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“Yes. Yes, you’re right,” I sigh, curling my upper body over the counter to lay my head on my arms.
“I know,” Ana murmurs. I look up at her and she smirks before throwing the towel back at me.
I catch the towel and roll my eyes at her. “That was probably too much human interaction for him. I bet he won’t speak to me again for two years. And when he does speak to me, he’ll just say something about how terrible it is to be in my presence or just glare at me with his stupid devil eyes.”
Ana looks amused, and I raise my eyebrows at her, daring her to say something. She starts, “I don’t know what his deal is, obviously no one has ever figured him out. Whatever…But he has always had this weird thing with you. He’s never been like this with anyone else.”
I scoff. “Yeah, it’s a cute little thing called hating a really nice and likable person, for no reason at all.” I put my hands on my hips, tilting my head back to look at the ceiling and sigh.
Ana laughs. “I’m serious. I know you never want to hear this, but he has strong feelings for you. I think they’re just misplaced.” I turn my gaze back to hers and make a mocking face.
“Oh yeah, sure. Whatever you say, amiga.” I put amiga in quotations. She laughs and playfully curses at me in Spanish.
As I get ready for bed, I can’t get his words out of my head. Or his tone of voice. Or his voice in general. His glare is eating away at me even with distance between us. Why is he the way he is? Why does he always choose to be angry all the time? That has to be exhausting.
I’ll never understand him.
God help the poor woman who marries him one day.
SIX
ELLIOT, NOW
“We’re married?”
I look at her but don’t say a word. She stares at me disbelievingly, her eyes lined with silver. I can’t find any words and when I open my mouth to speak, nothing comes out. She has always been the one to be better with words.
Ana walks back in with a nurse and Mads turns to see her. She instantly starts crying and gasps, “Ana!” She tries to lift her hands towards Ana, but realizes one is in a cast and sling so she can only lift one hand. Ana walks over immediately and holds her as tightly as Mad’s injuries will allow, murmuring in Spanish.
“Madeline, hun. How are you feeling?” The nurse asks as she starts to check Mads’ vitals.
It takes a couple tries for her to get the words out because she is crying and her voice is so weak, but she finally says, “My head hurts. I feel really confused.” I want to hold her, but I don’t want to scare her any more than I obviously already have.
“Confused? How so? Do you remember how you got here?” The nurse asks as she continues to work around her. Mads shakes her head gently, wincing slightly and more tears fall down her beautiful face.
“He told me I was in a car accident. But I don’t remember that. I don’t remember—” She stops talking as her cries become heavier. The way she said ‘he’ makes me feel foreign. Dismissed and distanced.
Take a breath, man. She was unconscious for a week. She had major brain trauma. It’s going to take time for her to be herself again. I think to myself.
“You were driving to work, pollito. You were driving, and someone ran a red light. Hit your car,” Ana says in a gentle voice as she continues stroking Mads’ face. Ana looks at me questioningly, I know she can tell something more is off.
“Work?” Mads mumbles. Her brows wrinkle and I can tell her brain is working overtime because her face gets scrunched up in the way it does when she’s concentrating really hard. I’ve always thought it was adorable. “Where do I work?”
“The middle school,” I reply as softly as I can, holding my hands tightly in my lap to restrain my need to reach out to touch her.
She looks at me again. “Middle school?” She closes her eyes and scrunches up her face again. “What middle school?”
“North Hadleigh, you teach sixth grade English,” Ana answers, smiling at her reassuringly. Mads’ eyes get big before she closes them tight again. She starts shaking her head and I want to tell her to keep her head still so she won’t hurt her incision, but I am afraid to speak.
“I’m a teacher? But…what about…I d-don’t, I don’t remember—” She sputters as she continues to cry. Ana holds her hand, rubbing it between her own.
“It’s okay, Madeline. It’s normal to be a little confused and disoriented after going through what you did. Give yourself some grace and time. I’m going to go get your doctor to let her know you’re awake. She’ll be in soon to see you. Don’t overdo it, you need to rest.” The nurse speaks with a gentle smile, before leaving the room.
Mads continues to cry, looking at Ana pleadingly. “Ana, I don’t remember being a teacher…I don’t remember college! Did I go to college? What the hell is going on…I don’t understand!”
“It’s okay, Mads. You heard the nurse, don’t be too hard on yourself,” I say as gently as possible. I reach for her hand, but she snatches it away.
“Why the hell are you here, Decker?” She snaps through her tears. My mouth opens on its own accord, but I close it quickly. Ana looks at me with wide eyes. I grind my jaw and feel my eyes water, but I try to shove the hurt away.
