Taking Chances (16 page)

The next thing I knew, Spencer was kissing me. He obviously didn’t care that Jeremy was in the room. Or maybe Jeremy had left to give us some privacy. I kissed him back, wrapped my free arm around his neck, and tangled my fingers in his soft, auburn hair. I pulled him closer, not wanting to let go.

He took my face delicately in his hands and kissed me more eagerly. It was interesting, the way his lips moved with mine, mostly because he was leaning over me because I couldn’t really move. He didn’t really seem to care.

He kissed me so eagerly that I knew he would never want to be apart from me again. Our kissing ended when Jeremy came back in the room.

“Spence,” Jeremy asked. “Do you want me to leave again so you can have a make-out session with your girlfriend?” He laughed.

“Maybe…” Spencer chuckled, still holding my face in his hands.

“Okay…have fun. I’m going to go get something to eat.” Jeremy laughed and walked back out of the room.

Spencer kissed me again, and soon after, I ended the kiss, breathing heavily. He smiled and said, “I guess I have to go.”

“No,” I whispered.

“I’ll be back tomorrow.” He released my face from his hands and walked toward the door.

“Come back, please. Just for a minute.”

He sighed and brought one of the room’s folding chairs over to my bed, sitting down and resting his head on his arms. I played with his hair.

“I don’t want to be away from you,” I explained.

His eyes closed, and he sighed under my touch. “Neither do I. If I could be here every second of the day, I would.”

“Hmm.... “ I sighed, leaning over as far as I could to kiss the tip of his nose.

Spencer chuckled. “What were you and Jeremy laughing about?”

“We were making the awkward silence less awkward.”

“Oh, that’s all?”

“Yes. It wasn’t much. We just realized that we weren’t used to being alone together much, and he just started laughing to break the silence.”

“That’s Jeremy for you,” Spencer chuckled.

“I don’t want you to leave me,” I whispered after a minute of silence.

“I won’t. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Stay with me, please. I know I’m being somewhat selfish and demanding, but I don’t want to be alone tonight. Last night I had nightmares of Michael.” I winced, feeling emotional pain, as I remembered the physical pain he’d caused.

Spencer looked at me with caring, sensitive eyes. Then, I saw him look over to the soft couch about five feet away from my bed. “Let me go talk to Jeremy really quick, and then I’ll figure out what’s going to happen tonight, alright?”

His fingertips lightly stroked my cheek as I nodded. He got up from his chair and walked out the door.

“Sydney!” Aunt Megan called as she entered my room a few minutes later.

“Aunt Megan?” I asked.

“Sweetie, I’m so sorry! I knew the whole time something weird was going on, but I didn’t know it had ever gone this far. I’m sorry I didn’t investigate it further. Oh, sweetie! I came by when you were still asleep when I first heard, but I haven’t been able to come back until now…I’m sorry.” She took my hand as she sat down in Spencer’s chair.

“It’s fine Aunt Megan. It’s not your fault.”

She was crying. “I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head. “Don’t be. It’s just like I told Spencer, it’s not your fault.”

“Spencer? Oh, yeah. He was there…when Michael was…”

I nodded, not really wanting to remember it.

“I was really worried when I first found out you had forgiven him for what he did to you with the whole Matt situation, but he assured me it was all a misunderstanding, and that he could never even forgive himself.”

I let out a soft smile. “I love him,”

“Well, I’ve always known that.” She laughed, and I smiled.

“Oh,” Spencer came into the room with Jeremy. “Hi, Miss George,”

“What did I tell you, call me Megan,” she said laughing, and then looking at Spencer and Jeremy. “Can I talk to you two outside for a minute?”

“We’ll be right back,” she promised me as they nodded.

I was alone for a mere five minutes before Spencer came back into the room.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing. She just wanted to lay down a few rules, that’s all. She’s just being a parent. She wants to stay here tonight, and she said I can stay tomorrow night so that I won’t have to wake up for school in the morning, alright?”

