Love is Blind (21 page)

He opened his mouth and a garbled sound came out
of him. He frowned and tried again. “Mom? Dad?” His voice was
hoarse and the strain of speaking was evident on his face.

I shook my head as tears welled in my eyes.
“They didn’t make it. They died in the accident.”

His frown deepened. “Happened?”

I tilted my head to the side slightly. “You want
to know what happened?” When he nodded, I looked around the room.
Jared and Blake were standing in the doorway and I could see Liam
just behind them. “Why don’t you guys come in and help me
explain?”

The three of them entered and the nurses left so
we could have some privacy. Blake stood behind me and wrapped his
arms around my waist. Jake’s eyes zeroed in on the gesture, but he
didn’t say anything. Jared, Liam and I took turns explaining what
had happened. A myriad of emotions flitted over his face before
settling on sorrow. He weakly raised a hand to me and I clasped it
firmly. He looked up at me sadly. “Okay?” he asked me.

I nodded. “I’m okay now, though my back will
never be the same. I wouldn’t have gotten through it without Jared
and Liam though.”

Jake’s eyes focused on Blake and they narrowed
slightly. “Who?” At least that’s what I think he asked. His words
were becoming almost unintelligible.

“This is my boyfriend, Blake.” I frowned a
little and turned to the nurse who was just outside the room. “Why
is he having so much trouble talking?”

“I can answer that,” a man replied as he walked
into the room. He had dark blonde hair and green eyes that seemed
to sparkle. I knew who he was because I’d spoken to him many times
in the past. “Hello Jake, I’m Dr. Schultz. I’ve been taking care of
you since you got moved to this hospital five months ago. Since
you’ve been in a coma for so long, it’s not surprising that you are
having trouble speaking. It’ll improve over time, but I don’t know
exactly how long it will take. Your muscles will also take time to
strengthen, though your friend here has helped with that a lot
already.” He nodded to Jared. “He’ll continue to help you now that
you’re awake.”

Jake didn’t look overly pleased with that news
so I squeezed his hand. “Jared helped me a lot as well, even though
I didn’t want him to at first. You’ll be better in no time.”

Dr. Shultz nodded. “It might seem like it’s
taking forever, but in reality things will likely progress fairly
quickly.” He turned to us. “I’m going to have to ask you four to
leave now so we can take him down for some tests. You’re welcome to
stay in the waiting area while we do so.”

We reluctantly left the room and headed to some
chairs in the waiting room. They were bench style, so Blake took
advantage of that and stretched out, putting his head in my lap and
closing his eyes. I stroked a finger down his cheek. “Tired?” I
asked.

He nodded. “A little. Aren’t you?”

“No, I’ve got too much adrenaline going through
me right now. I’m sure once it wears off I’ll be ready to crash
though. It’s a good thing we don’t have school today.”

The elevator doors opened at that moment and
Amanda came rushing out, her blonde hair streaming out behind her.
She came to a halt when she saw us sitting there. “What’s going on?
Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, the doctors just took him to have
some tests done,” I told her. “He’s having trouble speaking, but
the doctor said that that’s normal.”

“Did he remember anything about the
accident?”

“No, we had to tell him what happened. It was
harder than I thought it would be.”

Blake found one of my hands with his and tangled
our fingers together. “You got through it, though. And he’s awake,
which is all that really matters.”

I smiled a little. “I know. And he was feeling
good enough to give you the big brother warning look, so that’s a
good sign.”

He snorted. “Maybe for you. I’m the one who’s
going to end up getting a lecture from him eventually. I have a
feeling he’s going to be as much of a pain in the butt as you were
at the beginning.”

I narrowed my eyes and shoved his head off my
lap. This had a more severe effect than I thought it would and he
rolled off the seats completely and landed with a thud on the
ground. I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep my laughter from
erupting, but a snort escaped anyways.

Blake scowled up at me. “What is with you and
making me fall off of things?”

“You shouldn’t have been a jerk,” I choked out,
desperately trying to hold my laughter in still.

Blake’s scowl deepened. “Are you laughing at
me?”

