Whisper to Me(71)

All I could do was nod. I was scared and overwhelmed and so very tired from the effort.

Other memories flashed through my brain. The pain at the base of my skull, the powerful tremors. Vomiting on the floor in my bedroom.

She reached over and stroked my forehead. “Looks like your fever broke.” My skin felt clammy and my hospital gown seemed damp.

Mom pushed the red button near the bed to signal for a nurse. “Your father and Kai left to get us decent coffees. The cafeteria version tastes more like tea. You know how your dad likes his caffeine strong and pricey.”

“Kai?” I squeaked out.

“Yes, honey. He and Dakota have been here all week,” she said, now caressing my cheek. “Your other friends had to go back home.”

My gaze swept across the window. I could usually guess the time of day by the shadows. It was a trick I’d learned during my last extended stay. “All week?”

“Technically, three days,” she said. “The doctor should be here any moment to give us the results of your scan.”

That’s what I’d been afraid of. I tried to steady my voice. “Am I . . . is it my brain again?”

“Honey, you developed meningitis,” she said, relief evident in her eyes as she delivered this news. “The reason you had a seizure is because of the swelling in your brain.”

I sucked in a breath and squeezed my eyes shut. No, not this again.

“Are they going to have to operate?” My voice tripped over the words.

“No, sweetie. Absolutely not. Antibiotics took care of the infection,” she said. “You had a high fever, so you’ve been out of it for a couple of days.”

I opened my eyes—they felt bruised from the effort.

“The doctor assured us you’d recover quickly,” she said, squeezing my hand. “The meningitis could’ve been a long-term complication from your head injury. Or it might’ve just been a coincidence.”

My mother’s voice was strong and sure, but I could see the fear behind her eyes. “We knew certain risks still existed. But you’re going to be just fine.”

I nodded in relief and asked for a drink of water.

As she reached for the cup and pitcher, I remembered the dream I’d been having just prior to waking up. It had felt so real.

Kai’s mouth had been close to my ear. I could feel his breath on my neck. And then he’d kissed my head and whispered something. Something so amazing, it had to have been a dream.

Intimate and private. Words for me and me alone.

I’m falling for you, Rachel. And I don’t know how to stop.

Heat crept across my cheeks at the memory. Would I truly have wanted to hear those words? Since when had my innocent crush transformed into something real? Something more intense than anything I’d ever felt in my life?

The realization that I had fallen in love with Kai was so raw, so visceral, I felt it deep in my gut. It was so commanding that I pulled my knees toward my chest, my muscles stiff and aching from the effort.

Kai was an essential part of my life. As central as the very air I breathed.

The door pushed open, and I sucked in a harsh breath, afraid that it would be Kai. That he’d see the glow hidden beneath my depths. The underpinnings of truth awakening in my brain. My heart dusting itself off, glinting, reaching. For the luminescent stars. For all that was exquisitely him.

But it was a nurse who’d stepped inside the room.

“She’s awake.” She was short and stout and had a friendly face. “Let me take your vitals.”

My mother held the cup of water to my lips and I drank greedily. So parched, so thirsty. Not necessarily for water. But for something else. Someone else.

As the nurse took my temperature, Kai swung through the door, followed by my dad.

“Look who decided to join us this morning,” my mother said.

Kai gave me a sweet, lopsided grin as his face went through a series of emotions. Relief, joy, affection. His gaze fixed to mine, he stepped aside, allowing my father to reach me first.

“Good morning, baby girl,” my father said, grasping my hand.

“Hi, Daddy,” I said, my voice trembling and unsteady. Just like my heart.

I could feel Kai’s gaze like a thick rope tethering us together, despite the nurse stepping in his line of sight to write in the chart.

“It’s all gonna be fine, honey,” my father said.

I nodded. “Sorry if I gave you a scare.”

He reached down to hug me.

My mom was in the corner of the room speaking to the nurse. My father moved to the side table to pour cream and sugar into his large cup of Starbucks coffee.

Kai sat down on the edge of my bed and wound his fingers through mine. I instantly felt calm. Comforted. Safe. “How you doing, Turtle?”