CHAPTER EIGHT
I woke up later in the exact same position as I was in when I fell asleep in Alex's arms. Since I was facing the window and the nightstand was right in front of it, I was startled it was almost six. I didn't want or have to wake him until after I took a shower, so I carefully slid out of bed and went to bathroom. Stepping into the hot, steamy water was the best feeling in the world -- the second best feeling in the world. Since I'd washed my hair earlier it was a quick shower, taking only a second to pull my hair back and apply a little bit of makeup.
When I walked back into the room he was still sleeping, so peacefully I didn't want to wake him, but I knew I eventually had to. So I got dressed, found a radio station playing music I knew, grabbed the room service menu and lay on my stomach next to him. I decided on a cheeseburger and fries, something simple.
I was just about to wake him when I heard the unmistakable, horrific southern twang of Miley Cyrus and reached over to turn it off. But I was closer to the edge than I realized, and with the momentum of my arm swing I ended up losing my balance and crashed to the floor, with a loud 'ummph' as I landed on my back. I stared up at the wall as quiet as I could, hoping that didn't wake him.
"Carrie?" he called out. So much for not waking him I thought.
"Uh, down here." His head peered down from the bed, and he proceeded to bust out laughing. "Don't laugh at me!" I fussed, though I wasn't angry at all, just embarrassed.
"Okay, okay. Sorry. You're dressed." He frowned. "Why are you dressed?"
"Because I took a shower and changed. Duh."
He got off the bed and stood in front of me, and I was relieved he had put on his trunks, though it didn't really hide much. "Duh? What are you, eight?" he teased.
"Oh, shut up and help me up!" I smiled, then he took my hands and pulled me up like I didn't weigh anything at all. "Thank you. Now that's all—"
I crashed into his arms, my hands secure on his shoulders, and he kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed into him, liking how secure I felt in his arms. As much as I wanted him again my brain got in the way. I forced my lips to tear away from his, regrettably. "Alex, didn't you want to take me to sunset hill? I was really looking forward to that."
"I was thinking we could stay here, eat dinner and spend the rest of the night making love."
"You've almost got that in the right order. We eat dinner, you take me to Sunset hill, you stay here and we make love all night."
He sighed, grinning playfully. "Since you invited me to spend the night, I'm okay with your offer."
"My offer?!" I stepped back and put my hands on my hips and said as angrily as I could, "I might have invited you to stay the night, Mr. Skarsgard, but I'm taking 'making love' off the table right now."
He jerked his head back in surprise and narrowed his eyes at me, then seemed to be genuinely confused. "Carrie, are you mad that—"
"Am I mad? Am I mad?! Yes! I'm furious!" I bust out laughing.
"You are mean," he said, shaking his head.
"Mean, yes, I can be at times. But am I cute?" I grinned.
"You, Ms. Boyce, are more than cute." He bent down and kissed my cheek affectionately.
"Hey, before you get in the shower order something for dinner."
"Ah, good idea." He sat on the bed and read over the menu. "What are you having?"
"Cheeseburger and fries."
He looked at me dumbfounded. "Let me get this straight. This is your last day here, and you're getting a cheeseburger and fries."
"Yep, that about sums it up."
"O-kaay." He picked up the phone and placed the order in Swedish, shaking his head before he said cheeseburger and fries. I stuck my tongue out at him. He spoke longer than I would have thought it would have taken to order two meals. "They said about half an hour," he said as he stood and headed for the bathroom. Turning at the door, he said seductively, "Care to join me?"
"No, thanks. I want to -- I've already taken a shower, you know that."
Shrugging his shoulders he said, "It was worth a shot." He winked before he stepped in and closed the door behind him.
Slowly his words sank in. We fooled around for what, not even an hour, and it's all he seems to be focusing on? I thought, becoming livid. I had to tell myself I gave myself to him, so I had no reason to be angry. So, we spend one more night together and go our separate ways. I can live with that, I concluded.
The food finally came, with the food for dinner on the tray, but a small paper bag, which he never opened to show me what was in it. As much as I begged, he wouldn't tell me. I eventually gave in and stopped pestering him.
It was almost 7:30 by the time we left the hotel, and I followed him to his car, which was a Volvo, and that is all I knew about the car. He opened the door for me and I slid in before he closed the door and got in behind the wheel, resting the bag between his legs. "Hey, before we leave, there's something I want to give you."
I turned to look at him, surprised. "Alex, you don't—"
"I know I don't, but I wanted to." He grabbed the bag and opened it, taking out a small ring box. "I saw this this morning when I walked home. I just had to get it for you."
