Natalie laughed ruefully. “It was probably a damn expensive fall. Think your insurance will cover it?”

I groaned. “I hope so.”

“If it doesn’t, Mom and Dad will help you. Mom will be here shortly.” She was quiet for a second, fiddling with the hem of her hoodie. “Sebastian was here last night.”

At the sound of his name, my breath caught. “He was? He hates hospitals!” For a moment, I was sad I’d been so adamant with Natalie about not seeing him. He must have struggled to walk through those doors, but he did it. Maybe there’s hope.

“He offered to pay your hospital bill.”

“No. I don’t want his charity.” The offer was sweet, and so like him, but I’d never take him up on it. We were broken up right now, as far as I was concerned. The thought made my throat hurt. My chest. My heart. Everything.

“He was very upset. He wanted to see you.”

Carefully, I turned my head to look at my sister. I could tell from her voice there was more. “What else did he say?”

She shrugged. “Not much. Just that he’d messed up. He seemed to agree with you about getting his shit together.”

“Really? He talked to you about it?” Closing my eyes, I exhaled, scared to let myself be too optimistic but wondering if maybe the things I said last night had gotten through to him. The truth was, I didn’t want to be without him in my life, and I’d do what it took to help him—but he had to let me.

“I think he was going to talk to his therapist. He said he would.”

“He did? Thank God.” Relief eased some of my pain, at least the emotional grief. Going to therapy was the best first step. My eyes filled. “He’s so hard on himself. And I was really hard on him. But I love him—and he doesn’t understand how frustrating it is for me to see him struggling and not know what’s in his head.”

“I don’t know what’s in his head, Skylar. But I know what’s in his heart—you are.”

My throat closed up completely, and my head began to throb with the need to cry. I closed my eyes and the tears slipped down my cheeks. “Was I wrong to walk out? Oh God, I’m awful. I should have stayed with him. Then I wouldn’t have fallen. It’s a sign I’m a horrible person after all.”

Natalie stood, grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and dabbed at my cheeks. “Stop. I don’t think you were wrong to leave. In my opinion, he needed that wake up call. And loving someone doesn’t mean you have to love everything they do. But it does mean you forgive them a little more often, a little more easily.”

I sniffed. “I once told him I’d give him all the chances he needed, and he called me a fool.”

“We’re all fools for love, aren’t we?” Her voice was wistful.

I looked up at her. “Things aren’t any better with Dan?” Last I’d heard, he’d admitted to a flirtation at the office, but nothing more.

“I don’t know. I guess they are. He claims the fling or whatever it was is over and begged for another chance, and we do have a lot of history. I don’t want to just throw that away.” She sat on the edge of the bed and chewed her lip a moment. “But I also don’t want history to be the only reason to give him another chance. When I see you talk about Sebastian, when I listened to him talk about you, when I saw the expression on his face when he said you were the one, I—”

“Wait, what? What did he say?” I didn’t mean to interrupt Natalie’s thought, and I did care deeply about her feelings, but I couldn’t just let her gloss over that thing about the one. Had I even heard her right? My head was so foggy.

“He said you were the one.” Her face contorted with worry. She put her hands on her head. “Oh no, I hope I didn’t just blow what was supposed to be a really nice moment between the two of you by telling you that. He’s never said that to you before?”

“No,” I said slowly, my heart beating fast. Wasn’t the one kind of a forever thing? “He doesn’t believe in the one. Plus it’s an odd number. He hates those.”

“What?” She dropped her hands, her expression confused.

“Never mind. Just one of the quirks that makes Sebastian who he is.” But right then, I actually found his number quirks kind of endearing. “So he really said that?”

She nodded. “Yes. He definitely said, ‘She’s the one.’ But you can’t tell him I told you first!” Her eyes were wide and panicked.

“It’s OK. I won’t.” I pursed my lips. “But he better fucking say it to me eventually. Or I’ll be the one that got away.” Inside, my heart was tripping over itself—the one! the one! the one!

Natalie laughed. “Somehow, I doubt that. Give him a little time, sis. He wants to make things right.”

A nurse popped in to take my vitals, so Natalie got off the bed. “Don’t go, Nat. I want to hear the rest of what you were saying about Dan.”

“Nothing more to tell, really. I suppose I’m just envious of the way you and Sebastian feel about each other. But all relationships take work, I know that. Maybe we just need to work a little harder.” She dismissed the topic of her relationship with a shrug and a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, and sat on the chair again. If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I’d have pressed her to say more, but between the pain and the drugs, I was beat.

I lay back and let the nurse poke and prod me, and at first I had my eyes closed but I swear I could feel her staring at my face. When I opened one eye, stare was confirmed.

“Are you…” she began hesitantly, “by any chance…from that reality show?”

Oh, God. Really? After all this time, a Save a Horse fan? I squeezed my eyes shut again for a second. “Yes.”

“I thought so!” Her reaction was so joyful I thought for sure she had me confused with another contestant.

“I’m Skylar Nixon,” I said, as if she couldn’t read the medical chart on the door.

“I know!” She rocked back on her heels gleefully. “My friend and I loved you on that show! You were the only fun thing about it! That time you threw the drink on Whiney Whitney? Priceless!”

I blinked at her. Was this for real? Or was this my brain on drugs? “Seriously?”

“Yes.” Smiling, she finished up with my blood pressure. “We were so bummed when you left.”

“But I was so horrible.”

She shrugged. “It was fun to watch, though. Who wants to watch a bunch of people being nice to each other?”

“That’s what I told her,” put in Natalie.

Sighing, I shook my head. “Whatever. I’m just glad it’s behind me. But thanks.” I gave the young nurse a smile. “I appreciate it.”

Some time during the afternoon, I was cleared for release and sent home with lots of pain meds and instructions to take it easy. My mother took me back to her house and insisted I stay there, even though I was a little desperate for some alone time. But it was nice to be fussed over and catered to, I’ll admit. She made spaghetti and meatballs for me, which I ate on a tray table while snuggled in a cozy spot on the couch. Jillian came over with honey sticks, chocolate chip cookies, and my favorite shampoo and conditioner, and after dinner she helped me wash and dry my hair, then gave me a foot massage on the couch while I ate sweets and watched a Tiger game on TV with my dad.

I checked my phone only once and saw messages from Mia and Kelly Pryce, who must have heard about my fall from Sebastian, but there was nothing from him. Disappointed, I put my phone away and tried to enjoy the time with my family, despite my aching head and sore arm.

But before I fell into a drug-induced deep sleep that night in my old bed, I fretted that he’d changed his mind about me and gone back to thinking that a relationship was just too much work, even if I was the one.

“I’ve been lying to you.”

Ken took my characteristic bluntness in stride, regarding me silently, waiting for me to go on. If he was alarmed, he didn’t show it, nor did his expression betray any surprise at what I’d announced. He had to know something was up—I’d never asked him to come in on a Saturday before.