Page 65 of Bless My Heart

“Right here,” he says. I see him sitting across from a familiar-looking, dark-haired man. They’re in bathing suits and T-shirts, bloodstains visible on them.

The only other person in the room is a lady sleeping across a few chairs in the corner.

“How is she? Have you heard anything yet?” I whisper to him, trying not to wake up the sleeping lady.

“No, nothing yet.” I take the seat next to him. He looks upset and tense. Without thinking, I take his hand and interlace our fingers. I feel my body instantly relax and feel calm for the first time in weeks. Just being next to Wes, I don’t know. He feels like home.

Maybe I’ve made a mistake.

I look over at Wes. Everything about him is so perfect. I’m starting to agree with Caroline that maybe I am being stupid. If this man wants to be with me, why shouldn’t I let him?

I want Wes to look at me, but his eyes are focused on the man sitting across from him.

“This is Hazel. Hazel, this is Ozzy.”

“Hi, Ozzy. It’s nice to finally meet you,” I say, turning to look at him. Ozzy looks at me, trying to figure out who I am and what I’m doing here.

“I would say the same, but I didn’t know there was a you to meet,” he says. So, I guess Wes still hasn’t told his friends about me. My heart sinks. I thought he would have mentioned me, at least now that I’m not his professor anymore.

“Oh yeah, that’s my bad. We’ve kind of been keeping things on the down-low,” I try to explain. Ozzy’s eyes finally fall to my stomach and immediately shoot to Wes.

They both just stare at each other. Something isn’t right.

“Is everything ok?” I ask.

“No, it’s not,” Wes says. “Ozzy here, my so-called best friend, has been sleeping with my little sister.” Oh shit. I wasn’t expecting that. Not only is his sister in the hospital, but his best friend has been lying to him. I squeeze his hand a little tighter.

“Wes, I swear to you. It’s more than that. I’m in love with her,” Ozzy tries to tell him.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Wes says, turning his face away from both of us.

I bring my other hand up to Wes’s chest. I don’t know what I’m doing. I shouldn’t be touching him like this, but I can’t help it. I’m drawn to him. I always have been.

“Wes, I think you need to calm down,” I say carefully. I’m not sure it’s my place to say anything, but I feel like this isn’t the time and place for them to be having this conversation. They’re both hurting in their own way.

“Calm down? My best friend has been keeping a major secret from me. Something that involves my family.” He’s been keeping a huge secret from his best friend, too, which he seems to be forgetting. I’m not going to add fuel to the fire and bring it up.

“I understand,” I tell him. “But take a step back. Ozzy is a grown man sitting here admitting to his best friend that he’s in love with his little sister. That can’t be easy for him.” I feel Wes release a breath. “He’s worried about Stella, too. This is a stressful situation. Maybe we should talk about this another time.” Wes looks away from both of us, but I feel him relax a little. His grip on my hand loosens.

A doctor comes around the corner of the waiting room to inform us that Stella is stable and Wes can go see her now. He looks down at me, and I smile back at him. I feel like he’s asking me if I’ll be here when he comes back, so I nod my head and watch him take off down the hall.

I sit back down in my chair. Ozzy stands by the door, waiting for his chance to see Stella. I hate that Ozzy hurt Wes by lying to him, but I completely understand. I know how scary it can be to fall in love. I know how you might want to keep it between the two of you for as long as you can before involving other people. It only gets complicated when other people stick their noses into your relationship. Hence my current love life.

As I sit in my chair, I wonder what I’m really doing here. Why did I answer when Wes called? Why did I come running when he needed me?

Am I ever going to stay away from this man? My head spins with these thoughts. I’m going to drive myself crazy.

Eventually, Wes comes back out and lets Ozzy go back to see Stella. Wes walks over to me.

“You can go now. I’m going to grab her bag from the house so my parents can take her back to Atlanta for winter break.”

I can go now.

He doesn’t want me here. Why would he after everything I’ve put him through over the past few months? I can’t say it doesn’t hurt, though.

“Oh, ok.” I reluctantly stand up and walk out with him. I want him to take my hand. I want to hug him and tell him everything will be ok. I want to feel his lips on me again.

But I’m scared.