“Zoey didn't seem surprised, did you notice? We should call her and -” August began, but was stopped short when River abruptly turned and started walking out of the room. His brothers hurried after him, pulling him to a stop.
“What are you doing?” Ocean asked.
“All you two ever do is talk!” River snapped. Finally, really, snapped, Ocean realized.
Looks like River just took those last two steps into his mental breakdown.
“What do you want us to do?” Ocean asked, glancing at August, who looked just as bewildered as he felt.
“Kick his fucking ass!”
“You can't just go beat up Charlie,” Ocean insisted.
“Why not? Because you won't?”
“Because it's wrong, not to mention illegal.”
“I don't care.”
“And it won't bring her back,” August added in a quiet voice. They watched as rage washed over River's face, then he shoved August.
“Fuck you! Bring her back? She's already dead to you, isn't she? Well, not to me!”
“I never said she was dead!”
“You sure fucking act like she is! Well, guess what, she's not, she's fucking stuck in a body that won't wake up, and goddammit, if Charlie is fucking around on her while she's fucking dying, then I'm gonna go beat the shit out of him. For me, because it will make me feel better, and if I get arrested, then fucking fine. You can even call the cops on me, Detective Reins,” River snarled, turning his anger on Ocean. “We all know that's your favorite thing, policing us, telling us what to do, so fucking fine.”
“C'mon,” Ocean said, trying to pull River in for a hug. “You wanna take this out on me, fine. Just let it out, little man.”
“Get fucked, you condescending prick.”
River took a swing. Ocean wasn't sure which shocked him more – that his brother wanted to punch him, or that he'd actually tried. Luckily, August had quicker reflexes than both of them and he grabbed River's arm, holding him in check.
“Whoa! You took it to ten real fuckin' fast, man! Calm down!” August demanded.
“You wanna fucking hit me? I've done nothing but help you! Your whole fucking life, I've bailed you – both of you – out of trouble constantly, and this is the thanks I get? Then let's fucking do this,” Ocean growled, stepping up to River.
It was then that August, the youngest – and easily the biggest – of the Reins brothers, got in between them and held out his arms, forcing them apart.
“Jesus, did you both eat testosterone for breakfast?” he shouted. “We get it, Ocean, you're the best big brother ever and we should kiss the ground you walk on. And okay, River, you're upset and scared and don't want anyone to know it, so you're acting pissy. Ocean, let him punch you in the mouth, then you can punch him back, and then maybe you'll both shut the fuck up.”
That pretty much put a stop to everything, and once again, Ocean couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. River laughed as well, and eventually all three of them were laughing till tears were in their eyes.
“I'm sorry,” River finally said as he tried to catch his breath. “I didn't really want to hit you.”
“Like you could've even if you'd really tried,” Ocean joked.
River went to argue, but Ocean grabbed him by the back of his neck and yanked him in for a hug. It was awkward for a moment, then River squeezed him and pounded him on the back.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
“This is SO. SWEET,” August sighed dramatically, then wrapped both of them in a huge bear hug, crushing them together.
“God,” Ocean struggled to breathe. “For the first time, I'm glad Adele can't open her eyes. If she could see us now.”
They all started laughing again, and before they'd even finished, they saw movement. Everyone froze mid-hug and stared at the hospital bed.
Adele's entire body jerked once. Twice. She gasped in air like she'd never taken a breath before, and then she sat bolt upright.
Her wide eyes stared straight at their group, and Ocean held his breath. Nurse Lund had told them coma patients could move. The doctors had warned them that coma patients were capable of all kinds of things. Everyone told them to never ever get their hopes up. So he held his breath alongside his brothers and he waited for her to fall back to bed. Waited for her to close her eyes and never open them again.
But she didn't. Instead, she took another deep breath and opened her mouth.
“What's with all the yelling? I'm trying to sleep.”
19
Charlie Kassen ran through the hospital. He smacked into a nurse at one point, made a halfhearted attempt to help her up, then kept moving.
She's awake. I can't believe it. I'd given up on her.
And the news just got better and better – Mrs. Reins had told him that Adele appeared to be in pretty good health. She was confused, and she had no sense of time, and absolutely no memory of how she'd wound up in the hospital, but she could remember all of them. She could think and speak and express herself in almost the same manner as before the accident.
