Chapter 29 TEARS AND MUFFINS
TEARS AND MUFFINS
MADISON
A hiss fills my ears. My head throbs in time with the beat of my heart. I hear my name—sharp, urgent—and my body feels impossibly heavy as I try to curl my fingers.
Warm hands cup my cheeks. Sobs and distant shouts echo inside my skull.
I squeeze my eyes, then they flutter open. Light spills through—too bright, too much. I shut them again as my body burns and nausea rolls through my stomach.
The warmth leaves my cheeks. Something holds my hand, squeezing.
I don’t… I can’t…
The world spins. My chest aches. There’s a constant beep sounding beside me, louder than it should be.
Why isn’t anything working?
Darkness consumes me.
Then I’m there, on the cliff. The haze in my mind clears. Hunter is staring back at me, eyes wide as he lunges forward, reaching, but it’s too late. I’m falling. Screaming.
The only thought I have. I love you.
Then nothing.
My eyes snap open. The bright glare from before is softer now. Panic coils in my chest as the room tilts, but I cling to the warmth wrapped around my hand. My fingers twitch, and I turn my head, finding Hunter asleep, bent over the bed, his head resting near my hip, worry pinching his brows.
Pain ripples up my arm as I lift my free hand to trace the line of his brows. His eyes snap open, widening when they meet mine. My lips twitch.
“Hi… handsome,” I rasp, my throat burning around the words.
“Baby girl,” he breathes back.
We stay like that, frozen, staring at each other, soaking in the moment. I’m here, breathing. And he’s here, holding on tight.
He straightens slightly, and my grip tightens around his hand, my head shaking faintly. His fingers trail from my temple to my cheek, brushing away the tears welling in my eyes.
“Please, don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere, honey,” he says. “But I know your momma really wants to see you. Can I get her for you?”
I nod, tears falling freely now. He leans forward, pressing a light, careful kiss to my forehead, and reaches over, pushing a button on the wall.
He sinks back into the chair with a smirk. “See? Not going anywhere.”
“Smartass,” I choke out, my lips twitching despite the tears.
He chuckles, slipping his hand back into mine. “There’s my girl.”
A moment later, the door opens quietly, and Mom steps in.
Whatever tension is left in my body loosens when she stops short and sees my eyes open. One hand flies to her mouth, the other bunching at her scrubs.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she sighs, crossing the room in three quick steps.
“Hey, Mom.”
She sits on the edge of the bed and cups my cheeks, her thumbs warm against my skin as her eyes search mine. My heart pounds too hard, my chest rattles when I breathe, but I manage a weak, crooked smile.
“You scared me,” she whispers.
A tear slips down my cheek. “I know,” I murmur.
She explains everything then. I don’t interrupt, just listen as the throbbing in my head deepens with each word. By the time she finishes, I’m exhausted, like there’s nothing left to give. My chest feels too tight for everything I’m holding—relief tangled with anger, sadness seeping into gratitude.
I blow out a long breath.
“So, one would say I’m lucky?”
Hunter chuckles beside me, the tension in his shoulders easing with every second I keep my eyes open.
“You are so incredibly lucky, my sweet girl,” Mom says. “But you have a long recovery ahead of you. The doctor will be in shortly. Anything you need, you ask this one here.” She tips her chin toward Hunter. “The only time he’s left your side is when I forced him to.”
Looking at Hunter, I notice the dark shadows under his eyes for the first time. The way his hand grips mine, like he’s afraid that if he lets go, I’ll disappear. With the small amount of strength I have in me, I squeeze his hand back, letting him know I’m here.
Mom clears her throat, and when I look back, her eyes are shining.
She reaches up, smoothing my hair away from my face—the way she’s done my whole life.
After bad dreams, scraped knees, and heartbreaks she couldn’t fix.
That gesture cracks open something inside me, and I sniffle, my breath catching in my burning lungs before a cough tears free.
Hunter straightens immediately, hesitation flickering across his face.
“She’s okay. She just needs a minute. This is a lot to wake up to.”
Hunter’s thumb brushes over my knuckles. Tears fall despite my effort to stop them, and a heavy weight settles over my chest.
“It’s okay,” Mom says, her voice gentle and steady. “You don’t have to be brave with us. You can fall apart. We’ll hold you through it.”
And I do.
The tears come quietly and uncontrollably. She wipes them away with her thumb, while Hunter leans closer, stroking my arm.
“I’m not going anywhere. You can go back to sleep if you need,” he murmurs.
I don’t know how long I hold on while the emotions move through me. Eventually, my eyes grow too heavy to fight.
When they close, all I see is Hunter.
His wide eyes.
His hand stretched toward me.
The split second when his heart breaks because he can’t reach me in time.
My eyes flutter open again. The room is still dim, the beeping less intrusive now. My head aches, but it’s no longer screaming.
“Oh my god,” Tessa whispers. “He wasn’t lying. You are awake.”
I smile at the sound of her voice and turn my head, finding her and Halle sitting side by side. My gaze drifts around the room, and panic sparks in my chest when I don’t see him.
