Chapter Twenty
B linking my eyes open, I groan as the bright lights seem to spear right into my head. My head pounds as I squeeze them shut.
“Dim the lights,” I hear someone say, but I can’t quite place the voice.
When the light isn’t pressing so heavily against my lids, I blink them open once more.
That’s not my ceiling.
I wince as I turn my head, red-hot spikes of pain rushing through my head and into my body. A whimper falls from my lips.
Why the hell does everything hurt so much?
“Hang on, babe. This should help.”
I recognize that voice, smiling as my eyes land on Wyatt. He’s pressing a button on something attached to my bed .
“I’m in the hospital?” I ask, flinching at the hoarseness of my voice. Clearing my throat, I turn my head slowly to take in more of the room.
I’m definitely in the hospital.
“Hey, honey.” Mom’s face is drawn as she appears on the opposite side of my bed from Wyatt. “How are you feeling? I sent your dad and Miguel to let the doctors know you’re awake.”
“What happened?” I croak.
A cup hovers in my line of sight, and I turn to find Wyatt holding it. “This might help.”
When I attempt to sit up, agonizing pain shoots through my body, and I collapse against the bed.
“Let Wyatt bring it to you, Lila,” my mom chides, and it’s not like I really have a choice.
I just wish they’d tell me what the hell happened.
Taking slow sips of water, I didn’t realize how thirsty I was until I drained the cup. “Thank you, Wy.”
“You’re welcome, Lil.” He kisses the top of my head before setting the cup to the side.
“Now, will one of you tell me what the hell happened? ”
The door swings open before either of them can say anything, revealing a short woman in a doctor’s coat.
“Miss Riley, it’s so good to see those eyes open.” She smiles as she hurries over, gesturing for Wyatt to step back. “Let me just check your stats and then I’m going to ask you some questions.”
“Does that mean you’ll tell me what happened?“ I ask the cheerful woman.
She grins, eyes moving to the monitor beside my bed. “After I ask you some questions, then we’ll fill you in on what happened,” she assures me.
After a few moments, she turns back to me. “First, my name is Dr. Ashby, and I’ve been taking care of you since you arrived. How are you feeling?”
“Everything fucking hurts.”
“Lila!” my mom exclaims, her hand going to my leg. I follow the movement, frowning when I realize it’s in a cast.
Seriously. What. The. Fuck. Happened?
Dr. Ashby giggles, and I find myself smiling despite the pain and confusion. “It’s quite alright, Mrs. Riley. I can only imagine the amount of pain she’s in. I’m not easily offended by profanity, I assure you.”
“That doesn’t mean she should use it,” Mom mutters, making a face that tells me just how disappointed she is in me.
“Now, Miss Riley—“
“Lila,” I correct her. “Please call me Lila.”
Dr. Ashby nods. “I can do that. Now, Lila, what’s the last thing you remember?”
Isn’t that the big question?
Shaking away my snarky thoughts, I close my eyes and think back, attempting to focus on my memories. Everything is blurry, and my head hurts so much it’s hard to concentrate. I don’t know how long I sit there trying to focus on my memories, but finally, an image appears.
“Oh, shit.” My eyes snap open to meet Dr. Ashby’s. “I was in a car accident. I shouldn’t have been driving. I was crying and really upset.”
“Good. Good. I’m glad you remember.” She glances around the room before focusing on me once more. “I have to ask you some sensitive questions, Lila, so if you’d like to ask your family to step out of the room, this would be a good time to do so. ”
What the hell could she want to ask me that I wouldn’t want my family and Wyatt here for?
I wave off her concerns. “No, it’s fine. They can stay.”
“You’re sure?”
Frowning, I nod. I really don’t understand why she’s asking me again.
“Okay, then. Did you crash your car on purpose? Were you trying to hurt yourself?”
I jerk back, grimacing at the pain it causes. “No. I would never do that. Why would you even ask me that?”
