Some Hearts (20 page)

Noah:
So sorry, Em. Hang in there.

I didn’t respond to either. I didn’t know what there was to say.

“I know now isn’t the time but soon, you’re going to have to tell me what happened. When I got a hold of Caleb, he said that he thought you were with Noah.” She turned to me and quirked an eyebrow. “But when I tried calling Noah, he wouldn’t answer. I finally sent him a text telling him there had been an accident and I needed to talk to you ASAP. He called me back immediately but said he hadn’t seen you.”

Her entire statement sounded like one big question.

I pressed my palms against my burning eyes. “I can’t get into it now.”

“Right. I know. So, um, okay. Mom and I were trying to keep our phone lines open in case you called, but the last text I got from her said that Ty was out of surgery—”

“Can I see him? Will they let me in to see him?”

“I don’t know. Mom is in with your mom
. She’s still sedated. The car rolled. There was some other traffic but luckily it didn’t hit anyone else. They called for help right away. Your mom has a concussion, a sprained wrist, some bruised ribs.”

“Why is Ty so much worse off?”

“He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. He was pretty good about remember
ing to put it on, but he did sometimes forget. If he was excited about going to get ice-cream, his seatbelt was probably the last thing on his mind. She should’ve checked with him. She should’ve reminded him. No, actually, she never should’ve been in the car with him in the first place.

As angry as I was with her, I knew I was partly at fault for this as well.

I should’ve spent less time being angry with her, blaming her. I should’ve done something to help her. That’s what Caleb had been urging me to do all along. I’d been too stubborn. In that way, I felt like this accident was just as much my fault as it was Mom’s. I was guilty of looking the other way.

Sure, I’d tried talking to her a few times. But I hadn’t tried hard enough. I hadn’t made her listen. I should’ve made her listen.

I had been so worried about protecting Tyler. And now, because of my negligence, he was lying in a hospital bed.

Something brushed across my cheek. It startled me awake. I jumped in my chair, my eyes flew open wide and my heart banged against my chest. My hand flew up to brush it away and instead clamped around warm, familiar fingers.

“Sorry,” Noah whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He gently tugged his hand away from mine. My fingers twitched near my cheek until I dropped them into my lap.

“It’s okay,” I said. I squirmed around, straightening out in the chair that I’d slumped down in. My neck ached and my back felt stiff so I stretched. My gaze swung to Tyler. He was still asleep. The doctor had told me he would probably sleep through the night. He had come through surgery just fine. He now had a metal rod in his leg. He would be in a lot of pain when he woke up. I wanted him to stay asleep so that I knew he was comfortable…But I wanted him awake because until I heard his voice, I wasn’t sure that I’d believe he was going to be okay.

The doctor
’s cautiously optimistic words had alleviated the terror I had felt. Now I was just anxious. I wanted to see Ty’s big green eyes. I wanted to hear him laugh.

“I brought this for Ty.” Noah’s voice was barely above a whisper. He held up a remote control monster truck.
A
Get Well
balloon was tied to it.

“Thanks,” I said as I tried to blink myself awake. I watched as he walked over to the windowsill and set it down. The curtains were drawn but I could see gloomy, gray clouds in the gap between.

I glanced at the clock. It was a little after eight. It had been close to two by the time I’d fallen asleep. I’d checked in on Mom briefly and spoken with my Aunt Aubrey. After the doctor had talked to us about Tyler, she’d tried talking me into going home with her.

There was no way I was leaving Tyler’s side. Not until he opened his eyes.

Noah hesitantly moved toward me. His hands were stuffed into his pockets. His expression was wary.

“Did you want some company? I thoug
ht maybe you could use a friend,” he said. “Unless you don’t want me here. I don’t want to intrude. I mean, if you’re expecting someone else.”

A friend…At least he was willing to be that much to me
.

“I want you here.” I wanted to crawl into his arms. I wanted to tell him how sorry I was. I wanted him to forgive me. More than that, I wanted to back up this whole, horrible, insane week.

He took the seat next to mine and silence filled the room. My gaze stayed glued to Tyler’s face. He had a few cuts from flying glass. Thankfully, none of the cuts were too bad. He looked peaceful. The sound of his breathing calmed me.

“He’s going to be okay, right?” Noah asked.

“Yes,” I said firmly.

“And your mom?”

