Gentle fingertips gliding along my cheek helped me to slowly rouse from a deep, dreamless sleep. Upon blinking several times, I noticed that I was lying in a hospital bed within a quiet and dimly lit room. When I attempted to sit up, a splayed hand pressed down on the middle of my chest.
"Stay," I was softly instructed, body tingling immediately after hearing that welcomed voice.
"Where?" I wanted to turn my head toward the right, but it felt a bit too heavy.
"Here," that voice replied with faint amusement.
"Where is here?" Almost in slow motion, my tongue peeked between my lips to moisten them. What I wouldn't have given for a glass of water at that moment.
"Here is with me."
"And where are you?" Finally, my head began to move in the direction of that voice.
A long, warm body pressed closer to my own, lips just barely brushing the ridge of my ear. "Hopefully, in your heart. Maybe...okay, I don't deserve to be there, but I want to so very much."
Following a few seconds of silence, I was asked to look at my bedmate. Several seconds later, I successfully stared into a pair of hazel eyes. A tiny smile found my lips. "Hi you."
She returned the smile, index finger stroking the outline of my mouth. "Hey yourself. How are you?"
How was I? I supposed that I was...well...I didn't actually know how to answer. Shrugging, I shifted toward my right side, mirroring her position. Eyes beginning to well with tears, I rested my hand on her side, fingers stroking. She felt so right, so real. "I miss you," I whispered. "Funny that before tonight I hadn't seen you in a decade, but I miss you so damn much, Brooke. Why did you do it? Why did you give up?"
Her tears fell before mine. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry won't bring you back."
Brooke briefly smiled through the tears. "Back? Coop, haven't you been listening? Told you that I'm here. I'm right here, and I don't have any plans to try leaving again."
"But you...already have."
Those eyes focusing on my mouth caused me to swallow with some difficulty. "If I were gone, how could I taste you?" My heart began to beat faster when she moved closer. My eyes began to shut upon feeling her warm breath on my face, lips mere centimeters from my own.
"Brooke," I murmured, just desiring to state her name. Clutching her side, puckered lips awaited a tender kiss.
"Cooper?"
A sudden frown etched my forehead as I was immediately aware that wasn't her voice. Eyes opening, I noticed that my ex-classmate was no longer in that hospital bed with me, and that I remained on my back gazing toward the ceiling. Hearing my name again, I looked toward the right, spotting Detective Dunn seated in a chair two or three feet away from the railing locked into place. Managing to refrain from groaning at the sight of her, I carefully sat up, surprised that she hadn't handcuffed me to the bed.
The heel of my left hand alternately rubbing my eyes, I heard her inquire if I was okay. Hand dropping to the crisp white sheet pooled around my waist, I stared at her, that time refraining from cussing her out. "I learned that the woman who secured the largest part of my heart successfully committed suicide after you treated me like a cold-blooded murderer, and then you or someone in your police department decided to sedate me. I'm freaking peachy."
Moving the chair closer to my bed, the detective wrapped her hands around the railing while she looked at me. A sigh escaping, she nibbled a bottom lip. "It's been a rough night."
"That's an understatement." I didn't bother attempting to refrain from crying, the tears rushing down my face within seconds. I wanted to curl into a ball, and pour my despair onto the sheet. "I want to see her. If you need to handcuff me, so be it, but if possible, I would like to go to Brooke. Please." I noticed the detective's hesitation. "What? Is she already in the morgue? Fine. Let's go there." Never before had I wanted to see anyone's body. I couldn't even stand it on those television reality crime shows where they might just show the victim's hand peeking from beneath a sheet. Yet, for some unexplainable reason, I yearned to see Brooke. Perhaps my heart needed irrefutable evidence that she was gone like that text message Morgan received stated.
"Um, Cooper, she isn't in the morgue."
"Still in her room? Intensive Care Unit?"
The detective looked supremely uncomfortable as she rubbed the nape of her neck while nodding. "You're no longer under arrest. I doubt that any charges including the B&E will be brought against you."
Although I should have been relieved to learn that, I just couldn't find it in me to care about my freedom at that moment. Using the sheet, I wiped my face, fresh tears shortly staining it. "Could you take me to Brooke?"
"I need to tell you something. Confess would actually be a more accurate word."
"You the police officer needs to confess something?"
"I lied."
