Songs for this chapter:
• You Are The Reason - Calum Scott
Chapter Forty-Six:
Lexi's POV
When I let my legs dangle over the side of the dock, my feet dip into the cool water. Truthfully, the lake's water is a little bit too chilly for this to be comfortable, and so I soon begin to lose feeling in my toes. Nonetheless, I let my feet remain submerged in the chilly water because today feels as though it's been going on for ages and so I couldn't care less about the lack of feeling in my feet.
I hear the back door open in the distance and immediately knowing who's looking for me. I cross my arms and turn my face away from the house. I suppose that it isn't very fair for me to be mad at him for coming to look for me, considering this is his house, after all, but he's the last person on the face of the earth that I want to speak to right about now.
"Are you still sulking? I can't believe that you've managed to avoid me all day. It really is impressive," he calls out across the vast backyard. I can tell that he's making his way towards me by the way that his voice gradually gets louder as he speaks.
I remain completely silent, even as he reaches the dock that I'm seated upon. I huff as he approaches me, halting his long strides when we're a foot or so apart before taking a seat down on the edge of the dock as well.
Refusing to make eye contact with him still, I kick my feet around in the water, watching how it ripples around me.
"Really? You still won't speak to me? I don't appreciate this level of bullying, Blossom," he huffs, nudging me in the arm with his elbow.
My immediate reaction is to yank my arm away from him, finally turning to look at his face only to meet his gaze and scowl. "My name is Lexi. Stop using that weird nickname until you give me back my necklace."
"What necklace? I have no clue what you're talking about," he teases, but when I narrow my eyes at him, he continues on by saying, "All right, all right. I'll leave you alone. But I'm never ever going to stop using the nickname; you just don't understand because you don't have a nickname for me."
"Whatever, Bryce," I mumble.
He chuckles and I just continue to scowl at him. My sour expression only lifts when I watch Bryce reach into his pocket to finally pull out my necklace, the one he had stolen from me at school this morning and had somehow managed to keep hidden from me all day.
I snatch the necklace right out of his hand without a second thought. I wear it every single day, and it's the most beautiful necklace that I've ever seen. The delicate chain is thin and silver and the pendant is a pink glass cherry blossom.
It is the reason for the nickname, Blossom, that he's had for me ever since we were kids, after all.
Well, I guess that we still are kids, but now that we're twelve, it feels like we're just a little bit more like teenagers.
I clasp the necklace back around my neck, and for some reason, the slight weight is extremely reassuring. I reach up to touch the dainty glass pendant, running my fingertip along the curves of the flower petals.
Glancing back to Bryce, I find him watching me intently, but with a sad sort of glimmer in his usually-bright amber eyes. "Is everything okay, Bryce? Why did you take the necklace, anyway?"
His cheeks blush a deep shade of red and he looks down at the water, still rippling from my feet swinging back and forth. He shrugs his shoulders before whispering, "Um . . . I just felt like you were ignoring me, and I wanted to get your attention. You didn't say good morning to me today, but you always say good morning to me."
I blink a few times, feeling my own cheeks blush red out of shame. I hadn't even realised that I had been ignoring him.
"Oh. I didn't know I had hurt your feelings. I'm really sorry, Bryce," I respond quietly.
Bryce gives me a shy smile that is completely unlike his usual cocky demeanor. "It's okay, Blossom. I forgive you," he tells me. "And I'm really sorry for taking your necklace from you. Can you accept my apology?"
"I'll accept your apology if you promise to never steal my necklace ever again," I say.
Bryce contemplates my offer for a moment before grinning at me. "Only if you promise that you'll say good morning to me every day for the rest of the school year."
I roll my eyes at him, then turning to face him once again. His amber eyes are sparkling with amusement, and his wolfish grin grows impossibly wider as he holds out one of his hands towards me, all of his fingers curled into a fist except for his pinky finger.
I'm finally unable to resist giggling as I loop my pinky finger through his.
"Pinky promise?" he asks me, smiling so widely that his dimples show.
I beam at him, nodding my head. "Pinky promise."
Bryce's POV
I stand next to Blossom's bed, helpless as I watch her fall apart before me.
She's still clawing at her neck with one hand, but she's now using her other hand to clutch her forehead as though she has a migraine.
I'm so scared. I'm so fucking scared because something is clearly wrong, but I don't know what to do or how I can help.
All I can do is hold Blossom's hand firmly as she sobs and wails and thrashes around in her bed. Kathleen and Charlie remain silent as they stand near the bed as well, the two of them wearing worried expressions on their faces as we impatiently wait for Johnathon to return with a nurse.
I'm worried that Blossom may be choking because of the way that she's holding her neck, but my questions are answered when she looks me in the eye.
