Second Chances [On Hold]

Chapter 25

"It's nothing you need to worry about now, Kylie," he said, running his hand through my hair. "I'm just glad you're safe."

I frowned. There's definitely something he wasn't telling me. "Promise you'll tell me about it later."

"Kylie—"

"—promise me."

He sighed, but nodded. "All right. I promise."

I grinned. "Thanks, Liam."

A smile broke across his face. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you—"

"—time for your PET scans," Dr. Kim said, coming inside with a wheelchair. His hands held the handles. "And, if nothing comes up, I'll let you go home early."

Home.

Now that I think about it, I didn't even know where home is. Wherever it is, I hope it's cozy.

--------

"So, this is where we live?" I asked. It was definitely different than I'd imagined. It was a small apartment in the middle of New York City. I never thought in a million years Liam would actually rent a space like this. He always had expensive taste. Even the apartment we had together at college was bigger than this.

But, as I saw the piles of books and my old laptop on the coffee table, I knew I at least lived here.

"Yup. Home sweet home," he said, as he pushed my wheelchair towards the middle of the living room.

"Is that one of my manuscripts on the floor?" I asked. Maybe it was something new I'd written? Liam had told me on the drive back from the hospital that I'd continued to pursue my love for writing. But when I asked him if my manuscript was ever accepted, he grew quiet. That's when I knew it didn't make it.

"Ah, it is."

My smile brightened up at the news. At least I didn't give up on writing. "Can I see it?"

His eyes shifted towards the manuscript. "Um, why don't you read the final copy instead?"

"Final copy? Do you know where that is?"

He smirked. "I'll bring you straight to it."

Thinking he was going to bring me to my laptop, I cranked my neck to look at him when he rolled past my laptop. He stopped in front the pile of books I saw earlier.

"What's this?"

"Your books."

"M-my what?"

"Your books," he repeated. For a second there, I thought for sure I was going crazy. But he really did say my books. My fucking books! "It's actually your newest hit, Taming the Beast."

"Newest hit? Does that mean I had another hit?"

Liam chuckled, but nodded. He crunched down in front of me, and picked up a copy of my book. "Remember your book, Sweetness Turned Sour?"

I nodded my head. "Of course I do." For the first two years of college, I worked my ass off to finish the manuscript. Sometimes I didn't even sleep into four in the morning, but it was worth it when I was finally able to type the words: The End.

After that I worked on perfecting the book. I even hired an editor, who eventually became my best friend in college; Christian. He was a pain to work with at first. He basically crushed any hopes I had of becoming an author. He literally teared apart my manuscript, and threw it in the trash. But, if it wasn't for him, my story wouldn't be where it is now...well two years ago that is.

"Did it really become a best-seller?"

Liam gave me my book. "What do you think?"

As I glanced at the cover, I touched the material with the tips of my fingers. Being careful with the book, I opened the spine carefully, and read the first page.

Taming the Beast. S.P. James.

I tilted my head at the author's name. "Why does it say S.P. James?"

"It's your penname."

"Penname? Why didn't I use my real name?" Since I was little, I'd always dreamt of seeing my name printed across the covers of my books. So why in the world did I choose to go anonymous?

"I'm not exactly sure..."

"Did I publish Sweetness under my penname too?"

"Yes."

"Huh." My gaze shifted towards the table, hoping the answer to my penname would jump out at me. But it didn't. Seeing a small calendar on the side of the table, I took a closer look at it, seeing the date. "Wait...next month is February?" I asked, seeing Liam looking at it too.

Liam nodded. "Yeah, it is..."

"Are we going to celebrate our anniversary like we always do?"

He opened his mouth, his eyes wide. "—O-of course we can, sweetie. Whatever you want."

"Thank you." I smiled, and dipped my head. "I'm sorry I don't remember our last two years together though."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're here." He hooked his arm around my waist, and placed his face in the crook of my neck. "I really miss you, Kylie," he whispered. His hot breath seemed to stutter in his lungs before he let go, and pulled my body flushed against his. "I miss you so much."

I wrapped my arms around his back, unsure of what's going on. As I felt his body shook against mine, I turned my head and felt the drops of water. The sobs were stifled at first as he attempted to hide his grief, but eventually his defenses washed away, and he broke down. He kept whispering "I miss you" against me, clutching my body the same way he did with my hand at the hospital earlier today.

The muscles in my chest tightened as I saw Liam break down in tears. Liam was a strong man. He never let his emotions get the best of him. Not even when his mother left his father, so why in the world was he crying now? I mean, I didn't die. Sure, I'll be in a wheelchair for a while, but that doesn't mean I'm completely immobile.

Did he really think I was going to die? Or worse. Did he think it was his fault I got into a car accident? Maybe we had a fight, and I ran away? Was that how I got into the car accident? But didn't Liam say something about losing me once? When did he lose me?

What in the world happened in the past seven hundred and thirty days?

Somehow, deep within my heart, I knew I didn't want to know the answer to that. So instead I pushed that aside, and hugged Liam, and let him know how much I missed him as well.