suspected. Her leg revolted sending out an angry pain to warn her not to move further and caused her to involuntarily yelp. James shot upright, sending the chair he was resting in tumbling backwards into the wall. Neither was sure who was blushing more.

“Hi.” James turned and even darker shade of red.

Annie tried to respond but found her mouth was still too dry to move enough to form even a single word. Thankful for something to do with his hands James poured water into a small pink cup and handed it to Annie. She gingerly took it and sipped the cool water.

“Thank you, James. How long have you been here? Hell, how long have I been here?”

“Four days since I, since we brought you in. I… I locked your truck for you.”

“Is it still at the station?”

“Yeah.”

The silence filled the room and both Annie and James become lost in their own thoughts. The knock at the door brought them both back.

“Oh Annie! I’m so glad to see you are awake! And you have a visitor although I don’t believe he should count as a visitor since he’s been here every day. Becky barely noticed the color flying back to James’ face and continued her tireless tirade. “I see you had some water. Is it staying down? If you are okay with that, we can see about getting you some real food.”

Knowing James was mortally embarrassed Annie cut Becky off with a request of a cheeseburger. With a laugh that could shake a giggle out of Scrooge himself, Becky took one last glance at the tall man standing quietly in his own misery, threw an exaggerated wink and headed out to order a food tray for Annie.
After what seemed like hours of painful silence, Annie braved turning James into a tomato again.

“Have you really been here every day?”

“Well, yes. Joey has taken my shifts and Jess and Sarah are covering yours. I just, I mean well I know you don’t have much by ways of family anymore with your dad being gone and all so, well I just didn’t want you waking up without anyone here. And really, I wasn’t the only one that has been here. You just happened to wake up on my watch.”

Emotions washed over her. She knew her coworkers liked her, but she never realized they cared for her enough to stand watch in a hospital room and keep her sleeping form company. She gulped back the tears that were pushing on the back of her eyes.

“Thanks for being here. But you can go. Really, it’s okay. I’ll be fine now.”

“Well, if it is the same to you, I might grab a burger for myself. I mean, if you don’t mind the company for dinner.”

“You know, I think that might actually be nice even though I doubt I will be getting a burger. After all, I did just master a cup of water. I doubt Becky will be so kind as to allow me a burger. Well, I guess if you won’t be too jealous of my unsalted beef broth and jell-o, I don’t care if you stick around.”

There was no need to answer. The smile that spread across James’ face was answer enough.