"Where's my necklace? I love my necklace so much. It means the world to me because it reminds me of you. I can't believe I lost it," she cries, her voice cracking like mad.
My eyebrows furrow. "Oh, honey. Take a deep breath for me. I have your necklace right here, in my pocket."
Blossom's eyes widen and she lets out a little sob of relief. "Really?"
Her wailing has ceased thanks to this information, and so I nod at her and give her a reassuring smile. I then reach into my pocket to retrieve her cherry blossom necklace before placing it in her outstretched hand.
I close my fingers around her tiny hand, and for some reason, the action brings back a memory of when we were just kids and I had stolen the necklace from her one day.
"Hey Blossom?" I ask gently, hoping to distract her from whatever is going on in her head.
She stares back at me, her eyes glimmering with hope.
"Do you remember when I stole the necklace from you when we were, like, twelve? You were so pissed at me. And all I wanted was your attention," I murmur.
To my surprise, Blossom smiles at me. "I was dreaming about that right before I woke up. You made me promise to say good morning to you every day."
Why isn't she mad at me? Why isn't she as pissed as she was before the accident? I'm so fucking confused.
I push those thoughts aside for now, grateful that I'm being granted a few last moments with Blossom before she ends things between us for good.
Blossom carefully lets go of my hand, and I then watch as she fastens her cherry blossom necklace around her neck. At this, she lets out a sigh of contentment, much of her anxiety seemingly lifting.
She lays back down in the bed and shuts her eyes. When I reach for her hand again, she lets me link my fingers through hers.
"Lexi? How are you feeling? You were just talking about how something felt wrong," Kathleen then says gently.
Blossom doesn't react for several moments until she finally says, "My head feels funny. Something feels wrong, but I don't know what it is. I just want to go home and take a nap. I want a long shower and a cup of hot chocolate."
Kathleen and I make eye contact, and. she gives me a look that I'm unable to place.
When I glance to Charlie, I find him gnawing on his bottom lip, deep in thought.
I look back down at Blossom. "Baby, I think we should all just take a deep breath. We need to see what the nurses have to say. Then, I'll buy you all the hot chocolate that your heart desires."
Blossom giggles, one of her hands going to the pendant of her necklace. "Okay. I'll take some deep breaths. But will you tell me why I'm here? Why was I in an accident?"
Because you found out that I got a girl pregnant and you were so pissed that I didn't tell you that you ran away and ended up getting hit by a car.
I look towards Charlie and Kathleen to see nothing but sadness on their faces.
And though I don't want to make them any more upset, I know that I need to talk to Blossom about what happened last week.
"I'm so fucking sorry, Blossom. This is all my fault. I don't know what I was thinking. I wish I could do everything over again," I whisper, reaching for her face with both of my hands.
I hold one side of her jaw with each of my hands, my thumbs brushing against her cheekbones. In response, Blossom reaches up with her own hands to gently wrap her fingers around my wrists, a tender gesture.
"What's your fault? I really don't remember what happened, Bryce. How was I in an accident?" she asks softly.
My eyebrows furrow. "You were walking to your old dorm to see Kennedy when you got hit by a car, darling. You hit your head pretty hard."
Now it's Blossom's turn to furrow her eyebrows. "Why was I walking? You always drive me everywhere."
Why the fuck can't she remember?
"You were pissed at me and you wanted space, so you decided to walk. Since you were so upset with me, you must've been distracted," I say softly, hoping that her memory finally kicks in.
Instead, she continues to stare at me with confusion in her eyes. "Why was I upset with you?" she asks sincerely.
"You don't remember the conversation that we had with Scarlett before you left?" I ask cautiously.
I see Kathleen's eyebrows fly up, but I pretend that I don't notice.
Blossom carefully sits up in the bed once more. I pull my hands away from her face and so she links her fingers through mine.
"I don't remember, Bryce. It feels like I can't remember anything," Blossom whispers. "But why was Scarlett there?"
Charlie looks puzzled, and I know that it's probably because he has no fucking clue who Scarlett is, but I can't give him any explanation right now because I'm so unsure of how to handle this situation.
Blossom doesn't remember what happened.
Which means that she's not mad at me.
And therefore, she still loves me.
Which means that she won't break up with me.
I know that the right thing to do would be to tell her the truth right this instant. Maybe it would stress her out more, which would be awful as she already is in the hospital and not doing well, yet it would still be the honest thing to do.
But I'm a selfish bastard, and so I really, really, really don't want to do anything that will make her break up with me.
Her voice is just so weak and her hazel eyes are so damn wide right now that I couldn't possibly ruin her even more.
