The best me has his arms around you
You make me better than I was before
Thank God I'm Yours.
-Russell Dickerson, "Yours"
Miles
"Ow," I groaned, lifting my hand to touch my aching head. I winced and blinked my eyes open.
"Oh my God," Rachel gasped, and I turned my face to look at her. "You're awake." She put her hands on my cheeks and leaned forward to kiss me gently.
I looked around, taking in my surroundings – steel cabinets with glass doors, metal drawers, medical supplies – an ambulance.
"What happened? Why are we in an ambulance?" I asked, trying to push through the incredible pain in my head.
"You don't remember?" she asked, then shook her head. "No... how could you?"
"Rachel, what happened? The last thing I remember was telling you that I loved you and would die for you," I said, searching her grey eyes.
She swallowed. "And then I thought you had.... Iris came up behind you and knocked you out with a metal baseball bat," she said in a small voice.
"Oh God," I murmured. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
She laughed through the tears that had started falling down her cheeks. "You're the one in the ambulance with a head wound and you're asking me if I'm okay. Classic Miles," she said, kissing my cheek.
"You didn't answer my question," I said.
She sighed. "I'm fine. I was just so worried about you."
"Well, I'm good," I said, wincing. "I just have a hell of a headache."
"We're at the hospital now," one of the paramedics spoke up. "We'll get you in the ER, the doctor will examine you, but I'm confident you'll be released quickly."
"Okay, thank you," Rachel said, and I nodded my thanks to him.
They pulled the stretcher I was on out of the ambulance and into the ER, and within ten minutes, I was getting a CT scan and an MRI.
"Ugh, my head hurts," I moaned, and Rachel squeezed my hand.
"That pain med should kick in soon," she soothed, tracing circles on my palm with her fingernails.
I closed my eyes, focusing on her touch instead of the incredible throbbing pain in my head.
A few minutes later, the doctor came in with some images in his hand.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Salazar; I'm Dr. Crawford," the older man greeted us, holding his hand out for us to shake. We did, and he smiled. "I have the results of your CT and MRI here," he said, holding them up to a light panel across from Miles' bed.
"Am I okay?" Miles asked in a small voice.
"Yes, Mr. Salazar. You're fine. We were looking for a brain bleed, but there is no evidence of one. You have a pretty severe concussion, but that's not going to be fatal or leave any lasting injury. You just need to take it easy for a few days," he said.
Rachel sighed in relief and I exhaled. "Thank God," I said. "Thank you, Doc."
"You're welcome. Who's this young lady?" he asked, gesturing toward Rachel.
"This is my girlfriend, Rachel," I answered, a note of pride in my voice.
"Do y'all live together?" he asked.
"Yes, we go to Florida State and are here for Thanksgiving," Rachel answered.
"Good. Just watch him carefully. If he becomes confused or forgets who or where he is, bring him back in immediately. He may have headaches or feel sluggish, and that's totally normal," Dr. Crawford explained.
"Okay, I will watch him," Rachel said, squeezing my hand again.
"Wonderful. I'm writing you a prescription for Tylenol 3 to take as needed for any headaches you may have, and I'll sign your discharge papers shortly and get you out of here," he said, smiling as he left the room.
Rachel turned to me and pushed my hair off my forehead. "I'm so glad you're okay, babe," she said, kissing me gently.
"Me too. Now you'll have to fill me in on all the shit Iris said after she knocked me out," I said, and she laughed.
"I will when we get out of here," she promised.
"Deal."
Luke
Rachel had texted me from the ambulance and told me that Miles had woken up. She insisted that I take Brooke home and we'd meet them there.
When we pulled Miles' Jeep into the driveway (Thank God I had the extra key), Brooke put her hand on mine as I shifted into park.
I looked over at her. "What is it?"
"We didn't get to talk much back there," she said, turning in the seat to face me.
"No, we didn't," I sighed and lay my head against the headrest.
"What's wrong? Do you regret it?" she asked, fear and hurt creeping into her voice.
I opened my eyes and shifted my head to look at her. I reached over, put my hand on her neck and brought her lips to mine.
"No," I murmured against her lips. "I don't regret it."
She smiled and pulled back a couple inches. "Then what's wrong?"
"I don't want to hurt Jessica. That's all," I said, running a hand through my hair.
Recognition crossed Brooke's face. "Oh, shit," she cursed softly. "I don't want to hurt her either, Luke, honestly. I can tell that she's a decent person, and she cares about you."
I nodded. "She really is... this is going to be a hard conversation to have with her."
"Yeah, I know. Do it when you're ready, but I would recommend doing it in person," Brooke said, and I agreed. We got out of the Jeep but made no move to go inside.
"And there are other things you and I need to discuss," I ventured, my heart speeding up a little. "Like... are we going to have to be long-distance?"
Brooke bit her lip. "What if... what if I come to Tallahassee and start at Florida State? I still have quite a lot of money in my college fund that Katherine set up for me when our parents died." She looked at me uncertainly, like she was afraid I was going to protest.
"Really?" I asked, my face brightening. "You want to come to FSU?"
She smiled. "Yeah. I want to finish what I started... and I want to be with you. That's all I've ever really wanted," she said, and I beamed at her.
I put my hand on her waist and pulled her to me. "You know I love you, right, B? I never stopped."
She put her hands on my chest and leaned into me. "I love you too, Luke."
I kissed her forehead and we started to walk toward the house.
She laughed suddenly.
"What?" I asked, looking over at her.
"Rachel and Miles are gonna freak out," she giggled.
"Oh Lord... I'm pretty sure one of them orchestrated this entire thing, so they'll be happy," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Do you think they'll mind if I move in while we look for a place of our own?" she asked as I opened the front door.
"Of course not. Rachel will probably piss her pants when we tell her the news," I joked.
I heard a car pull into the driveway and turned to see an unfamiliar sedan with a Lyft sign on the dashboard.
Rachel and Miles stepped out and I rolled my eyes. "Why didn't you call us to come get you?"
They shrugged. "It was no big deal. Y'all spent enough of your Thanksgiving tending to me and my drama," Miles said, handing the Lyft driver a wad of cash, to which the driver's eyes widened and he strangled out a "Thanks, man!"
Miles tapped the roof of the car and they walked toward us.
"I guess it's time to tell them," Brooke breathed in my ear.
I glanced down at our clasped hands and then back at her. "I bet they already know."
At that second, Rachel shrieked and ran toward us, causing Miles to put his fingers to his temples. "Don't forget, woman; I'm concussed!"
"Do you see this!?" she asked him, lowering her voice an octave, pointing at our hands.
Miles pumped his fist and grinned. "Yes! My plan worked!"
I looked down at Brooke. "What did I tell you?"
Rachel hugged us both, a little too tight. "You're crushing me," Brooke squeaked.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy y'all are back together!" she squealed, clasping her hands to her chest.
"Me too, brother," Miles said, giving me a fist bump.
"Enough about us," Brooke interrupted. "You have to tell us what the hell happened on that beach."
"Let's go inside with Ma and Pops so we don't have to tell it more than once," Miles said, opening the door and stepping through, immediately assaulted by Mom and Dad, asking him if he was okay.
I looked around, and even though Iris had just knocked Miles out on the beach and I had had to take her down, and I was facing a really tough conversation with Jessica, I felt happier than I had in months.
The pieces of my previously shattered life really seemed to be falling into place.