Under the Viaduct, H. Anderson [top young adult novels .TXT] 📗

A few minutes later, Allie rushed in and hugged Kaylee awkwardly around the IV tubing and monitors. “Kaylee! I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“That amazing boyfriend of yours.” Allie smiled.

“What? But he’s in surgery, he was in critical condition when we got here.”

Allie shook her head. “No, I knew you were kidnapped. He came to the apartment after they called him. He was freaking out, he was so worried about you. And I’ve never seen anyone so angry.”

Kaylee was so confused. “Why did he come to the apartment?”

“He videoed part of the Facetime. That was genius of you to mouth where you were, but he wasn’t a hundred percent positive what you’d said, so he brought it to show me. He called the police to give them an anonymous tip about the drug meet-up.”

Kaylee interrupted. “That’s what he meant…”

“Then he insisted on borrowing my car and took off in a frenzy,” Allie continued. “He texted me, I assume when he got to the bowling alley, and told me to call the police in ten minutes and tell them to go there.”

Grasping her friend’s hand, Kaylee said, “Thank you.”

Allie wiped at her face, as she was now crying. “Of course, Kay, I’d do anything for you. And obviously, so would Blayne. The police let me know you were on your way here in an ambulance.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Kaylee squeezed her friend’s hand.

“Oh, and,”—Allie winced—“I called your parents. They’re on their way up here.”

The neuro attending didn’t want Kaylee to leave her room until he’d had a chance to reassess her later in the day. But her nurse and Allie conspired against him as soon as they got word that Blayne was out of the recovery room and in the med/surg unit on the same floor as neuro.

“You’re my only patient right now,” said Tammy, the nurse assigned to her. “So, I’ll just go with you. I can do your neuro checks on the go.” She winked.

The dread Kaylee had been feeling since Blayne had been closed into the back of an ambulance eased somewhat. Tammy had assured her that he must be doing fine, or they wouldn’t have put him on med/surg, he would be in the surgical ICU.

They’d already unhooked her from the IV fluids, leaving the capped IV in Kaylee’s arm. She grew dizzy when transferring to the wheelchair Tammy insisted on using, but she didn’t tell the nurse about it. She didn’t want anything to keep her from Blayne.

The nurse pushed her into his room, Allie close behind them. Blayne lay in bed, the head of the bed slightly elevated, an identical sling to hers on his left arm. His face was still pale, but not the deathly white it had been the last time she’d seen him. He smiled and reached out to her as Tammy wheeled her right next to him. “Kaylee,” he clutched her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

His name came from her mouth as a sob. “Blayne.” She stood shakily from the wheelchair and laid her head against his chest, taking the ER doctor’s advice and allowing herself to lose control and weep. With some trouble and some help by Tammy to untangle his IV tubing, Blayne hugged her to his chest with his uninjured arm. He pressed his lips to her head, holding them there as she let hot tears flow onto his hospital gown.

In the background, she heard Tammy whisper, “Let’s give them some privacy,” and shortly after, the door opened and closed.

Blayne just held her without saying a word until she’d let it all out. The pent-up fear, the flood of relief that he was alive, the worry about Mama C. After several minutes, she pulled herself together, sat back in the wheelchair, and wiped her face. She realized at that moment what she must look like—dirty, tangled hair; no makeup; hospital gown. But she didn’t care.

They held hands, Kaylee ran her thumb across Blayne’s red, swollen knuckles. He repeated, “I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t,” Kaylee said. “Don’t apologize. None of this is your fault.”

“If I hadn’t been such an idiot in my past—”

“No. Stop,” she commanded with a soft voice. “This is a new day. And you can’t control what other people think and do. It wasn’t your fault.”

He looked up at the ceiling and pursed his lips. He whispered, “I was so afraid I was going to lose you.” He closed his eyes and swallowed, then looked at her again. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. Or so angry.” He shook his head and let go of her hand. He softly ran his fingers over her bruised face, her swollen lip, the worry lines creasing her forehead. He fixed her gaze with his eyes. “I love you, Kaylee. I wanted to tell you. I started to tell you a couple of times and I didn’t. Then I was afraid I’d lost the chance. When you wouldn’t answer your phone or texts, then when those assholes had you. That’s why I said it at the bowling alley, just in case.” He grabbed her hand. “I will never again pass up the opportunity to tell you how much you mean to me. Ever.”

“I love you, too. And thank you. For saving my life.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But don’t you ever risk your life like that again.”

He smiled wearily. “No guarantees.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, his lips lingering there, flushing her skin with warmth. He held it there even as the door opened and Allie, Tammy, and a doctor entered, only returning their hands to the bed when the doctor stood next to him.

“Well Mr. Ellis, you were quite lucky. I’m Dr. Bennet. I’m the surgeon who operated on you.” He unsnapped Blayne’s gown over his left shoulder and rolled it down to look at the dressing. “Now that you’re more awake, I’ll explain what I did.

“The