“I can respect that,” Curtis agrees. “Plus, you know I like all three of them. It doesn’t change anything with Drew as far as the university is concerned, but as your father, I can accept that he’s your boyfriend. Drew is a good man. Brayden and Mia are great people too. So what do you say? Dinner one day soon?”
Both Mia and I nod at him.
“Yeah,” Ashton grunts. “I guess so.”
“Good,” Curtis says, relief in his tone. “We’ll talk soon and figure out a day. Bye, kids.”
We all say bye to him and Ashton pockets his phone. He holds one of my hands and Mia holds the other as we walk in. After being here for several days, the staff is used to seeing the three of us together. At first, we got a few sour looks, but then, the nurses took a liking to us, especially Ashton because he’s a nut, and they started babying us, bringing us snacks, extra pillows, and generally looking out for us. People are a lot more accepting than you’d think. Especially the ones who love you.
“Elaine,” Ashton calls out to one of the nurses when he sees her exiting Drew’s room. “Any donuts you can steal us today from the break room?”
“You literally just ate,” I state, chuckling. “Like fifteen minutes ago.”
He shrugs. “I’m always hungry.”
Mia giggles, swatting at Ashton.
It’s then I notice the look on Elaine’s face.
Teary. Smiling.
“I was hoping you three would show up soon,” she says, her grin widening as she opens the door.
My heart seizes inside my chest. Ashton is the first to snap into action, dragging me and Mia along. It isn’t until he pulls us into the room that my entire world spins around me.
Drew.
Our fucking Drew.
Awake. No longer attached to machines making him breathe. Sitting up in bed, looking tired as hell but alive.
“Dr. Palmer just stepped out a bit ago,” Elaine says. “But Drew’s doing great. Aren’t you, honey?”
Drew’s eyes slowly roam over Ashton, Mia, and then settle on me. “I am now.”
I’m the first to launch myself at him.
I hold on to him, and I’ll be damned if I ever let him go.Brayden wraps his arms around me and I feel like I can finally breathe again. When I woke up early this morning, alone, my stomach bottomed out. Not because I was attached to tubes and in a hospital room, but because I thought Brayden, Ashton, and Mia were done with me. And I wouldn’t blame them. I pushed them away, was attempting to run when Ashton found me. I don’t remember anything after that, but I imagine Brayden told them I was leaving. Rather than fearing for my condition, I was regretful of what I’d done to them.
Once Brayden releases me, he drops into a chair by my bed. Mia sits down in the chair next to him and trails her fingers up and down my arm while Brayden holds my hand. Ashton plops into a chair on the other side and grabs my other hand. My heart swells as I glance at each of them. Ashton has dark circles under his eyes. Mia’s are puffy. And Brayden looks pale, his own eyes a bit bloodshot. They’ve been worried about me. Because they love me. And I was going to leave them.
“Well, hello again,” Dr. Palmer says, walking in. “Still feeling okay?”
“Better than earlier,” I croak, my voice incredibly hoarse. How could I not be with the three most important people surrounding me?
“As I told you this morning, you had a stroke,” he explains. “I want to ask you some questions now that you can talk. Have you been taking your medication as prescribed?”
When I first woke up and sort of panicked, they took me off the machines and checked my vitals. After a few tests, they gave me some water for my throat since it was scratched from being intubated.
“Yes.” I would never risk my life like that. I saw what it did to my dad.
He nods. “Were you stressed leading up to the time of the stroke?”
Before I can answer, Brayden speaks up. “Yes, he was. We got into a fight.”
I sigh, hating that he’s blaming himself for this. “An argument isn’t going to cause a heart attack,” I tell Brayden, locking eyes with him. “This was not your fault.”
I look at the doctor. “I was under some stress because of personal stuff going on, but the truth is, I felt like something was wrong for a while. I just ignored it, not wanting to deal with it.”
Ashton’s hand squeezes mine at the same time Brayden’s does.
Mia gasps. “Drew! This is your heart. You can’t ignore it when something is wrong. We could’ve lost you.”
My gaze swings over at her glassy eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“In that case, we’re going to up the dosage. Our initial thought was that you were undermedicated, which can happen. We’re going to keep you here one more night and run some tests, but as long as everything looks okay, you can go home tomorrow. Make sure you follow up with your cardiologist and try to avoid stress as much as possible.”