Left Together (22 page)

“And
if she asks for anything else, just give it to her. She always gets what she
wants anyway,” he mentions.

He’s
almost to the door before I speak again. “Hey, Noah?” I call out. My brother
stops and turns. “Thank you for taking care of me and for being the best big
brother in the whole wide world.”

He
smiles and comes back over to me. He kisses my head and whispers, “It’s my job
to take care of you, but you’re welcome. I love you. I really hope you know
that.”

“I do
and I love you, too. My niece or nephew is so lucky to be getting such a great
dad.” He gives me a half-smile, not so sure of his fatherly abilities, and
heads out to give the nurse room to work.

When
the nurse is done, Evan comes back in to lie in bed with me. My hand is weak
and still feels like it has a needle stuck in it, but I can move without getting
it tangled. There’s no more beeping sound every time my heart beats, which
makes it a bit quieter. It’s a welcome change. I could sit in a silent room for
hours, especially after all of this bullshit.

“Are
you going to be this much of a pain when I take you home?” Evan wants to know.

“Probably.”

“Good.
That means you’re feeling better. You know you scared the shit out of me,
right?”

“I’m
sorry,” I whisper.

“It wasn’t
your fault, but don’t do it again. Please.”

“I’ll
try not to.” Evan snuggles into my side and stays there for the next half-hour.

 “Did
anyone in here order a fresh pair of panties and a bowl of chicken noodle
soup?” my best friend blurts out as she and Kyle enter my room. Evan kisses my
cheek and jumps out of bed, grabbing the soup from her and putting it on the
table. Jade grins at me. “You look much better than the last time I saw you.”

“So
I’ve been told. Thanks for coming.” I wait for Evan to help me sit up again.
This is really going to get old.

“How
do you feel?” Kyle asks.

“Like
I want to go home.”

“Well,
then, eat up and let’s get the hell out of this place,” Jade says.

I
decide to get dressed before eating. The process is slow and painful, even with
Evan’s help, but being in my own clothes instead of the hospital gown makes me
feel better. My company provides the chatter to distract me from the fact that
I’m sitting in a hospital bed with broken bones. The soup Jade and Kyle picked
up is from one of the places we order from frequently. It’s nice to have
something familiar. They got Evan a sandwich, which looks much more appetizing
than the soup, although I don’t think I could eat that if he gave it to me.
Thankfully, everything that goes into my mouth stays down. It wasn’t much, but
it’s enough to pacify Noah when he returns.

“Just
so you know, I’m still not completely comfortable sending you home,” he says.
“It’s only because you’ll be in good hands that I’m allowing it. Addie and I
will be over to check on you later. You better be relaxing and not causing
trouble.”

“I’ll
be on my best behavior.”

“That
doesn’t sound very promising.” He shoots me a look of warning.

“Can
she go now? Should we go bring the car around?” Jade asks impatiently.

“Yes,
she can go now.” Jade and Kyle rush out of the door. “Anyway, your discharge
orders are as follows. You are to see an allergist. A friend of mine is going
to get you in at nine o’clock Monday morning. His office is in the same
building as mine. He already knows your history. If someone can’t drive you,
Addie is available. I’d do it myself, but I have office hours.”

“I
will take her anywhere she needs to go,” Evan insists.

“Perfect.
I want you to come in to see me on Wednesday. We’ll do another x-ray in my
office. If everything looks good, you’ll start physical therapy on Thursday. I
made a call and set you up with Brian.” He hands me a business card with the
address on it.

“You
picked a
dude
to put his hands all over my girl?” Evan questions.

“That’s
for your sponge bath comment,” Noah smirks. “Actually, he’s the guy I recommend
to all of my patients. He’s really good and I trust him.”

Evan
relaxes somewhat. “He better be,” he mumbles.

“Here’s
the sling I was telling you about.” My brother holds out what looks like a
nylon strap with padding at either end of it.

“What?
No pink?” I remark.

“Do
you want to stay another night?”

“Fine.
The white will do.”

Noah
shakes his head. “No driving until I say. Your range of motion is extremely
limited.” I don’t have anything to drive now anyway. “If there is any bruising,
don’t be concerned. That’s normal for the first few days. Don’t try to lift
anything until you are cleared to do so by myself or the physical therapist.
Running is obviously out of the question for right now, but if you feel up to
it over the next couple of days, a short walk is fine. Just don’t push yourself
or go alone. If something hurts, don’t do it. It’s as simple as that. If either
of you has any questions or concerns, call me right away, regardless of what
time it is. Did I miss anything?” Noah glances down at the paper in front of
him. “Oh, right. No sex for at least a year.”

