“Jake…” I hesitantly extend my arm to touch him, but he’s out of my reach.
“Ella? What are you doing here?” he exclaims in surprise.
“I needed to see you, to make sure you are okay. After I saw you…” My throat chokes with emotions, and I can’t speak. I cover my face with my hands, and before I know it, he removes them off my face. “I’m sorry. I’m probably the last person you want to see right now, but I couldn’t help myself,” I sniff, and wipe my nose into my sleeve.
“You couldn’t be more wrong,” he says, causing me to blink a few times. “You’re not the last person I want to see, but the only one I want by my side right now. I love you. I know you didn’t mean it when you said you’re breaking up with me.” He wipes my tears with his thumb.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “If I hadn’t been such a frightened mess and pushed you away, none of this would have happened. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry.” He squeezes me tightly in his arms.
“Shhh, none of this is your fault. It’s not your fault it was raining. It’s not your fault I didn’t change bikes, and it’s not your fault I fell. These things happen. Do you understand?” His hands are on my cheeks, and he’s looking straight into my eyes.
I nod. “You need to go back in bed, you must be feeling weak.” I feel bad for being the reason he’s standing up, and I walk to his bed.
“Now that you’re here, I’m feeling much better,” he assures me, and kisses my forehead before lying down, and patting the empty space next to him. I hesitate, but he says: “Ella, lie down next to me. I don’t want any excuses.” Biting my lip, I finally join him. I turn on my side, facing him, and put my hand on his chest. “This is everything I need—your warm body next to mine. Nothing is better than this.” He places a kiss on my forehead, and we’re lying quietly for some time. I notice he has fallen asleep, so I cuddle into his side, and listen to the steady beating of his heart. Suddenly, the door opens, and an older couple barges in. They look at me in surprise, and I jump out of bed.
“Who are you?” the woman says sharply. She examines me from head to toe. “What are you doing here?” Shocked, I open my mouth and close them again, swallow hard and collect myself. I extend my hand toward her.
“My name is Ella. I came to visit Jake.” They don’t shake my hand, only push me away from the bed, and move to stand by the bed.
“Well, you saw him, now you can leave. I’d like to be with my son without some groupie hanging around.” As I realize who these people are, my eyes widen in surprise. I never imagined meeting Jake’s parents under these circumstances, especially looking like hell—with eyes red and puffy from crying, messy hair, and old clothes. I must look terrible.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, I just wanted to see Jake.”
“Goodbye,” his mother says, curtly, and sits down in a chair by Jake’s bed. I walk to the door with my head down. What do I do now? Should I just go back home? I don’t want to leave yet. Just as I grab the door handle, I hear Jake’s booming voice:
“Ella, don’t you dare leave. Come here.” I stop in my tracks, and turn my head to him, when he starts getting up.
“Jake, what are you doing?” His mother is worried. “You need to rest.” Jake ignores her, and gets out of the bed. His blue and grey eyes are watching me intently, and he grabs my hand and takes me to his parents. He firmly says:
“This is Ella, and she isn’t going anywhere. She’s staying here with me.” I hear his mom gasp, right before she covers her mouth with her hand. Eyes averted to the floor, I take a step back to hide behind Jake, but he puts his hands on my hips and pulls me in front of him. “Ella, these are my folks, Mary and Jeff Burns.” I don’t know whether to offer my hand in greeting again, or just stand there and wait for them to say something. I go with the latter.
“Jake, you can’t be serious,” his mother’s voice rises. His father is still standing on the other side of the bed silently. She whispers something in Jake’s ear, just loud enough for me to hear what she’s saying. “After all Liz put you through… Are you sure she isn’t just playing you? Do you know her well enough? Just look at her…” I look down at my old sweats and stretched out T-shirt. I obviously look even worse than I thought, but my clothes weren’t a priority when all I was worried about was Jake.
“I’m looking at her, Mom, and I like what I see.”