I nodded sadly, as if I had lost.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, and I’ll stay with you. Aunt Megan should be able to keep you safe of nightmares for now.” He leaned down and kissed my lips softly. I smiled.

He walked away and when he reached the door, I said, “I love you, Spencer Stevenson. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I love you, too, Sydney Baker. Don’t ever forget that.”

He smiled my favorite smile before leaving for the night.

* * *

The next day was Friday, and Aunt Megan left around nine in the morning. I thanked her for staying, and was restless waiting for Spencer to arrive. He came at around five, bringing a new poem he had written.

“I’m going to read it for the Creative Writing class on Monday,” Spencer told me as he handed me the poem entitled, “Healing Hearts.” I read it carefully.

Healing hearts show so much.

They show pain and torture,

and the love that you have lost.

Healing hearts change everything,

From the way you look at life,

to what you feel inside,

When your heart is healing,

your happiness starts to return,

and the pain starts to fade.

So with memories in your mind,

and hatred in your heart,

all you want is for your heart to heal.

“What do you think?” Spencer asked.

I read the poem two or three times before I could speak.

“It’s amazing,” I whispered. “I love it.”

“Thanks. I wrote it after the doctors told me that…that you might not make it,” he said, putting his hand lightly on my face.

I took his hand and held it close to my heart. “I’m not going anywhere.” I smiled.

He tried to smile back, but his expression was filled with pain and worry.

“Spence, I’m not leaving you. Please stop worrying so much.”

“I’m trying,” he whispered honestly.

“I’ll be out of here soon,” I reminded him. “And then, I’ll never have to leave your side.”

“I like the sound of that.” He chuckled as he brought his head down to kiss me.

It soon got late and the sun was long gone. “Thank you for staying tonight,” I told him.

Spencer smiled. “You know I love you.”

“Can I ask you something?” I asked.

“Anything,” he promised.

“What rules did Aunt Megan lay down for you yesterday?” I wondered.

“Oh, she just said that she wanted to stay with you last night, and that she’d let me stay tonight. Well, she also took me aside and said that if I ever did anything to hurt you again, she’d make me regret it, but I try to ignore that. I don’t ever plan on leaving you again.”

“She said that to you?” I questioned angrily.

“As I said yesterday, she was just being a parent,” he said in her defense.

I sighed, looking out at the pitch-black night. Spencer gently squeezed my hand in his and said, “You know, you said that you want to help people, and have that be your career…I am so sorry that I wasn’t there to help you.”

I sighed.

“Sydney…I don’t think you will ever be able to compare to the pain I feel…I am so angry with myself. It kills me inside to know that this has been going on for years…it kills me.”

“Spencer,” I said. “You have helped me. You saved me. If you wouldn’t have come that night, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be gone forever. Don’t blame yourself for the things that happened to me. It’s not your fault…and by the way, thank you, for everything,” I whispered, messing with his hair with my free hand.

“You’re welcome.” He leaned down to kiss me once more, and for the first time in weeks, I slept free of nightmares.

Chapter 16

HOME

The next week was unfortunately slow, even though Spencer came to see me almost every day. Jacquie had let me know that she and Annie had won the talent show, and I told her that I was proud of them.

During the middle of my second and final week at the hospital, Spence only came to see me one day because he had to clean the house for his grandparents who would be coming soon.

It was mid-May, and I was able to leave the hospital and go back to the farm. Spencer picked me up that afternoon, and I was happier than ever to hold him in my arms again.

Walking out to his car, Spencer kept one arm close and securely around my waist as I leaned into his side for support. I was super sore, especially since I had been lying in a hospital bed for two weeks.

When I got back to the farm, Spencer held my hand as we walked inside. I looked at the house and smiled. It finally could be my personal heaven on earth.