“Noah…,”
I say, returning his annoyed glare from earlier. 

Evan
is clearly amused. “Says the guy who knocked up his girlfriend before
proposing.”

“Seriously,
man, I used to like you.” Evan chuckles. Something about the way my brother and
my boyfriend talk makes me happy. “In all seriousness, Kacie. Just be careful
with everything. I don’t want to see you back here because you were pushing
yourself to get better before your body was ready. Got it?”

“Got
it.”

“Don’t
bitch at me, but I’m going to take you downstairs in a wheelchair. Since you
are leaving before you should, I want you to walk as little as possible. We’ll
be over later. After I go home and take a nap, I’m going to run over to Danny’s
shop. He has your car and I want to see it. He said it’s totaled, but the
insurance guy will be out to look at it sometime Monday afternoon.”

“Damn
it. I really loved that car. Think I’ll be able to find one just like it?”

“Sweetheart,
if I ever let you drive again, you’ll need something more indestructible. Like
a fucking tank,” Evan says.

“You
can’t drive me around forever, Evan.”

“You’re
right, but I’ll drive you everywhere for as long as you’ll let me get away with
it.” He kisses my head, then steps away to pull up the wheelchair. “Now, let me
help you into this bad boy so we can get you home.” I’ll let him slide for now,
but only because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than curled up on my sofa
with the love of my life.

Kacie

Driving
by the spot where the accident took place gives me the chills. Obviously, my
car, the truck, and all of the people who helped yesterday are gone, but the
memory is still very vivid. I desperately hope it goes away soon. It would suck
if every time I left my house, the reminder forced me to take the long way out
of the development. Jade catches me looking over to where the truck was parked.
She apologizes for taking us through here and not around the back. I try to
convince my best friend how this whole mess isn’t going to make me change how I
live my life. Evan’s sitting behind me and reaches past the headrest of the
seat to put his hand on my shoulder. Poor guy probably needs to be comforted
more than I do.

As
soon as Jade pulls into my driveway, the first thing I notice is the absence of
my convertible, but the thought is quickly chased away when I realize what
is
there. Evan’s truck is in its normal place, behind where my car should be. On
the other side are both Meg’s car and her parents’ car. The three of them are
standing at the bottom of my front steps. Her dad is holding a bunch of helium-filled
balloons, some with “Welcome Home” or “Get Well Soon” written on them. The rest
are a mixture of different shades of pink. Aunt Grace and Meg are at the car
door as soon as Jade puts her BMW in park. Evan tells me not to get out until
he’s there to help me. He quickly exits the car to be smothered in hugs from
his aunt. At least he’ll allow someone to take care of him.

Once
she lets go, Evan opens my door and extends his hand out for mine. “Ready?” he
asks.

“As
ready as I’m going to be,” I say, anticipating how much standing up is going to
hurt. Evan does most of the work, making it more tolerable than I thought it
would be. “Thank you.” He winks and smiles.

“There’s
my girl,” Aunt Grace says, hugging me gently. “I can’t believe they sent you
home so quickly.”

“Well,
when your brother is the doctor, you can apparently tell him what to do.” Evan
wraps his arm around my waist.

“If
you’d like to go back, be my guest,” I respond sarcastically.

“I’m
good,” he says, smiling.

“I
brought food,” Aunt Grace announces, as if she just remembered. “Anyone with a
free hand, please meet me at my trunk.”

Meg
wedges her way in between Evan and myself, looping her arm through mine.
Surprisingly, he doesn’t stop her. “Welcome home, Kacie.” She tilts her head to
mine. “No more close calls, okay?”

“Okay,”
I say, smiling slightly.

“Mom
was up cooking all night. You guys won’t need to make anything for a week.” I
glance over to see Aunt Grace, Jade, Kyle, and Evan all carrying containers of
food toward the house.

Shocked,
I say, “You didn’t have to do all of this.”

“Shut
up, Kacie,” Kyle calls out. “This stuff smells delicious.”

“I
know I didn’t have to,” Aunt Grace assures me when I meet her at the steps.
“This is what family does. You don’t have to ask for help from us. Just accept
it.” I tear up at how these people care about me more than my own parents.

