Aftershocks (38 page)

His mother handed him a cup of water and helped him drink it through a straw. He sipped it, and then looked at her and then over to his father. They were his family. Now that I knew he was okay, I wanted to give them some time alone with him. Connor’s mom was talking to him, so in his half-disoriented state, he didn’t notice me slip out.

As soon as I was outside, I let out a breath that I hadn’t known I’d been holding. He didn’t know about Alexis. He didn’t remember anything, but he’d either remember in time or someone would have to tel him. Since his parents didn’t know, I knew that person would be me.

I was so tired, I couldn’t even think straight. I closed my eyes for a second. I must have dozed off, because the next thing I felt was someone shaking my shoulder.

“Abbs?” I opened my eyes to see Jack. “He’s asking for you.”

I nodded, as I stood and turned to walk back into Connor’s room. He was sitting up in bed, sipping out of a plastic cup. He set it down when he saw me and smiled.

“Hey you.”

“Hi.” The tears started to rol down my cheeks again.

“Come here,” he said, holding out the arm that wasn’t attached to the IV.

I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. He put his arm around me, and I colapsed into him, folding my arm around his neck and leaning my head on his chest, sobbing.

“Shh,” he said, kissing my forehead. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

I cried harder at his words. He was fine. He was okay.

“Hey,” he said. “No tears. I’m good. It’s just a little amnesia. So I can’t remember the accident – no big deal. It was probably pretty bad to land me in here. What does my car look like? Is it bad? No, don’t tel me. I don’t want to know. I guess you were right. I realy am a bad driver.”

I wanted to laugh at his joke, but I couldn’t. He couldn’t even remember that he hadn’t been driving his own car that night.

“Shh, Abbs. Please don’t cry. I’m okay. I’m just glad you weren’t with me. Do you know what happened?”

I didn’t want to start answering his questions with lies, so I opted out. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it,” I sobbed. “You don’t know what it was like. I was so scared I was going to lose you.”

“But you didn’t. I’m fine. I’l probably be a little gimpy until this leg heals, but other than that, I’m good.” I laughed at his joke. “See, that’s better. I’d rather hear you laugh than cry.”

We were silent for a minute. I brought my legs up on the bed, so I could curl up next to him like I had wanted to for days. I listened to his heart beating in his chest and the sounds of his breathing, in and out, in and out. They were good sounds. I squeezed him harder around his chest.

“Connor, you don’t know how bad it was.”

“Tel me.”

“You wouldn’t wake up. I felt so helpless. Al I could do was sit here and hold your hand. I was so scared that I was going to lose you.

I talked to you, you know?”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Even though I knew you couldn’t hear me, it stil felt like you could.” I laughed lightly. “It’s sily, I know.”

“No, it’s not,” he said. “What were you talking about right before I woke up?”

“I was talking about Christmas Eve and how you did the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me when you pimped my tree house.”

“I thought so.”

I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“Wel, right before I opened my eyes, I guess I was dreaming. We were in your tree house, and we had a blanket spread out on the floor. You looked so beautiful that al I could think about was kissing you, but you kept puling away from me. Finaly you got up and left. I went searching for you, but you were gone. I panicked. I thought I had lost you.”

Recognition dawned on me. “Is that why you were saying that when you woke up?”

“Saying what?”

“You said, ‘I thought I lost you’. Twice.”

“Oh, I guess, I did,” he said. “I was so happy to see you when I opened my eyes. You were gone, but then al of a sudden, you were there.”

“I never left. I could never leave you. I’ve been right here the whole time, and no matter what happens over the next few months, I’m going to stay right by your side.”

“I love you so much,” he said, as he kissed my forehead, not understanding the message behind my words. In time he would, and I knew he would appreciate them.

“I love you, too. You know, over past few days, I’ve been feeling so desperate for you to wake up that I even tried the Jedi Mind Trick to get you to open your eyes.”

He laughed. “You did what?”

“Yeah, I was thinking I’m not a very good Jedi, since it didn’t work al those other times, but now I’m not so sure. I did it like five minutes before you opened your eyes. I think I might have a new career option to think about.”

