Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Cade
I came back to myself in pieces.
First, there was the steady beeping. Then the dull ache, everywhere and nowhere all at once.
After that, the smell of antiseptic, sharp enough to cut through the fog in my head.
My eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds, but when I finally forced them open, the ceiling above me swam before slowly coming into focus.
Hospital.
That much, at least, made sense, considering the pain that I was feeling. Flashes of memory of the crash replayed in my mind. Squealing tires, the view of rocks rushing toward me, then spinning so many times, I lost count. Bent metal.
I turned my head an inch and immediately regretted it. Pain flared, white-hot, then settled into a heavy throbbing. I sucked in a breath through my teeth as more pain flared up, this time in my chest. Once everything settled, I felt the warmth wrapped around my hand.
Missy.
She was there, curled in the chair beside the bed, her head resting on the mattress near my arm. Her hair was spilling across the blanket in soft waves, and her fingers were laced through mine like she was afraid that if she let go, I’d disappear.
I could see dark circles beneath her eyes even with her eyes closed. She looked exhausted. Wrecked.
My chest tightened. I had done this to her.
“Hey,” I said. Or tried to. It came out more like a croak.
Her eyes popped open and her head snapped up. Her eyes locked onto mine, and for a second she just stared like she was afraid this was a trick. A hallucination. Then her hand tightened around mine.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. Her voice broke clean in half. “Cade.”
I smiled, or at least I think I did. Everything felt a little… floaty. Like I was hovering a few inches above myself. “You look tired,” I said, because apparently I was an idiot even drugged out of my mind.
She laughed, but it came out shaky. “You scared me half to death,” she said, leaning over the bed. Her lips brushed mine, soft, careful, reverent. Like she needed to feel me there, solid and real.
Before I could say anything more brilliant in response, like I’m sorry I almost died, the door opened and an older nurse walked in with a clipboard in hand.
“Well, look at that,” she said brightly when she noticed me looking back at her. “Someone finally decided to wake up.”
Missy swiped at her cheeks and straightened, though she didn’t let go of my hand. Not once.
The nurse chatted cheerfully while she checked my vitals, then asked me a few questions—my name, the date, where I was. I answered them all, though the date took a little longer than it should have. She nodded, satisfied.
“I’m going to let the doctor know you’re awake,” she said. “You’ve got some broken ribs, cuts and bruises, most likely a concussion, but you’re very lucky. Very,” she added, touching my shoulder lightly.
I glanced at Missy. “I guess I’m hard to get rid of.”
She gave me a look that was half glare, half devastation. “Don’t joke,” she warned softly as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
The nurse left, and Missy immediately reached for her phone. “I’m calling Max,” she said. “He and Cora went to grab lunch downstairs.”
I barely had time to process that before she was speaking into the phone, her voice trembling slightly. “He’s awake.”
Shortly after, Max and Cora burst into the room. Max crossed it in three long strides, gripping my shoulder carefully.
“Jesus, man,” he said, relief written all over his face. “You had us scared.”
Cora smiled at me through shiny eyes. “We’re so glad you’re okay.”
“Define okay,” I muttered as I shifted slowly. Those broken ribs were the center of all my pain. That and my skin. It felt like I’d skidded along wet cement butt naked.
Max huffed a weak laugh. “Yeah, well, trust me when I say, the way your truck looked, it could’ve been much worse.” His expression sobered. “The police came by again this morning.”
That got my attention. Though I could remember bits of the accident, what led up to it was still a blank. Still, I’d had some time to think things through since waking up and doubted I’d just run myself off the road. “What’d they say?”
“They confirmed that Levi was not in town when the accident happened,” Max said carefully. “There’s no credit card use, no hotel or Airbnb reservations. They don’t think it was him.”
Confusion slid through the haze in my head. “Then what…? I skidded off the road myself?” I vaguely remember it raining. Could I have hydroplaned?
“No, they’re pretty sure you were run off the road. The tire marks on the road confirm that, as well as the paint and damage on your truck,” Cora said quietly. “But they don’t know by who.”
I frowned, trying to pull up any memory beyond leaving the job site and bits and pieces of the actual wreck. There was nothing. Just blank space.
“I don’t remember,” I admitted. “I remember locking up. Getting in the truck. Then bits of the accident, the truck flipping several times. That’s it.”