“Where’s Hunter?” My voice cracks around his name.
Halle’s eyes soften as she stands, reaching for the cup on the table. She presses it into my hand, and I take a careful sip. The cold from the ice chips soothes my throat, my lungs.
“Claire said you might want to try eating something,” she says. “He went to find you something that isn’t dry crackers or watery soup.”
Relief hits me in the chest, and I sink back into the pillow, a shaky breath slipping free.
He’s coming back.
“How long was I asleep for?”
“A couple of hours,” Tessa says. “Hunter texted us not long after you drifted off.”
“Have you been here all this time?” I ask.
“Obviously,” she deadpans. “Watching you sleep has officially become our favorite daytime activity.”
Halle huffs out a laugh, and I smile at my childhood friend.
“We’re so fucking happy you’re awake,” Halle says.
Tessa’s expression turns more serious. “How are you feeling? Do you want us to get the doctor?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a truck,” I admit. “I’m okay, though. Happy to be alive, to see you girls. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“Nope,” Halle cuts in. “Don’t you dare apologize.”
“I keep telling her to stop saying sorry too.”
My head whips to the side at the sound of his voice, and a sharp pain shoots through my skull, making me hiss. Hunter leans on the doorframe, a paper bag hanging from his fingertips.
His eyes sweep over me, checking everything, and just like that, the tight knot in my stomach loosens. He’s showered since I last saw him. The shadows beneath his eyes have faded, the scruff along his jaw gone, leaving those sharp lines I know so well on full display.
He walks over to me, and my eyes never leave him. He leans in, pressing a kiss to my cheek, then lingers just long enough to murmur in my ear, “Gotta stop looking at me like that, baby girl.”
I bite down on my lip, a sheepish smile tugging at my mouth as he pulls back.
“What’s in the bag?” Halle asks.
Hunter slides the table closer, reaches for the remote dangling off the side of the bed, and presses the button until I’m sitting more upright.
When he opens the bag, the warm, buttery smell hits me. My stomach stirs, my mouth waters, and for the first time in I don’t know how long, I smile.
“Blueberry muffin?”
“Claire said you’ve gotta take it easy,” he says. “Small bites to start with. If you feel nauseous at all, you stop.”
Tessa leans in, peeking into the bag, her grin instant. “Hell yeah. You got us muffins, too.”
“Duh, I’m not that much of an idiot.”
“That’s debatable.” Halle snickers.
It’s funny. Before the accident, I could have watched this moment unfold and not thought twice about it. But when you face death and survive it, everything becomes more. These small moments aren’t small anymore. They’re big. So big, my heart feels full.
The girls settle on either side of the bed near my feet, while Hunter takes the chair beside me. They spend the next thirty minutes catching me up on everything I’ve missed—work, town gossip, all the small, ordinary things that kept moving while my world stopped.
I listen, growing heavier with each passing minute. I manage three small bites of the muffin before my stomach rolls in protest.
When Tessa mentions Sarah and Connor, my heart stutters, and I straighten abruptly.
“Wait, oh my god. I’m so sorry. I should have… I forgot…”
“Whoa, baby. Slow down.” Hunter reaches for my hand.
“Remi, is he… is he okay? He didn’t see me fall, did he?” My voice wobbles.
Halle and Tessa ease back into their spots, the tension draining from their shoulders, and Hunter’s thumb brushes over my knuckles, calming me.
“He didn’t see anything,” Halle says. “Jace grabbed him as soon as it happened and took him to the park. Sarah followed once the ambulance arrived and took him back to Hunter’s. Connor’s been keeping him busy with Ace.”
The tightness in my chest eases, my lungs finally remembering how to work.
“He knows you’re hurt, but not how bad. He keeps asking for you. Says Ace needs to give you a cuddle because he makes everything better.”
“Okay, good.” I smile, my eyelids growing heavy.
“Should we go so you can get some rest?” Tessa asks.
“You would think after all the sleep I’ve had, I wouldn’t be this tired.”
The girls tidy the mess from the muffins, then round the bed, leaning in for quick, careful hugs.
“We love you.”
“Love you too,” I whisper, watching them slip quietly from the room.
“Hunter…”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I’m so tired, but every time I close my eyes, I see it. I’m there, falling all over again. I’m scared.”
He fusses around the bed, then gently slips his arms underneath me, scooting me over a tiny bit. I raise a brow at him, my heart beating faster.
“Do you need anything? Water? More muffin? Want me to grab the doctor for extra pain relief?”
I shake my head, too drained for words.
He pulls my blanket back and slides onto the bed next to me. A grin tugs at my lips.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a nap with my girl. That way, I can protect her in her sleep too,” he says matter-of-factly.
I bury my head in his arm, smiling at his words.
“Your girl?”
His thumb presses under my chin, tilting my head up to meet his gaze.
“Yeah, my girl.”
The machines fade into the background, the world around us blurring as the electricity between us hums. He leans in, pressing his lips to mine softly, and I let myself melt into him.