He was laughing at me again. “My girlfriend the Jedi. That’s actualy kind of hot.”

I laughed with him. It felt so good to be there with him.

“So, the theater, huh? That was a realy great surprise. What did you get tickets for?”

“Oh man, I guess I ruined that surprise. Wel, it’s not like we can go anyway. Wil you take a rain check?” he asked, actualy looking morose that we hadn’t gotten to go.

“Connor, I’m so glad that you’re awake and alive that I could care less about my birthday. Having you back is a present in itself. I swear I don’t want anything else in this world besides you.”

He kissed my forehead. “Wicked.”

“What?” Was he al of a sudden adopting the Massachusetts word for cool?

“That was what I got tickets for,
Wicked
. I was going to take you to New York for dinner and a show tomorrow night.”

Oh wow. That would have been fun.

“Wel, thank you, but I wil be just fine here eating hospital food with you.”

“Yuck,” he said, making a face. “I think I’l pass on that.”

I curled into him, inhaling his scent and listening to the beating of his heart in his chest, not some monitor as I had been relegated to rely on for the past few days. I would wait to talk to him about Alexis. It wasn’t the right time.

Chapter
33

I woke up early the next morning and stopped by McDonalds to grab breakfast for Connor and me. He wasn’t technicaly supposed to eat fast food, but I thought he deserved a treat. He had been saying he was craving it the night before when I had been at the hospital until after midnight. Kely, the nurse on duty, had tried to ask me to leave when visiting hours ended, but Connor sweet-talked her into letting me stay a little longer.

At 12:15, she finaly put her foot down and told me I had to go. Connor needed his rest. We had stayed up late talking about everything and nothing, wel almost everything. I hadn’t gotten the courage to talk to him about Alexis yet. We’d had such a good day that I hadn’t wanted to ruin it.

When I’d gotten to the hospital earlier that day, his mom had been in his room and they appeared to be deep in conversation. After two hours, his mom came out and it was obvious she had been crying. I smiled at her as I passed, realizing that as much time as I’d spent in her presence over the past week I stil didn’t realy know her. She sort of grimaced at me, and I was immediately afraid she and Connor had gotten into a fight.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into his room, and when I saw his eyes were red-rimmed, I thought the worst. It seemed that what came between him and his mom was more difficult than I’d imagined. We’d spent a good part of the day talking about her and their relationship. The good news was that Connor was wiling to try to make amends with her. I had a feeling he was experiencing a sort of deja vu when he realized how close he’d been to losing everything. He was wiling try, but he stil had a hard time forgetting the past. I hoped in time he and his mom could work things out.

The next morning I walked into the hospital with McDonalds in my tote bag. The nurses had already changed shifts, and I knew that the day nurse, Gladys, would not be a kind as Kely had been about bending the rules. I reached Connor’s room, peered in and saw that he was alone.

“Hey you.”

“Hi,” he said, smiling. He moved to sit up, and I could tel it was an effort for him to do so.

“Wait, let me help you.” I dropped my tote and rushed to his side.

He roled his eyes. “I’l tel you what I’ve told everyone else. I’m fine! I’m just a little sore, that’s al.”

He sounded fine, but he stil looked like he’d been through hel.

“I brought you a present,” I said, holding up the McDonald’s bag.

“Aww, you’re the best! I’m starving. This hospital food is horrible.”

He scooted over, so I could sit on the bed with him. I unpacked the food, spreading it out on my lap. If the nurse walked in, I could easily shield it from her view.

“This is so good,” he said through a mouthful of sausage, egg and cheese biscuit. “Do you think you could smuggle in a pizza for lunch?”

“We’l see,” I said, gesturing to my tote bag. “It might be a little difficult to fit a pizza in there.”

We spent the rest of the morning laying side by side, watching TV. There wasn’t much else to do. His parents and Jordan stopped by around ten, so I gave them some time and went outside to get some fresh air.

I could tel Connor was doing much better as the day went on. They had removed the IV and the tubes the night before, once he had shown them that he wasn’t going to relapse. He was eating regular food, sitting up in bed and seemed to have more strength.