Max nodded. “The doc said that might happen. Rest, it will come back to you. We’ll get whoever did this.”
“You don’t think Levi hired someone…” Cora asked as she turned to Missy. “Do you?”
Missy shifted. “I wouldn’t put it past him. If he went as far as to destroy Cade’s business and mine, then…” She let the rest go unsaid, the heaviness of it floating in the quiet room like a ton of bricks.
A doctor appeared not long after that, and before I knew it, Max and Cora were ushered out so I could rest. Thankfully, Missy was allowed to stay.
The room felt quieter once we were alone again. Lighter.
Missy sat down in the chair and leaned her forehead against the mattress near my arm, her grip tightening around my hand like she was anchoring herself.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered.
My throat burned and the pain medicine the nurse had given me caused me to float again. “You didn’t.”
Her shoulders shook. Then she looked up at me, her eyes searching mine.
“I love you,” she said softly. The words almost rushed out, raw and unguarded. “I’ve loved you for so long, and I was scared of telling you. Of ruining us. Of losing you. And now…” Her voice broke completely. “I almost did lose you anyway without you knowing how I feel.”
My heart swelled so hard it hurt more than my ribs.
I lifted my hand, slowly, carefully, and brushed my thumb across her cheek, catching a tear.
“Missy,” I murmured, “I’ve known how you feel toward me since we were kids.
I’ve known from the moment you kissed me.
But I’m thankful that you finally said it out loud.
” My words were slurring together. I was moments away from falling back into a deep slumber but needed to say one more thing.
She let out a shaky laugh through her tears and bent to kiss me again, pressing her forehead to mine.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” she whispered.
“Good,” I said softly. “Because I love you, always have. I want to spend the rest of my life telling you, showing you, hearing you tell me back.”
Then the beeping faded into the background, the pain dulled, and, as darkness took over, everything felt like it was exactly where it was supposed to be.
I woke again sometime later to the quiet hum of machines and the faint glow of streetlights bleeding through the windows. My mouth felt dry, and my head was heavy, like it was stuffed with cotton. For a few seconds, I didn’t know where I was. Then I remembered and looked around.
Missy sat beside the bed, cross-legged in the chair, eating a paper-wrapped burger.
Max leaned against the wall near the window, looking out with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was somewhere between exhausted and furious.
The smell of fries hit me next, and my stomach growled loud enough that Missy glanced over.
“Cade.” Relief flooded her face so fast it nearly knocked the breath from me. “You’re awake again.”
“Was I asleep or knocked out?” I asked, my voice rough and slow, like it had to wade through mud to reach my mouth.
Max snorted quietly. “You were out cold. It’s the drugs. They want to make sure you’re not feeling much pain.”
“Good,” I muttered. “Did I miss dinner?” I tried to shift, but winced. “Is that a burger?”
Missy laughed softly, the sound shaky. “Of course that’s what you focus on.”
“I’m starving,” I said honestly. “Either that or the drugs are lying to me.”
Max pushed off the wall. “I’ll grab the nurse. I’m not sure what you’re cleared to eat. Don’t get too excited. Burgers may not be on the menu yet.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” I said, closing my eyes for a second. My body felt like it had been put back together wrong—everything there, but nothing quite lined up yet.
While we waited, Missy unlocked her phone and turned the screen toward me.
“The police pulled footage from a traffic camera near the cove,” she said softly. “They’re hoping it might jog your memory.”
The video was grainy, the image streaked with rain.
My truck appeared first, and I watched my headlights sweeping around the curve.
Then another set of lights appeared that were too close mine.
The SUV was practically riding my bumper.
The other car lurched at the back corner of my truck, which caused me to swerve hard out of the frame.
Then there was nothing but darkness and rain.
My chest tightened. “I don’t remember any of that.”
“I know,” she whispered, her fingers tightening around mine. “They can’t get a plate or even a clear outline of the other vehicle. They’re still looking.”
She locked her phone and tucked it away just as the nurse came in with a tray. My bed was raised so I could sit up and eat. I worked through the broth slowly and sipped the water. Then I tried to enjoy something that was pretending to be gelatin. The food was helping cut through the fog in my head.
When I was done eating, Missy’s phone buzzed. She looked at it and froze. One glance at the screen and she flipped it face down without answering.