Still the One (Book 2 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

15 | Awake

No one can make me cry,

Make me laugh,

Make me smile,

Or drive me mad,

Like she does.

-Kenny Chesney, "I Lost It"

Miles

Of all the things I thought I might see in my lifetime – flying cars, actual hoverboards, or teleportation devices – I never thought I'd see my brother kissing my girlfriend.

I felt my blood pressure spike, and color flooded my face. Rachel jumped up. "Miles, please, I – "

I walked past her and approached Luke, who stood up to face me. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" I hissed.

"Miles, I'm sorry," Luke said, but I had already grabbed his collar.

"Miles, stop!" Rachel shrieked. "Seriously, stop! He's just confused; he's hurting."

Luke just stood there, letting me hold his collar, looking like he didn't give a shit if I hit him or not.

But I knew I wasn't going to hit him. I let go of his collar roughly, causing him to fall back onto the loveseat. He just sat there, staring at the floor.

Rachel stepped toward me, but I held my hand out behind me, stopping her from coming any closer. "I need a minute," I muttered, turning and not meeting her eyes.

"Okay," she said, her voice shaking.

I put my hand on the curtain, but froze in my tracks when I heard the strangled cough from behind me.

I whirled around to see Brooke's eyelids fluttering open. "Oh my God," I whispered.

Luke's eyes lit up and he got to her side in one step. "Brooke, baby. You're awake," he cried, tears sliding down his cheeks.

She nodded, but she couldn't speak due to the tube in her throat. "Hang on," I said. "I'll be right back!" I ran out of the room and grabbed the nearest doctor.

A couple minutes later, the doctor had pulled the tube out of Brooke's throat, and she was trying to speak, but couldn't yet.

"Is that normal?" Luke asked, holding her hand tightly.

"Yes, very much so. After you've been intubated for a while, it's hard to regain speech. But she will any minute now, I presume," Dr. Livingston, the on-call ER doctor, explained.

We nodded. "Thank you, Doctor," Rachel said.

"Of course. Let me know when she speaks and if she needs anything," he said, disappearing behind the curtain.

When he was gone, we gathered around Brooke's bed, willing her to speak. The events of the past ten minutes were all but forgotten. She smiled weakly at us, and after a few minutes, she spoke.

"Guys," she croaked. "You're here."

"Of course we are, sweetheart," Rachel said, sitting on the foot of her bed and patting her knee.

"Where else would we be?" Luke asked, putting his hand on her cheek and smiling.

"I don't deserve for any of you to be here," she rasped, her voice still hoarse.

"Shhh," Rachel cooed, shaking her head. "Don't say that."

"It's true... especially you, Luke," she said.