“So… I’m probably going to pass out soon,” Felix mumbles, rolling his head onto his shoulder so he can look at me through barely opened eyes. “I’ve been meaning to, um, tell you something. I don’t know if it’s because I’m drunk, or if the concussion I have makes right now feel like the best time to say it, but hey, I’m not dead.”
I can’t help but laugh as relief and joy flow through me in equal measures, because Felix is alive. Really, truly alive.
He blinks at me, fighting to stay conscious long enough to speak, and weakly squeezes my hand. “Callie, I… I love you.” Before I can respond, he starts to panic and speaks rapidly, “Shit. I really said that… you don’t have to, you know, say it back or anything… You know what? I didn’t… it’s just…” He gasps and winces, unable to hold up his normal pace of nervous chattering now that he needs to breathe like the rest of us.
With a grin so wide my face hurts, I put my lips to his ear and whisper, “I love you too.”
Epilogue
Felix
The room feels like it’s spinning when I wake up, and thinking is like attempting to walk through knee-high mud—doable, but difficult and slow going. Based on the mechanical beeps, the freezing air conditioning, and the astringent smell, I’m guessing I’m in the hospital. Everything feels heavier and louder and more intense, like every sensory dial has been set to one-hundred-percent.
“My head,” I groan, the sound deeper than I remember it, and when I try to raise my arm, a cold hand gently pushes it back down.
“You’re awake. Oh, my sweet boy, I was so scared,” a woman sobs, her cold hand moving from my arm to my forehead. “I don’t know what we would have done if we lost you.”
I try to open my eyes to look at her, but it’s too bright, so with another pained groan, I close them again.
“Mrs. Thomas, why don’t you get Mr. Thomas and the doctor. I’m sure they’ll both want to know he’s awake,” another feminine voice suggests softly. She sounds younger than the first woman. “I promise to sit with him until you get back.”
“You’re such a good girl,” the first woman praises, her voice wet with tears. “My son is so lucky to have you. I’ll be right back.”
“Mom?” I gasp, my heart racing and my lungs burning. It hurts to breathe, but I haven’t seen my mom in so long. I don’t want her to leave me.
“I’m here, sweetie,” she says, kissing my forehead.
This time I force my eyes open, tears dripping down my face, and my heart cracks open in two. The woman with the loving smile and red-rimmed, blue eyes isn’t my mother.
It’s that shattering realization that jumpstarts my brain and memories of before flash through my head. The rain. The darkness. The moment of pure warmth before harsh cold. Flashes of Callie’s face as she smiles down at me.
“Callie!” I cry, sitting up, only to feel my stomach roll and have to lay back down.
“Callie?” the second voice questions, the name rolling off of her tongue slowly.
The first woman does a dismissive wave of her hand. “Don’t worry, Bree. Callie is that nice girl who found him at the accident site. Her and her boyfriend, Kaleb—he’s on the baseball team too—were the ones that did CPR and stayed with him until help arrived.” She looks back down at me, giving my left hand a tight squeeze. “Don’t worry, she’s fine too. Actually, her, Kaleb, and a bunch of other boys are in the waiting room. They wanted to stick around until you woke up. Even the Campbell boy is out there. It’s good to see that you two made up.”
Made up? When did we…
“Mrs. Thomas?” the second voice, Bree, says, the name coming out more like a question and a hint.
“Hmm?” Mrs. Thomas responds, blinking for a moment, before gasping and chuckling awkwardly while laying a hand on her chest. “Oh, yes. You probably want to… yes. I’ll go get my husband and the doctor.” She presses another harsh kiss to my forehead. “I knew you’d be okay. A mother knows these things.”
I watch her hustle out of the curtained room, elation pouring off of her in droves because as far as she knows, her son is alive and well. He didn’t die in a drunk driving accident on a deserted highway.
“You sweet idiot,” Bree coughs, her lungs sounding like she has gravel rolling around in them. “I know I said I wanted to kiss you at midnight, but I didn’t mean for you to risk your life in the process. Dave was supposed to drive you over. What happened?”
Since I have no idea what she’s talking about, I shrug and attempt to look pathetic. Granted, with the way I feel, it doesn’t take much. Somewhere, rolling around in my mind, is the memory that Callie warned she’d have to leave some injuries so it’d be believable.
She might’ve done too good of a job. Everything hurts.
Tears drip down Bree’s cheeks, and she rubs them away before taking my hand into hers. My fingers feel weird, like they’re swollen, except when I look they appear normal… well, someone else’s normal. My entire arm is massive compared to my normal, wiry frame.No wonder I feel heavier. I literally am.
“...promise me you won’t ever do anything so stupid ever again,” Bree pleads, and I startle, blinking at her because I missed that she was talking to me in the first place.
“Yeah, sure,” I agree, my voice hoarse, and my mouth tasting like I have carnal knowledge of a plush toy.Gross.
“Yeah, sure?” she repeats, with a laughing head shake. Leaning over from her position where she stands next to me, her thick, dark brown hair falling over her shoulders, she teases, “Lucky for you, I love you for your looks.”
