Free Healing Gabriel by Elizabeth Kelly

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Morgan’s hand on his back.  “Gabe?  Honey, what’s wrong?”
    She had come up behind him, she must have been in the barn
with Daisy, and he gripped her hand so hard that she winced a little.
    “Side – hurts.”  He whispered.
    She felt his forehead, inhaling sharply at the heat.  “Gabe,
you’re burning up.  C’mon honey, we need to get you to the hospital.”
    “No!”  He winced again as he straightened.  “I just need to
rest.  I don’t need the hospital Morgan, I’m – “
    Morgan shouted with alarm as Gabe suddenly sagged against
her.  His weight drove her to her knees, and she gave another cry of alarm when
he crumpled to the ground.
    “Gabe!  Gabe!  Can you hear me?”
    Gabe groaned and tried to focus on her.  Although she was
leaning over him, her face directly above his, her voice was muffled and
distant. 
    “Hurts.”  He whispered again.  Vincent and Delilah paced nervously
around them, both of them whimpering low in their throats.
    “Gabe!  Stay awake!  Don’t faint on me honey.  Gabe!” 
Morgan’s pulse was beating so loudly she could hear it in her ears, and she
moaned with panic when Gabe’s eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out.
    Gasping, trying not to cry, she pulled her cell phone out
and dialed 9-1-1.
    * * *
     
    Gabe blinked and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling.  There
was a loud beeping noise and he glanced to his left, staring in confusion at
the machine.  There was an IV in his hand and he made a soft groan.  He was in
the hospital.
    There was a rustling noise and then Morgan was leaning over
him, her hand resting on his forehead and her light blue eyes filled with
worry.
    “How do you feel honey?”
    “Thirsty.”  He rasped.
    “Here.  It’s just ice chips but it’ll help.”  She tipped the
Styrofoam cup up and he took a few of the ice chips into his mouth.  They began
to melt and water trickled down his dry throat.
    “What happened?”  He whispered.
    “It was your appendix.  It came dangerously close to
bursting.  Another few hours and it would have.  You should have told me how
badly you were feeling.”  She scolded him gently.
    “How long have I been out?”
    “Over 24 hours.  It’s Monday night.  They did emergency
surgery yesterday afternoon and took your appendix out.  Do you remember waking
up in the recovery room?  The nurses said you were quite agitated when you woke
up.”
    He shook his head.  “I don’t remember.”
    “Apparently you were yelling and kicking up a fuss about
being in the hospital.  They had to give you a sedative to calm you down.”
    He sighed tiredly.  “I don’t remember any of that.”
    She breathed a sigh of relief.  They had allowed her to stay
in his room with him last night.  At some point she had woken from where she had
dozed off in the chair, to discover he was awake and staring at her.  She had
sat on the side of the bed and stroked his blanket-covered chest as he moved
restlessly. 
    They had given him not just a sedative but some powerful
pain relief as well, and he had been as high as a kite.  He had held her hand,
his fingers stroking her wrist, and told her very earnestly that she was the
most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  He had told her that he thought about
kissing her every day, and that he liked the way she touched him and looked at
him like he wasn’t hideous.
    She’d blinked back tears as he had sighed and muttered, “I
wish I wasn’t ugly,” before drifting back to sleep.
    She was thankful he didn’t remember.  She had even been
flattered by what he said until she remembered he was speaking under the
influence of the drugs.  Still, she knew he would be mortified if he remembered
what he had said to her, and she suspected he might even stop being her friend
if he knew.  Over the last couple of months he had become very important to her,
and the thought of not being his friend filled her with dismay.
    “When can I get out of here?”  He