The doctor’s smile has dimmed. “It’s standard procedure, Lila. Especially because you weren’t wearing a seat belt.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill myself. Yes, I was upset, and I was crying. But I did not want to be in an accident.” I shake my head, glancing between my parents, Miguel, and Wyatt. “I should’ve pulled over, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t know how I ended up in the other lane, but the truck driver hit his horn, and I was able to jerk out of his way. But the roads were wet. I hydroplaned. I wrestled with the wheel the best I could, and I hit the brakes. There just wasn’t any way for me to avoid the tree. ”
Dr. Ashby nods. “Okay, Lila. Thank you. I hope you understand the reasons behind us needing to ask.”
I shrug, immediately regretting it as another sharp pain rips through me. “Can you fill me in on what happened after that?”
“The paramedics arrived within a few minutes. It’s my understanding that a group of young men were in a car behind you and saw the crash. They immediately called emergency services, and you were rushed to the hospital. There was a lot of damage. Your leg is broken in four different places from the impact. Your nose was broken by the airbag, but that’s healed already. You had some severe bruising on your chest from the airbag, too. You arrived with multiple contusions and lacerations on your face and chest. All of those are healed now. Thank goodness for shifter healing.
“Your left lung collapsed, and there was a lot of internal bleeding. Your spleen had to be removed and some other internal damage repaired. There was swelling of the brain, so following the surgery—which was completely successful—you were placed into a medically induced coma. The swelling began to recede two days ago, and it was finally down enough for us to wake you today.”
“I’m sorry. Did you just say a couple of days ago? How long have I been in the hospital?”
It’s Wyatt who answers. “A week and a half, Lil.”
Holy shit.
Dr. Ashby goes over the injuries with me in more detail before going over the plan for the next few days. Once she finishes, I thank her, and she leaves the five of us in the room. It’s silent around me as I absorb the information she just gave me.
I could’ve died.
“How could you have been so stupid, Lil?” Wyatt’s voice is harsh, and when I snap my eyes toward him, I find tears running down his cheeks.
”I … I … ”
How can I even answer that? What I’d done was stupid. I’d been stupid, and I almost died because of it.
“I didn’t think,” I finally manage to spit out. “I really wasn’t trying to kill myself. I promise.”
Mom squeezes my leg. “Of course you weren’t. We never thought you were.”
“Speak for yourself,” Wyatt grinds out .
I hate the way he’s looking at me—as if I betrayed him.
Haven’t I hurt him enough?
Laying my hand on top of my mom’s, I give her a soft smile. “Do you think I could have a few minutes alone with Wyatt?”
Mom looks like she wants to argue, but she just nods her head. “Of course. I’m getting a little hungry, so why don’t we go grab some lunch?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Miguel says, moving over to take Mom’s hand. “I’m glad you’re okay, Lila.”
“You and me both,” I tell him, forcing a smile as Dad comes over to kiss my head.
Once they’re gone, my attention turns back to Wyatt as I reach out my hand to him. “I’m sorry, Wy.”
He scoffs, wiping at his tears before he takes my hand. “For what?”
“For putting you through this. For the way I behaved that morning. For not listening to you.”
“You’re sorry for a lot of things, but I forgive you.” He sighs, lifting my hand to his lips. “Am I right to assume the reason you were upset that day was because of Aidan, Carter, Oliver, and Ty?”
Frowning, I nod. “How did you know?”
“They’re the ones who saw the accident. They followed the ambulance here, and your mom was pissed when she saw them. I convinced them to leave by promising regular updates. They’ve been going out of their minds.”
Part of me wants to be happy to have them worried like I was when they ghosted me, but I’m better than that.
I don’t like that I worried anyone—but especially not that I worried my parents and Wyatt.
Wyatt eyes me for a moment before blowing out a breath. “I think once you’re home, you should hear them out, Lil. This is tying you up in knots. Fuck. You almost died because they upset you. You can’t carry on like this.”
I hate that he’s right. I don’t want to talk to them. I’m not ready for them to rip my heart from my chest again.
But I can’t allow anything like this to happen again. I can’t do that to my parents or Wyatt.