As I wondered what she could have possibly lied about, it took me a few seconds to reply, "About?"
Pulling the cell from her pocket, the detective showed me its screen, although it was dark on account of her phone being off. "Some of the things we read can be misleading...like that text message." Because I failed to utilize my vocal box, she soon continued. "Berry is gone didn't refer to your Brooke. A co-worker of mine went on a late-night bakery run to this place that makes the best-- well, that doesn't matter. The point is 'berry is gone' could have been an all lower-cased message, as it referenced that the bakery was all out of blueberry muffins, which are my absolute favorite."
I blinked in slow motion as I digested the unexpected information. If there were a group of us playing charades, most everyone would have guessed that I was imitating a fish based on how my mouth moved sans sound. "A muffin?" I finally spoke. "You allowed me to believe that Brooke had left this world when that message was about a damn muffin?"
Phone returned to her pocket, Morgan nervously massaged one hand with its mate. "They're really moist, and the baker actually inserts real blue-- well, you don't care about th--"
"You're damn right I don't care about it!" Throwing the sheet back, I tried rising for a second and a half before realizing that my limbs weren't one-hundred percent ready to function. Instead of leaving, I glared at the seated detective. I never realized that it was possible to be overjoyed and pissed off concurrently. "You played with my emotions for what? What? To gauge how I would react? If I seemed relieved because then she couldn't awaken and admit that I shoved the pills down her throat? By the way, that's sarcasm, not a confession."
Detective Dunn nodded as she switched to massaging the other hand. "I picked up on that, yes." A brief pause and she quietly apologized for the deception.
Head cocked to the side, I studied her. "You did it on purpose, didn't you? You left your phone on the table so I would hopefully read that message."
"That's true. The person who sent me the text is innocent. She was merely telling me that the bakery was out of blueberry muffins. Giving it a second of thought, I decided to manipulate you with it."
"You're an ass."
"I was doing my job...needed to see how you would take that information." A peculiar smile touched her lips. "But yeah, I have been known to behave like an ass. I truly am sorry, Cooper. During that interrogation never did I pick up a nefarious vibe from you although your record of events wouldn't form a complete puzzle. That's why I thought it necessary to grill you."
"Brooke told you that I wasn't responsible? That's why I'm no longer arrested?"
She shook her head. "Brooke is in stable condition, but she hasn't awakened. I decided to release you because we don't have solid proof that you're responsible. Despite your saying that Ms. Berry was on that roof, this appears to be an unassisted suicide attempt. We've spoken with former co-workers who independently stated that she had been despondent even before the collapse of her marriage. She refilled that prescription just three days ago, she was shown on camera purchasing the Christian Brothers from a nearby liquor store just a few hours before the attempt, and the typed suicide note had been created and saved on her computer within the hour following the purchase, and only her fingerprints were found on the keyboard and printer.
"And Cooper," expression genuinely remorseful, the detective stared toward me, "even if we hadn't learned any of that, the way you reacted after the berry is gone incident would have convinced me. I've been doing this job long enough that I can tell quite well when a potential perp is aiming to bullshit me, and unless you're a protégé of someone like Meryl Streep, that was not a performance. You wouldn't stop screaming, so we had to sedate you, which is something else I'm apologetic about." Taking a deep breath, Morgan slapped her hands against her thighs. "I'll speak with Ms. Berry once she wakes up, but as far as I'm concerned, this case is no more."
I allowed the abundant information to sink in for eight to ten seconds. "All right, Morgan. May I please see Brooke now?" She was unconscious, yet Brooke was still alive, still breathing, heart still beating underneath her chest. Thank God. Perhaps this nightmare was on the verge of ending. I would consider it over once granted the opportunity to gaze into those beautiful hazel eyes, and hear her speak.
The detective's dimples emerged when she suddenly beamed. "You finally called me by my first name."
"Yeah. I guess that like totally makes us BFF's or whatevs." I smirked while she laughed. Announcing that she would soon return, the detective left my hospital room. To my surprise and delight, not only did she bring a wheelchair back with her, but my true best friend Julie along with my mom, who burst into tears upon viewing me.
