“He, he was happy and I tried to get away so he wouldn’t see me. I didn’t want to make things worse.” I hiccup, holding my sob in. I rambled so fast that I’m not even sure they caught I word I said.
Before they could say anything, I cry out, “It’s fine. I’ll be fine this time. Don’t worry. I can pick myself back up, after the cast is off… ” I give a tiny but painful side-smile and my parents say nothing. They look over at one another, and I see my mom grin. My eyebrows fold into themselves and I cock my head. What the hell?
Before I could ask anything else, my dad turns and walks out of the room. My mouth is ajar but I quickly closed it, trying to make sense of what just happened. Surely, he can’t be mad at me. I just got in a wreck for goodness sake; that should give me some pity points.
Watching my mom depart from the room right after my dad, I was about to yell out when I heard a loud bang coming from the hallway, like someone had fallen over a cart of medical supplies. Then… all the air in the room was swallowed up by my large intake of breath.
Surprised.
Confused.
Overwhelmed.
And then relief slapped me in the face.
“Rowen,” I whisper,
“You’re awake,” he says, red-faced. He is definitely out of breath, striding over to the side of my hospital bed. His maroon shirt is wrinkled around his waist and his dark hair is standing in about twelve different directions. He looks completely shaken up.
The second he gets to the side of my bed, I sit up a little straighter. I stare at his glossed-over brown eyes and feel the need to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. It doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel real to be sitting in this bed, with a broken leg, after running away from a boy I love with my entire heart, only for him to be standing beside me now looking completely disheveled.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, never taking my eyes off his. I watch him blink three times before he backs away and drags a chair over right next to me, plopping down in it and leaning his head against my arm.
His breath is warm and choppy when he begins to speak, “Sadie, I promised myself a long time ago that I would always be here for you. That I would never, ever not be here for you again. I fucked up so bad the last time you were in the hospital. I will never put you through that again. Ever.” His voice is hoarse and strained, like saying these words are literally painful.
“But—” I start. “But, you and the girl, and… ” He cuts me off before I can say anything else.
When his head jerks up to meet mine, all I see is tender love. “Sadie, that girl you saw me with… is my friend, Sarah. My friend, Sarah, who is dating our other friend, Abigail.”
My mouth forms an “O,” just as Rowen’s forms a small, playful grin—a small, playful grin that makes my heart skip a beat.
Despite the pain in my leg, I feel… light. I feel like I’m invincible. Maybe I am dead. Am I in heaven? The rational part of my brain knows I’m not because I’m pretty damn sure there isn’t any pain in heaven, physical or not, and there is definitely an extreme pain coming from my right leg.
“Sadie. How could you ever think that I could move on from you? Haven’t you been paying any attention to the last few years? I would do anything
for you. I would do anything to make you happy.”
I gulp oudly before he grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. “The only reason I didn’t go after you was because I knew I had to rethink my plan. I knew exactly what I needed to do after I sat down and let the shock wear off. You needed time.
“You’ve always needed time, Sadie. I mean, it took you an entire year to think about being friends with me again. Then it took you another year to realize that you were still in love with me. Why would this be any different? I knew you would come back to me again; I just had to give you some time to figure it out in that pretty little head of yours.”
I knew I was blushing on the outside while basically exploding on the inside. He knows me so well. He knows me better than I knew myself.
I clench my teeth so hard to keep the tears from streaming down my cheeks. I grab his hand, pulling him onto my bed with me and he willingly came, weighing down the bed so much that I think it might collapse.
When he turns his head toward mine, our faces only inches apart, he looks me right in the eye and says, “I love you Sadie, and I’m not afraid to say it.”
Moving my face even closer to his, lips brushing over his as I spoke, “I’m not afraid either… not anymore.”
His eyes light up, and he presses his lips to mine, cupping my face in his hands. The second our lips reconnect, I know that with Rowen is exactly where I need to be.
“I’m never letting you go again,” he whispers against my lips.
I whisper right back, “Me either.”
The End