46. Mer - Together

My eyes blinked open to see the bright hospital ceiling and anxiety wrapped around my heart like a tight fist. I was afraid to move, afraid to find out my knee wouldn’t work again.

I laid there paralyzed by fear.

But as the seconds ticked by, familiar voices filled my ears, and the terror threatening to drown me slightly eased.

“She’s up! She’s up!” Lucy was immediately at my side, trying to jump up on the bed to see me.

I choked out a laugh, which immediately made my head pound. I tried to think back to the last thing I remembered, but my head was all foggy.

“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked with her wide innocent brown eyes.

I went to pat her head, but I was met with resistance. Looking down, my eyes took in the hospital gown, the sling holding my right arm in place, and the wires going into my other arm. Déjà-vu slammed into me, making my breathing go ragged.

“You’re okay,” Piper said hurriedly, standing above Lucy. “Collarbone got fucked, but–”

“Ooh, that’s a potty word!” Lucy interrupted her.

Piper grimaced down at her. “Sorry, but yeah, your collarbone got… smoked?” She looked to Lucy for approval. Lucy gave a nod. “We think it happened from the airbag. And you have a concussion and some bruises, but you’ll heal up fine. You’re lucky that’s the only damage. That was quite the accident. You caused a five-car pile up.” She must’ve noticed my panicked face, because she quickly added, “Everyone’s okay. You had the worst damage.”

Her words echoed around in my brain, but I couldn’t seem to untangle all the details. “My knee?” I was still too afraid to move it.

“All good,” Piper said immediately.

Squeezing my teary eyes shut, I slowly moved my knees up. Relief hit me like a tidal wave and tears steamed down my face.

“Oh no! Why are you crying? Are you sad?” Lucy asked with worried eyes.

“No, she’s relieved, honey,” Piper said quietly.

Using my left hand to clear my face, I nodded at Lucy, and that’s when I realized the two of them were wearing matching brown yoga pants, zip-ups, and ugg boots. Both of them wore their hair in slicked back half-ponies.

“Did you guys go shopping?” I choked out a laugh then immediately winced because of the migraine erupting in my head.

“Yes!” Lucy giggled. “You like our outfits?” She struck a pose. “We’re fabulous! And guess who else matches us?”

“Who?” I gently laid back on the pillow and grinned at her.

“Carl! I love him so much,” she gushed. Her face went serious. “Do you think Dad will let us have a kitten? I just want one so bad!”

Piper let out an evil cackle. “Mark my words, Colt Conover is gonna be a cat dad!”

Just hearing Colt’s name made my heart ache. Being in the hospital was already triggering me, being here without him made it so much worse.

“Is he coming?” For some reason, I could picture his warm brown eyes staring down at me in this bed, trying to implore me that I was okay, but I couldn’t recall if that was a dream or not.

“He’ll be here soon.” Piper’s smile went a little crazed, so I immediately knew she was hiding something.

“Everything’s okay?” I asked hesitantly. “Everyone’s okay?”

Her eyes shifted to Lucy. “Everyone important is okay,” she said ominously, then she dipped down to Lucy’s level and took out her phone. “Wanna watch skating videos?”

“Yes please!” Lucy bounced with excitement.

Piper pulled up her and Patrick’s free dance program from last season before moving closer to my bed. That’s when she dipped closer to me and hurriedly whispered everything that had transpired while I’d been laid up here.

After she finished, my mouth gaped open.

Piper’s eyebrows went up. “Yupp.” She popped the p .

I didn’t even know what to say. I sat there gulping like a fish out of water. Even though I already spent the last few weeks mulling over the possibility that Catherine Conover had somehow manipulated our lives, I was still shocked she could be so evil.

My heart squeezed for Colt. He probably felt blindsided. When we recounted our pasts to each other, I immediately jumped to her as a culprit in our demise. He did not. He refused to believe that his mom was capable of hurting anyone. But that’s because he was a good person. He couldn’t fathom purposely trying to hurt anyone– his teenage self was destroyed when he accidentally injured someone in a game. Finding this out– finding out that his mother was a killer– that probably shattered his sense of reality.

“Is Colt okay?” I whispered.

Piper shrugged helplessly. “I mean, as good as you can be when you find all that out. He wanted to come here straight away, but you were still out, so Kappy and JP assured him we would look after you and they took him home and made him shower first. They should be here soon.”

I just wanted him here so I could comfort him.

“Speak of the devil…”

My eyes snapped up in hopes of seeing Colt, but Kappy wandered in wearing sweats with a backwards hat slung over his dark hair and holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Okay, don’t have to look quite so disappointed to see me,” he joked. “Your boy’s coming. Doc intercepted him in the hall. How ya feeling, Mer Bear?”

