Page 67 of Lying to the Boss

“What day is it?”

“Monday…”

I blink a few times. I could have sworn it was Sunday.

“It’s okay,” he says with a sigh. His shoulders relax a little, too. “They said it was normal for you not to remember some things right away.”

“What happened?”

He nearly growls the words. “Some asshole ran a red light. T-boned you. Caused four people to get rushed into surgery. He was drunk.”

I groan, closing my eyes. Now I know why it feels like I got hit by a bus.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he says, leaning in to kiss my cheek. He looks me over, his hand mid-air like he wants to touch me but isn’t sure where. “I was so worried. I… didn’t know what to do with myself.”

“I’m okay,” I say.

“Are you in pain?”

“Achy,” I answer. “What’s wrong with me?”

I look down my body the best I can but even moving my neck hurts. I take note of all the stuff I’m hooked up to and that my left arm is in a cast.

“You had a ruptured spleen that they fixed. Three broken ribs on your left side. Broken left arm. Concussion. Five staples to the left side of your head. They expect a good outcome.”

That’s… wow. That’s a lot.

“Explains a lot.” I huff a laugh, and my eyes fall closed again.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispers, and I feel his forehead carefully press against mine. Neither of us says anything for a while. Just our soft breathing and the beep of the machine, which will get annoying real soon, I’m sure. Lane breaks the silence though, saying something I don’t want to hear. “Your parents are just outside the room.”

“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “Nurse told me.”

“I don’t understand why you hid something like that.”

“Didn’t hide it.”

“Okay, you’re right. You didn’t hide it, but you never wanted to talk about it.”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it doesn’t matter, Tage. At least not in the way you’re worried about. I love you regardless of who your family is, but everything makes a little more sense now.” I keep my eyes closed and don’t say anything. This is the last thing I want to talk about right now. “I’m not mad, and I understand you don’t want to talk about it, but they are worried. I think you should let them come see you.”

“No,” I say with a slight shake of my head.

“Tage, they mean well. Letting them in to see that you’re okay isn’t letting them back into your life. I’ll tell them they can see you for five minutes tops. I’m sure they’ll be on the next flight back to Boston right after that.”

“Yeah,” I say, tears burning in my eyes. “That’s exactly the problem.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lane

I understand being disappointed by your parents. My father disappointed me every day of my life. Thankfully, though, I had my mother to make up for it. It shouldn’t have been only her responsibility, though. A child has two parents, and I firmly believe they should both parent, but my father had different ideas about it. My mother not only ignored those ideas, but she stepped up where my father lacked. There is no one in this world that I am more grateful for than her.

Tage got stuck with two parents who were always caught in the limelight. No, maybe not even caught, but chose to be in it. We all hear enough and know enough about celebrity families that I can guess what he’s gone through, but I’ll never know what it feels like because I didn’t live his life. I can listen. I can support. But I can’t relate; not entirely.

Him running away from his life makes sense now.