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“Ryan…” My throat dries out and sweat forms along my hairline. “I’m scared. ”
“I know. ” He tucks my hair behind my ear.
“But it’s okay. ”
His fingers slowly trail down my arm, over my sling and he rests his fingertips against mine. A warmth unfurls within me, starting in my heart and flowing through my bloodstream.
It creates a weird sensation of chains unlocking and breaking free. It’s almost as if I’m floating.
“I trust you,” I say. “I was going to leave with you because I trust you. ”
Ryan’s silent, but the small, peaceful smile on his face causes me to smile in return. I wonder if my smile looks like his. I trust him.
Ryan. It’s a little scary, but not as much as I thought it would be. Maybe this is it; maybe this is the beginning Scott’s talked about for months—the clean slate.
“Was that so hard?” he asks.
“Yes. ”
Ryan touches my hair again. It’s like he requires the contact to confirm I’m not a ghost.
“You need to learn how to start trusting yourself. ”
I flop down so that my head rests on the pillow beside him. Ryan’s slow as he shifts.
Our faces are so close that our noses almost touch. My arm begins to ache and I have a feeling Scott will show soon because he’s timed my pain med schedule into his phone.
“Do you mind if I heal first before I tackle anymore long-lost resurfacing emotional issues?”
Ryan tilts his head and I silently swear.
Apparently we’re not done yet. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Scott said Isaiah came to the hospital,” he begins.
I nod, preferring not to go into this now…or ever. Noah visited me several times while I was in the hospital—once with Echo, and twice on his own. He told me that Isaiah paced the waiting room until he heard I was going to be okay, then he left. My best friend left.
“I think we should talk about it. ”
The fingers of my left hand try to tighten, but the blast of pain keeps me from making a fist. I hiss at the sting and Ryan edges closer.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I bite out. “It’s just…I already told you that it’s not like that for me with him. ”
“I believe you. ”
My brow begins to lift and I stop when the stitches on my forehead pull. Dammit, I’m never going to be able to move again. “Then why bring it up?”
Ryan sucks in a breath and I can tell this conversation is eating at him as much as it is me. “Are you going to see him again?”
No. Yes. “If he’ll let me. But he left the hospital without talking to me. I don’t know what that means. ” Screw that. “Yes, of course I’ll see him again. Isaiah and I are friends and he’s going to realize that even if I have to take a two-by-four to him. ”
He looks torn between a smile and a sigh.
“And you wonder why I’m concerned. ”
