Mint to Be

Chapter Thirty Three: Awake

I sat next to Aiden in his medical room the next morning.

Apparently, his pack had its own doctor. Figures.

He looked peaceful, laying there, and I had pulled up a chair next to his bed.

His brown hair was fanned out across his forehead, and his lips were parted softly.

I wished his eyes would open so I could look at them.

Actually, that's kind of creepy...

My eyes turned to watch the window above his head with I heard a horse voice croak, "Hey, gorgeous."

I looked down quickly to see his eyes open, and my favorite faint smile on his face.

"Hey," I smiled, reaching over to entwine my fingers with his. "How are you feeling?"

"Besides happy to see you?" He asked, stretching out his limbs. "Sore, but doable. You?"

"I'm not the one lying in a hospital bed," I told him. "But fine thanks. Miles is being taken care of by Cate, so I doubt he'll be heard from again."

"Here's hoping," He joked.

I smiled softly again, and looked around the room. "This has been crazy. This whole thing."

"Yeah... stuff happens when you're a werewolf," He told me.

I focused on his heavily bandaged arm. Blood was slowly soaking through the white layers, and it couldn't have been comfortable. "Thanks, by the way. For um, saving me."

He smiled, "No problem. Thanks for saving me too. And I'm sorry for... you know... the whole kidnapping thing."

I shrugged. "I guess it was for the best, though I have no idea how I'll explain it to my family."

He nodded solemnly. Then his face lit up.

"Hey, I have something for you," He smiled.

A mischievous look overtook his face, one that always brought a smile to my face.

I cocked my head. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's kind of stupid, but I've been carrying this around in my pocket," Aiden told me. He dug his fingers into his pockets, and retrieved something small.

In his palm, he held out to me a shiny silver quarter.

I raised an eyebrow. "Twenty five cents?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Think of it as a refund."

I couldn't help the large grin that over took my face, but I simply folded his fingers back over the coin. "Keep it. I'm happy with what paid for. Even if it was more than expected."

His grin matched mine. "Ok."

"Ok?" I smiled, my fingers going to brush his soft brown hair away from his eyes.

"Whatever," He said.

But for once, the word didn't bother me at all. Instead, I smiled.

"Maybe whatever will be our always," I joked, hoping he had read TFIOS too.

He smiled, catching my hand and holding it fast against his cheek. "Whatever."

And I couldn't think of a better response.