“No,” I said, but my voice was strangled and I
couldn’t hold my laughter in anymore.

“I fail to see how this is funny,” Blake
grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jared, Liam and Amanda were all laughing as
well, and that made it even harder for me to stop. “The fact that
you’re lying on the ground and pouting isn’t helping,” I finally
gasped out.

“I’m not pouting,” he grumbled.

“Yes you are.”

“Am not.”

“You’re such a child sometimes,” I stated after
regaining control of myself. I reached down and grabbed one of his
hands. “I’m sorry for pushing you off; that wasn’t actually my
intention. It just kind of… happened.”

Blake grumbled a little more, but got to his
feet anyways and sat back down beside me. He crossed his arms over
his chest again and I giggled a little at his attitude. I leaned
into him and squirmed closer until he gave in and put one arm
around me. “Forgive me?” I asked.

“Whatever,” he said and then he got a little
smile on his face, but didn’t say anything else.

“What are you thinking about?” I wanted to
know.

“The last time you made me fall off of
something,” he said absentmindedly.

A goofy grin stretched across my face as I
thought about that and what had happened afterwards. “Oh yeah,” I
replied.

Jared cleared his throat. “Okay children, get
your dirty minds out of the gutter now.”

I just laughed. “Like you’re one to talk, Jared.
How often have you and Laurel spent the night together?”

His cheeks turned a little pink. “That’s
different,” he mumbled. “I’m older.”

I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t make it
different,” I retorted. “But whatever, it doesn’t matter.” I let my
head rest on Blake’s shoulder as a wave of exhaustion suddenly hit
me. I yawned and closed my eyes for a moment.

The next thing I knew, I felt myself being
shifted around. I opened my eyes and saw that I was now in a
different room and Blake and I were stretched out on a huge
recliner. “What’s going on?” I asked tiredly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Jared helped
me move you into here before he left so that we’d be more
comfortable.”

I looked around blearily and saw that Jared and
Amanda were no longer in sight. “Where is everyone?”

“Amanda is in with Jake, and Jared and Liam
went to home to rest for a little while. We all knew you wouldn’t
want to leave, so Liam arranged for us to have a place to sleep.
Since he’s donated so much money to this hospital they were happy
to accommodate him.”

I snuggled in closer to him. “What room are we
in?”

“I have no clue. I just picked you up and
followed Liam and Jared into here. You can figure out where we are
in the morning.”

“You didn’t have to carry me. I could’ve
walked,” I said sleepily.

“I didn’t mind carrying you,” he said simply.
“Go back to sleep, Hales. We’re going to have some long days ahead
of us and you’ll need your rest.”

“M’kay,” I said and then drifted back to
sleep.

Chapter twenty-three

When Blake and I woke up a little later, I found
myself strangely not wanting to go to Jake’s room immediately. It
was almost as if I was afraid earlier had been a dream and when I
went back to the room, Jake would still be in a coma.

Blake seemed to sense this, because he tightened
his arms around me. “Why don’t we just wait here a little longer
before we go to see him? It’ll give you time to relax a little bit.
You don’t want Jake to see you if you’re all stressed out.”

I nuzzled his neck. “How did you know what I was
feeling?”

He shrugged. “Intuition. A lot has happened in
the last few hours. It’s not exactly a surprise that you’re having
mixed feelings about everything.”

“You really are an amazing person when you want
to be.”

“Of course I am. How could you have ever thought
differently?”

I rolled my eyes. “You really are too cocky
sometimes. I can’t believe that was hidden under that hard,
sarcastic exterior.”

“What can I say? I’m a man of many layers.”

“Like an onion?”

“Are you quoting Shrek?”

“What’s wrong with Shrek?”

“It’s a movie for kids,” he said
condescendingly.

“So? You’ve obviously watched it, since you knew
where that quote was from.”

“I only watched it because the donkey is
awesome.”

I grinned. “I can’t argue with that. I wanted
waffles every morning for weeks after I first watched that
movie.”

“Seriously?”

“What? The way Donkey said waffles made me crave
them. It’s not my fault.”

Blake just shook his head. “You’re so weird
sometimes.”

