Page 122 of Rent Free

Atlas was gone, leaving me with Forest.

He stared at me.

“Hey, buddy,” I said. “I missed you.”

“Miss ooo, Peppa.” He leaned forward and crash landed on my chest.

Pain—two different types, both physical and spiritual—rocketed through me.

I breathed through the pain, though, because there was nothing better in this world than Forest hugs… unless you counted Atlas hugs. But to be honest, those were a very close second.

I was so absorbed in the hug that I didn’t hear Atlas come back in until I felt a soft touch on my cheek.

I opened my eyes to find Atlas standing over the bed, his eyes… full of tears.

“I love you so much, Pepper,” he breathed.

Then Forest jerked up and slammed his head into Atlas’s mouth.

“Love hurts sometimes,” I teased when he wiped away blood.

He threw his head back and laughed.

Forest laughed with him.

3 months after the accident

Learning how to walk again was for the birds.

I sat down heavily, my eyes filling with tears.

“I’m never going to get it.” I sniffled.

Forest walked over to me and stopped at the end of the bars across the space from me.

He stared at me with those big brown eyes just like his daddy’s and said, “Come here, Mama.”

Tears.

There were copious amounts of tears.

It’d taken me three days after waking from my coma to regain all of my memories.

It’d taken me six weeks to get all of my casts off.

It was now three months later and though I was closer than I had been, I still felt like walking might never happen.

At least the kind of walking I used to do.

“Come on, Princess,” Maven ordered. “You have to try. You’re getting married in three months, and you want to walk down the aisle to your man, right?”

She was not wrong.

Three days ago, Atlas had gotten tired of me stalling for time when it came to marrying him, and he’d declared that our wedding day would be three months from last Thursday.

That put me at a March wedding.

“I think he should change it,” I grumbled. “It rains a lot in March.”

---