Page 103 of Before I Lost You

“I can’t lose you, too, Connie,” Ken hiccups, holding onto the blanket tightly. “I don’t know how to survive without you loving me.”

“You’ll never have to,” I vow. “I’m here to stay.”

“I love you,” he says softly, and I squeeze him a little in reassurance. “I will always love you.”

“I know,” I reply with a smirk, and he narrows his eyes, pinching me lightly on my leg. I grin. “I love you too.”

Before he can say anything else, the door opens, and three people stroll in: a nurse dressed in royal-blue scrubs, and my parents. Kenneth’s eyes widen, and he tries to jump off the bed, but I hold on to him tightly, regardless of how much my body screams in agony. The nurse purses her lips but doesn’t tell him to get off me. She’s looking at all the intact tubing connected to the pump, and she smiles at him.

“Mr. Moore,” Nurse Agnes, the same woman as last time, directs her attention back to me. “Are you in pain?”

I grimace and nod. “Yes.”

She asks me how bad my pain is, on a scale of one to ten, then leaves to get some medication to give me in my IV. My parents take a step forward as soon as she exits the room, and Kenneth tenses, but gives them a soft smile. My mom and stepfather seemto be at a loss for words, so I open my mouth to speak, just to close it again. I don’t even know what to say. I kept him to myself all these months, and now they’re together in the same room. I should feel ashamed that they knew nothing about him, but he’s the only thing that’s been just mine in this lifetime. I didn’t want to give that up yet. Also, I guess part of me didn’t want to experience the same pain as last time if I lost him again.

“Hi,” Ken murmurs, trying to get up from the bed. I hold on to him tightly again, and my mom looks between us with a small smile now, too. “I’m Kenneth.”

My mom’s eyes widen, and then she grins. “I guess there really is a Kenny, huh?”

Kenneth’s eyes meet mine at her words, and I nod slowly. “Yeah, Mom. There’s always been a Kenny. I already said that to you.”

“Why didn’t you bring him around then?” Mom sounds hurt, but I can’t make myself feel bad about it.

“Because he’s mine,” I reply softly. “You didn’t believe he existed, and I wanted him to myself.”

She nods. “Do you love him?”

“He’s everything to me,” I tell her earnestly. “I’m going to marry him.”

Ken tenses next to me. “Conrad—”

“What?” I ask, slightly annoyed. “Are you saying you’re not going to marry me?”

“Well, I mean—Iam, but—”

“Then it’s settled.” I squeeze him. “He’s mine, Mom. Forever.”

Her eyes soften. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to find your person.”

“He found me,” Kenny says with a smile directed at my mom, though it feels like the smile is more for me than her. At least I hope it is. “Against all odds, he found me.”

My stepdad steps forward now, coming to Kenneth’s side of the bed and extending a hand towards him. He introduces himself, and Ken takes his hand gingerly. It brings a smile to my stepdad’s face, and it turns into a grin when Ken squeezes slightly.

“Welcome to the family, son,” he says, and Kenneth sucks in a sharp breath. No man has ever called him son. It makes me shaky, knowing someone made him feel like he mattered. I make eye contact with my stepdad, and he nods. “It’s very nice to meet you. You can call me Paul.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Ken replies, voice trembling. Then he looks at my mom. “And you. It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Hughes.”

My mom grins and shakes her head. “Oh, sweetie, you can call me Natalie. Or Mom. You are going to marry my son after all.”

His eyes well up with tears. “Thank you.”

I don’t tell her his mom died last night, mostly because I don’t know if Ken wants me to. I don’t think she would’ve told him to call her that if she knew, and I think he’s torn between wanting to say it and not wanting to betray his mom. I rub his knuckles with my fingertips gingerly, soothing him in the only way I can right now.

Agnes comes back into the room, finally, and Kenneth’s body relaxes. She walks to the computer in the corner of the room and scans the vial of medication, then draws it into a syringe and asks me for my name and date of birth, scanning my hospital bracelet in the process. Then she pinches the tubing and pushes the medication into the port.

“Dr. Khan will be here any second now to go over your injuries with you—”

A knock on the door has me tensing up, and an older man comes in with a frown, directing his gaze right at me. He’s wearing a lab coat, and he adjusts it as he reaches for a low stooltucked against a corner. He brings it to my bedside on the side where Kenneth isn’t lying and raises his eyebrows at me.