I let out an unladylike snort. “Like you’re one
to talk.”

“If I didn’t love you, I’d push you off of me
right now.”

“Good thing you love me then, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing,” he replied, kissing
me lightly.

“Are you two done arguing about Shrek now?” an
amused voice asked from the doorway of the room.

I turned to see Liam standing there. “Hey, how
long were you standing there for?”

“I got here right before you started talking
about waffles,” my uncle said with a smile. “If you’re done
arguing, Jake is awake and asking for you Hailey.”

I pushed to my feet and Blake followed me as we
walked to the door. He put a hand on my shoulder to stop me before
I went into the hallway. “Why don’t you go in by yourself? I’ll
stay with your uncle for a while.”

I looked at Liam and he nodded in agreement. I
gave him a stern look. “Okay, but if you lose Blake you’re going to
have to buy me a new boyfriend. And I’m going to want a model that
doesn’t argue with me all the time, so he won’t be cheap.”

Liam shook his head. “I’m not that bad,
Hailey.”

I snorted. “Yeah you are.” I kissed Blake
lightly. “Don’t let him lose you, okay? I’ve kind of grown used to
you now.”

He ran his hand over my hair. “I’ll make sure he
stays close to me,” he promised. “I wouldn’t want to be replaced by
someone who doesn’t argue with you.”

I grinned and kissed him once more. “Good. I’ll
see you shortly.” I left the room and managed to find my way to
Jake’s room without getting lost. Amanda was sitting beside his bed
holding his hand when I went in. She looked up and got to her feet
when I reached the bedside. “You don’t have to leave,” I told
her.

“It’s okay. You and Jake need some time
together. I can come back a little later and see him again.” She
leaned over and kissed Jake’s cheek then left the room.

I sat in the chair next to the bed. “How are you
feeling?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Tired.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You basically slept for
the past ten months and you’re still tired?”

He gave me a half smile. “Yes.”

“Do you want me to let you get some sleep?”

He shook his head. “Stay. Talk.”

So I did. I told him everything that had been
happening in my life since the accident, including how Marcus was
still trying to contact me. Jake didn’t seem overly impressed by
that, but I hadn’t expected him to be. Even before the accident
Jake hadn’t ever really liked Marcus. Jake was of the opinion that
no guy would ever be good enough for me, and part of me believed
that he would always think that.

I was therefore surprised when he didn’t seem to
have the same reaction to Blake. When I talked about him, Jake
didn’t frown or give any outward signs of not approving of him.
When I asked him about that, he merely lifted his shoulders.
“Jared,” was his only explanation.

“Jared told you about Blake?” Jake nodded. “And
you’re okay with him?”

“Yes.”

“That’s probably a good thing, since I intend on
keeping him around.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Blake said from behind
me.

I turned in my seat and saw him standing in the
doorway with Liam behind him. “Hey, he didn’t lose you. Good job
Liam.”

Liam made a face at me. “I don’t always lose
things, Hailey.”

Jake made a coughing sound behind me that I took
to be a laugh. “Car,” he said to our uncle.

Liam looked sheepish. “I didn’t lose the car. I
just temporarily misplaced it.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You lost your car?
When was this?”

“A couple years ago. And I did end up finding
it again.”

“How did you find it?”

He sighed. “I called OnStar,” he
muttered.

We all started laughing at that and Blake and
Liam came into the room. Jared joined us a few minutes later and we
all spent most of the day there. When it was time to leave, I was
surprised to see my car in the parking lot. “How’d that get
here?”

“I drove it here earlier for you,” Jared said.
“I’ll ride home with Liam so you can take Blake home.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you both at home in a few
hours.”

I drove to Blake’s house and we went inside
together. He brought both the bags –which someone had obviously put
in my car- into his room and I sorted through them to separate our
stuff. I kept one of his t-shirts though, so I could sleep in it at
home.

When that was done, we went to the living room
and curled up on the sofa. Sophie was out with friends and his aunt
was in her home office, so we had the room to ourselves. I turned
on an episode of The Big Bang Theory that was in described video so
we could watch it together.