by KB Winters
I set the room key on the counter. “Yeah. I know but there’s somewhere I gotta be.”
Paul set down his fork and swiped the key from the counter. “Well you be careful out there. The weather’s supposed to turn on us again.”
I glanced over my shoulder and out the glass doors. The sky was still waking up, but looked calm. Not that it mattered—I couldn’t sit around another day waiting out a storm. The phone call with Ben had gone a long way towards consoling me, but I needed to see my dad with my own eyes before I would fully be able to relax.
“I will. Thanks again,” I said.
Paul gave me his signature head nod as he handed me my receipt. I pivoted on my heel, ready to leave, but shot back one last glance, flicking my gaze to the half eaten piece of pie, and told Paul, “Ask her out to dinner. She’ll say yes.”
Paul’s mouth opened slightly as he reeled for a response, but I just flashed a smile and pushed out the double doors.
Chapter Eight — Allie
Unfortunately, Paul’s warning hadn’t been in vain. The rain started dumping on me less than three hours into my ride. I pushed through, thankful it was daylight and the rain didn’t have such a bone chilling effect on me, as I plowed over miles and miles of highway. The rain slowed my pace and squeezed out every drop of energy I had left in my body.
I reluctantly stopped in Colorado to take a three hour nap at a Best Western. When I woke up, I forced my tired and aching muscles back onto Cherry Bomb to finish the trip. I was ready to collapse, but clung to my bike with my weak legs, and let out a whooping holler to the sky as I crossed the state line into Kansas.
I ignored the temptation to go to my parents’ house to shower and change, and went straight to the hospital instead. My parents’ house sat about a half an hour outside the main city limits. I winced, thinking of how my mom must have felt, speeding towards the hospital once she got the call about the accident. That had to have been the longest car ride of her life…I hated myself for not being there.
When I stopped for gas, I called Ben and got the hospital information, and let him know I’d be there within the hour. Somehow, the last hour, felt more like three, and when the hospital finally came into view, I wondered if it was like seeing a mirage in the desert. I wandered the halls, stopping once to ask for directions, and eventually went down the right hallway and spotted Ben and my mom lingering.
“Allison!” My mom yelled, breaking into a trot as soon as she spotted me. Ben was right on her heels, and within seconds they both had me gripped in a tight embrace. I burst into tears and sagged against them, overwhelmed with thankfulness that I’d made it, and that they were finally within reach.
“Oh honey, you’re soaked through!” My mom said as we all untangled from one another. “Let me get you something from my overnight bag and you can go change.”
I wiped away a streak of tears. “Can I see Daddy first?”
“Of course! Oh honey…” She wrapped her arms around me and held me for another minute. When she finally released me, she kept one arm around my waist and Ben opened the door to the room, letting us both inside. The room was small, but someone had rolled in a cot that was laid out with rumpled sheets next to the bed my dad was lying in. My gaze dragged over all the details of the room, noting the multiple floral arrangements on the counter by the sink, and the cards taped to the mirror, before lifting my eyes to see my dad. I stifled a sob as I took it all in. He was still sleeping, and while he looked peaceful, I was shocked by how he looked small, lying on the hospital bed, amid the careful arrangement of wires and tubes. His hands and arms were covered with bruises, probably from the various IV’s used during the surgeries, and now, to attach him to the machines that hummed and buzzed in the background. Something about seeing my six-foot dad so small in the hospital tugged at my heart and I felt myself misting up again as I just stared at him.
“Is he okay?” I asked, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice.
My mom looked up at me from across the bed, and nodded her head, but I could see the question in her own eyes.
“He’s going to be fine, Allie,” Ben assured me. He wrapped an arm around my mom and pulled her into his side and squeezed her shoulder. “The doctors and nurses all have positive things to say and they haven’t spent that much time hovering, which I can only assume is a good sign.”
“Your brother’s right, he’ll pull through.”
