How does one love?

7 - More fears

Ren

It felt so right to have my mate sleeping in my arms. Ivy had buried her head in the crook of my neck, her breath fanning across my skin. God, she is adorable! Together, both me and Ivy groaned in protest when James yanked open the curtains.

"Up Ren," He said, smirking at me. "You've been in bed for over twenty-four hours now. Get up." Ivy's hold on me tightened as she attempted to move even closer to me.

"No," Ivy said in a whining voice, drawing out the last letter. My heart melted. James chuckled softly, walking over to us and sitting on the edge of the bed. He gently ran his fingers through Ivy's golden curls, a cute little grin on his face.

"I didn't say you had to get out of bed." Tilting her head back slightly, leaning into James' touch, Ivy pouted.

"Let him stay. Please. Ten more minutes?" I knew James would have said yes, even if Ivy hadn't started pouting and giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, but I'm putting on a timer." James was looking at me as he said the second part. Ivy squealed slightly, her pout transforming into a giant smile. This woman already has us wrapped around her little finger and we haven't even known each other for a week yet, and most of that time she was unconscious. Whether that meant literally unconscious or just simply asleep, it didn't matter. I watched as James pulled out his phone and put on a ten-minute timer. Ivy, however, didn't notice since she had already buried her face into my chest. Yeah, she isn't going to let me up when that timer goes off.

The moment the ten minutes were up and the timer went off, a low annoyed growl escaped Ivy's chest as she turned in my arms, glaring at the offending device. Before I could reach over and turn off the screaming device, James grabbed the phone.

"Times up, which means you need to be too Ren." Reluctently released Ivy and made my way out of bed. "Thank you." A knock on the door drew our attention.

"Sorry but we do need to run another blood test before we can release Ivy." The nurse standing in the doorway said. Wait. They were ready to release her. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is great, but she fell off a cliff only six days ago. The nurse entered the room pulling a kart behind her. Ivy's face paled ever so slightly.

Evan

I looked up at the entering nurse. I closed my laptop, placing it down next to me. Somehow, I had managed to focus for the last few hours. In that time, I had finished the personal essay project we had to do. Ivy hurriedly sat up in her bed as the nurse began to approach her. I should probably leave the room if they're going to draw blood. I don't want to freak again.

"Okay honey, I heard you pulled out your IV, so perhaps you would like to have someone hold your hand?" I knew this nurse, her name was Katlin. She was just about the only person in this place that both did their job and didn't act like it was such an inconvenience for them to be helping you. Ivy shook her head, shuffling back and away from Katlin.

"No," Ivy sounded panicked, she continued to slowly shake her head. "No," She kept repeating. I stood from the lounge and walked over to the bed, wanting to calm Ivy. I reached out to touch her arm and she flinched, tears suddenly filling her eyes. It was obvious to everyone that she was utterly terrified. I tried to touch her again, but the moment my skin brushed her a quiet scream left her lips. Ivy bolted from the bed, pressing herself into the corner of the room. Her whole body was shaking, tears now streaming down her face. She was on the verge of hyperventilating. It was heart breaking to see.

"No, no, please, I don't want it. No." She kept getting quieter, then louder each word different. "NO! Don't want it. Won't go back, won't go back, won't go." She was clutching her head, whimpering and talking near nonsense about not wanting it and not going back.

"Ivy?" Ren whispered, taking small steps towards her. "Ivy baby?" Croutching down in front of Ivy Ren pulled her into his arms. She clung to him desperately, crying and whimpering. Ren walked back over to the bed, sitting down he continued to comfort her, rubbing his hand up and down her back. Me and James moved on either side of them, helping to calm Ivy. I nodded towards Katlin, signialing to do as she needed. Ivy tensed, tightening her hold on Ren as Katlin took the necessary blood.

We stayed comforting Ivy long after Katlin had left.

Till death do us part