“She’s going to be fine too.”

“Good. I was worried about you last night. When Riley said they’d been in an accident…I was so scared for you.
She didn’t know how hurt they were at first. She just told me that it was bad. I didn’t want you to have to go through this all over again. I’m just really glad they’re going to be okay,” he said.

“Thanks. I’m sorry you had to go out looking for me.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to gather some courage.
When I finally turned to face him, he immediately dropped his gaze to the floor. “I’m actually sorry about everything. I never meant—”

He held up his hand to stop me. “Don’t. I can’t,” he shook his head. “I can’t talk about that right now. I can’t even think about it. I want to be here for you because I know you need someone. I don’t want you to be alone. But I just can’t go there.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

It took awhile before I
could bring myself to look at him again. Even though we weren’t speaking, it helped to have him here. His presence meant more to me than he could imagine. When I finally let myself take in his appearance, my heart nearly burst.

I had been fooling myself thinking that I
would ever get over him. Despite everything that had happened, he was everything to me. He’d hurt my feelings. He’d made me feel insecure and I’d been desperate to drown out that pain.

I realized it was only because I loved him so much that his
words had hurt me so badly.

In the process, I’d hurt him. Yet, here he was, sitting with me because he didn’t want me to be alone. Because that was the kind of person he was. He was honorable to a fault, even when someone wasn’t worthy.

“Noah?” I said quietly.

He pulled his gaze up from his lap. The pain in his eyes cut through me. I wondered what it was costing him to be stuck in this room with me after what I’d done.

“Thanks,” I said, “for staying with me.”

He simply nodded and dropped his gaze again.

A few hours later, Riley made an appearance and Noah left, apparently feeling as if his duty was fulfilled. There was no hug goodbye, or a promise to see me later. He left with just a few mumbled words.

“That was awkward,” Riley said
once he was gone. She was tactful enough not to press for details under the circumstances.

“It was nice of him to sit with me,” I said.
“I’m kind of surprised that Caleb hasn’t come. I thought he loved Ty like a little brother. I thought he’d be here.”

“
He was here,” Riley said.

I shook my head. “No, he wasn’t.”

Riley nodded. “He was. I’ve been with him. When I got here, he was standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall. I asked why he hadn’t gone inside. You were in here with Noah. Caleb didn’t want to cause any trouble. We’ve been in the waiting room. I finally talked him into going home. If I’d have known Noah was going to leave, I would’ve told him to stay.” She wiggled her phone at me. “I promised to call him with any updates.”

“Thank you,” I said as I tried to wrap my head around the fact that Caleb had been here all along.

Riley hung her head a moment before looking up at me. “I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but I’m going to. I know you said you weren’t important to Caleb. You’re wrong. I’ve been talking to him for the last few hours. I think Caleb’s feelings for you are stronger than he wants to admit. I think he loves you enough not to hold you back. That’s why he told you to go after Noah. He wants you to be happy. He thinks Noah is the one that makes you happy.”

“He said that?”

“More or less, yes.”

I realized Riley was probably paraphrasing. Possibly even twisting Caleb’s words into something that they weren’t. I shrugged and moved to the side of the bed. “It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is this guy right here.”

I picked up Tyler’s hand. It was cold and felt so tiny in mine. I was careful not to disturb his IV.

“Emory.
”

My gaze flew to the door.

“Dad?”

“Oops,” Riley said from beside me. “I was supposed to tell you that Mom called him. I meant to tell you he’d be here soon. I ended up in the waiting room and I forgot.”

My father looked haggard. I found that oddly pleasing. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was here. But I was.

“Any changes?” he asked as he edged his way over to Tyler’s bed.

“No,” I said curtly.

I watched in silence as he
took in Tyler’s condition. He was wearing his usual dark dress pants and button down shirt. His clothes were wrinkled, rumpled. The effect seemed out of place on him. He was always so put together.

I hadn’t seen him since Evan’s funeral. Apparently, he only showed for family tragedies. I was tempted to say something sarcastic about him managing to fit us into his schedule. I held my tongue because even though I was upset, I knew this wasn’t the time or the place.

When he spoke again, I regretted my decision.

“Your mother is going to pay for this,” he said quietly.

I slowly released Tyler’s hand and placed it by his side. I was afraid I’d squeeze it too tightly in my anger. I felt Riley’s hand land on my elbow.

