Page 116 of Wrecked

I want to die.

And I can’t even ask for that.

“Leah. Wake up, Leah. Calm down. Take deep breaths for me,” a woman’s voice speaks over me.

I’m being gently shaken. I grimace, pulling away from the touch. “Get off me!”

“Come on. Come back to us. It’s just a dream.”

I open my eyes and see Dr. Ditto standing above my bed. A nurse is on the other side.

She smiles warmly and then shines a bright light in my eyes. “It’s okay. You were just having a bad dream.”

My mouth is incredibly dry. I swallow, despite the lack of saliva in my mouth. The nurse brings me a small cup of water. I drink it as Dr. Ditto holds up her finger and asks me to track it.

“Were you dreaming about your attack?” she asks.

I slowly nod my head.

“I’m going to have a social worker speak with you.” She puts her mini flashlight back in her chest pocket.

“I need to see Adam.” My words are hoarse. I try to sit up to take another sip of water—this time, on my own—and feel my sore muscles fighting me. Earlier, I could have lifted a car with the amount of adrenaline running through my system. Now, I’m shaking while just grabbing the cup.

Dr. Ditto is giving me a look of remorse. She splays a hand on my shoulder and guides me back down to the bed. “You’re not family, so I can’t give out any information. I’ll see what I can do, but, right now, you need to focus on getting better. Try to rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

I hate her words. I hate her and her shirt with a princess and a beast and a red rose. It’s a stupid thing for a doctor to wear.

As much as I want to fight it, the lull of sleep pulls me back in.

“I got into UConn.” Adam was hunched over and tying his laces.

“Congratulations!” I leaned over and hugged him, causing us to nearly fall off the bottom bleacher. Leaning back, I looked at him. “So, this is what a college guy looks like.”

He sat up straight. “Does being in college make me more attractive?”

“Hell yeah! You just gained, like, ten hotness points. Do you know what your major is going to be?”

“Architecture,” he answered surely. “I want to design houses.”

My head dipped forward, and my hands rose in surprise. “Really? How did I not know that? That’s amazing. You’d be so good at that. You can totally design my future house.”

He laughed. With his elbow on his knee, he leaned into his hand and gave me his full attention. “What does casa de Leah look like?”

I bit the corner of my lip and thought about it. It didn’t take long. It was something I had actually thought about while daydreaming in Calculus. “It’s a wide ranch-style home. I don’t like everyone on different floors. Luke is in the attic, and I feel like he’s in his own world up there.

“You walk in through the front door, and it’s one big, open room with a kitchen, living room, and dining room. The kitchen has a long island with stools for entertaining and a sliding glass door overlooking the yard. There’s a hallway off the living room that leads to the master bedroom. The closets are huge! At least, mine is. My husband can do whatever he wants.”

“What about the kids’ rooms? Or are there no kids in your future home?”

“Their bedrooms are on the other side of the house. They get their own wing. My husband and I will want our privacy.” I give a wink and continue, “Two bedrooms. One for the boy, one for the girl.”

Adam’s brows were pulled in. He seemed confused about something, or maybe it was impressed. I wasn’t sure.

He grabbed his backpack that was on the bleacher behind us and held it on his lap. “I want to show you something.”

I watched as he unzipped his bag, opened his binder, and took out a few papers.

“I think you’d really like my dream house.”