The Saddest Song (14 page)

“Do you have a fridge in your closet too?” Not waiting for my reply she looked for herself and took a bottle of diet coke, twisting the lid off and taking a sip.

“I can see Sophie’s influence,” she laughed. We had been around Sophie long enough to know she was never without a diet coke.

An intercom beeped making us both jump and we could hear Gran say, “Lunch is served!”

We rushed downstairs and joined everyone at an enormous pine dining table with long benches on either side. We all sat down and Gran and Sophie started passing out bowls of chili and platters of cheeseburger sliders. There was a lot of talking and laughter and I winked at Rainey when I caught her eye. She looked so relaxed, like a new version of herself. We both could feel closer to normal here away from all that hurt so much. It was like a breath of fresh air.

We all pitched in to clear the table and then Gran kicked us out of her kitchen and told us to go have fun. Thanking her we piled in to two cars and headed over to the ski slopes. The snow was still coming down and it was cold, but we had all come prepared and before we knew it we had been out for a couple of hours. When Rylee suggested that the girls head back ahead of the guys, Rainey immediately looked at me. She knew I was ready to head back too, but I wouldn’t let the guys down.

“I will see you back at the house,” I said. She looked up at me, her nose red from the cold, snowflakes sticking to her eyelashes.

“You sure? You can come back with us,” she frowned.

“I’m sure. Go on, I’ll see you in a little while.” Rylee and Colin were kissing on one side of us, Sophie and Ethan on the other. I smiled and kissed her on her frozen nose.

The three of us waved to them and went to catch the ski lift.

Chapter 17

Rainey

When we got back to the house, the girls and I warmed up in front of the fire and Gran brought us a tray filled with steaming mugs of hot chocolate. The snow had been coming down steadily all day and I was glad to be inside. I hoped Max was having fun. I knew from experience that he had never spent this long of a time snowboarding in one day. It was starting to get dark so I expected them to walk in any minute. I felt anxious for him to get back.

Rylee was chatting with Gran in the kitchen about the Snickerdoodle Cookies she had baked while we were gone. She was carrying a tray of them towards us when Sophie’s cell phone rang.

“Hi Kara!” Sophie said, and as she listened her expression grew concerned. “No, the guys aren’t here. We came back before them. I’m sure they will be here soon though, it’s getting dark.”

“What? You want to talk to her? Sure, hold on.”

All eyes were on me as Sophie handed me the cell phone. “Kara wants to talk to you.”

Just the expression on Sophie’s face was alarming, and before I said a word into the phone I felt fear blossom deep in my chest.

“Kara, what is it?”

“Don’t panic Rainey. I just wanted to assure you that all is going to be fine.” I clutched the phone and felt light headed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I feel like there may have been a little incident. You know my psychic nosiness. I can’t help it. I just felt it and wanted to prepare you, and of course reassure you as well. He is going to be fine.”

“Max? You are talking about Max? What is wrong with him?” My voice sounded shrill and I was in a pure panic now.

“I think it is his head. He will be okay. I’m Positive Rainey. So, prepare to be strong for him. Also, Rainey? He may say some things that shock you. He won’t be himself for a few hours. Don’t let him see you get distressed. Just let him talk. He won’t remember any of it tomorrow.”

I couldn’t say anything but I felt tears sliding down my cheeks.

“Rainey, give the phone to Sophie. Remember that most importantly, he will be okay. Be strong.”

I think I nodded , and then handed the phone to Sophie while Rylee grabbed my arms and made me sit down. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. A psychic was telling me Max had been injured but would be okay. He would be okay. I tried to hold on to that. Still, if it was true, and Max was hurt, he needed me and I wasn’t there for him. I was here, falling apart.

“Call Colin! Find out what is happening,” Sophie instructed Rylee. She had her phone to her ear and was saying, “Answer Ethan, please… He’s not picking up,” she said with frustration.

