Page 43 of Tainted Rose

Xander

Ilie in the MRI tube, trying to stay still like they’d told me to, but it’s deafening in here, like a jackhammer in surround sound. This can’t be good for someone who might be concussed. My head is going to fall right off my shoulders, roll out of the machine, and onto the floor.

If it did, maybe I could stop thinking about all the mistakes I’ve made with Scarlett. While in the ambulance, I remembered that she’d made me leave last night. She’s pretty upset with me, yet, she’d been right by my side. I’m hopeful that means something.

Every single step I’ve taken in the name of protecting my mom and Janie—and now Scarlett—suddenly feels wrong. I’m scared shitless. Terrified. If I’d known what I would find digging around in Sebastian’s desk and all the trouble that damn photo would cause—all the hurt it could and might still bring the people I care about—I’d never have gone in there. Stayed comfortably oblivious. Scarlett and I would be … what? I don’t even know, but if I could go back to that first day, when I saw her and didn’t know who she was, I might. We’d both been carefree that morning. Flirting. Checking each other out like teenagers are supposed to do. We’d been happy. Excited about the possibilities ahead of us. I take a deep breath.

“Stay still, hon.” The stern voice of the lady running the test comes to me from a speaker somewhere inside the machine.

“Sorry,” I murmur.

“It’s okay, but every time you move, I have to start over.”

“Shit.”

She chuckles. “I hear you on that. Hold tight, and I’ll get you out of there as quickly as I can.”

“Thank you.” Fuck me, it already feels like I’ve been in here forever. I close my eyes and let myself drift. I go right back to my thoughts, trying to remember to breathe shallowly. You know what? Someone was going to bring all of this out into the open eventually. I just don’t understand who the other player is. Why do they even care about something that happened seventeen years ago?

When the testing is finally done, they take me back to a room. The nurse hurries around, checking my IV, getting me some water, and making sure I’m comfortable.

“Can I have visitors yet?”

She nods. “Two at a time. You have a whole crew of them waiting out there. Who do you want to see first?”

My heart says Scarlett, but my mom will freak if she doesn’t get to see me soon. “Could you ask for my mom, Isabella, and my little sister, Janie?”

“Isabella and Janie. Mom and sister. Got it. I sure can. And your test results should be back soon. Your coach pitched a fit, so they put a rush on them.”

My lips twitch into a small smile. “Thank you. When can I get out of here?”

She winks at me. “I was waiting for you to ask that. Depending on the results, they may let you go home later today. I’ll send in your first visitors.”

“Thanks again.”

She nods and slips out the door.

About five minutes later, a quiet knock sounds on the door before it pushes open and my mom peeks in with Janie on her hip. Once she sees me, she moves quickly, crossing the room to my bedside. “Oh, honey.”

I can hear it in her voice. She’s trying not to freak out for Janie’s sake. “I’m okay. They think it’s a mild concussion. I feel fine, but I have a headache, and I’m sore and tired.”

Janie buries her face in Mom’s shoulder. All I can see is a pair of strawberry blonde pigtails. Mom nods, her face strained as she leans in to kiss my forehead, then runs her free hand down the side of my face. She looks deeply into my eyes, probably trying to ascertain for herself whether I’m really okay or if I’m downplaying how bad it is. She swallows hard as she pulls away to drag the only chair in the room closer to the bed and takes a seat.

“Where’s my Monkey?”

Janie turns her head and peeks at me, a tiny smile on her quivering lips.

I smile at her and hold out my arms. “Come here.”

“Are you sure, Xander?” Mom gazes at me with concern.

“I’m fine. I’ll be better if I can have a hug from my little sister. Whaddaya say, Monkey?”

She snuggles in once Mom’s set her on the bed in the crook of my arm. “You got hurt, Xander?”

I hate the way her little lip trembles when she looks up at me. I tap her nose with my finger. “Yeah. Just a little boo-boo, though.”

Her brow furrows, like she knows I’m lying. “If it was a little boo-boo, a bandage would be enough.” She seems to set that aside and grins. “I have unicorn Band-Aids at home.”

---