hands had touched so fervently? They were supposed to see each other for the first time tomorrow, and the wait had been killing him.
Just FYI, I’ll be away for a couple of days. Climbing at Acadia.
Cool. Have fun.
I still plan to be there Sunday for your birthday dinner.
Yeah?
Wouldn’t miss it.
See you then.
Those texts had felt somewhat promising, almost like old times, pre-kiss. So he hoped that meant their friendship would remain intact even though Rhys had run out of the house like it had been on fire. It was something to go on, even if he was slowly withering inside and painfully reliving that kiss every fucking minute and wishing for a different outcome.
He stuck his head through the back-seat window of his aunt’s car.
“Is Rhys gonna be okay?” Audrey asked, and Sam chewed on his bottom lip as he awaited the news.
He nodded. “Yeah. He just needs a few more days of rest.”
Fuck, his hands were shaking.
“Who’s ready for pizza and ice cream?” Aunt Janice asked as she slid into the driver’s seat, and that sent Sam chattering excitedly about his favorite flavor, but Audrey just stared at him, her heated gaze drilling into the side of his face. She knew he was worried, but he couldn’t go there right now. Distraction would be good for both of them.
“Thank you,” he mouthed to Aunt Janice. He didn’t know what he’d do without her.
Or his best friend.
He let himself inside the house to eat and shower and pace mindlessly before heading back to the hospital and setting up a vigil at his bedside.
When Rhys mumbled in his sleep, he wondered what he was dreaming about. Hopefully good things. He reached out to take his hand, perhaps providing a tether to consciousness for him.
Eventually exhaustion consumed Emerson, so he closed his eyes and got more comfortable in the chair, only to be shaken awake hours later by Carl, Mrs. Lancaster’s fiancé.
He watched as she leaned over Rhys and kissed his forehead. “Oh, honey,” she said in a weary voice.
“Thanks for staying with him,” Carl said, patting his shoulder. “You should go home to your family.”
Rhys is my family, he wanted to argue. But it was late, and they probably wanted time with him.
Emerson nodded as he stood up and stretched.
Mrs. Lancaster pulled him in a tight hug and whispered a thank-you in his ear.
“It’ll be okay,” Emerson said. “We’ll get him through this.”
The nurse came in to talk to Rhys’s mom and fill her in on the same information he’d been given, which wasn’t much.
“If he wakes up—” he said to Carl.
“She’ll call you.”
He looked back one last time from the doorway before making his way home.
3
Rhys
Rhys blinked open his eyes and felt something tugging at his wrist along with a sharp pain in his neck as he tried to move his head. He winced, his arm pulling at the IV line he now realized was taped to his hand. As the edges of the room became less fuzzy, the first thing he spotted was the worried expression on his mother’s face.
“Rhys, you’re awake. Carl, call for the nurse,” she choked out. “Oh, honey, you gave us such a scare.”
Her fingers stretched out to grasp Rhys’s shoulder while her other hand pushed sweaty bangs back from his forehead.
“What happened?” His voice sounded hoarse, as if he hadn’t used it in a while.
“Shh, let’s wait another minute for the nurse.”
Everything felt vague and indistinct around the edges of his memory, and his mom…why was she back in town?
Fuck, how long had he been asleep?
A tall woman in blue scrubs pushed through the door and punched a couple of buttons on a machine. He attempted to sit up, but the action made a stabbing pain shoot through his rib cage. He lost his breath, a groan tumbling out of his mouth.
“Easy now,” the nurse said, helping adjust his pillow. She offered him a small sip of water through a straw from a cup beside the bed. “It’s good to see you awake.”
“How long have I been out?” Rhys’s mouth felt like they had stuffed cotton inside his throat.
“A few days. You’ve had a traumatic brain injury.”
“Brain?” He tried to lift his hand to his head, but it was like being underwater, the pressure between his ears practically unbearable as he mashed his teeth together.
“You were hit in the head by falling debris while rock climbing,” his mother supplied, squeezing his knee, and he winced at the contact. His entire body felt battered and