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“I don’t understand why. Most people only use one arm when they drive anyway.”
“You can’t drive with your arm in a sling. It’s too dangerous and I won’t let you!” She stood abruptly and stormed off to throw out her tray.
I was stunned by her outburst. I stood when I saw her making her way towards the exit, and had to take two steps just to match one of hers.
“Hey, giraffe legs, wait up!”
She did not slow down until she reached her car. She swung her car door open and got inside. I was out of breath as I plopped in beside her. “Well, at least I got my cardio in for the day.”
Her expression did not change as she stared straight ahead, clenching the steering wheel in both hands.
I touched her shoulder when I realized she had tears in her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong? What the hell just happened?”
“These past few weeks have been hard for me, too, you know.”
“I’m sorry. I know–”
“No, you don’t know,” she interrupted. “I sat in the hospital all by myself. They wouldn’t let me see you because I wasn’t family. I tried to explain that nobody else was coming but they wouldn’t listen. I thought you were going to die. I replay that night in my head over and over again. I shouldn’t have let you drive. If I had just talked to you a little longer, if I was able to get you to stop crying, if I had just taken your keys…” She trailed off as a tear slid down her cheek.
“Do not blame yourself. Please. The only person at fault was me. I was driving.”
“I should have stopped you.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “But this time I’m going to stop you. You can’t drive around with your arm in a sling. If Chase is offering to drive you, then you will let him.”
I sat back in my seat. “That’s what this is all about?”
“I can’t lose you, Mer. This was a close call, and I never want to go through anything like it ever again.”
I leaned over the center console and wrapped my good arm around her tightly. “You’re not going to lose me. You know I’d just come back and haunt you forever.”
“You can’t make jokes like that now!”
“You’ve known me since we were five. You know I make jokes at inappropriate times. Don’t act surprised.”
She rolled her eyes as she turned the key in the ignition. “You need to do something about these defense mechanisms you have. You’re never going to attract any good guys like that.”
“I attract plenty of guys – with my sarcasm and morbid sense of humor. It’s all part of my charm.”
She finally broke a smile. “You did attract Chase today.”
“See? Silver lining.” I rolled my eyes.
As Shelly drove us to her apartment, I couldn’t help but wonder why Chase was so eager to help me. It’s not like we were friends – or even spoke to one another, for that matter. What did he think was in it for him?
2
Day One
Iwoke up to the sound of dishes clanking together. It was one of the downfalls of having to sleep on the recliner in Shelly’s living room. The pain in my back was another. I was thankful to have a place to stay after losing mine, and I was even more thankful to have a friend like Shelly to rely on. She was family. She was all I had left. Still, it was hard. I slowly tried to sit up without upsetting my shoulder. When my eyes finally came into focus, I froze.
“Morning, sunshine.” Chase was sitting at the kitchen counter just a few feet in front of me, an amused expression on his face. He was dressed in his work clothes: grease-smudged jeans and a black short-sleeve button-down. His name was sewn onto a patch with red thread.
My hand rose up to touch the wild bun on top of my head, as I took my disheveled appearance into full account. I looked down at my favorite Cookie Monster pajamas, and cringed.
“Chase brought breakfast,” Shelly offered apologetically.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I grumbled as I trudged over and slid onto a stool.
“That means ‘Thank You’ in Merritt speak,” she explained.