I nodded again and tried to tamp down the guilt that had consumed me since I received my mom’s phone call. I hadn’t been home in quite a long time and the fact that this is what it took to get me here made me feel like the worst daughter in the world. It didn’t matter what Cooper said, I should have been there. When I left home, I’d been running from so many different things, I hadn’t stopped to consider what I was leaving behind. My oldest brother, Luke, had left home when he was 18 and I’d seen firsthand how it had affected my parents, but when my time to run came, it didn’t seem to matter. Ben, on the other hand, had stayed nearby, and ran a local auto body shop. As I stared at him across my father’s hospital bed, I was silently grateful for the fact he’d stayed close to home and had been able to be by my mom’s side since day one of this nightmare.
“Is Luke coming?” I asked, my voice quiet.
My mom looked up at me, tears rimming her eyes, and shook her head no. Ben’s face crumpled into an expression that appeared to be a mix between anger and despair. I wanted to ask more—to find out where he was and what his excuse was this time, but the grief on my mom’s face silenced me. Ben glanced at me and I knew he’d tell me later, once we were alone. I could only imagine what it was this time. The last time I’d asked about Luke, he’d been working some kind of sales job, and besides sending home generous checks around the holidays, no one had heard much from him. I couldn’t imagine he was missing this, even though things seem to be turning around, I couldn’t help but wonder what if the outcome had been different? Would he have come if surgery hadn’t gone well? Or would he have simply waited until the funeral?
I shuddered at the idea of a funeral, and pushed the dark thought from my mind.
I heard soft footsteps behind me, and automatically took a sidestep—assuming it was a nurse coming to check on my dad. Ben was standing on the opposite side of the bed, next to my mom, and when he caught my attention, he looked over and jerked a nod of his chin towards the door. I turned back to see what he was pointing at, and my heart jumped into my throat at the sight of Cooper crossing the room, balancing three paper coffee cups in his hands. “Here you go, Mrs. Rand.”
“Cooper!” I yelped.
His eyes flew to mine. “Hey baby,” he flashed me a quick smile before continuing across the room to hand off one of the cups to my mom and then to Ben. “When did you get here?”
I sputtered for a few seconds before my words could get traction. “When did I get here? What are you doing here? And when? And how? And why?”
I’d make a riveting journalist.
Cooper smiled in his calm, cool, relaxed way and rounded the foot of the bed. He pulled me into a firm embrace and despite my irritation—and the unanswered questions—my body relaxed and melted against him, soaking in his warmth and strength. He held me for a long minute, before I pulled back a step. “Cooper, what’s going on?”
I shot a glance past his shoulder, in time to catch a small grin between my mom and Ben. How long had they known he was here? How had he introduced himself? A spark of panic flickered in the back of my mind. I hadn’t told my parents—or my brothers—about Cooper. Had he introduced himself as my boyfriend, lover, boss, friend? And what had they said in response?
“You didn’t tell us you had a boyfriend,” my mom prodded gently.
Well I guess that answered that question.
“It’s new,” I said, shooting a questioning look in Cooper’s direction. He just smiled back and kept a firm hold on my shoulder.
My mom waved a hand, and I knew there were no hard feelings, if any
thing, the giant smile that had spread across her face tipped me off that Cooper had probably said a little more than I’d ever expected. “Well, I don’t know why you were hiding him, honey. He’s absolutely adorable!” She was practically purring as she beamed over at the two of us standing together.
Before I could think of anything else to say, a nurse entered the room, and after introducing herself to me, shooed us all from the room so she could change my dad’s bedding. Cooper grabbed my hand, locking our fingers together, and led me from the room. Out in the hall we all gathered around a cluster of chairs and the three of them sipped nonchalantly at the coffees Cooper had brought.
“Are you serious?” I asked shooting each of them a glance. “Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?”
“What do you mean dear?” My mom replied.
