Happy Never After

by Candace Dowds

  Because of the divorce proceedings, I don’t wish to buy a new property until everything is finalised. By keeping the money in the business, I may just be able to get out with minimal damage to my wallet.

  As I sit back on the sofa, sipping on a bourbon, there’s a frantic bashing in the door.

  Immediately, I place my glass down on the coffee table and as I reach the door, I hear, “Open the fucking door, Cole, now!” Matt screams and his demand sets me on edge.

  Opening the door, I don’t get a chance to utter a single word. “Get dressed. We need to go, now!” He screams as he races past me and into the walk-in wardrobe. Following him, I ask, “What the hell is going on, Matt?”

  Walking through the door, he throws a pair of jeans and a t-shirt at me. “Get it on. Mia’s been in a car accident. They found her and the car at the bottom of a hill. Some asshole veered into her lane, smashed into her, and her car rolled down the cliff side. She’s on

  life support and they don’t think she’ll live,” he tells me in a hurry, and as I begin pulling on clothes I feel sick to my stomach. I know I need to do my best to keep my composure, but it will be next to impossible.

  “What hospital is she in?”

  “She was airlifted to the Alfred hospital. It’s not far from here. We need to go!”

  When I’m dressed, I pick up my skate shoes, keys, phone, and wallet, and we get the he’ll out of there.

  Matt had left his car at the drop off point outside the concierge desk, so we hop in, and as Matt drives like a bat out of hell, I slip on my shoes and prepare myself to jump out once we reach the hospital.

  As Matt is pulling up to the entrance of the hospital, I don’t wait for the car to come to a full stop before getting out.

  I race up to the reception desk and managed to get the directions to the ICU, but when I reach the elevators, I grow impatient. It feels as if I’ve been standing and staring at the doors for a lifetime. Quickly, I look around for the stairwell entrance and when I find it, I race through the door, taking the steps three at a time until I get to the right floor. Bursting through the door, I run up the corridor until I reach the ICU reception desk. “I need to find Mia

  Carter,” I tell the older looking woman seated behind the desk.

  “Sir, are you a relative?”

  It’s time to lie like I’ve never lied before. “Yes, I’m her brother. I need to see her, where is she?”

  The woman looks at her computer screen, “She is in bed four. I’ll let you through the doors, but I don’t know if she’s back from surgery as yet.”

  “Thanks. Oh, our cousin Matt, will be here in a few minutes he’s just parking the car. Please let him through when he arrives, he’s like a brother to us.”

  The woman gives me a sad smile. “Not a problem, love.”

  Tapping the desk, I thank her before I turn to face the double doors. The receptionist hits the button and they open.

  As I race through, I pull my phone out of my pocket and I dial Matt’s number. “What happened? Is she okay?”

  “I don’t know. When you get up here, tell the ICU receptionist that you’re Mia’s cousin. I told them I was her brother so I could get in. I also warned her that you were coming,” I tell him as I search for bed numbers.

  “Will do.” I hang up the phone.

  “Cole?”

  Spinning around, I stop when I see that it’s Mia’s father, John, who’s calling out to me. He pushes himself off the wall and when I

  reach him, I ask, “What do you know? Is she okay?” My heart is pounding out of my damn chest.

  John reaches up and rests his hand on my shoulder. “They haven’t told me a damn thing. She’s been in surgery for hours. The nurses keep telling me they’ll be finished soon, but it feels like it’s taking forever.” He looks utterly exhausted.

  “I just can’t believe it. Did they get the prick that hit her?” I will make sure my PI Gary, tracks the asshole down so I can beat the shit out of him.

  “He’s dead. Died on impact.”

  “Good,” we hear from behind us, and we turn to see that Matt’s walking towards us.

  “You took the words right out of my mouth,” I tell him as he closes the distance between us.

  Once John’s caught Matt up on the situation, Matt leaves to get coffees because we knew we’re in for a long night.

