Chapter 22 #2
“Tea, please.” I slid out of the bed gently, very aware of how sore and stiff I was.
“I can bring it up,” she offered.
“It’s fine.” I was determined to get up and try to get around.
My mom helped me downstairs and to the kitchen table. I sighed when she set a steaming cup of tea in front of me.
I shook my head when she offered food. “You need to eat so you can take your medicine. ”
“Fine. Can I have some toast?” The turmoil inside was difficult to hide. I wanted to be able to go back home and shut everyone out.
I was quiet while I ate the toast and then swallowed the pills. My mom sat beside me and my dad joined us.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by another car,” I responded dryly. “Where’s Matty?”
“He is dealing with your car.”
I tightened my hand. My car. The last I had seen it, it was jumbled into an array of memories that were difficult to sort through.
“How bad is it?” I ventured.
“It’s a write-off.”
I let out a breath.My dad reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Try not to worry about it. Just concentrate on getting some rest so your body can heal.”
I had stitches and my body was full of bruises but the pain was nothing compared to my bruised heart. To have to go through something so traumatic and be unable to depend on the person I loved was so disappointing I wasn’t sure I could get over it.
“I want to go home,” I murmured, sitting back in the chair.
My parents shared a look. I knew what was coming.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured them. “I promise to take it easy and not to overdo it.”
“Okay.” Reluctantly, my father gave in.
I tried not to allow myself to think about Mark and where he could be, instead I went through the motions of letting my dad take me back to my apartment.
He fussed for a while before leaving and when I was finally alone I sat down on the sofa and got my laptop. I had appointments I had to reschedule.
I called Maggie to let her know what had happened. She was concerned. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m fine.”
She said she would relay the message to Sebastianand Cole.
An hour later both of them showed up on my doorstep, wanting to see I was okay. They brought a massive bouquet of flowers, which was touching.
“I’m fine,” I argued when Sebastian took in the bandage on my forehead.
“What happened?” Cole asked, and I relayed as much as I could remember.
There was a knock at the door and I slowly rose to open it, wondering if Mark was finally going to show up, but I was disappointed when it was Matthew.
“You should have stayed at home where Mom and Dad could have taken care of you,” he said disapprovingly.
“Hello to you too,” I replied dryly, allowing him in.
He stopped at the sight of two strange men in my living room. Then I realized they had never met before.
I introduced them and watched while they sized each other up. It was such a male thing.
“We need to go. Let us know if you need anything,” Sebastian said before leaving me alone with Matthew.
“They seem nice,” Matthew said, sitting down.
I sat down beside him slowly so as not to jar anything that hurt.
“They are. They’re like older versions of you.”
He grinned. “And you thought you had it bad with just one of me.”
I was feeling more emotional, thinking back to how scared I was, but even the fact that we had not been on speaking terms hadn’t stopped him from being there for me.
“You okay?” he asked when I started to tear up .
“I just wanted to say thank you for coming,” I managed, feeling the burn in my throat.
“That’s not necessary. We might have disagreements and you might hate how protective I can be, but nothing would have stood in the way of me being there for you.” I embraced him and he hugged me as gently as he could. “And I’m just glad you’re okay.”
He paused. “When you first called I thought it was a lot worse. It was the worst five minutes of my life, rushing to get to you.” He looked visibly shaken as he thought back.
“I was so scared…until I saw you,” I breathed. I couldn’t put into words how much his presence had helped me through the traumatic and scary experience. It was still too much to think about. I still experienced an overwhelming sense of panic every time I remembered the details of my accident.
It should have been Mark, I couldn’t help but think, feeling disappointed all over again.
It was draining me to keep thinking about it.
Somehow I had to stop myself from rehashing it over again and again.
I would handle it when he showed up. At some point he would but it wasn’t something I was looking forward to.
Matthew stayed for a while. I think he could tell the ‘missing Mark’ thing was bugging me, but I think he still found it difficult to think of his best friend and his sister together. I wasn’t sure for how much longer that would be the case.
“You let me know if you need any help with the insurance and stuff like that,” he had offered before leaving.
I sighed when I was finally alone. It was late already and I checked my phone again, knowing there had been no communication from Mark. Not a call, not a text, just nothing. Who just disappeared like that without telling anyone anything?
It reminded me of the evening when he had tried to drink himself into oblivion.
He had been upset about his grandfather.
Was that what this was about? Had something else happened?
I was going around in circles and getting nowhere.
There would be no way to know until Mark was around to answer my questions.
Feeling achy, I took some more painkillers and crawled onto my bed, trying to find a comfortable position. Eventually the medication took effect and I drifted off to sleep.