I turned to Cooper, narrowing my eyes in his direction, giving him my best icy stare. “I mean, what are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you were coming when we talked on the phone last night.”
My mom and Ben dropped their gazes to the floor, studying their shoes for a beat before my mom chimed in, “Ben, darling, why don’t we go take a little walk, stretch our legs, maybe get a refill at the coffee shop. Would either of you like anything?”
“No thanks, Mrs. Rand,” Cooper replied, flashing another smile in my mom’s direction. She gave a small nod and then started down the hallway with Ben following two steps behind. Before they rounded the corner, Ben gave me a last glance and flashed a thumbs-up before disappearing.
“Some welcome,” Cooper said, the warmth seeped out of his voice. “I don’t feel like you left me with much choice, Allie. If I wanted to know where you were and what was going on, I had to come and find out firsthand.”
I crossed my arms, resisting the urge to stamp my feet. “I was on a motorcycle for the last 20 plus hours, I did the very best I could to check in. I’m sorry it wasn’t up to your standards, but that doesn’t mean you needed to come down here and babysit me.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that being with the woman I love during a family crisis would be considered babysitting,” Cooper snapped, taking two steps away from me. “Fuck! Allie, what do you want from me? I flew all the way out here on the red eye last night to be here for you as soon as you arrived, to support you, to do whatever you need me to do, and you’re treating me like an intrusion.”
A new searing of guilt scorched a trail down my spine at the wounded look in his eyes. His face was passive, and I knew from the outside, no one would suspect his true emotions, but his eyes told a different story. They held the truth—and it was heart wrenching. “Cooper, I’m—”
He stopped me, holding up his hand to indicate he was done with the conversation. “Take some time, figure out what you want.” He gave one last considering look at a spot between my eyes, then turned away and went down the hall opposite of the way my mom and Ben had just gone, leaving me alone in the hallway, completely torn in two.
Chapter Nine — Allie
We all stayed at the hospital until a little after six, at which point, my mom insisted we all go back to the house to have some dinner.
“Come on, let’s all go back to the house. Allie, you can shower and get changed and I’ll make us all a proper supper,” she said, standing up from her seat by my dad’s bed.
“Mom, you don’t have to cook,” I protested. “I’m sure that’s the last thing you feel like doing.”
She stopped in the doorway, glancing back at my dad. “Allison, stop being such a worry wart. I’m fine. Besides, I have food in the fridge that needs to be cooked or it’ll go bad, and you know I hate waste.”
The tone of her voice told me there was no room for a debate, so I stood, Cooper and Ben following my lead, and we all shuffled from the room. My mom checked in at the nurse’s station, letting them know she’d be back in a few hours, and then we all went out to the parking lot. Cooper walked a few paces from me, and the space between us ripped my heart out a little more with each step.
“Can I ride with you?” I asked him. “I’m pretty sure my body will mutiny if I even try getting back on Cherry Bomb right now.”
There was a flicker of a smile in his eyes as he nodded.
“We’ll see y’all at the house,” my mom called out to us, leading Ben in the other direction to where her car was parked.
Cooper led me to his rental car—some kind of hulking luxury car—and opened the passenger door for me. I winced as I slid into the seat, every inch of my body sore and worn out from the long ride. When he joined me, I turned and stilled his hands before he turned the key in the ignition. “I’m glad you’re here.”
His dark eyes locked with mine and he gave me a quick kiss before turning the engine over and pulling out of the lot. The ride to my parent’s house was silent, except for my directive cues, but when we stopped in the driveway, he looked over at me again, “There’s nowhere else I would rather be.”
* * * *
When we got inside, my mom already had the house filled with the sounds and smells of cooking. She couldn’t have arrived much more than ten minutes before us, but somehow had managed to prep a whole stack of potatoes, and had some veggies roasting in the oven. “Do you need a hand?” I asked, leaning against the arch that led into the small, but homey kitchen.
