“Of course I will. Now that I’ve seen Chance and know he’s okay, the only worry is your mom’s concussion.”
“Do you already know something?” I pressed, wondering if Scott had held back information.
My dad’s head shook. “No, the MRI is routine with that hard of an impact. There’s a strong possibility they won’t find any swelling.”
“Will you come back up and let me know as soon as you find out?”
“Sure, let me say goodnight to Chance. He’ll be out for the night soon.”
“They’re keeping him overnight for a broken leg?”
“When they moved him up here it was because a family member wasn’t here to take him yet and your mother was already admitted as a patient. His doctor has gone home with instructions to the one on shift now to keep him overnight for observation. It’s probably not necessary, but I’d actually prefer it just in case.”
“Why’d it take so long for them to call us? The crash must have happened at least a couple hours ago.”
“The accident scene was a mess and your mom was so out of it, it was awhile before she could tell them who to notify.”
With a hand at my back, we returned to the hospital room. “Hey, buddy,” my dad said, sitting on the edge of Chance’s bed. “I’m going to swing down to make sure your mom is doing well and I’ll be back soon. Your sister and Caleb are going to hang out here with you while you go to sleep.”
Chance didn’t appear worried, yawning again. “Okay, are you still spending the night with me?”
“Yep,” my dad confirmed. “And I’ll get you pancakes in the morning from the cafeteria.”
“Okay,” Chance said, his eyelids drooping.
“Be back in a bit,” my dad said, exiting the room.
I plopped back down in the chair, taking Chances hand in mine. The silence was more than awkward, it was excruciating. Since Caleb seemed to be waiting for me to say something, or at least I thought so, I finally said softly, “Thank you for being here with Chance.”
When he didn’t say anything, I lifted my head to look at him. He leaned back into the chair with his arms crossed over his chest. “No problem.”
Averting my eyes, I played with Chance’s little fingers as he slept. If Caleb didn’t want to converse, I was fine with that. When my dad returned, I’d duck out to see my mom.
“Is that all you have to say to me?” Caleb snapped, taking me by surprise.
“Shh! You’re going to wake Chance.”
Caleb chuckled. “That kid isn’t waking up until tomorrow morning.” He shifted to lean forward and I was suddenly grateful for the barrier of the bed between us. “You didn’t answer.”
“What do you want me to say?” I asked, annoyance building.
“How about sorry for fucking another dude behind my back?”
“It’s not like you haven’t already had sex with someone else, probably several someone elses, knowing you.” I replied angrily.
“An entire cheerleading squad,” he drawled.
“I’m not talking about this in front of Chance, even if he is asleep.”
“Let’s take this outside then,” he suggested, already standing up and circling the bed. He came to a stop next to my chair.
I stubbornly remained seated. “Go home, Caleb.”
A hand under my arm yanked me up. “We’re doing this now and afterward I hope to never see your deceitful face again.”
That hurt, and so did his unforgiving grip. I jerked my arm away, heading for the door to get it over with, dismissing the pain in my heart and the hurt in his eyes.
Searching the hallway, I only saw a nurse walking in the opposite direction. Spinning around, I was unprepared for the confrontation but starting to brace myself in case it was bad.
Caleb stood with his feet apart, his arms crossed again. “Did you ever love me?”
I looked at the floor in contemplation. My head screamed at me to lie, but I’d already betrayed my heart so many times. “What does it matter now?”
“It matters to me a hell of a lot,” he said.
I looked at the wall to the right of him. “I cared about you.”
He let out a scoffing sound. “So you lied about loving me? Big fucking surprise. Like mother, like daughter.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, meeting his scornful gaze.
His cruel smirk cut through me. “She claimed to love my dad, too, but scraped him off when things got hard.” He took a step forward to get in my space. “Both of you are heartless.”
Nope, my heart was there, beating but bleeding. His insult hit right in its center.