Swallowing hard, I gave a slight nod.

Kappy’s eyes went to Lucy and Piper, and he cracked a grin. “Woah, you guys are matching. I want one of those zip-ups.”

Lucy’s head popped up from Piper’s phone. “No, I don't think so. Only us and Carl can be matching, Richard Charles Kappers the third.”

“Yeah, Richard Charles Kappers the third,” Piper echoed with a smirk. “God, I love this child,” she said with a laugh, making Lucy smile in triumph.

Kappy’s eyebrows slammed down. “Who’s Carl?”

“No one,” Piper said, studying her nails.

“Yeah, no one,” Lucy giggled, copying her.

“Woah, wait, you guys got matching nails, too? Is this even allowed?” Kappy asked. He picked up Lu in his arms and tickled her, making her collapse in giggles, and that’s when Colt finally walked in the doorway.

With heavy bags under his eyes and his hair still damp from showering, he stood there dressed in clean comfy joggers and a team hoodie, looking like he was about to fall asleep standing.

Tears immediately flooded my eyes. He was by my bedside in a second, pressing a kiss into my hair. “I'm so sorry I left you here,” he whispered gruffly.

I clutched his arm, never wanting to let go.

“She just woke up, Romeo,” Piper said. “Didn’t even know you were gone.”

He pulled back a little and his tired eyes roved over my face. “You okay? How are you feeling? God, you scared me so bad. You were up and fine and then freaking out and passing out, and then cops came and–”

“I’m okay,” I whispered. “Just a little dizzy, but not bad.” I tried my best to muster up a smile, despite the pressure in my head.

JP appeared in the doorway. He immediately switched off the bright lights before striding across the room to open the shades a little more.

“Better for a concussion,” JP said with a small smile.

I smiled my thanks at him. My eyes already felt less strained.

“Woah, Lu’s looking fancy,” JP noted, plopping down on the couch.

Lucy then filled everyone in on how she and Piper spent their last 24 hours together, detailing their trip to the mall, the salon, and then their slumber party at Piper’s “super cool girl apartment.”

While listening, I shivered and tried to pull the thin hospital blanket higher.

“You good?” Colt asked, his tired face more alert.

“Can you sit by me?” More than anything, I just wanted to be in his arms and steal his warmth.

His eyes rounded with concern before dipping to my arm in the sling. “I don’t wanna jostle your arm, babe.”

“Please.” I shifted carefully to make space for him and patted the bed.

He gingerly sat next to me, but when I tried to lean against him, pain shot down my arm and I immediately winced.

“Wait, I have an idea.” He had me lean forward and he smoothed behind me. His strong legs were on either side of me, and I leaned back to lay on his chest, reminding me of the way we used to sit by bonfires as teens.

“Better?” he whispered in my ear, looping his strong arms around me.

“Much.” I closed my eyes, feeling secure for the first time since he left for his Florida game.

“I feel so responsible.” He held my face and smoothed his thumb under my eye. “I’m so sorry, Mer. I didn’t think…” He choked up.

“No, it’s okay.” I grasped his wrist. “None of this is your fault, Colt.”

“Did Piper tell you…?” His body went tense with apprehension.

“Yes. She told me everything.”

His body slightly unfurled. “I’m so sorry. My head is a mess right now. I just keep looping back through everything. This changes… everything. All my memories, everything, it’s all tainted now.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” I craned my neck to peer up at him and I smoothed my hand up his scruff-covered cheek. “Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t go back to the past. It’ll drown you. Someone really smart once told me that it’s good to move forward.”

His face cracked and he covered his eyes. “I just don’t know how to move on from this.”

“Hey, you’re not alone. We’ll work on it together, right?” Please say right , I silently begged in my head. Please.

“Yeah.” He turned to press a kiss to the inside of my wrist. “Together. I’m never leaving you again. Never,” he swore.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. My lips immediately parted, and his tongue swept through my mouth, sending butterflies coursing through my body.

“Okay, c’mon guys, really? In a hospital bed?” Kappy complained.

“Leave them alone,” JP countered quietly.

“I think it’s sweet,” Lucy said softly.

“Yeah, what’s wrong, you afraid of a little PDA, Richard Charles?” Piper chimed in.

He whirled on Piper. “Is that a challenge?”

“What? How is that a challenge?” Piper’s cheeks went red. “You’re the one who was yelling at them.”

Colt and I just laughed as they all continued to bicker.