Page 42 of My Last Dance

“Hey, look at me.” He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. “You needed this to get better. Youwillget better. Breathe with me.”

After the pain eased a little, my eyes drifted down to the bottom of the bed. “I’m going to have scars,” I whispered.

“I’ll love them,” he whispered back.

Tears blurred my vision. “You don’t mean that.”

“I fucking do. I hate when you’re in pain, baby,” he rasped. The rims of his own eyes were red. “If they’re evidence that you’re not in pain anymore, I’ll love them,” he swore.

Two thoughts hit my brain almost simultaneously. One—that was the first time he ever called mebaby, and two—I never wanted him to let go of my hand. He had a grounding presence that I couldn’t bear to lose. With him sitting next to me, it felt like no bad could touch me, like he’d take it all and protect me.

Sucking in a shaky breath, I asked, “Can you stay with me?”

He squeezed my hand three times. “Always.”

Nurses and doctors swarmed in then, and the pain in my legs started mounting. It was so bad that it seemed to shroud the rest of my senses, making it so I could barely hear or think at all. I just squeezed Richard’s hand to handle the pain. He never once complained or pulled away from me.

Even when I couldn’t make out the words, my mind was crying,You, I need you. He kept his solemn eyes on mine and nodded, like he could read my thoughts.

But I think they gave me more drugs, because it was suddenly way too hard to keep my eyes open.

________

When I woke up again, Richard was gone, and I had to wonder if he was ever really here or if I had dreamed up the whole thing.

I could just barely see my parents in the hall, talking with medical staff. I knew it was them because they both talked with their hands. I actually felt bad for the doctors—my parents were scary when arguing against each other, they were downright terrifying when united.

Mer was sitting in the chair Kappy had vacated, texting on her phone with a lovey-dovey grin on her face, telling me she was talking to Colt.

At least my pain level wasn’t that bad. My whole body just felt achy now, like I’d been dropped a couple hundred times during a lift practice.

“Mer,” I whispered.

Her blue eyes flew up to meet mine. “Oh, you’re up! How are you feeling?”

“Was…Kappy…?” I was almost afraid of asking the rest of the question in case I really had dreamt it all up.

Her eyes lit up as she shuffled closer to my bed. “You missed a lot!”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Huh?”

She brushed her dark hair behind her ears, and her eyes twinkled with delight. “Kappy didnotwant to leave. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him genuinely mad like that before. Colt and JP had to practically drag him out. They caused a whole scene.” She laughed incredulously.

Now I was even more confused. “Wait, when did they even get here?”

“Ooh, right, I forget you’ve been kind of out of it, I’ll start at the beginning. I guess their team went to Boston earlier this week for this big tournament. So when they were released for dinner last night, Kappy was like,I’m going to New York City to see Piper, which really threw them all for a loop, because, well, we all thought youtwo hated each other. So then Colt was like,Sure, let’s go, because he knew I was here to see you. JP didn’t really wanna go because he’s a rule-follower, ya know? But he figured the two of them would never make it back in time without him, so he joined.”

Valid point. JP was the responsible one.

“So they were here overnight, but this morning, JP started really freaking out about being late to their tournament—you know how he gets about being on time—but Kappy didn’t care. He kept saying,Leave me then! I don’t care!So then Colt threatened that he’d call security on him if he didn’t leave your bedside. Then they started wrestling with him to try to make him come, but he wouldn’t drop your hand. He literally punched JP in the face and gave him a bloody nose. Thenyour dadburst in because he didn’t want all the ruckus to wake you. So then your dad was all like,C’mere kid, we need to have a chat,but Kappy was like,Sorry sir, I’d love to speak with you, but I’m not dropping her hand, which actually made your dad like him! Then again, Kappy charms the pants off everyone.” She smirked. “Your mom finally came and kicked everyone else out, so Kappy relented and left.” She shook her head in amazement. “Colt was so frustrated,” she said with a giggle. “His throat vein was going all wonky. I guess a bunch of important scouts are gonna be at the tournament.”

Wow.My hands went to my temples. That was…a lot of information to take in.

“So…You and Kappy?” A curious little smile played on my best friend’s lips.

I scrubbed a hand down my face to muffle my own laugh. “I’m just as confused as you are, believe me.”.

9. CANADIAN GOODBYES

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