When he got to her room, it was filled with people. Her entire family and Zoey were there, as well as several doctors and nurses. Charlie managed to push in, annoyed that he had to shove people around just to get in the room.
Then he saw her, and he immediately teared up. Adele, sitting up in bed. Blinking her eyes and looking around. Opening her mouth and talking. They may have broken up right before the accident, and it may have been four months since they'd technically spoken, but she was still someone close to him. Someone he cared about very deeply. Someone he'd begun to think he'd never see again.
“Charlie! Charlie, up here.”
Mrs. Reins appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his hand, dragging him through the crowd. August and River stepped aside, though neither looked at him – he hadn't gotten around to explaining his stupid indiscretion with Tabitha. But now certainly wasn't the time, so he prayed the brothers would leave him alone. They could mess with him any other time, but not today.
When he reached Adele's bedside, she was looking at a doctor, holding her mouth open while the man checked her tongue and throat. It was a little shocking. She looked so ... alive. He couldn't remember when he'd started thinking of her as a ghost, but he had, and now he felt ashamed.
She was still beautiful, but she looked different now that she was sitting up. She'd lost a lot of weight during her coma, and the loss of “baby fat” had sharpened her features. It really brought out her eyes, making them look large and luminous.
Then she turned to look at him, and it was like everyone in the room disappeared. The person who'd been the main component of his life for the last three years. The woman he'd shared a home with and a bed with; one of his best friends. He'd thought she was lost to him, and yet here she was.
I missed her.
“Honey,” her mother said. “This is Charlie. Remember Charlie?”
Adele stared at him for a moment, and her look morphed into one of confusion and fear. It startled him, and he glanced at her mother and the doctors.
“This is completely normal,” Dr. Martin spoke in a calm voice. “Adele's brain is ... still waking up. She may have trouble remembering some things at first, but don't worry.”
Charlie nodded, then looked back at her and managed to choke out, “Hi, Adele.”
“They ... they told me you were in the accident,” she started to speak. Her voice sounded different. Raspier, probably from lack of use, and she spoke in a halting sort of way, as if she was really concentrating on which words she wanted to use. “That you were in the car with me.”
“I was. I was driving,” he said simply, struggling to keep his smile in place.
“I know ... I know it wasn't your fault. And I'm glad you're okay,” she told him. He forced himself to smile.
“Thank you,” he said. “I'm glad you're okay, too.”
There was a long pause and she looked like she was thinking really hard about something. Then, finally, she smiled back at him. A genuine smile – like a ray of sunshine that had been missing from his life for four months.
“And I'm sorry about the car,” she added. “You ... you loved that car. It was a beautiful car. I can remember being jealous of it, and I know I told you I hated it, but I promise – I had nothing to do with our accident.”
A joke. She was making a joke. She was remembering him, remembering them, and she was trying to make him feel better by making a stupid joke.
He couldn't keep it together. As he smiled, tears swam across his vision. He nodded his head and wiped at his eyes.
“I know. And thank you. Thanks,” he whispered. “I'm glad you're here, Adele. I missed you so much.”
Her smile faltered, but only for a second.
“I think ... I think I missed you, too, Charlie.
Then the doctors took over again, and he was glad. It was too much. So much more intense than anything he'd imagined. He shook free of Mrs. Reins and almost fell across the room, collapsing in a chair when he reached the far wall. He took deep breaths, trying to get a hold of himself.
“Surprised?”
He looked up to find her oldest brother standing next to him.
“Not now, Ocean. Not today,” was all Charlie said. There was a long silence, then the other man squeezed his shoulder.
“I just meant ... I know how you feel,” he whispered.
Neither of them looked at each other or spoke again, but Ocean left his hand there for a while.
And Charlie was thankful for it.
THAT FIRST WEEK WAS a blur to Ocean. Adele was moved to a whole different wing of the hospital, where a whole different barrage of doctors and interns were always rotating through her room.
She was a medical marvel, they were told, to have been in a coma as long as she had and to wake up relatively fine. They'd all been told that longer the coma, the greater the chance for brain damage. By that reasoning, and according to her doctors, Adele should've been grappling with some sort of cognitive issues, but she wasn't. Her memory was even back to normal – she could remember Charlie now, and she could also remember the day of the accident, though not the accident itself.