“Thank
you.”

“You’re
very welcome.” She turns to her daughter. “There’s a bag left. Would you mind
grabbing it, Meg?”

“No
problem.” She bounces off.

Everyone
starts up the steps behind Jade, who has the only set of keys. Where the hell
are mine? I’ll have to ask Noah. They’re probably still in the car. Evan waits
while balancing a container to make sure I’m okay walking up the steps. Uncle
Tim comes over to us.

“I got
her. If you drop any of that food, your aunt will kick your ass and we’ll all
be heading back to Tampa General,” he warns his nephew.

“Don’t
let her fall,” Evan panics.

“Babe,
you aren’t going to be able to watch me every single second. I’m fine. I
promise.”

“But I
left you once and look what happened.” He looks wounded and my heart breaks for
him.

“Here.
I’ll take the food. You take the girl,” Uncle Tim suggests, holding his arm
out. Evan hands the plastic container over and watches his uncle disappear into
the house.

“I’m
sorry,” Evan says.

“Are
you apologizing for caring about me?” I slowly walk up a step to be eye level
with him. He places his hands on my waist, more delicately on my left side.

“No.
I’m apologizing for acting like an ass.”

“You
weren’t being an ass, but I thought we were going to let go of the bullshit.”

“Every
time I look at you and see how much you’re suffering, all the ways I could’ve
prevented it run through my head. How the hell am I supposed to let that go?”

“Evan,
we won’t be able to move on if you don’t. It works the same way for me. I’ve
decided there’s nothing more important than you and me. I could sit here and
beat myself up for my mistakes, but it isn’t going to do either of us any good.
All that matters is you know how sorry I am and it won’t ever happen again. You
need to accept that what happened to me is not your fault.”

“Are
you always going to be right?” he surrenders, kissing me softly on the lips.

“Yes,
and if I’m not, you better pretend I am. At least until these damn bones heal.”

“Okay.”
It looks like there’s still something bothering him.

“What wrong?”

“I
heard you found my key that I accidentally dropped. Can I have it back?” Really?
The pathetic puppy dog eyes? Does he honestly think I won’t give it back to
him?

“It’s
on top of your dresser with the rest of your stuff,” I inform him. “Just don’t
lose it again.”

“Never.”
He relaxes into me. “Let’s get you inside.”

When
we get into the house, there’s a commotion coming from the kitchen. Evan and I
silently exchange a long glance as we debate whether or not to find out what’s
going on. It would be so easy to sneak upstairs and let whatever is happening
in there fix itself. Eventually, he shrugs his shoulders and motions for me to
go ahead of him.

“Thanks
a lot,” I respond to his gesture.

He
smirks. “What did you say a few minutes ago? I believe it was something along
the lines of how I won’t be able to watch out for you all the time. I’m pretty
sure this is one of those times.”

“Jerk,”
I say, walking past him. He’s chuckling, but I ignore him.

Peering
into the kitchen, it’s easy to figure out what’s causing the trouble. Kyle is
trying to sample all of the food Aunt Grace is piling into the refrigerator. As
she puts something in, he’s taking it out and opening the lid to see what’s
inside. The yelling is most likely because of the fork he has in his hand,
which is going into every container.

“Come
on! There’s plenty of food here,” Kyle complains.

“And
if Kacie wants to share any of it with you when it’s time to eat, that’s fine.
Until then, get the hell out!” Aunt Grace swats at his chest and takes the big
bowl out of his possession.

“It’s
good to be home,” Evan says to no one in particular, going over to sit with his
uncle at the table.

“Ev,
while I’m thinking of it, the clothes you asked me to pick up are in your
truck,” Meg mentions.

“Okay.
Thanks. I’ll grab them later.” This is what I needed. Normal conversation with
normal people. No one can feel better being cooped up in a hospital bed.
“Kacie, you should come sit and relax.” Evan snaps me out of the trance I was
falling into.

“I
will, but I’m going to take a shower first. Are you guys good?” I ask, looking
around.

“We
aren’t here to be entertained. We’re here to annoy the shit out of you until we
get kicked out,” Jade says, setting out glasses of iced tea.

“Then
I hope you’re comfortable because I won’t ever kick any of you out.”

“Give
me a few minutes and I’ll come with you,” Evan tells me, sipping on the cold
drink.

“I
should be okay.”

“Kacie,”
he warns. “Don’t start your shit or I’ll call Noah.”

