The ICU door opens and the nurse tells me I can come in. She’s smiling. “I have a little surprise,” she says, ushering us into Aiden’s room. “No more vent!”

And now I’m smiling, looking at Aiden lying in the bed with no tubes coming out of his mouth. He’s still sleeping—or in a coma, I guess, since there is a difference—but he doesn’t look so critical anymore. I watch his chest rise and fall, thinking it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

“He’s breathing on his own?” I have to ask, just to be sure this isn’t a trick.

“He is!” she says with another smile. “And his intracranial pressure has been stable and normal for days now.”

I flick my eyes to the brain pressure monitor. “So he’s going to be okay?”

Her smile wavers. “I still can’t say until he wakes up, and there’s still a lot riding on so many different things. But I can say that from what I’ve seen, he’s making good progress. He’s a fighter, that I know for sure. And he has a good cheerleader.”

I’m crying again, for the millionth time since I arrived at the hospital. It’s a wonder how I have any tears left. I go to the chair by the head of the bed and link my fingers through Aiden’s. The room is quieter with out the whooshing of the vent.

“Hi, Aiden,” I say softly as I put my hand on his cheek. “You’re doing so well, baby. I’m so proud of you.” I lean over and gently kiss him, my heart fluttering when my lips touch his.

His fingers tighten around mine. I freeze. Did I really just feel that?

“Aiden?” I whisper again and wait. Then he does it again, squeezing my hand. I turn, but the nurse has slipped out of the room. “Aiden? It’s me, Haley. Can you hear me?” I kiss him again and run my fingers over his stubble-covered face. “If you can hear me, squeeze my fingers.”

I wait, my heart in my throat, and nothing happens. I close my eyes, tears streaming down my face, and sit down in the chair next to the bed.

Then he squeezes my hand. Hard. I stand up again, and his eyelids flutter. I gasp and press the call button for the nurse. “Aiden, I’m here, baby. I’m right here. I’m here for you.”

The nurse hurries in. “Is everything okay?”

“I think he’s waking up,” I say, not taking my eyes off of Aiden. “He’s squeezing my hand.” His eyes flutter again.

“He might be.” The nurse unclips a phone from her waistband and leaves the room, calling the doctor or another nurse, probably.

I lean over the bed and stroke Aiden’s cheek. “I’m here,” I say. “It’s okay. Take your time.”

Aiden’s eyes open for two seconds, not focusing on anything, before shutting. I keep talking to him, telling him it’s okay and that I’m here. His fingers tighten around mine and his legs twitch.

The nurse returns with a syringe of medication. “He might be really confused,” she tells me. “And might not know who you are. Don’t worry just yet. Give him time to adjust.”

I nod. “Aiden, it’s Haley. I’m right here.”

His eyes open again, and he looks around the room, blinking. He twists his hand around in mine and laces our fingers. Our eyes meet and he parts his lips.

“Haley,” he says, his voice raw and scratchy.

“I’m here, Aiden.” Tears are falling down my face. “I love you.”

His eyes flutter shut again. “I love you,” he whispers. “Always.”

Chapter 28

Everything hurts. I don’t know where I am, or why I can’t move. My throat is so dry and my tongue sticks to the sides of my mouth. Haley is looking down at me, crying. What is happening? My eyes close and I’m tired, so tired. I must have taken something, a bad combination of pills. Fuck. I didn’t mean to—again. And not in front of Haley.

“It’s okay,” Haley soothes. “I’m here, Aiden.”

A door opens and a man with a heavily accented voice comes in, speaking to Haley and someone else, I think. Haley’s hand slips off mine. I try to reach for her, lifting my left arm up and am hit with a horrible pain. My eyes flutter open and I realize I’m not in Haley’s bedroom. Panic sears through me. What the fuck? Why is Haley walking away? I need her. She can’t leave me.

“Hi Aiden,” someone says, speaking slowly. “It’s Dr. Gupta. Can you hear me talking to you?”

A doctor? I look away from Haley, who is standing in the back of the room. My eyes haven’t adjusted and I can’t see her features. Just her outline.

“Yeah,” I tell the doctor. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital,” he says. “You were in an accident. What do you remember?”

From there, I go through a battery of tests. I become more and more alert as time passes. I’m told I was in a bad car wreck over a week ago, and that I’ve been in a coma ever since.

I don’t remember anything.

The last thing I remember was waking up in Haley’s bed, missing her while she was at work, and knowing that I had to come back to California for work before I could return to her. Then everything is black.

I’m fucked up and injured. Thankfully I’m kept heavily medicated. Just looking at the bars screwed into my arm makes me queasy. I thought rods and screws went under the skin. I can’t think about it or I’ll puke, though I’m sure there is nothing to come up. It’s not like I was able to eat while I was in a coma.

When the doctor finally leaves, Haley comes back in. I want to sit up and hold her and kiss her, but I can’t. I can’t even lift my head.

“Haley,” I say and look into her eyes. She’s crying again, but the tears are happy. She comes to my bedside and takes my hand.

“Aiden,” she soothes and leans over, kissing me. I smile and curl my fingers around hers. She wasn’t in the car with me, was she?

Someone else steps into the room, closing the door behind them. I click my eyes past Haley and get hit with emotion when I see my sister.

“Aiden,” Avery says, tears streaming down her face. I swallow the lump in my throat and hold Haley’s hand tighter. Avery comes over and gently hugs me.

“Hi,” I croak out, throat still dry. “You got old,” I say and smile.

Avery laughs and wipes tears from her face. “And you haven’t aged a day. It’s not fair.”

I smile back. “It’s Hollywood magic.”

She sits near the foot of the bed and looks at me, shaking her head. “The doctor said you don’t show signs of major brain damage so far.”

So far? And wait, brain damage? I don’t feel brain damaged. Well, not any more than before. I look at Haley. She nods.

“You’re going to be just fine,” she says softly, and I believe her.

“I don’t know what happened,” I tell them. My eyes close. I’m so tired. “Can I have water?”

“I’ll ask the nurse,” Avery says and leaves the room.

“You were in a car accident,” Haley explains. “You were going too fast and your car hit a pole.”

“Oh. Which car?”

Haley raises her eyebrows, giving me that look that grounds me into reality. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to look at the pictures of the wreck.”

“You weren’t with me?” I ask, hopeful.

“No, I wasn’t. You really don’t remember?”

Her tone says something her words don’t. “No. What happened? Why wouldn’t you be with me?”

Pain flashes across her face. “It doesn’t matter, Aiden. Just focus on getting better, okay?”

I tip my head to my broken arm, thinking of the metal rods sticking into my bone. I feel sick. I close my eyes and wait for the nausea to pass. And I thought needles were bad. Fuck.

“Tell me later?” I ask and Haley nods. Avery and the nurse come back. I’m allowed to suck on tiny ice chips and let them melt in my mouth. Haley carefully spoon feeds them to me.

“I have to go,” Avery says, standing and blinking back tears. “But I’ll be back soon.” Her eyes go to Haley’s and her jaw tightens. She lets out a breath and looks back at me. “Mum is coming,” she says, guilt rippling across her face. “She’s very worried.”