The Best Man novel Chapter 93

Olivia's POV

Him.

"Thank you for letting me borrow your jacket, Joe", I smiled at him while giving it back to him, and he gave a short nod to acknowledge me

"No problem, Olivia", he walked alongside me as I bumped into him on his way out of the canteen. The rest of the McCarthy's were seated in the corridor just outside Nathan's ward and Sarah stood up to meet me the second she saw me appear around the corner.

"Oh Liv", she threw her hands around me in a warm hug. "I'm so sorry this happened"

"So am I", I said quietly as we broke away from the hug and I greeted the others, Jamie and Cassidy already giving me the go ahead to go inside Nathan's ward

"I'm worried about Olivia though, is she okay?", I could hear Nathan's voice question just when I was about to go in and Violet's eyes rose to meet mine

"You might as well ask her for yourself", she said still looking at me, to which Nathan also turned and saw me standing at the doorway, my lips already turning into a little smile from the sight of him

"Liv", he breathed out softly while stretching out his hand at me, motioning I come closer and I strode inside. "Are you alright?"

I nodded my head at him.

"Mother, could you give us a few minutes?", he asked quietly looking at her, and she gave a nod of understanding while giving me a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before walking out. I noticed Nathan was trying to push himself up, and I put both my hands out to stop him.

"You going to hurt yourself, let me", I was about to help him by adjusting the pillows behind him, but he grabbed my hand

"No, I'm okay", he reassured. "Come here", he scooted a little on the bed cautious and carefully to not hurt himself and pulled me towards him so that I climbed onto the bed with him. I heaved a sigh of relieve when I laid besides him, carefully not to press my entire weight on him to hurt him and buried my face on the side of his neck. It hasn't been a long time since the last time I was in his arms, but it felt like eternity. This was my safe place. He was my home.

"This feels good", I said quietly, and I felt his hands tightening a little than before around me, locking me into his warm embrace

"It sure does", he whispered softly while heaving a sigh of relief. I looked up at him, finding his eyes already staring back at me, then his eyebrows ceased for a second as he tilted my head a little to the side and I felt his fingers gently brush against the patch on the side of my head before cussing under his breath.

"How serious is this? Did this cause any serious injury to your head?"

"No Bella, please don't do that", he hushed softly, pulling me up a little by my waist so that our faces were at level height. "You know I hate seeing you cry"

"I was so scared", I said quietly as I leaned my forehead against his, stroking the side of his face with my thumb. "I really thought I was going to lose you"

"You'll never lose me Liv, cause you carry me in your heart just as much as I carry you in mine and for that I'll always be here with you", he wiped the tears off my face gently, and I dropped my eyes from his gaze, trying to swallow this hard lump that was growing in my throat

"Hey", he said softly while tilting my head up again. "I'm going to be okay, I promise", he stroked my head softly before planting kisses on my forehead countless times. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me for a very long time"

I stifled a laugh while sniffing. "That's fine with me cause you see, you're also stuck with me for a very long time"

"I can live with that", he smiled contagiously

"So can I", I leaned in to peck him on the lips, but he grabbed my face just I was about to pull away and kissed me slowly for a few more seconds

"Okay, I missed this", he breathed out softly as we both pulled away a little while after, and I snickered a laugh