  For the next two hours, we sit in the chairs located in the room that’s been assigned to Mia. Due to the severity of the situation we pretty much stay quiet and stare into thin air.

  I guess that’s what you do when you’re so very worried about someone you love, but the air in the room changes the moment John looks at me and says, “So, how the fuck are you going to get my daughter back

  while dealing with a divorce?”

  My stomach drops. Sure, I knew that Mia would confide in John, he is her father after all, but it wasn’t a question I thought would come up considering these circumstances. “I fucked up so bad, John. I was wasted and tried those damn edibles that are legal in the USA, and I woke up married. I need you to believe me when I say that I never meant for it to happen and that the only reason I hadn’t told Mia was because I didn’t want to hurt her. I wanted to be closer to having Sam, the chick I married, sign the damn papers before I said anything. I didn’t want her going through the wait, the frustration, and the bullshit. I wanted to be at the point where I could sit Mia down and say, ‘I messed up, but it’s sorted.’ She’d just been through hell with having to look after Stacey and watching her pass away. She didn’t need my bullshit on top of that. Please believe me?” I beg.

  John gives me a look of sympathy. “The minute she told me what had happened, I knew why you’d kept from her. As much as I

  tried to talk her around, it fell on deaf ears. I wish you had come to me, lad. I would have tried to be a buffer and to make her see that you hid it with good reason,” he shrugs.

  Just as I go to answer, we all turn in a hurry when we hear a bed being wheeled into the room. The moment I see her, my heart

  shatters into a million tiny pieces, pieces that will never be put back into place.

  My chest begins to heave, and I can’t catch my breath, not even for a moment. Bending over, desperately, I try to catch my breath. I try to focus, but as I look up, and I see the condition Mia’s in, the pain and panic take hold of me.

  “Sir, just try to take a deep breath and let it go. I know it seems impossible, right now, but you’re having a panic attack. You will get past this. Just focus on your breathing,” the woman coaches me, and eventually it works and I manage to regain my composure, and my breathing returns to a normal, a steady pace.

  The woman then gives me a glass of water, and once I’ve wet my throat, I tell myself I need to pull my finger out of my ass and keep strong for Mia’s sake.

  Taking a deep breath, I let it go and turn to face her, knowing I can’t put it off any longer.

  Moving to her side, a tear escapes and runs down my cheek. Mia’s head is bandaged. Both her eyes are blackened, and so is the right side of her face. Mia’s body is swollen, her left arm is in a cast and so are both her legs. There are blood drainage bags hanging off her, far too many to count and all I want to do is take it all away from her. I want to be the one laying in the bed, not her.

  Once the doctors have her settled, and the breathing tube has been adjusted, the male, Asian doctor stands beside John and begins explaining what damage the asshole who crashed into Mia’s car has done to her.

  “Mia came through surgery much better than we could have ever expected. I’m not going to stand here and lie to you, but we thought we were going to lose her on more than one occasion over the last few hours as we operated. Mia has broken both her legs, her left arm is fractured, she’s received some damage to her spleen, and she has some bruising on the brain from when her head hit the side window. But there is one conversation I should have with you in private, if you wouldn’t mind.” That sentence has my head jerking u
p at attention.

  John seems confused, but he agrees and as

  the doctor leads him out of the room, he looks to me and shrugs his shoulders until they’re out of our sight and I hear the room door close.

  “What could that be about?” I ask a concerned looking to Matt.

  “I don’t know, but I hope that whatever it is, it isn’t bad.”

  Ten minutes pass and when John finally returns to the room, he looks like he’s in utter shock, causing my anxiety to return.

  As John takes a seat on the opposite side of the bed, I ask, “John, is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, he just wanted to ask about giving Mia a blood transfusion. She’s marked as a Jehovah’s Witness on the computer system and he knew that Witnesses are against the practice.”

  “Tell me to mind my business if you don’t wish to discuss it, but if you don’t mind, can I ask what you told him?” I know it’s not up to me, but I do hope he told the doctor to do whatever it takes to save her.