“You’re right,” I mumble. “Let them know that once I’m out of the hospital, they can come and speak to me. ”
A smile lights up Wyatt’s face as he leans in to kiss me. “Thank you, Lil. I think this is the right decision.”
I guess only time will tell if he’s right or not.
It takes a week for them to release me from the hospital, but it’s finally time for me to go home.
I’m both ecstatic and petrified because the guys will be waiting for me and Wyatt when we get home. I don’t want to wait another day to hear what they have to say.
The sooner I get it over with, the sooner they’ll be out of my life.
Maybe.
“Are you sure you want to go back to your house?” Mom asks as the nurse stops the wheelchair at the curb.
I laugh, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “Yes, Mom, I’m sure. I’ll be more comfortable in my house than staying with you and Dad.” I clear my throat. “Plus, didn’t you just tell me Miguel moved in? I want no part of that.”
Mom flushes, hands fluttering, while Miguel wraps his arm around her waist .
“We’d be happy to have you, Lila. It’s your house, too. Plus, I’m sure we can keep our hands to ourselves while you recover.” Miguel grins, winking at my dad, whose face turns bright red.
I fake vomit as I shake my head. “Yeah, no. I don’t even want to see that. Plus, the three of you deserve time for yourselves, and I want you to have that.”
“Plus, I’ll be staying there the entire time she’s recovering. I won’t let anything happen to our girl on my watch.” Wyatt runs a hand through my hair as he stops in front of me. “I’m ready when you are.”
“You’re such a sweet boy, Wyatt.” Mom goes up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Lila, you really need to lock him down before someone else does. He’s one of the good ones and an incubus to boot.”
Palming my face, I shake my head. “Gods above, Mom. Do you enjoy embarrassing me?”
Wyatt snickers. “She’s not wrong. I’m quite the catch.”
Glancing back at the nurse, I roll my eyes. “Please tell me I can get in the car.”
The male nurse chuckles as he moves around the wheelchair. “Of course, but let me help you. ”
“I can help her—“ Wyatt begins, but I shoot him a look, telling him to back off. He wrinkles his nose but opens the door so the nurse can help me inside.
“You have your medications and your instructions, right?” Mom calls out before Wyatt can shut the door.
“Yes, Mom. I have everything I need. If we forgot anything, I’ll call you.”
Thankfully, Wyatt closes the door then. I lean back in the seat and close my eyes. Nerves flutter in my stomach.
“Seat belt, Lil.”
Blinking my eyes open, I find Wyatt sitting in the driver’s seat as he glares at me. All I can do is stare into his beautiful face for a moment. “What?”
“Put your fucking seat belt on.” He doesn’t bother waiting for me to do it, already reaching over me to grab it and make sure it’s on tight. “After your accident, I’d have thought you’d be more careful about that.”
Waving him off, I stare at the window. “We weren’t moving yet. I would’ve remembered.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” But he doesn’t say anything else as he pulls away from the curb. I wave at my parents and Miguel before facing forward once more.
“They’ll be there when we arrive?”
Wyatt glances at me, his hand reaching across to squeeze my thigh. “Yes. They’re already there now—even though I told them to wait until I texted them to let them know we were on our way. I think they’re eager to speak with you.”
I snicker. “Of course they are.”
“You can do this, Lil. I’ll be there right by your side.”
Shooting him a tight smile, I nod. “Thank you, Wyatt. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“And you’ll never find out,” he assures me. He focuses back on the road but keeps his hand on my bare leg.
Twenty minutes later, we’re pulling into my driveway, and I forget how to breathe before beginning to worry about how I must look.
With the damn cast on my leg, my options for pants were limited. The tiny pair of shorts barely cover my ass, paired with Wyatt’s shirt, that’s almost longer than the shorts. I have to look like a mess, but I don’t really have time to think about that as I stare at them .
Standing on my front porch are the men who destroyed me ten years ago—the men who I spent ten years trying to forget and couldn’t.
I feel like throwing up.
Maybe I don’t have this after all.