She looked at me then and said, “Rainey, if Kara says he will be fine, then you can count on it. She is never wrong. Never.” She sat beside me and reached for my hand, squeezing it.

Rylee’s phone rang just as she pulled it from her bag and we all stared at her as she answered. “Colin, I’m putting you on the speaker, fill us in. How is Max?”

“How did you already hear? Oh, don’t tell me, Kara. Okay, Max had a little accident. He took a pretty good fall and hit his head. He was unconscious and scared the shit out of us for a few minutes but he is awake now and the paramedics are with him. It looks like they are saying it is a bad concussion but I think we get to bring him home.”

Before any of us said a word, Ethan could be heard saying, “They’re releasing him to us. Come on, let’s get him in the car.”

“Thank god.” Rylee said, “See you soon.” Colin said goodbye and Rylee set the phone down. She sat beside me and said, “Rainey, are you alright?” When I didn’t reply, because I simply couldn’t, I felt numb from head to toe, she shook me and said,”Rainey, talk to me. Sophie, I think she’s in shock.”

She put her face so close to mine that she was blurry and her breath smelled like cinnamon from the cookies she had been eating.”Rainey, Max is going to be fine. Don’t let him see you like this, you will scare him. You’re scaring me.”

Her words made sense and I tried to take a deep breath but it came out shallow and shaky. “I’m okay, just give me a minute.” My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking.

Gran sat down and put her arms around me.

”You had a scare, you have every right to be shaken up. Now sweetheart, I think we should go get Max some warm dry clothes and turn down his bed. Can you help me with that?”

I nodded, and they herded me upstairs. I found myself digging through Max’s suitcase and pulling out sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt while Sophie adjusted the fireplace and Rylee turned down the bed. Then we heard the car pull into the driveway and we all flew to the window and watched Colin and Ethan help Max out, each of them holding an arm and walking slowly. I saw a large bandage covering his forehead.

“Max!” I cried, and ran from the room. At the bottom of the stairs Gran and Grandad held the doors open as they came through it. I had to stop myself from throwing my arms around Max. He looked at me and grinned. His eyes looked funny, like he couldn’t focus. He looked like hell, and I knew he must feel that way too.

“Rainey, you look worse than he does,” Colin said. I tried to smile, but didn’t quite pull it off. I put my arms around Max, holding tight. So happy he was going to be okay.

“Whoa there Rainey, let us get him inside first,” Colin said.

I nodded. I should have been embarrassed. My nose was running along with my tears, and probably my mascara too. I didn’t care. Not at all.

The boys helped Max up the stairs and into his room and then turned to leave us alone.

“When he’s changed call us. We will help him back downstairs. He needs to remain awake because of his concussion. It will be better if we are all together, you two might fall asleep,” Ethan said and I nodded. I knew a lot about concussions and so did Max. Garrett had sustained a couple bad ones playing football. I closed the door behind them and we were alone.

I sat down on the bed and hugged Max gently. “Oh Max, I would die if anything happened to you. Thank god you are okay.”

“I love you Rainey,” Max said, his words sounding a little bit slurred.

“I love you too Max.” I said, hugging him close.

“No Rainey. I
love
you, love you.”

I pulled back to look into his eyes. They looked dilated or something. Okay, he wasn’t himself. Like Kara said, I would just go along with it.

“Rainey, do you
love
me, love me? Or just love me?”

“Max, I love you. You know that.”

“Garrett’s dead, and if he wasn’t he would kill me Rainey.”

“No sweetie, he wouldn’t. You have a concussion and you are just confused. You will feel better tomorrow.”

“I love my brother’s girlfriend. That is not good. Garrett will be so pissed off.”

“Max, you need to relax. Everything will be fine. We are friends and we love each other. Best Friends. That is okay. Garrett knows that.”

“I just love you so much Rainey. You are so beautiful. Can I kiss you Rainey?”

Holy shit! He almost seemed drunk. He leaned heavily against me and his eyes were half closed.

