Chapter Thirty-Three
Now
For all the good that came with being rescued—a soft bed, a hot shower, something to eat other than papaya and seaweed—Piper
would give it all back to be sitting beside Wyatt on their beach again. Okay, maybe not all of it, but being apart from Wyatt
after spending so much time together left her feeling like a ship at sea, adrift and directionless.
Her doctor had promised a morning discharge, so Piper’s eyes snapped open the second a ray of sunlight lasered through her
blinds. After shooing her parents back to their hotel room last night, insisting they get some proper sleep before making
the long drive home to Cedar Falls, North Carolina, Piper woke to an empty room. She’d agreed to stay with them for the rest
of the summer, giving her enough time to fully recover per doctor’s orders. Flying home would have been the faster option
but Piper couldn’t stomach the thought of getting on a plane anytime soon, so her parents had rented a car for the trip.
Was Wyatt waking up alone as well? He’d been on her mind constantly, as persistent as the machines humming in her room. She was determined not to leave the hospital without seeing him or confirming that he was truly all right. She needed to replace the last memory of medics loading him onto an emergency flight, his body drained of life. Needed to touch him again, feel his heart pulsing in his chest. This was her chance to check on him—before visiting hours started and the hospital came to life.
Piper cinched her hospital gown and tiptoed into the hallway to find Wyatt’s room. How big could this hospital be?
“Miss Piper, you should be in bed, not wandering the halls at this hour.” Layla, Piper’s favorite nurse, appeared out of nowhere
and kindly scolded her.
“I’m looking for Wyatt Brooks’s room. Have they moved him to this floor? I need to see him.”
Soft crinkles formed by Layla’s eyes, a smile lighting her face. Everyone at the hospital, maybe even in America, knew their
miraculous survival story. “He’s not supposed to have guests until nine a.m. , but if someone happened to wander into room 4004, they might find him. You didn’t hear it from me, though.”
“How is he? Really. Everyone keeps telling me he will be fine, but he was so out of it when—” Piper’s voice broke, preventing
her last words from escaping.
“His body’s been through a lot, but he’s already doing much better,” Layla assured her. “Now, I better see you in your room
when I come by in an hour.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you!” Piper hurried down the hall before Layla could change her mind.
Finding his room a few doors down, Piper tiptoed in, easing the door shut behind her. Wyatt was asleep, wires snaking from
his body to machines monitoring his vitals. Thick bandages covered his left leg, his cheekbones protruded too prominently,
and a deep maroon darkened the smudges under his eyes.
But he was alive.
Piper sagged with relief against the door, her anxiety easing with every rise and fall of his breath. She slipped into the chair beside his bed. Up close, his beard was thick, his hair still shaggy and mussed. He looked like the teenage version of Wyatt—the one Piper had unflinchingly given her heart to—superimposed on top of Island Wyatt, the man who’d kept her alive and earned her trust back. Now Hospital Wyatt lay in front of her, a miracle to be alive at all. All versions of him crashed together like a Russian doll, each one swallowed by the next.
In that instant, Piper knew she loved them all.
Almost losing Wyatt for good had been far worse than the pain of high school heartbreak. It made risking her heart again more
bearable—especially compared to the alternative of never seeing Wyatt again. Somehow, after all these years, they’d been pulled
back to each other, and Piper wasn’t willing or ready for the universe to push them apart again.
As if he sensed her presence, Wyatt turned his head in her direction, curls falling across his face. Piper brushed the tendrils
away, then cupped his cheek like she’d done the last time she’d seen him. His skin was cool to the touch, a vast difference
from his previous burning flesh, the realization giving her lungs more room to breathe.
“Piper?” Wyatt asked, his voice hoarse.
Was he awake? His eyes were closed. Maybe another nightmare held him in its grip. She leaned forward and whispered into his
ear. “It’s me. It’s Piper. We got off the island, Wy. We did it.”
She slid her hand onto his chest, over his heart, feeling the dependable heartbeat there. His hand covered hers, holding it
captive. His eyelashes fluttered open, and his luminous gray eyes found hers. Piper clasped his hand in hers, her chest tight
and breathless, leaning into the flow of heightened energy coursing through her.
She’d missed this, missed him.
Everything she wanted to say caught in her throat and poured out as tears instead.
“Piper,” Wyatt rasped, then tugged her hand upward, pulling her against him, crushing her to his chest with his free arm. Careful not to disturb his bad leg, she climbed onto the tiny hospital bed and curved against him, mindful of the attached wires. All her fear and worry melted away as she breathed in his warm, clean scent. He kissed the top of her head, cradling her against his chest. His arms couldn’t wrap around her tight enough.
“I feel like I haven’t been able to breathe until right now. Now that you’re here.” He exhaled loudly. “I can’t believe you’re
here. That we made it home.”
She twined her arms around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as possible, savoring the thrill of hearing his heart
beating a little too fast under her ear. It was proof that he was alive. That they’d made it. It hadn’t felt real for her
either until right now, now that they were together.
“I know exactly what you mean,” she murmured into his neck.
Tears spilled down Wyatt’s face, dampening her cheek, and she kissed one away without thinking twice. He turned, his mouth
poised over hers. Goose bumps rippled across her body, and she lifted her face and met his. The salt of their tears mingled
as his lips brushed hers, reminding her of the briny ocean and sea air—of where they’d been and what they’d gone through together.
His kiss was slow and deliberate, achingly sweet.
A reunion.
A homecoming.