“I’ll
help her up to her room,” Jade offers, putting the pitcher away. “Really, I
don’t mind.” She must be responding to his facial expression because I didn’t
hear him say anything. “You should take a break while you can because the
overnight shift is all yours. I don’t envy you one bit for that.”

“I love
the way you guys talk about me like I’m not even in the room.”

Jade
grins. “Oh, sweetie. We know exactly where you are. We just don’t give a shit
if you can hear us or not.”

“On
that note…,” I say, turning for the stairs.

Who’d
have thought climbing up one flight of stairs would be so damn difficult? Every
muscle in my body is tightening up and twisting each time I lift my foot to put
it on the next step. My ribs feel like they are going to poke through my skin.
This damn arm is throbbing uncontrollably. I’m short of breath, which barely even
happens to me on a long run in the middle of summer. If Evan sees how much
trouble I’m having, he’s going to freak. I only make it halfway up and have to
stop.

“Hey.
You okay?” Jade asks, catching up to me.

“Just
wonderful,” I grunt, clutching the banister.

“What
do you want me to do?”

Closing
my eyes, I slowly breathe through the pain. “Shut up for a second.”

When
most of it passes, I’m able to continue up to my room. My phone is still
sitting on the nightstand. It’s full of text messages from Jade. Judging by the
first few, she sent them the other night while I was out on the balcony and
Evan was at her house.

“I
guess you can ignore those.” I lay the phone back down and go over to my
dresser. “Do you want to discuss you and Jake?” She doesn’t seem to be angry or
disappointed that I didn’t confide in her. Perhaps the accident did the
unthinkable and tamed my best friend.

“No, I
don’t. Actually, I don’t want to think about it again,” I confess.

“Fair
enough. Will you and Jake be able to coexist?”

“Do
you see now why I never wanted that to happen to begin with?” I point out.

“Kacie,
you don’t have to explain it to me. I totally understood your unwillingness years
ago. I was only wondering if I had to get a new brother or if I would be able
to keep the one I have.”

“You’d
give up your brother for me?”

“Without
thinking twice.”

“I’m
sorry you have to take care of me.” My eyes are watering up again, which is
fucking ridiculous. I can’t stand myself.

“Stop
it.” Jade crosses the room to hug me. “I owe you anyway.”

“What
are you talking about?”

“It’s
only because of you that I made it out of my teenage years alive.”

“You
need some sleep,” I tell her. “You’re clearly delusional.” My knee pushes the
drawer closed and I open the next one to find shorts.

“Kacie,
I’m serious. Watching my parents’ marriage fail was awful. Do you remember all
the nights you’d sit up with me because I couldn’t sleep?” I remember clearly,
unfortunately. “It’s weird how I handled all of that. Clearly, therapy should
have been considered for both of us.”

“Who
needs to pay for a shrink when we have each other and alcohol?”

“Can’t
forget the alcohol,” she teases, trailing me into the bathroom. I set my
clothes on the counter, then reach for my toothbrush. “Do you need help?”

“I’m
not sure.” I manage to get the toothpaste on the bristles of the brush. It’s
annoying to keep switching things from hand to hand, but that’s how it will be
for now. I’ll get used to it. All things considered, it’s not that bad.

Once
I’m done, I cross the room to turn on the shower. Jade tells me she’s going to
see if Evan is coming to help. Once she closes the bathroom door, I begin to
struggle as I take my clothes off. How fucking irritating is this? It’s funny
how many things you do on a daily basis that are taken for granted. Using the
full-length mirror on the inside of the bathroom closet door, I inspect the incision
running down my arm. There’s no way to tell what it will look like once it’s
healed. I’m really trying to stay positive about this whole damn thing, but
it’s getting harder and harder. The issue I had on the stairs, then barely
being able to get my clothes off doesn’t help. If I’m going to be completely
honest, it’s mostly because my brain is trying to not dwell on the fact that I
could have died yesterday. As I’m walking away from the mirror and getting into
the shower, the thought comes crashing down on me. The power of it is
overwhelming. The wind is taken from my lungs as I begin to weep, making the
pain increase again. The whole accident replays before my eyes. As soon as my
car was hit, I lost control. Remembering how scared I was sends me into a
panic. The sound of the shower door opening stops it for a second.

“Kacie,
are you okay?” Evan asks cautiously, taking in the scene in front of him.