A Refined Woman - Sebastian

I was to be held overnight and Ellie stayed with me. Luke had told her what he thought of me and she had told him what she thought of a man who beat up a man who wasn't even defending himself, a man who was just guilty of consensual loving.

I kept constantly snoozing off that day. I closed my eyes for a moment, but hours passed during. When I woke up at night, she was missing, but Kath had taken her place, using my body as a table, a hundred documents sprawled across me and a laptop balanced against my knee.

"I sent Elisa home to sleep." she noted barely turning her look to me. Not that that would have explained her being there, but I was too hazy to play her mind games so I didn't ask.

"I knew it must be some woman to take you down like that, but jesus fuck Seb, Elisabeth Serene..." she muttered emphasizing every word.

No, I was too out of it to go along or block, so silence had to do. I just stared at the telly that showed some random show and did my best to ignore her. She needn't to be there. I needn't owe her any more than I did. They were supposed to fly to Argentina that morning.

"Are you going to talk to me or not?" she asked, finally giving her keyboard a break and turning to me. Don't Kath, don't fucking play your fucking cat-mouse games with me now. Yes, I lost a great friend, a woman I loved watched her son beat me to a near coma and I didn't show to work again - what do you want from me?

"C. oil?" I asked and cursed my aching jaw. I really hated to admit that I was an addict, especially in the hospital bed and hurting so deep that it was nearly all I could feel. But the pain was better than relapsing and cannabis did a good job. Thank god Kathrine was there to handle the doctors, some of them thought drugging me up is a part of patching me up.

Though, thinking back, it was a little amusing when a doctor and I pressed charges against each other, him against me for assaulting him, me against him for drugging me. Not that that rehab had been that amusing.

Kath just smirked at me and handed me a vile. I gladly took a few good drops and begged for it to take effect as quickly as possible, too long of a gap meanwhile. "Luke?" I asked.

"Ashamed and angry." she noted dryly and kept her gaze on her computer.

"David?"

"Absolutely furious, won't talk to Luke."

"Ellie?"

"Won't talk to Luke either. Worried to death about you. Nice catch by the way."

I smiled and turned my look back to the telly. I was lucky to have that devil of a woman in my life. John'd definitely made the right choice. I'd slept too much to actually feel sleepy, but I just wanted to fall asleep and wake up when I got released and back to Ellie, I couldn't believe I still had her. There was nothing worse than being stuck in a hospital bed.

After some time I had to smirk as I realised how strong the cannabis oil was, a good bit stronger than the one I had during the day. With a little chuckle I said "In a way I love you Kath."

She smiled softly and said "I know. Maybe one day you'd finally stop hating me too."

"Maybe you'd keep your nose out of my business."

"Maybe."

"How strong was that?"

"Oh, you should be good til the morning."

"Now I really do love you."

"I'll just write that off at you being high."

"You'd better." I smiled and drifted off again.

The next day felt better. I felt like I had energy to stay awake and focus. Ellie took us home and helped me settle in bed, my torso still ached from the bruising, not to mention the rib. Luckily Kath stocked me with some not that strong cannabis oil that made life definitely more comfortable.

Ellie cuddled me most of the day and briefed me of the events of the previous day, but I couldn't care. She was still with me. The things I would do to show her how much she meant to me.

Luke didn't talk to me for weeks, so Ellie didn't talk to him. I felt bad being the rift between their relationship, but she had a point, he had no right and I'd never treated her even remotely questionably.

She moved all her belongings from Lukes house to mine in the first week and sent her set of keys with me to give to David when I returned to work the end of that week. David just groaned that he wasn't so going to get laid that night. He mostly acted like Switzerland. Though he kind of had to, now that it was the two of us running the restaurant. He didn't really tell me, but I noticed that they must have gotten engaged on their vacation.

I hadn't even noticed when exactly Ellie had taken her ring off, but one night after finishing late and crawling next to her sleeping body I noticed it gone. A part of me wondered if she wanted it replaced.

It took a month before Luke came over one day, a six-pack with him as a peace offering. Said he wasn't happy, but was ashamed over his actions. I told him I understood and we patched up a tiny part of the relationship we used to have.

Luke saw us kiss as he left, the discomfort on his face obvious even as he was trying to accept us. But it didn't matter next to the woman in my arms, be his mother or not, she was a wonderful woman and for some reason I deserved to have her in my life.

It took a good year until Luke and I got back to our old selves, he even had me as his best man at his wedding, but made it very-very clear that he'd never even want think about the idea of me as his step-father.

And god, Ellie in bed...