Meant for Me | ✔️

27) positive

Monday, 4th August.

A D D I E

Margo was reading to me. I could hear her voice wrapping around the words of a novel that was so familiar to me, yet, I couldn't think of what the name was. No matter though, it was soothing, listening to her melodic voice while I drifted in and out of sleep. I'd missed this. Missed her.

It occurred to me then, that I missed her because. . . well, she wasn't with me anymore. Margo is dead.

Her voice began to change. It became softer, less hoarse, higher. The words were the same but the voice was no longer hers. I blinked awake and let my head roll to the side where I saw Willa sitting beside my bed, a book in her hands, her mouth moving with fluent precision while she read to me.

I didn't interrupt her, I smiled. She was here. Willa was here and she was reading to me.

So I was in no rush to stop her. The fact that she was comfortably reading aloud despite the fact that I was sleeping, well that was beautiful. I wondered how long I'd been asleep for.

After the doctor had assured me that I had no serious injuries and my head just needed a stitch and a few surface abrasions on my arms and legs needed bandaging, I was free to come home. Of course, there was that other piece of information that the doctor told me about. The one that put my stomach in my throat and I now struggled to keep up the denial that I'd held so firm in place for the last month.

"Oh," Willa glanced up and smiled. "You're awake. Hello."

"Hey sweetie," I reached out and took her hand. The love that I had for her in the short time that I'd known her was overwhelming. Although, she had been in my heart from the moment that she was born. "That was beautiful. What were you reading?"

"To All The Boys I've Loved Before."

"I love that one."

She grinned and a movement in my peripheral caught my attention. Zac was on the window seat with his elbows on his knees. He was drier now, in a fresh t-shirt and jeans. He smiled at me and rested his clasped hands in front of his chin.

"How long was I napping?"

"Just a couple of hours," he said.

"Where are Raine and Milo?" I asked, looking at Willa again who was patiently sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest and a soft smile.

"Raine is at work. Milo is at home waiting for me to drop Willa off. I told him that I would after you'd woken up."

I nodded and sat up a little bit, feeling grateful that Milo had left Willa here in the first place. This was progress. This meant that he wasn't going to shut me out and I was more relieved than I could describe to know that we could continue getting to know each other. Zac stood up and came to the bed side.

"Feeling alright?"

"Yeah," I smiled and watched his face, retaining the soft concern to memory, wondering how much would change soon. "Just a sore head I suppose. It would have been a lot worse if you hadn't been there. Thank you. For helping me."

"You wouldn't have been out there if it weren't for me."

While the argument had persuaded my impromptu walk along the river trail, it wasn't his fault that I'd followed the sound of a distressed meow and tried to save a cat from an impossible situation. That was on me and my giant pride which wouldn't allow me to go home and ask for help.

"Is the cat alright?" I asked, veering from the chance of an in-depth discussion about our relationship in front of Willa. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.