“Surprise!” my friends screamed as we entered the living room. I was speechless. Streamers and different colored balloons were covering every inch of the room. “Taking Chances” by Celine Dion was playing, and a big, blue banner with green letters read, “Welcome home, Sydney!”

“Welcome home,” Spencer whispered in my ear as he kissed my cheek.

“Wow,” was all I could say.

Jacquie came up to me and hugged me as tightly as she could.

“I missed you so much, Syd,” she said to me.

“I missed you too, Jacqs…um…
ow.
” She was hugging me really tightly, and it hurt.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, letting go of me and smiling shyly.

“Did you know about this?” I eyed Spencer suspiciously.

“Of course.” He chuckled. “Jacqs and I thought of the idea.”

“When did you do all this?” I asked him.

“Do you remember when I said that I couldn’t visit you because I was cleaning my house?”

I nodded.

“I wasn’t exactly cleaning my house,” he admitted. “I was cleaning yours.” He smiled my favorite smile.

For the rest of the night, we had a little party. There was food and drinks and movies. It was nice to be with all of my friends again. I had finally won the fight. The farm was finally my home.

* * *

At school on Monday, a lot of people came up to me and asked how I was feeling. I told them that I was fine. Also, people wanted to sign the cast that would be on my arm for another three weeks. I also had to walk with a leg brace on my left leg, but no one could really see it under my baggy jeans, and I didn’t have to participate in P.E. for the rest of the school year.

Tuesday after school, Spencer stayed the night at my house for the last time before Aunt Megan, Lillian, Rebecca, and I would officially be living at the farm together. Lillian and Rebecca were at Aunt Megan’s house in downtown Shabbona, and Maddie was in a rehabilitation center for the week until a decision could be made as to the duration of her stay.

“Do you know what’s going on next Saturday?” Spencer asked as we sat on the queen-sized bed up in my room.

“Um…no. What’s going on next Saturday?” I asked.

“Well, I want to take you to it, but I want to know if you’ll feel alright going. I don’t want you to feel like you have to go,” he said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Prom,” he replied.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

“Yeah. I’d love to go.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asked, cautiously. I saw him look at my arm in its cast and my leg in a brace.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine,” I said.

“Okay. Well, you might want to tell Jacquie. She and Annie are going dress shopping tomorrow, and they want you to come. It’s last minute because they didn’t have any time to go before hand.”

“Alright.”

I called Jacquie and told her that I’d be going shopping with her and Annie the following day. She was ecstatic, and told me that Emily, who had become Dean’s girlfriend when I was in the hospital, would be joining as well.

* * *

Saturday came around, and though I had started to worry about Prom, it turned out to be a great time. Being with Spencer had made the whole ordeal even better. Though, while we stood in line for the Grand March, I saw someone that I hadn’t expected to see. Matt was there with his new
fiancée,
Belle Spickerman. I’d seen her around school, but I’d never known who she was until then. Spencer told me Belle was his ex-girlfriend, and I realized that she was the girl Matt had talked about the day we went Homecoming dress shopping. Belle had cheated on Spencer with Matt…just like Spencer thought I had done…Matt proposed two weeks prior, and they were planning to get married sometime the following year. I sighed as they walked away, wondering what their engagement would lead to...

* * *

After Prom, Spencer and I were invited to a party at Jacquie’s, but Spencer said he wanted to be alone with me that night, so we went over to his house instead.

We lay next to each other on his bed, talking. Spencer had changed out of his tux and into jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt. I changed out of my dress into jean shorts and a T-shirt. My hair was still in the roll bun, only because Spencer said that it looked really pretty that way.

I lay next to him, resting my head gently on his bare chest.

“Do you think you made the right choice, coming to Prom tonight?” he asked, stroking my hair lightly, making sure not to mess it up.

“Yes,” I replied.

It was silent for a moment before Spencer said, “I want to know how you feel…about…me.” He whispered. “You already know how I feel. I’m completely in love with you, but…I just want to know exactly how you feel.”