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I nod.
“Jaxon, I’m so grateful for all you’ve done for me. You didn’t have to stay by my side and make sure I was taken care of, but you did. I don’t know if I can ever repay you for it.”
“Summer. What happened is in the past, and there’s nothing we can do about it at this point. The only thing left to do is to move on.”
“I’m assuming you mean move on with Kai?”
“I let her go once. I’m not doing it again, Summer.”
“I know. I’m not expecting for us to be together or anything like that. We tried for all the right reasons, but you and I know that we were both miserable.”
“I don’t know how much your parents filled you in on, but your money is almost gone. I had to use it to keep you here.”
“I know. I also know you had to use some of your own money. And my parents have agreed to pay you back.”
“That’s not necessary.”
Her parents enter the room. “It’s the least we can do.”
Her mother speaks to me with teary eyes. “We had given up on her, Jaxon. But you didn’t. You fought to keep her. It’s because of you that our baby has come back to us.” I think about what would have happened had her parents won the case against me. Would Summer still have woken up? “Jaxon, we want to do this. We need to do this.”
I don’t argue. I nod and turn my attention to Summer. “When do you get to go home?”
“So far, all my tests look good. The doctor wants to monitor me for a few more days before letting me go home.”
Home. My mind wonders what she considers as her home. Summer and I didn’t have a chance to get a home together before the wedding. She and the baby were going to move in with me until we could get a bigger place. Her father grabs her hand. “We’ve got your room ready for you, honey.”
Summer smiles lovingly at her father before she turns to me. “I’ll need some physical therapy and other stuff, but the doctor says I’ll be just fine.”
I turn to her parents. “I still have some of her things at my place. I can bring them by.”
Her mother waves me off. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get everything she needs.”
Summer smiles at me, and I smile back. “I’m glad you’re awake.”
“Me too.”
“You take care, okay?”
“Okay.”
I say goodbye to her parents, and when I reach the door, Summer calls after me. I turn around, and she’s smiling widely. “Goodbye, Jaxon.”
Free. That’s the only word I can use to describe how I’m feeling right now. I no longer feel the guilt of being responsible for that night. I no longer feel the stress and pressure of the financial burden of keeping Summer in The Coma Center. For the first time in over a year, I feel like I can breathe. I feel like I can finally move forward without my past interfering with my present. When Summer admitted to me what really happened that night, I was angry at first. But it wasn’t worth staying angry about it. She was awake. I was free. And that alone brought me peace. We said our goodbyes when I left her room. Too much has happened for us to even remain friends. She knew it was best to cut ties all together, which is why she said goodbye to me as I was walking out. I texted Kai and asked her to meet me so we could talk. I asked her to meet me at the very same restaurant where we broke up. I see her as soon as she walks through the front door. I stand anxiously as she walks toward the table. She looks breathtaking, wearing a backless dress with her hair pinned up. I pull her chair out for her, and she takes her seat. I take mine and take a sip of my whiskey to calm my nerves. “You’re drinking already?” she asks nervously.
“It’s been a long day.” She smiles at me. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. How did everything go with Summer?”
I’m sure that question has been burning in her brain from the moment she sat down. I could have called her when I left The Coma Center, but this was a conversation we needed to have face-to-face. “Everything went well. She’s awake and doing fine.”
She takes a sip of her water. “That’s good to hear.”
I take the opportunity to elaborate. “She’s going home to her parents in a few days.”
I have so much more to tell her, about how she drugged me, but now is not the time for such a long story. I have something more important to ask her. She looks around the restaurant. “This is the exact spot we were sitting at when…”
She doesn’t finish her sentence. She just looks at me with curiosity. I clear my throat. “Kai, the last time we were here, I broke your heart. I asked you here tonight for a re-do.” I rise from the table and get down on one knee in front of her. The restaurant becomes quiet as I pull the tiny velvet box out of my pocket. I open it, and she gasps. “Kai, I’m sorry for everything. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you’ll have me. Please do me the honor of being my wife.”
