Chapter Four

                                    

                                          
I woke up drowsy later, in bed at the nurse's office. The crinkle of the plastic underneath me made my teeth grit, which made my brain hurt. My feelings of grogginess wanted me to wander off back into dreamland, but my brain was throwing such a fit I couldn't stand it anymore. So I opened my tear-stained eyes some, to get a better look. The light above me was so bright I couldn't help but raise my hand to shield my eyes. I turned my head away from the light. Max was sitting there, right beside me, just as if there was nothing wrong in the world with this picture. 
                          
Then he said, "It's ok Elyzabeth."
                          
"How c-come I'm with you? W-where am I?" I asked.
                          
"Full of questions are we?" he stopped as if to think "We're in the nurse's office. Mr. smash your face in, is about ready to kill me, and you're with me because I didn't want to leave you alone again. Do you know how much trouble I'm in? I don't care though, as long as I've got you within reach we'll both be fine." he said all that without one pause. My cheeks started getting warm.
                          
"Whose Mr. s-smash y-your face in?" I asked
                          
"James, of course, I honestly didn't think he'd go after you when he said I'll regret it." He paused and started talking again "How many fingers am I holding up?"
                          
I smirked "T-Two."
                          
His eyes were bolted to mine, but my head was throbbing so I had a hard time just keeping mine open. His eyes were brighter than before, but when I tried to smile they adjusted again, just slightly though. I thought it was weird but assumed it must have been the lighting.
                          
The nurse walked in just then. 'How are you feeling Miss Knox?" she paused and looked at her clipboard.
                          
"I'm o-k-kay" I glance at Max.
                          
"You seem to be alright, you may want to go home and clean up. You've got a nasty cut above your left eye, which I'm sure will give you one heck of a shiner. I got most of the blood off." She looked between her board and me. " We couldn't get a hold of your parents, so it looks like your walking home. You should take the rest of the day off, and follow up with your primary. Make sure you go to the emergency room if you have any of the following symptoms." She finished rattling off a list of crap that could go wrong with me. Then looked down her nose at me, shaking her head with what seemed like disapproval.
                          
"Th-thank you, n-nurse Thorn..." I tried to get up off the bed and felt very dizzy. I collapsed, Max just missing me.
                          
Why I keep ending up on the ground, I haven't got a clue. 'My luck is crap today', I think to myself.
                          
"Maybe I should carry you out, princess?" Max impishly taunted, the tips of my ears growing warmer with embarrassment. "Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, I destroyed James's face for revenge of yours." After he said that, carefully he picked me up. My heart was racing, so much so I wondered if he could hear it. He could certainly feel it, I mean my chest was against his, there's no way he couldn't. The nurse just gave him a dagger stare and turned to leave the room.
                          
We leave the nurse's office. "Well, n-now what?" I asked as I snuggled closer into him because it had suddenly gotten quite cold. After I shivered thoroughly I mumbled, "I w-wanna get all the b-blood off me..." I thought about my mom, and how she would react.
                          
"Would you like to walk or I can drive you?" he paused and looked at me then shook his head and said, "no you're coming with me, you'll get a cold if you are kept out in the wind any longer, and I don't think your mom would appreciate your current state." I was really on cloud nine now. This was something out of my dreams. Except for the fact that I had to get beat up, to get here... "So my house or yours?" I hadn't even given it a thought as to whose house I was going to, I just assumed we were going to mine. I don't think I'll ever get another chance to see where he lives much less be in his house. So, you guessed it, I picked his home and not mine. No shocker there.
                          
"Ugh....," I grunted then I breathed as slowly as possible, my head was killing me. Max had maneuvered me through the door, past the office, and into his car. Its interior was a dark, midnight blue, and the seat cover was so soft I would have mistaken it for a fluffy cloud. He went around to his side of the car after setting me in and shutting the door.  It was about fifteen minutes later when we arrived at his house.
                          
It was two stories and had a well-groomed front lawn. The color of the house was a really deep red and it had bright white trimming. Compared to my little, un-groomed, house it looked like a mansion to me. He then looked at me and leaned over, and he was startlingly close. He got even closer as he examined my head, gently touching me here and there, I was completely still only flinching only when he got too close to the wound. Then he slowly leaned back, his scent drifting to my nose with the proximity. Oh, lord, he smelled great, like freshly cut grass, and other flowery things. Maybe he was the one who took care of the yard work. "Do you need help getting out?"
                          
" N-no, I've got it." although I was still wobbly, I managed to get to the large screened-in porch, that led to a double door. My first thought was 'what is he a millionaire?' I may have been laying it on a little thickly, but there was no doubt his home was impressive compared to mine.