Chapter Twenty-Six

Paris

"Hold on a minute. What did you just say?" Addison questioned me.

"I said, Chris was shot in the left shoulder yesterday and he is at a hospital in Paris so pack your bags"

"Okay, when does the next flight leave?"

"Not until tomorrow morning" I sighed.

"Well, let's get packed and get some rest and we'll leave first thing tomorrow alright?" she soothed.

A stray tear rolled down my cheek.

Addison came over and enveloped me in a hug and wiped the tears from my cheek.

"He's gonna be okay alright? He's in good hands now. You'll see him tomorrow" she said kissing the top of my head "now let's get you to bed. You've had a long day"

"Okay. Thanks for everything Addie"

"What are sisters for huh?" she chuckled.

I laughed at her remark. She really was like a sister to me.

We both headed to bed after about ten minutes. I was awoken the next morning by Addison repeatedly poking my face.

"Wake...up" she said.

"Fineee" I laughed.

"Hey it's your fault we have to get up this early anyways" she winked.

"Oh shoot yeah! We have to get to the airport! The flight leaves in like three hours!" I remembered.

We grabbed our bags and headed for the airport. Thankfully, it was only about twenty-five minutes from my house so we still had plenty of time to go through security and find our gate.

"Alright Addie. Find gate C17"

"Okay I think that's this way" she pointed.

I followed her and we found our way to the gate.

"Now what are we going to do for an hour and a half?" she asked.

"Hmmmm. What card games do you know?" I asked pulling a deck of cards out of my backpack.

"Well, I know how to play go fish, and crazy eights" she laughed.

So we spent the rest of the waiting period playing go fish and cray eights.

'Would all passengers on flight 702 to Paris France please prepare to board. That's all passengers travelling to Paris France please prepare to begin boarding' The lady over the speaker said.

"Alright. Let's go get Chris" I smiled.

Addison hugged me and hooked my arm with hers as we made our way to the plane. We were seated close to the front of the plane which I was thankful for because I wanted to get to Chris as fast as possible. I was worried sick about him.

When we were at the designated height of about thirty-five thousand feet, I decided to try and call Ryan and see how Chris was doing. In one of the letters, it said that Ryan had been injured as well, so I assumed that they were in the same hospital.

I picked up my phone and asked Addison for the number. She dialed it in for me and I waited for the line to be picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ryan, it's Nicole. Is Chris there?"

"He is, but he's been under a sedative for about three days now so he's completely out of it"

"How did you know to write me then?" I questioned, slightly confused.

"He told Corey. But of course, Corey didn't know what he was talking about and he figured that I would. So, Corey told me everything he wanted written and I wrote it. Along with a few improvisations of course" I could tell that he winked at the end of this sentence.

"Okay well Addison and I are on the plane on our way now, would you mind telling me where exactly you are?" I asked.

"Yeah we're at the general hospital in Paris on the trauma floor. Room 309 I think"

"Thanks so much"

"No problem. Would you mind putting Addison on?"

"No not at all" I said a little confused.

I handed the phone to Addison. "It's Ryan" she immediately began to blush.

I winked at her as she took the phone. She smacked my arm and began to talk to Ryan. I wonder how long this thing has been going on.

Addison's call with Ryan was interrupted by the PA system in the plane.

'Please turn off all electronics at this time and fasten your seatbelts. We are beginning our descent into Paris, France'

"Okay Ryan I gotta go but I'll see you in a little bit okay?" Addison said. I heard her mutter a goodbye before handing the phone back to me.

"Would you mind telling me what's going on between you and Ryan?" I smirked.

She blushed and began to tell me how her, Chris and Ryan were all really close as kids, and when she stopped seeing Chris when he first joined the army, she always called Ryan to make sure that Chris was alright. She said something just sparked from there. She had seen him whenever he came home but they hadn't actually been on a formal date yet.

"Maybe we can double date in Paris" I suggested.

"That sounds awesome!" she gasped "but first, we have to make sure that Chris is okay"

"Of course" I laughed.

We grabbed our luggage, rented a car, and were off to find the hospital. I was excited and nervous to see Chris at the same time.

'What if everything changes between us?'

'What if he doesn't remember me?'

All of these questions kept playing in my head. But I pushed them all down. I needed to be positive for Chris this time. He was there for me, so I need to be there for him.

When we reached the hospital, I learned that Addison is very fluent in French.

"Nous recherchons Christopher Garrett et Ryan Baxter" she spoke.

"Ah oui, ils ont dans la salle 309" the receptionist said.

"Merci beaucoup"

Now that part I understood.

"What did she say?" I asked her.

"Room 309" she laughed. French was definitely not my thing.

We practically ran up to the third floor and began frantically searching for room 309.

"Found it!" I called to Addison.

She began barreling down the hallway towards me and I opened the door.

Chris was lying in a bed still asleep and Ryan was sitting next to him with his right arm in a sling.

"Hey Ryan" I whispered.

"Hey!" he said standing up and giving each of us a hug.

"You alright there?" Addison asked.

"Yup. Just skinned me. I'm a leftie though which is good" he laughed.

I walked over toward Chris. He had bags under his eyes, even though he was sleeping. But he still looked really attractive.

I walked around to his right side and pulled up a chair. I took his large hand in mine and it warmed me. Relieving all of the stress that had built up inside me.

"The bullet just missed his heart you know. He was really lucky. Another couple millimeters down and he would've been toast" Ryan chuckled from the other side of the bed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Addison pulled up a chair and sat next to him.

"The meds should be wearing off in a couple of minutes" Ryan said.

Almost just as Ryan finished his sentence, Chris's grasp on my hand tightened. He was awake.

I leaned over and kissed the tip of his nose. He smiled a little and his eyes began to flutter open.

Addison almost jumped for joy and Ryan had to calm her down so he wouldn't get so overwhelmed. He said that Chris had some pretty bad PTSD.

"Hey darlin" he said groggily motioning for me to come lie down with him.

I stood from my chair and looked over at Ryan who gave me a quick nod. I slowly lied down next to Chris who wrapped his good arm around my waist. I don't know where he found the strength to pull me closer but he did. I rested my head on the side of his chest and breathed in his familiar scent.

"I missed you guys" he said to Addison and I as he motioned for her to come sit where I originally was. She gladly got up from her spot beside Ryan and came over to Chris's right side. She kissed him on the cheek and sat down.

"Well, this one over here missed you a thousand times more than I did" she smiled gesturing towards me.

"It's true" I smiled.

He turned, wincing a little and kissed my forehead.

"It's alright Chris, just stay still okay?" I said sympathetically.

"But I wanna give my girl a kiss" he said pouting.

I turned and put my arms on his chest for stability before giving him a quick but loving kiss on the lips.

"Better?" I asked, resuming my original position beside him.

"Mhm" he muttered.

We all sat and talked together before a nurse came in. She told us that she doesn't normally do this, but she was going to let Addison and I stay in the room with Chris since we were his family, and she knew that he was in the army and we hadn't seen him for a long while.

Addison went back and sat with Ryan before she half-closed the curtain that separates the room so that Chris and I could have some alone time.

I turned onto my left side and cuddled up to Chris, missing his touch.

"Does it hurt?" I asked him.

"Yeah but it helps having you here with me" he smiled.

I laughed at his cheesiness.

"Okay Mr.Cheesy" I brought up his old nickname that I had used when we first met.

I lifted my head and kissed him. Making sure he didn't move too much.

I rested my head in the crook of his neck and we both fell asleep after a really long and stressful day.

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Sorry this chapter is a little boring....

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Eagle_Eye_13 xx