My feet hadn't even touched the floor when engulfed in her embrace. Immediately comforted by the pleasant perfume she had been wearing for years, I wrapped my arms around my mom, swallowing around the lump in my throat. I laughed when Julie climbed onto the narrow bed so that she could hug me from behind since Mom had yet to release me. Littering my right cheek with damp kisses, Julie announced that she would never again insist that I attend a high school reunion. It was on the tip of my tongue to agree, but then it occurred to me that I should have been there, as I believed that it was my destiny to check into the Destiny Hotel in order to be reunited with Brooke.
After conversing with them for a good fifteen minutes, it was decided that Mom should go home to get some rest (she spent the majority of those fifteen minutes arguing against that idea) while Julie would take over for Detective Dunn in assisting me to Brooke's room on the ICU floor. Traveling in style in my shiny, comfortable wheelchair, I wasn't certain which of us spotted him first upon exiting the elevator. However, we called his name in synchronicity.
Having been headed into the waiting room, Kyle instead approached us with a covered cup in hand. He placed it on the floor in order to hug us, first Julie and then myself. Cup grabbed, he appeared quite fatigued as he stood to his full height. However, that didn't stop him from sending me a grin. "So, Cooper, did you fly the coop with Julie's help or did they grant you freedom?"
Smirking, I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder in my best friend's direction. "She's the Thelma to my Louise."
"Aaw, baby," Julie crooned, leaning down so that her lips could assault my left cheek. "I'm honored to be your Thelma." When I blushed, she kissed that too.
Visiting hours were long over, however, with the situation explained (and Detective Dunn having spoken with the staff earlier while I slept due to the sedative) they allowed me to see Brooke despite the fact that I wasn't a relative. Although he couldn't go in, I learned that Kyle arrived at the hospital hours ago, intent on staying until Brooke either awoke or had a loved one to stay with her. Finding a number for her parents, he called and filled them in. Unfortunately, (or maybe it was for the best) they didn't feel it necessary to rush to their only child's side. Although they weren't on speaking terms, and intended to divorce, at least her husband, who was employed at another hospital in town, had stopped by to check on her.
Kyle asking Julie if he could buy her a decent cup of coffee, they headed to the Starbucks across the street while I rolled myself into Brooke's room, carefully navigating toward the bed where she slept. The gastric lavage went smoothly and the doctors felt confident that Brooke would make a full recovery. However, I was informed before entering the room that she would most likely sleep through the night.
Applying the brakes on my wheels, I reached toward Brooke patting the nearest hand, which had an IV needle inserted into it. Not speaking right away, I gazed upon her face while listening to the gentle noises of the machines attached to her. They were calming because they assured me that she was alive. And I vowed whether she wanted that or not, she would stay alive. The main doctor assigned to her case mentioned that she should have a psych evaluation when she awakened due to this having been an intentional overdose. Also, Brooke was required to be admitted and under medical supervision for a minimum of seventy-two hours.
"You gave me quite a scare tonight," I said as though Brooke could hear me. Maybe she could. "Gave me more than one actually. I wouldn't be surprised if I found some gray hairs the next time I look into a mirror." Mindful of her IV line, I stroked her hand with my thumb. "I thought you were gone for a while there. Funny --not funny haha-- but I felt like my heart stopped when told that you...died. All these years without being in your presence and yet there was this great loss." Pausing, I happily watched as her chest rhythmically rose and fell. "Didn't realize until tonight..." I glanced toward a nearby clock. "Well, technically, last night, that I still care about you. That I actually might..."
Sighing, I sat back in the wheelchair, and lifted my left leg so that I could rest my ankle on my right knee. "Just so you know, I'm not going anywhere tonight. Although I'm not related to you and we haven't seen each other in ten years, the staff was pleasant enough to let me stay. I would call someone for you, but I don't know who to call. But you can tell me when you wake up." I yawned while rubbing at my face. The vacant bed near the window looked inviting, but I wanted to stay close to Brooke, so scooting down into the wheelchair, I leaned my head against the back of it and allowed my eyes to shut. A couple hours of rest would help to revitalize me after the longest night in history. In my opinion anyway.
The process of being revitalized wasn't completed until a quarter after seven in the morning. I discovered that a wheelchair wasn't an adequate place to rest as I felt like every inch of my body was in need of stretching in order to relieve itself of the kinks. I was about to stand to do just that when my eyes opened to notice the ones watching me. Having been removed, her oxygen mask rested on her chest. Forgetting about my pains, I pressed my bandaged hand to her cheek as I softly smiled.
"Hey you," she huskily greeted.
