"Well that explains the text message I got."
"What text message, KJ?"
Man I hated when he called her that. She repeated the text message verbatim and the look on Joey's face was exactly the same one I would've had, if I was able to show emotion. Joey reached out to put his arm around her shoulders, but Kayla retreated into her shell. She was turnin' back into the Kayla I had first met and my heart broke a little.
"Here's the whole story, KJ. Madison didn't exactly "kill" your mother and Wren per se. I guess you could say after finding out what happened and the fact that your mother knew about it; he contacted one of his buddies from ASU who was a big drug dealer. He simply asked the guy to sell them some bad shit and he let it go from there. I didn't understand it at first, but after getting to know you, I would've done the same thing. We both care about you too much to let anythin' bad happen to you. After you received the news of their deaths, he figured it was done and there was nothin' left to worry about. Unfortunately, Wren was pronounced dead, but by some miracle, he pulled through. We're still uncertain as to how he pulled off the death certificate, but who knows."
I could see Kayla's mind workin' overtime and I needed Joey to reach out to her for me. As if he heard my thoughts, he pulled her chair closer to his. He wrapped his large comforting arms around her and she melted into him. Her sobs took over, and I couldn't help feeling useless and unneeded. If I didn't make it through this, I was slowly comin' to terms with the fact that Joey was who I would want to take my place. He was a good man. When Kayla came up for air and her tears had slowly started to fade away, Joey continued with his story. The worst part was yet to come and I was tryin' to prepare myself for how she was going to react to who it was that had put me where I was today.
"KJ I need you to brace yourself what I'm about to tell ya. Madison's father has been sending threatening letters to his grandmother. He wants the money that his grandfather left to him. That's why Lydia has been acting so strange lately. She doesn't know what to do. This all happened before Madison's accident. Madison found out about Wren bein' alive and he went to go have a talk with his dad, to ask him to leave."
"How long has he known that Wren has been alive?"
"Honestly?"
She gave him the look she gave me when she obviously wanted to know the truth and if you didn't give it to her, she would make ya pay.
"For about a month."
I saw the look of shock and anger cross across her face, but it quickly fell away as Joey continued his story.
"Regardless, he was tryin' to protect you, KJ. He kept a close eye on Wren
and
you. That's exactly why he didn't want you goin' back to Arizona for Thanksgiving. He knew that the minute you got on that plane that Wren was goin' to follow. So I helped him by convincing you to stay. I didn't lie to you though. Glenn really was goin' to propose. Now, obviously the situation has changed a bit, but it was the truth. Anyway, so the night that Madison got in the accident was the night he met up with Wren and his father. I was there for the first part of it, but Madison told me he had it under control. I left, but somethin' deep in my gut told me to go back. Unfortunately, I was too late. I don't know exactly what happened, but I found Madison in the middle of the road, just laying there. I called 9-1-1, and now here we are. And that's the story I know."
No tears left Kayla's eyes. No emotion showed upon her beautiful face and I knew the next words to come out of her mouth weren't gonna be good.
"Well, let's go get these assholes. I don't care what I have to do, but I want my cowboy back and I want the two pieces of shit who put him here to pay."
She stood slowly and walked over to my bedside. Her soft gentle lips pressed against mine and my heart felt whole again.
"I love you, cowboy. You'll come back to me when you're ready; I believe that with all of my heart. I promise to stay safe, and Joey will look out for me." She turned to Jo, "Right Joey?"
"Abso-fuckin-lutely. That's a promise, bro."
She turned back to me. "Don't you worry. Just come back to me." Her lips pressed tighter against mine and I felt a single warm salty tear roll from her cheek to mine. I watched as she and Joey left hand in hand, and I knew that soon enough, his hand would be replaced with mine.
Kayla
Thanksgiving was only a day away and I knew that things weren't goin' to go as planned, but I was grateful all the same that I had my best friend in town. I needed my girl time in the midst of planning out this dramatic scheme to get Wren and Madison's father to pay for what they had done to my cowboy.
"So, what does my cute preggo best friend want to do today?"
"Honestly, I think a trip to the swimming hole is in order. I've already called all of the guys and they've spread the word. We're gonna have a party in honor of Madison." I cheered.
"I like it!"
I waddled my way into my bathroom and put on Madison's favorite bikini. It was a simple pink and black striped, side tied bottom and triangle top, but today called for all of his favorites. My stomach wasn't as big as it would usually be at this point, but it was finally looking like I was pregnant with an actual human as opposed to a food baby.
When I emerged from the bathroom, Cami snapped a quick picture and smiled up at me from her spot on the edge of my bed. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, pulled on my jean shorts, leaving them unbuttoned and slipped on a tight white tank top.
"You look adorable." Cami giggled.
After everything Joey had informed me of over the weekend, I found myself in the highest of spirits, despite the situation. Don't get me wrong, I missed Madison like crazy and I still visited him everyday, filling him in on our plans, but if I didn't stay positive, there was no way he would pull through this.
I let Cami drive out to the swimming hole. We stopped along the way to grab Glenn and Joey, but all the other guys and a few girls they had been seeing were meeting us out there. I made sure to grab my camera on our way out and the ginormous banner Cami and I made to hang across the trees. Everyone had become close to Bryan from the bar as of late, so I made sure to invite him as well. Surprisingly enough he had started dating Taryn. An odd couple in my opinion, but at least now she would stay away from Madison.
We pulled up and happened to be the first ones there. This shocked me, especially with the guys knowing there was gonna be alcohol. I quickly gathered up the banner and balloons and headed out to the trees where an old hammock the guys had installed a few years back, hung. I let Glenn and Joey do the hard work of wrapping the string around each branch, but the banner hung high with "Happy Madison Day" scrolled across in bright red letters. Cami and I fastened the array of red and black latex balloons all along the other branches and then we set up the coolers of beer and food we had brought.
