The Saddest Song - By Susie Kaye Lopez Page 0,45

some warm dry clothes and turn down his bed. Can you help me with that?”

I nodded, and they herded me upstairs. I found myself digging through Max’s suitcase and pulling out sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt while Sophie adjusted the fireplace and Rylee turned down the bed. Then we heard the car pull into the driveway and we all flew to the window and watched Colin and Ethan help Max out, each of them holding an arm and walking slowly. I saw a large bandage covering his forehead.

“Max!” I cried, and ran from the room. At the bottom of the stairs Gran and Grandad held the doors open as they came through it. I had to stop myself from throwing my arms around Max. He looked at me and grinned. His eyes looked funny, like he couldn’t focus. He looked like hell, and I knew he must feel that way too.

“Rainey, you look worse than he does,” Colin said. I tried to smile, but didn’t quite pull it off. I put my arms around Max, holding tight. So happy he was going to be okay.

“Whoa there Rainey, let us get him inside first,” Colin said.

I nodded. I should have been embarrassed. My nose was running along with my tears, and probably my mascara too. I didn’t care. Not at all.

The boys helped Max up the stairs and into his room and then turned to leave us alone.

“When he’s changed call us. We will help him back downstairs. He needs to remain awake because of his concussion. It will be better if we are all together, you two might fall asleep,” Ethan said and I nodded. I knew a lot about concussions and so did Max. Garrett had sustained a couple bad ones playing football. I closed the door behind them and we were alone.

I sat down on the bed and hugged Max gently. “Oh Max, I would die if anything happened to you. Thank god you are okay.”

“I love you Rainey,” Max said, his words sounding a little bit slurred.

“I love you too Max.” I said, hugging him close.

“No Rainey. I love you, love you.”

I pulled back to look into his eyes. They looked dilated or something. Okay, he wasn’t himself. Like Kara said, I would just go along with it.

“Rainey, do you love me, love me? Or just love me?”

“Max, I love you. You know that.”

“Garrett’s dead, and if he wasn’t he would kill me Rainey.”

“No sweetie, he wouldn’t. You have a concussion and you are just confused. You will feel better tomorrow.”

“I love my brother’s girlfriend. That is not good. Garrett will be so pissed off.”

“Max, you need to relax. Everything will be fine. We are friends and we love each other. Best Friends. That is okay. Garrett knows that.”

“I just love you so much Rainey. You are so beautiful. Can I kiss you Rainey?”

Holy shit! He almost seemed drunk. He leaned heavily against me and his eyes were half closed.

“Max, kissing is off limits when you have a concussion. You need to stay still. Let’s get you changed and we will go sit with everyone else.” I started to untie his shoes and help him change into his sweats. He looked like he could nod off any second. He put his arms up so I could remove his sweater and shirt and I struggled to get his long sleeve t-shirt on him. We managed to remove his pants and get his sweat pants on, and I tried to be as impersonal as I could while I dressed him. By the time I finished, I was exhausted, and so was Max. He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes.

“No, don’t go to sleep. We have to get down stairs and see everyone else.” He didn’t want to open his eyes so I climbed onto the bed with him and gently shook his shoulder. “Max, wake up!”

Suddenly he grabbed me and pulled me on top of him, holding me tightly. “Kiss me Rainey. Please.”

My face was against his so I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I knew he wasn’t aware of what he was saying, but still I felt funny being in this predicament. Max would never say this if he was okay. Then he put his lips on mine and I felt his tongue try to pass my closed lips. Uh oh. I quickly rolled off of him and onto my feet. I opened the door and yelled for