A thank-you to the universe that they could experience this moment together.
Once their lips connected, Piper knew it would take a team of doctors to pull her away. His tongue skated over hers, languid
and soft, as if he were reminding himself what she tasted like, slowly wading back in. But before long, she deepened the kiss,
his mouth locked on hers, hot and furious, drinking her in like he couldn’t get enough.
The intensity made the room spin, and she clung to Wyatt, melting into his arms, tangling her tongue against his, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. Only the crescendo of the surrounding machines caused them to pull back.
“Damn machines are making it very hard to play it cool right now,” Wyatt complained. “We should take it easy unless we want
them sending me back to the ICU.”
Piper giggled. God, it felt good laughing with Wyatt. “Good thing I already know how uncool you are,” she teased.
But she didn’t need a team of doctors rushing in either, so she kissed him one more time before forcing herself to put a few
inches of space between them. Luckily, the tiny bed didn’t allow for much more distance.
She pushed his hair back and studied him. “How are you? You look much better than the last time I saw you.”
“I feel much better, too. You look great.” He brushed his thumb over her scar, and Piper tensed. Was it as awful looking as
her mother had suggested? “We’ve got matching battle scars.” Wyatt grinned. “But mine is way more badass.”
Piper beamed back. “I’ll let you have that one, but only because you almost died on me.” Joking about that awful moment with
Wyatt made processing the trauma easier and helped put it in the past.
“Speaking of, they told me you climbed up the cliffside and flagged down rescue.” Wyatt lifted one of her scarred hands and
kissed her bandaged palm. “You saved us. You’re my hero.”
“We saved each other.” Her heart thundered as she lay ensnared in the gaze of his sexy gray eyes. Eyes that she had thought
she might never see again. “But I’m still mad at you.”
Wyatt frowned. “Still? I thought you’d forgiven me for ghosting you and acting like an idiot after the plane fiasco.”
“No, not that.” Piper shifted herself upright, tucking her legs under her chin. “You lied to me—about your cut. You told me
it was fine and wouldn’t let me look at your bandages because you knew it had gotten worse.”
Wyatt leaned back against his pillows. “And what would you have done if you’d known the truth?”
“I don’t know. Something! I do have a few years of medical training under my belt. Maybe I could have stopped it from getting
as bad as it did if you’d let me in instead of shutting me out.”
Angry tears sprang to her eyes. She’d been mostly kidding when she’d said she was still mad, but the words had unleashed true
resentment toward Wyatt over his brush with death. Probably because it was becoming more apparent with every passing moment
exactly how much she loved him.
“I didn’t want you to worry.” His mouth twisted to one side, and his eyes dampened with regret.
Piper wiped tears off her cheek with the back of her hand. “When are you going to get it through your head, you don’t have
to go through everything alone. I’m here. For the good parts and the bad. All of it.”
She gripped his arm, emphasizing her point. “Wyatt, when I think about what could have happened if a plane hadn’t been flying
nearby or if I’d fallen climbing up those rocks. Or if we hadn’t gotten to the hospital in time.” She shuddered.
“I’m sorry I scared you. And I’m sorry I’m a slow learner. I promise I’m working on it.” He reached for her hands, lacing
his fingers through hers, pushing their palms together. “Can we blame the fever and call this a fresh start? I promise I won’t
keep any more secrets from you.”
She searched his face and saw only sincerity shining back. “A fresh start sounds perfect.”
He flashed his dimples in a patented Wyatt smile, making her stomach contract and heart sing. Using his hands as leverage,
she lowered herself for a kiss. He squeezed her hands tight and kissed her back thoroughly enough to make the machines beep
in protest again. She couldn’t wait until they were out of this hospital and in a proper bed.
Reluctantly, Piper pushed herself back up, away from Wyatt’s tempting mouth. He looked out the hospital window, running a hand along his scruffy jaw as if collecting his thoughts. When he turned back to her, his brows were knit, his eyes serious.
After a few steadying breaths, he took her hand again. “Piper, everything that happened on the island meant something to me.
Well, not the parts where I was scared and tired and harsh, but the parts where I got to spend time with my best friend. To
laugh with you, hold you again... kiss you.” A blush darkened his cheeks. “I’m so damn grateful we made it off that island,
but it will all be for nothing if I don’t ask you for a second chance.” A tear escaped down his face, and he smiled at her
shakily. “For real this time.”
Piper sucked in a breath, light-headed with how fast her heart raced, grateful she wasn’t hooked up to any hospital machines
herself right now. Otherwise, they would’ve given away her pure elation coupled with the crushing fear of getting hurt again—two
trains racing toward each other on the same track.
She gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “I want that, Wyatt. It’s all I’ve been thinking about... but I’m scared.”
Wyatt tightened his hold on her hand, his thumb tracing comforting circles over her knuckles. “I understand that. Believe
me, I’m terrified, too. But I’m even more afraid of not telling you how much I care about you. Because I do, Piper. I’ve always
loved you. And I’m in love with you now. I’m sorry for all the years I wasted doubting myself, doubting us.” His eyes glittered
with unshed tears, pools of sincere love and admiration.
He loved her. He always had. As she listened to his words, Piper’s eyes filled with hot tears mirroring Wyatt’s. His confession
was everything she’d ever wanted to hear. Now it was her turn to let him know she loved him, too, that she’d never stopped.
“I—” She swallowed hard. Old fears squashed the words like a bug in her throat. “Wyatt, you’re—” she tried again, but a loud
rapping on the door interrupted her.