"Hey yourself. How are you?"
She shrugged or at least I thought she had. Her shoulders didn't move that much. "Tired, and my stomach hurts a little, but I'm fine." Those hazel eyes studied me. "Although you could be an angel, I'm assuming that I'm not in Heaven."
My smile broadened. "You're still on Earth."
Brooke faintly nodded. "That's what I thought." Her lips curved upward into a smile. "It's been a long time, Coop. A decade."
Quadruple crap. Brooke had been my only proof that I truly had seen her on that roof the night before. Now it sounded as though she had no recollection of it occurring. Either she had forgotten or I was delusional. In my opinion, the latter was most likely true. However, if it was, how did I know that she was in trouble? I think if I were psychic, I would have figured that out years ago.
I sighed. It didn't matter really, did it? The most important thing was that Brooke was alive and hopefully she would stay alive for many happy healthy years to come.
"How did you find me?" Brooke asked.
I pondered the best way to answer that. I wasn't about to reveal that I talked with her on the roof of the Destiny Hotel, and then followed her home. "Ah, speaking of angels, I believe that one guided me in your direction." As her eyes drooped, she smiled. I supposed that she was too fatigued to question what that meant. "Are you disappointed?"
"Disappointed? How could I be? I missed you."
That touched me and the expression on my face showed it. "But are you disappointed that you're still on Earth?" I thought she had fallen asleep because she didn't immediately reply.
A few seconds later, Brooke finally opened her eyes. "I'm grateful that you saved me, Coop." She turned her hand until her palm faced the ceiling. Only giving it a moment of thought, I pressed my palm against it with our fingers intertwining. "I dreamt of you," she quietly admitted.
"Is that so?"
With the base of her head pressed against her pillow, Brooke nodded. "I recall only bits and pieces, but I distinctly remember that you and I were underneath the stars. The Mariah Carey song. I want to dedicate that to you."
I lifted an eyebrow. "Think you have me mixed up with your summer camp counselor Samantha."
Brooke offered me a grin. "I know what I told you about Sam, and yes, Underneath the Stars did make me think of her, of what we did and where, but now it's you." Our fingers still linked, she gently squeezed my hand. "You became my young love ten years ago, and you still are. Regardless of what happens in the future, Cooper, you'll forever be my young love."
Unable to drum up a reply, I merely gazed toward our joined hands. Following brief silence, Brooke continued telling me what she could remember from her dreams. "We were talking --I don't know what about-- and then you put your hand out to me. I wanted to grasp it, but instead I pointed toward the clear starlit sky and asked you to make a wish on a shooting star."
Grab a crayon and color me speechless. I couldn't believe it, though after the events of last night, perhaps it shouldn't have shocked me so. What I felt had been a reality Brooke deemed part of her dreaming process. Finding my voice, I asked what happened next.
She shook her head. "After you looked toward the sky, the scene changed. We were snuggled together in a bed. You were asleep and I just looked at you and stroked your cheek while thinking about how absolutely beautiful you are. When you awoke, we exchanged a few softly spoken words, and I found myself wanting to taste your lips. However, when I leaned in to kiss you, you vanished. I don't remember anything else." I was about to reply when Brooke began to cry, shoulders shaking while she used her hands to cover her face.
Body feeling one-hundred percent, I bolted from the wheelchair, moving as close as I could get to the bed. "Brooke, are you in...do you need your nurse?" I started to turn. "I'll go get someone." Before I could take a step, she grabbed my forearm.
"Don't leave. Please, Cooper. I need you. I just need you." When she began to tug my arm, I quickly understood what she wanted. Shoes off, I carefully slipped into the bed, arms outstretched for the other woman. Cheek pressed to my chest, I embraced her, mouth nuzzling the top of her dark head. Tears dampened my shirt as I soothingly rubbed the length of her back.
"Everything is going to be all right, Brooke," I whispered. "You're not alone. I'm here for you."
Soon quieting, Brooke's fingers danced along my side. "Thank you, Cooper. I don't deserve it, but I'm grateful that you're here with me."
Although I had closed my eyes, the tears leaked anyway. "I'm grateful to be here as well. Brooke?"
"Yes, sweetheart?" Based on the tone of her voice, I could tell that it wouldn't be much longer until she succumbed to sleep.
"In response to what you said earlier, I've missed you too." I wasn't certain which of us fell asleep first.