  John stares at his daughter laying banged up in the bed before him. This must be so hard on him. I know he and Stacey didn’t share an ideal marriage, but from everything Mia, Matt, and Leah told me, both he and

  Stacey had managed to put their differences and bitterness aside as they grew accustomed to one another, but he must be hurting, they we’re together for nineteen years.

  “I told them that it was to be taken off her file and that they need to all they can to

  save her. They have screening now that ensures the blood is safe. I can’t lose my girl, Cole. It would kill me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cole

  I stay by Mia’s side for the next week. Matt had to go back to work, but before he did he popped by the hotel and gathered some essentials for me and dropped them back up to the hospital. The great part about having my own trucking company was that I was able to work from the hospital.

  I had built the business up to the point where it ran smoothly. I have two receptionists, and a general manager by the name of Azin, who keep things going. The only thing I take care of these days is keeping our clientele happy. When you’re dealing with established businesses, the big bosses like to be kept in the loop and they expect to hear from me and not my employees. A few of the heads, I’ve known for years, and I’ve built up a rapport with them. When they found out where I was conducting my work from and questioned why I was there, they were so kind as to tell me to piss off and that the only time they wanted to hear from me was when there was either in update on Mia’s condition or when everything in my life was back to normal. Thanks to them, I was able to cut my work time in half.

  One afternoon, after I’d showered and

  changed in the bathroom located in the corner of Mia’s ICU room, I had my hands buried in my pockets as I paced back and forth beside Mia who was still in a coma. I felt a piece of paper folded up. Pulling it out, I immediately knew who the note was from. It said, ‘You’re mine.’ in Mia’s handwriting. She must have slipped it into my pocket when we were together at the hotel. My eyes close and my heart beats against my ribs. I want to let go of the tears that are threatening to spill from my eyes, but I manage to keep them at bay for John’s sake. The note is something I’ll hold close to me until she opens her eyes again.

  Over the coming days, friends and relatives come by, but there’s one person I’m dreading having to face. Leah had been so angry towards me when she found out about my secret marriage, and that I’d kept that bit of information from both her and Mia. The moment she walked into the room, I braced myself, expecting to be slapped for betraying her best friend, but to my surprise, no such thing happened. No, Leah was far too devastated, she was crushed. All I could think to do was hold her until Matt arrived. When he did, he thanked me as he took over.

  As he stands at the foot of the bed, with a

  very upset Leah wrapped up in his arms, he asks, “So, how’s our girl doing today?”

  Reaching over, I take Mia’s good hand in mine, and run my free hand over the top of it. “She’s much better today than she was yesterday. They did another CT scan and it showed that the swelling on her frontal lobe has eased, but they still want to keep her in the induced coma so her body can heal. They believe she’d be in far too much pain if she was alert.” As much as I want to look into her eyes and tell her I love her, I also don’t want her to be in any pain, especially when she doesn’t need to be.

  As I continue to sit at Mia’s bedside, holding her hand and almost falling asleep sitting up, I hear the door to the room open.

  Looking to John who’s seated on the opposite side of the bed, I question, “Are you expecting someone?” I only ask because the doctors had been by, the nurse assigned to Mia is sitting behind her desk in the corner of the room and both Matt and Leah had already been by to visit.

  “Nope,” John shakes his head. Neither John nor I are fans of randoms popping in. You know the types, the ones that are only ever around to be a part of the drama so they

  can say they were there. Yeah, those kinds of freaks, but just before I see who it is, I hear John mutter, “Oh, shit.” And it puts me on

  edge and not two seconds later, I see her. I see my mother come around the corner.

  The second she spots Mia, and the condition she’s in, she breaks down into tears, her hands covering her mouth.

  The sight of my mother being here in the hospital has me in a state of shock, and I can’t seem to bring myself to budge, not even an inch.

  John notices my predicament and he shoots up out of the chair and embraces the woman who gave birth to me. The woman who has, granted, had some contact with me in recent times, but not enough for me to be able to forgive her for cutting me out of her life.