Most of our friends had stopped by throughout the day. Rich came by with Kelen. They watched one of the bowl games with Connor and Jack who had been hanging out most of the day. That afternoon, I stepped out for a late lunch with Wyatt while Connor napped.

We went to an Italian place in town that Wyatt loved. He was flying back to Ann Arbor that evening, so it was the last time we would see each other for a while. We spent lunch discussing plans for Spring Break and a possible backpacking trip after I graduated, and I relished in the normalcy of our conversation.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy,” Wyatt said, appraising me from across the table.

I grinned widely back at him. “So what do you think? Is he one of the good ones?”

I held my breath as I waited for his response. He and I both knew how much his opinion of Connor meant to me. I hated that they’d met for the first time under such strange circumstances, but I was pretty sure they’d gotten along wel. Wyatt had spent some time hanging out with me in Connor’s room the night before, and I hadn’t been sure if he’d been being nice because Connor had just come out of a coma or if he truly liked him.

Wyatt smiled at me. “However I might have questioned his judgment a few months ago, he makes you happy, Abbs. And he adores you. He’s definitely one of the good ones.”

“Almost as good as you?”

He laughed. “I love you in a much different way, little sis, but I saw how he changed when you walked into the room. I think he’s a keeper.”

Al I could do was grin and think how right he was.

When Wyatt dropped me off, I hugged him fiercely, knowing I wouldn’t have gotten through the last week without him.

“Love you, kid,” he said, squeezing me tight.

“You too. Now go back to your gorgeous boyfriend,” I said, smirking at him as I got out of the car. Wyatt just grinned as he thought of Jeremy.

As I headed inside to the elevator bank, my stomach jumped into my throat. Alexis was standing in front of the elevators. She was facing the doors, so I had a clear view of her profile. I searched for signs of her pregnancy but couldn’t see anything. I knew it was too early but part of me was hoping to see something to affirm that it was true.

I didn’t want to talk to her, but I was stuck. I walked with determination, directly toward her. When I was within five feet of her, she turned her head and looked right at me.

The look on her face was priceless. It was pure shock, but she quickly relaxed it to confident.

“Hi Abby,” she said cooly. “What are you doing here?”

Was she kidding? What did she think I was doing there?

“Um, I’m here to see Connor,” I said, in a tone that had more sarcasm that I’d intended.

She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I was just going to see him.”

Like hell!

“No, you’re not.”

“Um, helo, it’s a free country. I can do whatever I want.”

“Alexis, you know that’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because you put him in the hospital!” I said, louder than I intended. A doctor walking by gave me a look that told me I needed to lower my voice.

“I did not. That driver ran a red light, and Connor knows it. It wasn’t my fault. Anyway, I have talk to him about something,” she said, trying to let me know she had a secret. I ignored her comment.

“Alexis, he wouldn’t know what the other driver did, because he can’t remember anything after five o’clock on the day of the accident.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What do you mean he can’t remember?”

“The last thing he remembers is hanging out with me that day. So he doesn’t remember you coming over and making your little announcement. He doesn’t even know it was your car that he was in.” Her eyes widened. She looked pissed. “Now is not the time, nor the place to fil him in on your little mistake. Wait until he gets home.”

“You know?”

“Yes, I know. Before you go shouting around other people’s houses, you’d better make sure no one else is there.” She just stared at me. “Luke heard the whole conversation.”

“So why aren’t you more upset? I am having your boyfriend’s baby,” she spat.

I cringed. I was trying to keep my cool, but hearing her say that had an effect on me.

“Because I know you too wel. Who’s to say you’re not making the whole thing up? It wouldn’t be the first time you lied to get something you wanted.”

She looked at me, smiled and threw a smal plastic bag at me that I hadn’t noticed she was holding. “If you don’t believe me, look in there,” she said smugly.

I looked inside, and saw the words ‘Pre-Natal Vitamins’ written on one of the boxes. I looked back up at her. “You’re realy pregnant?”