Page 118 of Up In Flames
“Was Patrick…”
“Yeah, Tay,” Damon speaks up. “He was here. And he finally told the truth.”
“Shit, what’d Ash and I miss?” Francesca says.
“We’re so sorry, Bird,” my dad adds, not answering her.
“This is…this all feels like a lot. I’m really grateful everyone is here, but I’m feeling really overwhelmed. Could we maybe…” I trail off, trying to catch my breath. Apparently, talking is enough to exhaust me now, “…save some of this for later, or, like, spread it out over a few days?”
I’m finding out Patrick came clean about his lie, my entire family has met my boyfriend when I wasn’t even awake for it,Damonis here, and Knox and I just used theL-wordfor the first time.
Yeah, overwhelmed is one way of putting it.
“Of course, son. We’ll let you rest,” my dad says, standing to gather his things. “I think we could all use a decent night’s sleep. Why don’t your mother and I come back tomorrow around lunch?”
“That sounds great,” I mumble, trying to smile, but it hurts too fucking much. Everything hurts.
He writes his number on the whiteboard with what appears to be my nurses’ names before stopping at Knox’s side with a hand on my boyfriend’s shoulder. “That’s my cell number. You’ll call if anything changes?”
“Yessir,” Knox says with a nod to my dad.
My mom is in tears as she moves next to my bed. “It’s so good to see you awake, Bird.” I can tell she wants to hug me, but there’s no way to do it without inflicting more pain. Turning to my boyfriend, my mom says, “Thank you again for saving his life,” and throws her arms around Knox’s neck. He hugs her back with his free hand still refusing to let mine go.
“It was actually him who saved mine,” Knox replies loudly enough for me to hear.
Livvy’s up next, and she leans in and kisses my cheek softly before threatening me. “If youeveralmost die again, I will chain myself to you so I can keep an eye on you at all times, Taylor Landry. And Ido mean at all times.” When she uses two fingers to point between her eyes and mine, I laugh and then immediately wince.
“Ow.”
“Shit. Sorry!” Livvy says. “Don’t laugh, Tay. I’m not funny. I’m actually being totally serious right now, anyway. I love you. See you tomorrow,” she says as she bounces from the room, clearly feeling lighter since I’m awake.
“Hey man, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Just let me know when I should come by, and we can, uh, hopefully workthrough some shit because…” Damon clears his throat, “because I’ve fucking missed you, brother.”
“D, everything hurts so fucking badly right now, but if you don’t give me a hug, it’s only gonna hurt worse,” I tell him, needing to hug my twin so that this part of my year-long nightmare can finally be over and our two halves can be the complete circle we were always meant to be.
Damon nods and leans in, carefully bracing himself with his left hand, wrapping his right over my chest without actually touching me. In turn, I leave my casted left arm on the bed and pat his back with my right, briefly letting go of Knox’s hand. It feels so fucking good to hug my brother again.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I whisper into his neck before he pulls away.
“I promise I’ll never take someone’s word over yours ever again. I should’ve known better, and I’m so fucking sorry, Bird.”
I manage a very tiny nod. “Thanks, D. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” He doesn’t look happy per se, but he looks hopeful, and that feels good.
Ashton steps up to my bed next. “Look, you’ve had enough emotions in the last fifteen minutes, so Tay, I love you. Call me if you need anything. And Knox, we can never repay you for saving our brother’s life. Welcome to the family, man.” He holds his hand out to shake Knox’s. Francesca does the same and blows me a kiss and tells me she’ll see me tomorrow.
Seeing my family embrace my boyfriend has my chest tightening, making my heart rate monitor pick up speed.
Shit.
“Shh, baby. Everything’s okay,” Knox whispers, his thumb rubbing across the back of my hand as he leans over me, placing kisses on my heavy eyelids.
I nod, but stay silent. I already know that crying will hurt so I try to swallow it down, not wanting to add more pain to what’s already coursing through my body despite the pain pump attached to me.
When everyone’s gone, and it’s just me and Knox, I suddenly don’t know what to say, but thankfully, he fills the silence.
“It’ll be a while yet, but when they’re ready to discharge you, you’ll have to stay with someone,” Knox says, playing with the fingers on my right hand, which are about the only things on my body that aren’t broken right now. “Luckily, I know a guy who’s got plenty of room and would love nothing more than you to help you heal.”