My mind reeled. I didn't know whether I even wanted to accept it. Before I could object, he handed it to me. I couldn't turn it down then. I smiled nervously, held my breath and flipped the lid of the box. When I saw what it was my mouth dropped. "Alex," I whispered in amazement. "Dolphin earrings. They're beautiful."
He seemed to loosen up a bit. "I remembered what you said about being a marine biologist and swimming with—"
I stopped him by planted a long, hard kiss on him. "You're so sweet. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you like them. I wasn't sure ... I wanted you to have something to remember me by."
I jerked my head up and looked at him. "Seriously? Alexander Johan Whatever Skarsgard, it doesn't take a damned pair of earrings for me to remember what an incredible two days it's been for me." He smiled so proudly. Quickly I put them on. "How do they look?"
"Beautiful."
We finally got on the road, though we were still in the city and about half a block from an intersection. I was completely at ease with him in the car, totally relaxed. "I am so not looking forward to tomorrow, well, tomorrow won't be so bad, but Monday. It's a sixtee—"
Suddenly Alex slammed on the brakes, the tires squealed, and he turned the car sharply to the left. My head jerked sharply to the right, but not so much that I hit my head on the window. "Alex, what the hell are you doing?!"
I had just put my left hand on the dashboard and my right hand on the door handle, starting to look around when I felt a horrific impact on the car's front right end, the side I was sitting on. Before I could anything the car spun around, causing me to grunt in surprise.
"Hold on!" Alex screamed at me.
Then there were more squealing tires and another impact, this time directly on my door. The sound of metal-on-metal was incredibly loud, but it didn't drown out my scream of pain at the incision slicing up my right thigh. "Fuck, fuck! Jee—"
Just when I prayed the car would stop the car jerked harshly to the right with another loud crash on the left of the car, that time knocking my head into the windshield; my head settled on the headrest at an awkward angle. Then my head suddenly exploded, or so it seemed to me; stars blurred my vision so badly I had to close my eyes, which only made my head feel worse so I opened them again, though I couldn't see past the crumbled car door.
"Alex. Are you okay? Alex. Fuck, damn it ..." I whined, so softly I didn't think he heard me. I tried to move my right arm to touch my leg to see what the damage was, but I screamed again as pain reverberated throughout my entire body.
I was instantly relieved when I heard, "Fucking shit. Carrie?" He hesitated. "Oh, Carrie." Although my ears were ringing a little, I could still hear the tone of terror in his voice.
Tears streaming down my face, I turned my head to look at him, which only made me cry out again. "Owowowowowow." That was when I realized I probably shouldn't have done, that considering I had metal pins in my neck from the surgery, and I might have made it worse. I looked over his face, cringing when I saw the gash just above his left temple. I moaned again before I said, "Your forehead, it's bleedin'."
"I'm fine. Don't move, Carrie."
"Hmmph, won't. You hurt?" I muttered and closed my eyes.
"No. And open your eyes. Keep your eyes open. Don't go to sleep."
"No, won't. Jus' need to—"
"You don't need to do a damned thing but keep your eyes open." When I did, he turned his body toward me then suddenly groaned loudly, which made me look at him. He grabbed the seat belt, pulling it away from him. "I know I'm not the best thing to look at but don't you dare close your eyes."
I was in so much pain I didn't know what I was saying. "Nah, you're pretty nice looking. I think I could stare at you all day."
He grinned and shook his head before he looked around inside the car, cursing. A few people came to his side of the car and hollered at him in Swedish; he answered back, although he didn't take his eyes off of me. "Relax. They've called for help. They'll get us out." He looked all around me, and I didn't like the expression on his face, much less the look of fear in his eyes.
"Al'x, you're scaring me." I was going to compliment the color of his eyes for some odd reason when I heard sirens from a distance. I closed my eyes, relieved.
"See," he said, ignoring my comment. "They're coming. But damn it, look at me." He moaned louder when I felt his hands on my face. "The only thing I'm scared about is you ..." His confession wasn't enough to make me open my eyes.
"Can'..." He started fussing at me but his voice faded, as well as the pain as I passed out.
--------------- The car shook violently, forcing me awake, though I didn't know how much time had passed. My eyes flew open in terror, but I couldn't move my head; I tried but grunted in pain. I felt a huge, warm hand clasping around mine, so I squeezed it back. "Well, there she is. Don't move your head, Carrie. You've got a neck brace on."
My neck wasn't the problem. It was my thigh and arm that was killing me. The last time I felt anything that bad was when I had a bunionectomy. The following day I woke up vomiting because the pain was so intense. That was the reason I never had the other foot done.
"Huh? Okay. Why?"
"We've been in an accident."