"Scarlett needed a break from her family and so she came to visit with no warning. You were upset to see her because she hasn't been very nice to you, and so you needed some space. You were pissed at me for letting her into our home all the time because you said it feels like an invasion of our privacy," I say, surprised by how easily the lie rolls off of my tongue.
Blossom purses her lips together. She stares down at her lap for a moment before she scoots over in the bed, towards her mom and brother. "Thank you for coming to be with me," she says to them. "It means a lot."
Now, she turns to me. "Will you sit next to me and give me a hug?"
I grin at her, then taking a seat down on the edge of her hospital bed. "How could I possibly deny my pretty girl a hug?"
Blossom lets out a little squeal of delight, eagerly falling into my embrace. I envelop her tiny body in my arms, using one hand to guide her head to the crook of my neck.
I gently stroke her hair, which makes her sniffle before she says, "I'm sorry for being so overdramatic. Is Scarlett still staying with you? It's all right if she is. I promise that I won't freak out and run away again. And I'm really sorry for freaking out and running away before."
Ouch. That fucking stings.
I bite my lip, squeezing her tighter. "I'm not mad at you, baby girl. Not at all. I'm just so damn happy that you're okay. I can't wait for you to come home. I missed you so much that I had to sleep in this hospital room most nights."
Blossom pulls her face away from my chest. She has tears streaming from her eyes.
"I want to go home now. Why can't we go home? And why does my head feel funny? Also, where is my promise ring? And my charm bracelet? And the ring with your name on it?" she asks softly.
I reach into my pocket, pulling out both of her rings. I then take her hands in mine, slipping her promise ring onto her left hand and the ring with my name on it onto her right hand. I kiss the backs of both of her hands before kissing her forehead and the tip of her nose.
"You weren't wearing your charm bracelet that day and all of your earrings are still in. The bracelet is at home on the dresser in our bedroom. I promise that I'll get you home as soon as possible, but I think that you're experiencing memory loss and so we really need to talk to the nurses, honey," I tell her gently.
Her expression somehow grows even sadder. "M-m-memory loss?"
I give her a small nod and a sad smile. "Yeah, baby. Memory loss. You can't remember what happened before the accident."
As if on cue, Johnathon enters the room with the two nurses who first cared for Blossom trailing behind him.
Blossom tenses in my arms, and she snuggles closer to me as though I'll be able to save her from the inevitable chat that she's going to have to have with the nurses.
The nurses and Johnathon head to the side of the bed where Kathleen and Charlie are standing, and so the Brookses step aside so that the nurses can speak to Blossom. I try to stand from the bed to give my girl some space, but her slender fingers grip the fabric of my shirt somehow tighter, and so I'm forced to stay right where I am.
The nurse who yelled at me for being in the hospital bed with Blossom before gives me a pointed look before turning to Blossom to say, "Hi, Alexandra. I'm Nurse Leigh, and I'm here to run a few tests on you. I also need to ask you a few questions so that we can determine the severity of your head injury. Sound good?"
Blossom looks to me, her eyes searching mine for help.
I know her well enough to be able to tell what's distressing her.
I turn to the nurse. "She really doesn't like being called by that name. Could you just call her Lexi? Everybody calls her Lexi."
The nurse gives me a strange look, then glancing to Blossom, who gives her a reassuring nod. "Yeah. My name is Lexi."
The nurse smiles at Blossom. "All right, Lexi. We need some time alone with you, so I'll have to ask your family to leave.
Horror suddenly washes over Blossom's face. "Why can't they stay? Can at least one of them stay? I'd feel better if my boyfriend stayed with me."
The nurse purses her lips together and then shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Lexi, but it will just be a few minutes. I promise."
Blossom looks at me, her eyes brimming with tears, and I take that as my cue to stand up from the bed.
A tear slides down her cheek, and so I kiss it away before whispering to her. "I'll be back. I swear."
She nods at me, gnawing down at her bottom lip.
I give her a small smile before heading towards the door, Kathleen, Johnathon, and Charlie following behind me.
After I've stepped out of the room, I turn back around to find Blossom staring right at me as she twists her promise ring idly around her finder.
A/N: Blossom having memory loss? How convenient for our beloved Mr. Bradshaw! Will his conscience tear him apart? We'll find out soon ;)
Lexi's POV in this chapter is actually the short story that I wrote for English class that I mentioned to you guys last month! I get my grade back this week. Fingers crossed that I get a good mark!!!
On a completely unrelated note, I just made a Bookstagram and I would love if you guys could give it a follow! It's a place to talk about the books that I have read/am reading! My username is @/readingwithmaddy.
Also, I have a writing Instagram that you guys are welcome to follow too, though I don't really post. The username is just @/maddyxmarie_ <3