Her Enemy Protector Bear by Cynthia Wilde

Chapter 11

Zoe was floating above her body; she could see her figure tucked under the covers of the white hospital bed. They'd hooked her up to several machines, an oxygen mask covered her face and IVs full of medicine that made her float above it all, dripped into her arms. And next to her, sat Nick with Devon. Her son was sleeping on the plastic couch, while Nick sat upright in the chair, his hand still holding hers. As she watched he approached her and gently brushed a few wisps of hair away from her face.

She remembered him on the little beach by the lake. Next, she remembered when he laid her gently on the bed in his guest room with the doctor taking her vitals. She'd told him what happened, then the rest went fuzzy. She thought she heard a nurse say lung inflammation and deeply infected wounds on her legs, but she wasn't sure.

Zoe knew she wasn't dead, just resting. But it had been awhile since she last had floated outside of her body like this. But it felt safe, even normal for her. She somehow felt even more connected to her true nature, which was strange as she wasn’t even connected to her body, she mused. It had happened when she was a teenager. When her parents wouldn't let her go out and see her friends or out to the movies sometimes she would just lay down on the bed and leave her body. Somehow she knew she wasn’t always aware she could do this. She had forgotten, but right now it felt totally normal.

Zoe glided closer to Nick. She felt it was strange that he went from being her arch nemesis to a good friend and lover, all within a month. But this felt natural too, almost like it was just as it was supposed to be. He'd given her the best orgasm of her life yesterday, saved her from certain death, and now, he was watching over her and Devon. She'd underestimated and judged him too quickly. She vowed that, when she woke up, she would tell him exactly how she felt about him.

She looked at the clock. It was ten past five in the morning. She should wake up and tell him right now, before she lost her nerve. She moved to go back into her body, but Nick's actions stopped her. He too was looking at the clock. She watched as he stood, stretched, and then kissed her on the forehead. It was such a small kiss, and a chaste one at that, but it felt intimate, as if he'd kissed the very core of her being. The tenderness she felt from that one gently placed kiss made her body tingle and left her wanting so much more. All of a sudden she wanted nothing more to be in her body. Let’s finish what we started, she thought.

But then he left the room.

Zoe physically felt the absence of him. But now she wanted stay in the non-physical so she could continue to watch over Devon. She h waited to see what hovered above them both and waited. A few minutes later, Nick appeared again, rubbing his eyes, but he sat down and took her hand once more. Zoe's heart felt full. She wanted to touch him. She traced her ghostly finger along his cheek, and then kissed his lips with her vaporous mouth. “I will see you soon,” she whispered as she settled herself back into her earthly form. Very soon.

* * *

When she opened her eyes,Nick was still there, holding her hand. He smiled at her, and then pressed a button next to her bed. “Good morning, sleepy head,” he said as the nurse came in to remove the oxygen mask. “So happy to see you again.”

Zoe smiled at him. Her arm felt heavy with the large needle stuck in it, the medicine dripping into her vein, but she entwined her fingers with his. “Good morning,” she whispered, wanting to touch him. He suddenly felt like an old friend. “You stayed with me the whole time. Thank you.”

Their eyes locked. Nick's eyes were so dark; she felt lost within them. He didn't ask how she knew. He just looked at her with an expression that reminded her of long, lazy days, lying in bed and making love as the sun came up. It was a look she hadn't experienced in many years, and here she was, probably looking like hell. Her hair was a mess, her arm was hooked up to a machine, she was sure her face had little red dots all over it from broken capillaries, but he was still looking at her as if she were the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

“Of course I did,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips.

Zoe wanted his lips to travel other places on her body. She imagined his mouth kissing her breasts, her belly, and her pussy. She shivered with the thought. I guess I am feeling better!

“Are you cold?” he asked as he tucked another blanket around her. She noticed, then, that he had a pile of them waiting nearby.

“Thank you,” she said. “You are my hero once again. How's my boy?” Zoe glanced over at Devon. He was fast asleep.

“He's good,” said Nick. “He helped me a lot yesterday after I found you. He's a very bright boy.”

“I know,” said Zoe. “I worry about him, but I guess that's something all moms do with their children.”

“Look,” said Nick. “When they release you, I'd like you two to stay with me for a bit. I am not trying to move things along too fast, and I don’t want to make you nervous, but until we know what that was all about I want you where I can protect you. Would that work for you?”

Zoe didn't want to be a burden to him, but she worried about Devon and his safety more-so than her own. “Are you sure we will not be a bother?” she asked, feeling nervous. “If it were a different circumstance, I might say no. I don’t want to ruin whatever this is by being a burden. And I also don’t want to rush into anything. But I think you are right, I don’t know what the hell is going on so I gladly accept your offer. I mean it won’t be worst thing to be under your watchful eye.” She offered a coquettish smile.

“I just want both of you to be safe. Certainly, for the time being I want you where I can protect you until we know what is going on here.”

She nodded. She wasn't used to people being kind to her like this, especially, not men.

“Hopefully, they will release you by this evening,” said Nick. “The doctor came earlier to go over your chest x-ray with you, but you were asleep. I'm guessing he will come by later. If it's okay with you, I'd like to take Devon for some breakfast and get him a book or something to do while we wait.”

“Don't you have to work today?” asked Zoe. “We can't possibly impose on you much further.”

“No,” said Nick. “I have that handled. Please don't worry. I'll bring Devon right back. Do you want anything?”

Zoe realized she was hungry. “Yes,” she said. “The biggest chocolate pudding you can find.”

Nick smiled. “Your wish is my command, my lady,” he said, taking a bow. “We shall return post haste.”

Zoe wanted to throw a pillow at him, but she didn't want to dislodge her tubes. Instead, she stuck her tongue out at him as he walked out of the room and closed the door.

* * *

Two chocolate puddings later,and several lively games of crazy eights, the doctor came in to show Zoe her test results.

“You have some inflammation in your lungs,” said the doctor as he made notes on his clipboard. “You also have some infected scratches on your legs. Did you tell me it was a cat that got you right before you fell in the lake?”

“Yes,” said Zoe. “Right before I fell.”

“We will be giving you some steroids for the inflammation, and antibiotics. The cuts seem to be rather deep for some reason. I do want you keeping an eye on them. We will discharge you this evening, once we send your prescriptions to the pharmacy and get the paperwork done.”

Zoe sighed with relief. All she wanted to do was get out of the hospital and sleep in a real bed. Nick’s real bed was actually what she had in mind. The thought made her feel giddy inside. She didn’t want to jinx things though, but she thought maybe it could work out. Maybe, just maybe, she could fall in love again.