A short while later Bryan and Taryn pulled up. Bryan wrapped me up in a huge bear hug, bein' mindful of my now baby belly and then he gave a quick peck to my tummy. I blushed a bit, not used to everyone's new behavior of wanting to touch my stomach and shower me with affection.
Taryn was a few steps behind him, but didn't hesitate to walk right up to me and give me a hug. I was shocked, but wrapped my arms around her, reciprocating the nice gesture.
"I'm really sorry about Madison. I hope he wakes up soon." I could hear the sincerity in her voice and my abrasiveness began to wear off.
"Thanks, Taryn. That means a lot."
"You look so cute by the way. Pregnancy fits you." She smiled and I could feel the jealousy I once felt towards her fade away.
"Thanks." I think.
Before anything else could be said, Bryce, Brandon and a van full of some other guys and a few other girls came speeding towards us, honking, drawing all the attention to them. I stood back with my hands on my hips, smiling. I had missed these guys so much it hurt. Madison and I had practically wrapped us up in our own little bubble and all but shut everyone else out lately. It was nice to know there was no love lost because of it.
I pulled out my camera from my back pocket and immediately began snapping pictures. I caught the guys hanging out the windows honking, the girls smiling and laughing. I turned and took a picture of the banner with Cami, Glenn, Taryn and Bryan underneath as they all started in on the their first round of drinks.
I quickly snapped a picture of myself and then I felt a cold hand on my shoulder.
"Let me." Taryn smiled.
I ran under the banner and stood with Cami and Glenn on each side. I let an unusually large smile spread across my face and then a great idea popped into my head. I immediately discarded my tank top and shorts and stood back all by myself in Madison's favorite swimsuit as Taryn snapped at least three pictures of me in all different poses. When she asked me if that was good, I shook my head and turned to the side, letting my hands fall below my belly, outlining the small baby I knew grew slowly inside. I smiled wide at the camera as the flash went off, and then at Taryn.
"Now I'm good. Thanks."
"Of course."
I grabbed the camera from Taryn and made my way over to the rest of the guys. I didn't have to walk far. They were more than happy to come runnin' in my direction. Bryce was the first to wrap me up in his skinny arms and twirl me around. Next it was Brandon. Once they were all done, I was feeling a little queasy and off balance and had to grab onto Joey for support so I wouldn't fall over. I was overwhelmed with the amount of love and support that everyone was showing in the short amount of time that we have all known each other. Each and every one of them had accepted me as one of their own, from the minute I met them, and it filled my empty heart with a fragment of joy. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends.
"Okay before y'all get too drunk, I need a picture of everyone under the banner."
"Damn girl, you went all out for this, didn't ya?"
"Anything for my cowboy, you know that Bryce. Now get your scrawny ass over there before I kick it."
"Bring it preggo, I ain't scared of ya."
I made a move towards him, and he hauled ass over to the rest of the group gathering underneath the shade of the trees. "That's what I thought." I yelled.
"Wait, you need to be in the picture too, KJ." Joey shouted.
I shrugged my shoulders, "It's no biggie. Get over there."
It was too late; Joey had already made his way over to me and was fixing the camera on the hood of my truck. He made sure everyone was in view, along with the banner and balloons and quickly set the timer. He grabbed my hand and we jogged over and stood right in front of the rest of the others. His arm slid around my shoulders and Cami's arm snaked around my waist. I took in a deep breath and plastered a gigantic smile across my face. Even though Madison couldn't be with us, I felt complete. I felt as though this was where I was meant to be in my life. This was my home in every sense of the word. The flash went off and I turned and gave Joey a tight hug.
"Thank you."
"Anything for you, KJ."
"Alright, everybody can dig in and party. I lifted my can of soda high in the air, "Just a quick toast. To Madison and our soon to be family. Y'all have made me feel as though I have always been a part of this group and I love each and every one of you. I know if Madison were here, he would thank y'all for everything you've done. I love you guys. To Madison, the best man I've ever known."
"Here, here." Everyone clanked cups and cans and drank down as much as their stomachs would allow.
****
The rest of the day was pure bliss. Since Madison's accident, it was the most fun I think I had allowed myself to have. We all swam, drank and had a blast. The radio was blaring through Bryan's truck and there wasn't a moment that went by that someone wasn't sharing some sort of story about Madison.
I reveled in all the stories I had never heard before, wishing I could've been around for most of them. From baseball to music, to all the trouble they all found themselves in. I longed for the days of havin' Madison around to hear his side of the story. The sun was just starting to set when I rolled over on my towel to look at Cami. We had been layin' out more than anything and I was just enjoying having her around.
"Cam, do you think he'll ever wake up?"
She rolled onto her stomach and stared directly at me, "Honey, I think that boy fights everyday to get back to you and his unborn child. I can feel it in my gut, he's gonna wake up."
I smiled a halfhearted smile, wishing I could believe her. I had been trying to be optimistic, but lately I was starting to have my doubts. I know it had only been a week, but it felt like an eternity and I just wanted to have him back in my arms.
"Do you think he can hear me when I talk to him?" I quietly asked.
"Oh honey, I absolutely think he can. And I think even though you can't hear him, I think he responds."
"His fingers twitched twice now when I've been talking to him, but the doctor told his grandmother it's an involuntary thing and happens all the time with coma patients. I feel like I'm losing hope."
Cami scooted over to my blanket and wrapped her tiny little arms around me. "I think it's normal to feel that way, love. But I know how much that boy loves you and he would never just give up. Don't lose faith in him yet. Give it some more time. You'll have your little family together again, soon." She started rubbing my little exposed belly and I couldn't help but smile. "So, are you thinking it's a boy or a girl?" She smiled.