Page 25 of Forever with Me

“Oh shit, sorry, sorry… I don’t, I can’t… it’s Alex, come with me,” he stammers out.

It’s at that moment I see the tear-stained cheeks and my heart sinks. Everything is running in slow motion, all I hear is a faint buzzing of noise. I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. I am pushed into the elevator and see Foster and Cole speaking animatedly, but all I hear is silence. I know I must be consciously shutting out the world, because I cannot hear the words. Alex is dead. Alex is dead, and I don’t ever want to know that reality. Closing my eyes, I feel Cole tugging at my arm, but I dig my heels into the ground, locking me into the elevator. I look between their faces and see Foster looking confused and Cole looking concerned. Cole steps back into the elevator and gently pries my hand from the railing, forcing me forward.

Leaning down to my ear, I can feel his breath and then I hear, “She’s awake, baby, you haven’t lost her.”

I suck in air as if I’ve been underwater and take off in a full sprint with Foster and Cole right behind me, busting through the doors, I see Alex. Alex. My beautiful, lovely, crazy best friend, alive and well, eating Jell-O. Freaking Jell-O! A hysterical burst of laughter pops out of my mouth followed by another and another until the tears start falling.

“Why does everyone keep having that reaction?” Alex looks to the nurse, who just smiles and continues to check her over.

“Hi,”

“Hi back.” She smiles tenderly. “Does someone want to clue me in on what the hell happened to me? I can’t get anything but tears from these two dummies,” she points at Foster and me. “But maybe you can help me, Parker!”

“Of course, beautiful,” he winks at her and squeezing my hand and moving over to her bedside. “It’s nice to have you back, Alex.”

“It’s nice to be back, Parker.” She smiles, setting her Jell-O aside and smoothing down her blanket “Now, where exactly am I back from?”

“What’s the last thing you remember, darling?” Foster interjects and walks toward her as Cole stands again to rejoin me at the foot of her bed.

Alex lets out a tiny giggle and looks around, clearly reacting to the endearment Foster has used.

“Focus, Alex, we can talk aboutthis, later,” motioning between them to accentuate the point. She side-eyes me and I cannot hide my smile. I want to know what she remembers, but I am bubbling over with happiness that she is alive and well.

“Alex,” I grin. “Seriously, do you remember what happened to you?”

“I remember being in your house and I remember looking through the yearbooks and then it gets hazy. I feel like maybe someone called or I don’t know, I just remember needing my phone. After that it’s fuzzy and now I’m here with a shit headache,” she groans as Foster rests his arm around Alex’s back, causing her to jump a little. She looks over at me and mouths “what the fuck?”

I shake my head trying to keep a serious face. God, I missed her. She is always irreverent, even in the face of her own crisis.

Speaking directly to Foster, Cole interjects, “I think we need to grab hold of Alex’s phone records and see about who called—”

“There was nothing unusual, nobody called other than Mia and me,” Foster counters.

“We have your phone at the penthouse! Maybe you were writing a text or something. I didn’t even think about it earlier!” I add.

“Wait, hold up… how are you looking at my phone records? What the hell, Fos—” Is all Alex gets out before she is stopped in her tracks by a very intimate and sweet kiss from Foster.

Cole and I turn and look at each other, smiling. I hide my face into his shoulder feeling a little embarrassed to be witnessing such a moment between them. Clearing his throat, Cole tries to remind them of our presence, but they don’t stop. Cole tugs at my shoulders leading me out the door before we witness something we shouldn’t, and telling by the kiss, we may be outside the doors awhile.

“Don’t be so dramatic, you two! Let’s get back to it,” Alex calls out just as we make to walk out the doors.

Cole and I rejoin the two lovebirds and I cannot hide how much my heart warms knowing that Foster loves my friend so much.

“So, here’s the deal, Alex,” Foster begins. “You were at Cole and Mia’s when someone broke in and attacked you. You were beaten and the headache is because your head was split open from some serious blunt force. If I hadn’t found you when I did, you wouldn’t be here, baby.”

Alex’s eyes grow big and she squeezes Foster’s hand at the same time I wipe a tear from my face. I still cannot believe we almost lost her.

“Wow, okay. So, I made it through the second robbery of my life. I need to buy a lotto ticket, I am the luckiest bitch on the planet.” She laughs out, wiping her tear-filled eyes. I feel Cole smile against the top of my head, where I’ve been tucked while listening.

“Be serious for a minute, is there anything during your day that happened that could help us figure out who would want to hurt you?” Foster questions while adjusting her pillows.

“No, not unless Leslie is pissed that I ate her yogurt. I mean, if it’s not labeled, it is first come first serve.” Alex laughs. “The only creeper moment I had was with Jack. Seeing him was super strange and he was definitely a ten on the serial killer scale.”

“Hold up! You saw Jack the morning of the attack?” I question, pulling away from Cole to give him a pointed look. Then pointing my finger at Foster, I add, “And you kept that information from us… or just me? Did both of you know about this?” My voice is raised by the end of my monologue and I’m sure they both know I am super angry.

Cole and Foster just stare at each other, doing that thing I hate.

“Quit! Speak right now. Foster, if you want me to keep you around for longer than three seconds, you better know I am not the kind of girl that will be kept in the dark. It’s all or nothing, baby!” Alex huffs out.

---