No one can make me cry,
Make me laugh,
Make me smile,
Or drive me mad,
Like she does.
-Kenny Chesney, "I Lost It"
Miles
Of all the things I thought I might see in my lifetime – flying cars, actual hoverboards, or teleportation devices – I never thought I'd see my brother kissing my girlfriend.
I felt my blood pressure spike, and color flooded my face. Rachel jumped up. "Miles, please, I – "
I walked past her and approached Luke, who stood up to face me. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" I hissed.
"Miles, I'm sorry," Luke said, but I had already grabbed his collar.
"Miles, stop!" Rachel shrieked. "Seriously, stop! He's just confused; he's hurting."
Luke just stood there, letting me hold his collar, looking like he didn't give a shit if I hit him or not.
But I knew I wasn't going to hit him. I let go of his collar roughly, causing him to fall back onto the loveseat. He just sat there, staring at the floor.
Rachel stepped toward me, but I held my hand out behind me, stopping her from coming any closer. "I need a minute," I muttered, turning and not meeting her eyes.
"Okay," she said, her voice shaking.
I put my hand on the curtain, but froze in my tracks when I heard the strangled cough from behind me.
I whirled around to see Brooke's eyelids fluttering open. "Oh my God," I whispered.
Luke's eyes lit up and he got to her side in one step. "Brooke, baby. You're awake," he cried, tears sliding down his cheeks.
She nodded, but she couldn't speak due to the tube in her throat. "Hang on," I said. "I'll be right back!" I ran out of the room and grabbed the nearest doctor.
A couple minutes later, the doctor had pulled the tube out of Brooke's throat, and she was trying to speak, but couldn't yet.
"Is that normal?" Luke asked, holding her hand tightly.
"Yes, very much so. After you've been intubated for a while, it's hard to regain speech. But she will any minute now, I presume," Dr. Livingston, the on-call ER doctor, explained.
We nodded. "Thank you, Doctor," Rachel said.
"Of course. Let me know when she speaks and if she needs anything," he said, disappearing behind the curtain.
When he was gone, we gathered around Brooke's bed, willing her to speak. The events of the past ten minutes were all but forgotten. She smiled weakly at us, and after a few minutes, she spoke.
"Guys," she croaked. "You're here."
"Of course we are, sweetheart," Rachel said, sitting on the foot of her bed and patting her knee.
"Where else would we be?" Luke asked, putting his hand on her cheek and smiling.
"I don't deserve for any of you to be here," she rasped, her voice still hoarse.
"Shhh," Rachel cooed, shaking her head. "Don't say that."
"It's true... especially you, Luke," she said.
Luke kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't be anywhere else."
Brooke smiled weakly. "Rachel, Miles, I love y'all, but can I have a moment alone with Luke?"
I glanced at Rachel, who looked away from me.
"Yes, of course," I said, holding my hand out to Rachel, a small gesture of surrender.
Brooke
"Luke, we need to talk," I started, but he held up his hand.
"I already know everything, B. You don't need to rehash it."
I sighed with relief. "Rachel told you?"
"Yeah. Don't be mad at her."
I shook my head. "I'm not. I'm glad she did. You deserved to know." I looked at him, dreading the answer to my next question. "I didn't hurt anyone else, did I?"
"No, baby, you didn't."
My heart stopped for a moment at the sound of the word "baby" rolling off his tongue.
"Thank God," I murmured. "I got a DUI, didn't I?"
"The police haven't dealt with that yet, since you've been in a coma, but yeah... you had heroin in your system, so I'm sure that's coming."
I nodded slowly. I deserved it.
"Um, Brooke?" Luke asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to go to rehab?"
"Yes," I answered without pause. "Absolutely. I'm done with drugs."
"God, I'm glad to hear that," he said in relief.
"I want to make things right between us, Luke. I'm so, so sorry," I breathed, knowing the words would never be enough.
"We'll talk about that later, B. You just need to focus on getting better. I'm not going anywhere, though, okay?" he promised.
"Good."
I believed him, but I felt like there was something I was missing.
Rachel
Miles and I sat outside on a brick wall in the garden area, feet swinging in front of us, not talking at all.
I didn't even know where to start.
"Did you kiss him back?" he whispered.
I looked at him, my mouth slightly open. "No, Miles, of course not. I have no idea what got into him."
He studied me for a moment, and I could tell that even though he was upset, he believed me. He swung one leg over the other side of the wall and I did the same, so we were facing each other.
"What did he say before he did it?" he asked.
I took a deep breath. "He said that he wished Brooke had been more like me. I think he meant the whole drug thing... but then he mentioned that he liked me before you 'swooped in.'"
He shook his head but stayed quiet. "He was just upset, confused. Now that Brooke is awake, this should blow over."
Miles chewed the inside of his cheek. "I guess so... but I just... he's my brother. How could he do this to me?"
I scooted closer to him so our legs were overlapping. "I don't think he meant to do it to you... he clearly wasn't thinking straight."
"I guess you're right... but it's going to take me a while to be normal around him again, you know that, right?" he asked.
I nodded. "I think that's fair."
He looked down. "Seeing him touch you... it infuriated me, but more than that, it broke my heart. I was so worried that you..." he trailed off.
I jumped off the wall and pulled him around so his legs were facing me, and I positioned myself between his knees.
"Miles Grant Salazar. You will forever and ever be the only man I see. I love you with every piece of my heart. You have to know that," I said, looking up at him, my eyes searching his.
He laid his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. "I do. I know that," he said, his lips brushing against mine, tentatively at first, then deeper.
"Mmm. Trust me," I said, smiling against his lips, "this is the only kiss I will ever want."
"Good," he said, sliding off the wall and wrapping his arms around me.
"Promise you won't hate him?" I whispered into his chest.
He took a deep breath. "I can't. No matter what, he's my brother."
"Do you really mean that?" a voice asked from behind us.
We whirled around.
Luke.