My mom glanced over her shoulder, her knife poised mid-chop. “No, no, dear. You go shower and get changed. I put some fresh towels on the bed in your old room. You can both stay in there.”
I blushed at the thought of Cooper and me sharing my childhood bed. It was just one door away from my parents’ room. In high school, I’d made out with my boyfriend on the couch, but had never made it to the bedroom. It was odd to think that Cooper was going to be the first—and maybe only—man I’d ever bring home. Sure, it hadn’t happened exactly how I would’ve planned it—but the point was the same. He was here and had already met my mom and brother Ben…and hopefully soon, he’d meet my dad.
“Are you sure, mom? This looks like a lot of work?” I asked.
“Yes, dear. I’ve got this covered and Ben went out to get some iced tea. Somehow we ran out. But you know you can’t have fried chicken without sweet tea!” She waved her knife in a shooing motion at Cooper and me.
I smiled, my stomach coming alive at the words. “You’re in for a treat,” I told Cooper, pointing at the stove. “My mom apparently makes the best fried chicken you’ll ever eat in your whole life—or so my dad says. I don’t do the chicken thing, but I’m sure you’ll love it!”
“Sounds good to me! The last thing I ate was a bagel sandwich at the airport,” Cooper said with a smile towards my mom—who, I could have sworn flushed slightly. I tugged on his arm and dragged him by the hand down the hall towards my old room.
I stopped short of opening the white door and turned to pin my back against it. “You have to promise you won’t judge me once you see inside this room,” I warned Cooper, my face stern.
He arched an eyebrow and reached past me, trying to grab the doorknob. “This is gonna be good…”
I smacked his hand. “I’m serious, Cooper. This was my room in high school, you know, like a hundred years ago.”
He laughed. “What are you worried about? Is it wallpapered with Backstreet Boys posters or something?”
I glared at him. “No. It’s just…well—” I huffed and flung the door open. I took three short steps into the room and flicked on the bedside lamp, illuminating the dark room. Cooper looked around and I followed the trail his eyes made as they landed on each new item. The walls were painted a dark eggplant color—a hard fought battle with my mom back when I was fourteen—and were littered with so many posters it was almost like a bizarre wallpaper job. In high school, I’d been very into punk music and most of the bands represented in the posters were no longer in existence, just a series of one-hit wonders, or local bands that had blown up pictures of themselves for sale at their concerts or open mic nights to scrape in a little extra
cash. I smiled sadly at the fact that the room looked untouched. My parents had obviously been keeping the room clean and free of dust, but everything else looked just as it had when I’d left home.
“Well?” I prompted as Cooper soaked it all in.
He glanced at me and smiled. “It’s different, but I get it,” he said, finally passing his judgment over the space.
I smiled, but then nibbled my lower lip, wondering what he was really thinking. Although it wasn’t who I was anymore, it was a piece of my past, a piece I wasn’t entirely sure he could ever understand. I’d never seen Cooper’s childhood home, not even in pictures, but I imagined it would probably look more or less like a Pottery Barn catalog…not a rebellious teenager’s shrine to bad indie rock music.
“It’s fantastic, Allie. It’s you.”
I didn’t bother correcting him that it used to be me. My tastes had evolved significantly since my high school days.
“I forgot my backpack in the car,” I said, desperate to change the topic.
“I’ll go,” he said, vanishing before I could say anything else.
Alone in the room, it felt smaller, more constricted. I remembered the weekend I’d brought home the can of paint—the weekend after everything had gone to hell—it had been a discount can at the local home improvement store, mixed up by mistake, and the owner had given it to me when he’d caught me admiring the deep color. I’d taken it home, and had been halfway through painting over the existing soft lilac color of the first wall of my bedroom, when my mom had burst in and demanded that I stop. It had been a drawn out battle with my parents, and eventually they gave in and let me paint the rest, since I’d already wrecked the existing paint, but I’d been grounded for a month and had extra chores for even longer as a punishment.