  Eventually, when Noelle’s tears subside, she begins to apologise profusely. “I’m so sorry, I was just shocked when I saw poor Mia. I wasn’t expecting this,” she whispers as she points in Mia’s direction. “Will she be okay?”

  John leads my mother over to where he was seated before her arrival and offers her the chair. “Oh please, Mia is a trooper. She’s looking so much better today than the day she was brought in. She’s practically back to super model status,” John jokes, but I feel

  he’s trying to convince himself of this rather than my mother.

  Noelle takes a seat and she looks over to me. “How are you, Cole?”

  Shrugging, I tell her, “I’m fine.” As much as I appreciate the fact that she’s come up to the hospital, I want to know the true reason for her visit. “What are you doing here, mum?”

  She takes a breath and lets it go before responding. “I only just heard about the accident. If I’d known sooner, I would have been here.”

  “What I meant is ‘Mia was never good enough for the family.’ Your words, so why bother being here now?”

  Her eyes grow wide and she looks up at John. “I’m so sorry I ever said that. I was so focused on making our family look perfect that my big mouth got in the way,” she explains.

  “I get that, I went through it with Stacey for years, but I would like to see these pair back together,” he says pointing between Mia and myself. “So, if you’re only here to spy on the situation and report back to Pat, then I’d prefer it if you leave. Mia doesn’t need one ounce of negativity surrounding her. I want my daughter back and the doctors have told us that anything with a negative tone

  needs to be discussed away from the room.” Go John! The man is a hero, and I know damn well that if Mia was awake, she’d be cheering him on.

  “I understand, but what you both need to

  know is that I moved out of the house a couple of weeks ago.” Shit, I wasn’t expecting that, not in a million years.

  Moving my laptop, I place it in the bedside table, and when I do, I give my mother my full attention. “What happened? Where’s Pat?” I’d stopped calling him Dad, long ago. The man didn’t deserve anyone’s respect, in my opinion.

  Wiping away a tear, she goes o
n to tell me the story. “I simply couldn’t take his controlling nature anymore. On the night I left, I wasn’t feeling the best, but Pat made me get dressed up so we could go to dinner with the Circuit Overseer, his wife, and the other elders of the congregation. Anyway, before leaving the house, I took a couple of pain killers to get me through the night. When we sat down to dinner, I was feeling so good I decided to have a glass of wine, which I shouldn’t have done, but I’d forgotten all about the pain killers I’d popped earlier in the evening. It wasn’t long before my speech began to slur. Thankfully, I’d spoken to Margaret, Thomas’ wife, during

  the day and I’d told her I wasn’t feeling well and would have to take some pain killers to get me through, so she was able to explain the situation I’d found myself in. Irregardless, your father wouldn’t hear of it. He dragged me out of the restaurant, embarrassing me to no end and went on to scream at me the

  entire way home. By then, I was sober and I fought back. I yelled at him as I packed an overnight bag and I told him I wanted a divorce. This has been a long time coming. Your father and I haven’t seen eye to eye since you moved out and cut off all contact. It’s never sat well with me, your leaving, but I haven’t been able to figure out the best way to approach you, Cole. I know you’re still angry with me and I cannot fault you for that, I also know that regaining your trust won’t happen immediately, but it is something I would very much like to work on.”

  My eyes meet John’s, I need to know what he thinks of the situation because right now, I can’t trust my own judgment. When he shrugs, I look to my mother who is still weeping. “Look, we can try, but you need to know that I’ll have no time for anyone until Mia is awake and able to take care of herself. Let’s face it, we’re a long way from that happening and I also don’t really need you trying to rush me to forgive you. Mia is

  my number one priority; she always will be. Got it?”

  Nodding, Noelle cries. “I completely understand, son. I do.”

  She sits and chats with us for another hour or so before she finally leaves. I was still unsure what to think of the situation, and John was no help either. It was going to have to be