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I smiled. “I’ll be back in the morning. Tell Violet I said get well or else I’ll kick her ass.”
Visiting hours began at eleven a.m. I knocked on Violet’s door and peeked my head inside. My heart swelled to see her awake, a strange but beautiful smile on her face.
“You decent?”
Her serene expression morphed into a huge grin to see me. “Shi!”
I laughed at her enthusiasm. “They must be giving you some strong drugs.”
“Miller is here. He just went to the cafeteria for coffee.”
“Ah. That explains it.” I bent over the bed and hugged her as tight as I dared. “You’re okay, right?”
“I’m okay. Better than I have been in a long time.”
“Miller said almost the exact same thing last night,” I said, dropping into the chair beside her.
Violet beamed, her cheeks pink. “Did he?”
“I take it you two got everything sorted out?”
“Finally. It’s funny, everything’s falling apart with my parents and my college fund, but I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. With Miller. And I’m so happy.”
A twinge of jealousy tightened my stomach.
“I’m glad, Vi. Truly. And I won’t even say I told you so, even though I’ve been saving it up for four solid years.”
Violet laughed, radiant even in a hospital bed. “It’s been a journey. You’ll never believe it, but right before I got whacked in the head, River Whitmore asked me to Prom.” She braced herself for my reaction. “And I said yes.”
I smacked my own forehead. “Girl…”
“I know!” she said, still laughing. “Just as friends. But I didn’t know what was happening with Miller and I was so tired of feeling like I had no control over my feelings.”
“I get that,” I said with a tight smile. “Does Miller know?”
“He knows. We told each other everything and it’s like I can breathe again.”
Jealousy rumbled in my guts, stronger now. Violet is so much braver than I am…
My friend grinned knowingly. “So. Been to the Shack much lately?”
“Come again?”
“You heard me. Maybe it’s that I’m deliriously happy and want you to feel the same, but…you and Ronan?”
“Umm…”
She glanced down, plucked the hospital blanket. “I know you don’t like to talk about this stuff. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never mentioned a boy.”
“I never told you a lot of things going on with me, Vi. And I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. I just figured you’re a private person. I respect that. But sometimes, I wonder if something…bad had happened to you. With a boy.”
“No, nothing bad. God, Vi. I’m sorry for making you think that. I’ve been a shitty friend.”
“No…”
“Yes. You keep saying I know who I am and what I want. How I’m whole. But the truth is just the opposite.”