“Max, kissing is off limits when you have a concussion. You need to stay still. Let’s get you changed and we will go sit with everyone else.” I started to untie his shoes and help him change into his sweats. He looked like he could nod off any second. He put his arms up so I could remove his sweater and shirt and I struggled to get his long sleeve t-shirt on him. We managed to remove his pants and get his sweat pants on, and I tried to be as impersonal as I could while I dressed him. By the time I finished, I was exhausted, and so was Max. He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes.

“No, don’t go to sleep. We have to get down stairs and see everyone else.” He didn’t want to open his eyes so I climbed onto the bed with him and gently shook his shoulder. “Max, wake up!”

Suddenly he grabbed me and pulled me on top of him, holding me tightly. “Kiss me Rainey. Please.”

My face was against his so I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I knew he wasn’t aware of what he was saying, but still I felt funny being in this predicament. Max would never say this if he was okay. Then he put his lips on mine and I felt his tongue try to pass my closed lips. Uh oh. I quickly rolled off of him and onto my feet. I opened the door and yelled for Colin and in a flash he and Ethan were there.

“Help.” I whispered. They looked at Max lying on the bed and both went over to talk to him and get him up and down the stairs. He didn’t even seem to remember what had just happened, and I was never telling. We watched movies for the rest of the night . Everyone took turns keeping him awake, which was tougher than it sounded. Finally around two in the morning we all went up to bed and I set an alarm to wake Max up each hour until morning.

I decided to leave both of our doors open in case he woke up and needed me. Just as I tiptoed towards the door, sure he was asleep, he spoke.

“Rainey, stay. Please.”

I didn’t have the heart to say no, and I was sure I wouldn’t sleep being away from him anyway. I crawled into the bed and he reached for me. We held each other, my head pressed to his chest, the sound of his heartbeat steady and strong beneath my ear. The next thing I knew, my cell phone alarm sounded. I shook Max’s arm. “Max, wake up. Max? I need you to wake up.”

“ Rainey?” His voice was alarmed.

.”You have to wake up once every hour because of your concussion.”

“Concussion?”

“Oh Max, it’s okay. I’m here. Go back to sleep.” He didn’t reply just pulled me to his chest and I felt the lightest kiss on the top of my head before his breathing told me he was out again.

Max

“Max, wake up.” I heard a woman’s voice repeating her words over and over again, but I didn’t want to open my eyes. My head ached and I reached for my throbbing forehead. A bandage covered it. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

“Good Morning! How are you feeling?” I stared at the woman hovering over me, and tried to place her.

“I need to check your eyes Max. Can you look here for a moment? Hold still.”

I did as I was told and she smiled, kindly. “Your eyes are a lovely color, and your pupils are not dilated. I’d say that is good news.”

Sophie’s Grandmother, I remembered. The cobwebs in my head began to clear a bit, but I was definitely not feeling like myself.

“Hi! How’s the patient?” I recognized Rainey’s voice and watched her smile at me as she came into the room.

Gran said, “I will leave you in Rainey’s capable hands Max. I need to start lunch, you need to eat something.”

“Ever notice that everyone wants to feed us?” Rainey sat down beside me and took my hand in hers.

“What time is it?” I asked, trying to hold still so my head wouldn’t spin.

“Almost noon. I woke you up every hour until seven this morning, then I let you stay asleep. Does it hurt?” She pushed my hair off my forehead gently, I winced.

“I feel strange. Foggy, and confused.”

“You have a nasty concussion. Remember when Garrett got one last year?”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t remember what happened.”

“The guys can tell you about it later. The paramedics assured them you would be fine. I guess you passed their test.” She smiled.

“Did you have to keep getting up to come in here all night? I’m sorry.”

“You don’t remember at all? I slept with you.”

“You what?”

She blushed. “I slept with you. You wanted me to, and it made sense. I wouldn’t have gotten a good night sleep anyway, I was worried. I needed to see that you were alright.”