Page 96 of Cluelessly Yours

I didn’t know any of the backstory! When the hospital called, they just said you’d been hit by a cab and nothing else! I didn’t even know Noah was hurt too until we got here because we’re not his kin. Then SHE showed up, asking questions about you guys, and they didn’t want to tell her anything until she said she was his girlfriend.

I grab the pad and pen from her violently before writing my reply.

Yeah, well, thanks for making this a million times more awkward. We’d just told each other we loved each other, and then BAM. His EX-girlfriend was standing outside his door to tell Noah that she’s PREGNANT.

She steals the pen and paper back before I’m even done writing.

You told each other you loved each other?! OMG, Sammy, that’s amazing.

“Brooke,” I hiss. “Look around yourself right now and tell me again that anypart of this is amazing. That woman over there is carrying Noah’s baby. Hisbaby, Brooke. And let’s not forget about the most important detail here. He’s still unconscious!”

Truthfully, the only thing that’s preventing me from having a full-on breakdown is the fact that Kendall updated us this morning that Noah’s MRI and EEG showed normal brain function.

“How the hell is any of this supposed to work out now?” I question, shaking my head as I do. “And every time I look at her, Brooke, I hate her a little more. How terrible is that?”

“At least the curtain is closed today?” Brooke offers, trying to put a stop to my absolute fucking tailspin.

“Oh yeah. The curtain is closed. The curtain is flipping closed because my kids were terrified at the sight of someone they care about unconscious in the bed, Brooke! And I don’t need an open curtain to see shit. I can see that woman and Noah’s baby and the whole fucking mess every time I close my eyes!”

My voice is a near shout as I lose control of my emotions, but it’s only when the curtain rips open to reveal a tearful Ashley standing there that I realize my mistake.

Shit.

“Oh no,” Brooke whispers.

“You guys know I can hear you, right?”

I swallow and stare at my sister.“Brooke.”

“I really thought she couldn’t hear us,” she whispers back to me, like, you know, Ashley can’t hear us. “I don’t know why I thought that, but I definitely thought it.”

I nearly snort at the irony of it all. “I was in a coma for two days. What’s your excuse?”

Ashley is still staring at us, but I can’t seem to address her directly. As fate would have it, though, I don’t have to.

Because she says enough for the both of us.

“You have it wrong, by the way.”

“Have it wrong?” Brooke asks on a yell. “Do you understand the months I’ve put in to get these two together, and then you show up out of nowhere all knocked up?! If anyone is wrong here, it’s you, missy! Not to mention, Noah is currently un-freaking-conscious at the moment!”

Ashley shakes her head. “I mean you’re wrong about the details. Iampregnant. But the babyisn’tNoah’s.”

“I…uh…what?” I whisper, nearly passing out. Brooke’s ability to speak is much more developed.

“What?!” Brooke shouts, and I swear on everything, the glass on the hospital windows shakes. “Who the hell’s baby is it, then?!”

Ashley bursts into tears, and without even pausing a beat, Noah groans from behind her.

All three of our heads whip in his direction and find his eyes blinking open. Out of all the time in the world, he’s chosennowto wake up?

“Sammy,” he says through a painful moan, and Ashley runs from the room to get help.

The baby’s not his, and the first thing he said is my name.

Maybe hearts really can be sewn back together.

Noah

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