“Excuse me?” I said.
Of course I furious with my mother. But my father had become a stranger to me, to his family. Regardless of whether or not my Mom was guilty, and she undoubtedly was, I didn’t feel as though he had the right to say a word.

“
She had better hope and pray that Tyler has a full recovery.” He raised his eyes to meet mine. I wasn’t sure what emotions I saw there. Anger was the most prevalent, but after that, I wasn’t sure what to make of him.

“Why are you even here?” I asked
.

“Why do you think, Emory? My
son
is in a hospital bed.”

“How good of you to only pay attention to us when tragedy strikes. You
know, you can blame Mom if you want, but where have you been?”

“Not out drinking, that’s for damn sure,” he replied.

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. I mean, it’s not like you’re around enough for me to actually know. Let me rephrase that. It’s not like you’re around here
ever
.”

“I think I’m just going to…,” Riley motioned toward the door. I watched as she slipped out of the room, then I pulled my attention back to
my father.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” he said. “In fact, if you can’t be civil, you can leave.
I didn’t spend half the day in a car so that I could listen to your attitude. I’m here and I’m going to spend this time with my son. I’d prefer to do it without having to listen to you and your attitude.”

I dropped down into the chair I’d vacated not five minutes before. “Leaving isn’t my forte, it’s yours. I’m staying put.”

“Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug.

I
moved back to the chair I’d spent the night in. I had nothing else to say to him. Even if I had something to say, I wouldn’t have bothered. I doubted he’d listen to me anyway. I also meant what I said. I wasn’t the kind of person to just leave. I was going to stay by Tyler’s side as much as possible.

Silence filled the room. I steadied my gaze on Tyler’s face, willing him to get better, and willing him to wake up.

***

By that evening, I wished that Tyler had been sedated. When he awoke, he was in a lot pain, as the doctor had warned he would be. The breaks to his femur were the worst of the injuries he’d sustained, but the rest of his body was battered as well.

When the doctor came in to examine him, I realized his body was covered with cuts and bruises. Every movement seemed pained. Initially he’d been confused, scared, and out of sorts. I was sure it was a shock for him to wake up not only in a strange place but with Dad in the room. We explained what had happened and he’d handled it like a trooper.

Now, I was home. I needed a shower and a change of clothes. As much as I hated to leave Tyler, I knew he’d be okay.

Dad had stayed with him.

I had barely gotten out of
the shower and dressed when Aubrey showed up at my door. We’d been talking for awhile. Though I’d started to feel better this afternoon, our conversation was frazzling my nerves all over again.

“There’s going to be consequences for this,” she said sadly. “Her blood alcohol content was well over the legal limit.”

I bit my lip, unable to say anything. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I had known this would be a possibility. I just hadn’t wanted to think about it so I’d pushed the thoughts away. One of these days I needed to learn how to face my problems instead of continuously ignoring them.

“She said whatever she’s booked with, she’s going to plead guilty.”

“What? Wh-why would she do that?” I sputtered.

Aubrey patted my shoulder. “She said that what she did to Tyler was unacceptable. She feels terrible about what she’s done. She wants to take responsibility for it.
Quite frankly, I don’t think she’s in her right mind at the moment. She’s an emotional wreck.”

Again, I was speechless.

Aubrey sighed. “I’m so sorry it’s come to this. I had no idea it had gotten this bad. I knew she had a drinking problem, but I thought she had it under control.”

“You
knew
?”

“I
spoke to her about it. She made it clear to me that she didn’t want and would not accept my help. I felt as though I made things worse simply by being around her,” Aubrey explained. “Jolene was always so agitated around me. We were always quarrelling. I worried that I was just causing her more stress. She promised me she would get help. I wasn’t sure that I believed her but I had hoped she was getting better. You and Riley have always been so close. I thought for sure that if there were still problems, you would tell her. And that she would tell me. I was counting on that. If I’d known, I would’ve stepped in.” She gave me a helpless shrug. “I should’ve been more aggressive with her. But our relationship was already so strained, I was sure she wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.”

“What now?” I asked.

She gave me a sympathetic look. “I think that she is looking at court ordered rehab for sure.” She paused and the answer I dreaded was written all over her face. I almost regretted asking but maybe I needed to hear the words. “I’m sure she’s looking at jail time, Emory.”