Life in Fusion (34 page)

couldn’t get anyone to answer me.

There was something on my face, I could feel its weight. I

kept trying to reach up and rip it off, and that’s when I realized I

couldn’t move. Why the fuck couldn’t I move?

My head felt funny, it was aching—a dull throbbing sensation.

The fucking whispering was starting to piss me off. I hated having

people talk about me behind my back. What the hell were they

saying?

Where the fuck am I anyway, and can someone turn off that

incessant beeping noise?

I tried turning my head in an attempt to remove whatever was

on my face. I heard a pop and a white light flooded my eyes while

my ears filled with a loud ringing.

I sucked in a deep breath of air and my eyes flipped open.

Everything was hazy and a bright light was coming from

somewhere above my head. I blinked until things started to come

into focus. The fuzzies transformed in to faces. I was confused

seeing Gabe, Tommy and the twins all hovering over me.

250 Ethan Day

“What are you guys doing?” I asked, startled by the raspy

quality of my voice. I swallowed and tried to clear my throat

as Tommy vanished from my line of sight. “What happened?

Where the hell am I?”

“He’s awake again, and speaking!” I heard Tommy yelling out.

“You were in a car wreck.” Gabe seemed half relieved and

half sick. “You don’t remember?”

The guys moved out of the way and a doctor moved in,

hovering over me. That’s when Wade and my parents moved into

my sightline as well. I became aware of the fact I was in one of

those hard plastic crash collars.

“How are you feeling, Boone?” the doc asked. “I’m Doctor

Richards. Donny, you wanna help me remove the cervical collar?”

Donny came back into view as Wade moved out.

“Why the fuck am I in a cervical collar?” I asked, cringing as

they carefully removed the contraption. “Ow, that hurts”

“Sorry,” the doctor said. “You’re going to be plenty sore for

a few days. You’ve been in and out of consciousness since they

brought you in. We’ve stitched up the laceration on your scalp,

and your CT and x-rays came back clear.”

“All clear on the CBC and chem panel,” Lonny said.

The doctor was poking around on me, checking my vitals.

I shut my eyes, feeling my heart rate race as I remembered

the headlights coming toward me, the horn blaring and tires

screeching. “I remember being frightened.”

My eyes flipped back open. “Dude, that hurts.”

He was asking me something but I wasn’t listening to him

anymore. I was beginning to freak out. I was fucked up, I knew

it. I could feel my eyes beginning to well up so I took a deep

breath in an attempt to calm myself, imagining the worst. I’d be

unable to walk or was missing half my face…something mind

numbingly wretched was wrong and they just hadn’t told me yet.

I glanced over my parents’ faces to Wade’s. They were all

exhausted, I could tell that much. I couldn’t read Wade, didn’t

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251

know whether it was relief or pity on his face. Then he smiled.

It was like a dam breaking—relief washed over me. He nudged

his head toward the doc, as if to tell me I wasn’t paying attention.

“We made sure you got the cute, gay doctor,” Lonny said,

smiling at the man, shamelessly flirting.

He probably would be considered a little slice of hotness in

another place and time, with his tall, dark and handsomeness. At

the moment, I wasn’t all that impressed by his package as I was

worried about my own.

God forbid my current situation, whatever that might be, prevents the

twins from man-hunting.

“He doesn’t remember the wreck?” Wade asked, looking at

Gabe.

“You hit your head—smashed the driver side window,

Boone.” The doctor was shining a pen light in my eyes. “You

do have concussion, but the scans didn’t show any bleeding or

swelling in your brain. From what the paramedics told us, you

were lucky the other driver only clipped the front end of your

car.”

Mom started crying and Rocky put his arm around her. I knew

this had probably been particularly hard on Dixie, remembering

her devastation when the police came knocking on our door all

those years ago to inform her that Uncle Barry and Steven had

been killed in a car wreck. I could tell she’d been terrified.

“It’s okay Mom,” I said.
Please, please let it be true
. “I’m fine. I

remember the wreck now.” I turned to the doctor. “I am fine,

right doc?”

“Nothing’s broken.”

“And the other driver?” I asked.

Dr. Richards smiled. “Already been discharged, he’s fine.”

“I can’t believe you were involved in a car wreck,” Dixie said

through her Tammie-Fayed, bleeding-mascara covered eyes.

It had been every bit as much an accusation as it had been an

exclamation.

252 Ethan Day

I knew I needed to hold it together, if for nothing else but to

keep my mother from going any further off the deep end than

she obviously already had. “I know, how cliché, right. If this were

a TV show, I’d be rolling my eyes at the cheap ploy—pandering

for sweeps.”

Dixie looked down at me as if in shock, then exhaled

dramatically, obviously disgusted.

“Please don’t tell me I was in a coma, ‘cause that would just

be overkill.”

“Stop that!” Dixie snapped at me. “Stop making jokes.”

Wade reached over and rubbed her shoulder. “It’s what he

does, you know that.”

I could tell she was legitimately pissed, but I decided that was

way better than sad and upset. I tried to wink, though wasn’t sure

that it happened. “Yeah, what he said.”

“How do you feel?” the doctor asked, becoming visibly

annoyed by everyone else in the room as the bed hummed—the

back lifting me up.

“Everything aches.”

“That’s good, right?” Wade asked as if needing to have his

own worst fears relieved.

“Not for you, buddy, I’m a major whiner,” I answered before

the doctor could, while trying not to be the big baby I secretly

wanted to be.

“Can you move?” the doctor asked, smiling now as he shook

his head at me. “Anything other than your mouth, that is?”

“’Kay, the cute doctor’s a bit mouthy.” I sighed, glancing

down over my body before turning to Wade. “I’m afraid to try.”

“You should be fine,” Dr. Richards said. “Go on.”

I started with my toes, wiggling away, then lifted a leg, eyes

widening at how stiff I was. Instead of complaining about the

discomfort I turned to Wade. “By the way, who the hell are you?”

I heard my mom gasping for air as Wade’s face went ashen. I

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253

immediately felt bad, since he looked like he was now about to

go off the deep end.

I squeezed Wade’s hand. “Relax, I’m just kidding.”

Wade let out a long sigh of relief and shut his eyes momentarily,

as if saying a quick prayer of thanks.

“Such an asshole,” Gabe said, shaking his head at me.

“Damn it, Boone, you nearly gave the man a heart attack,”

Dixie said.

“Again,” Wade mumbled.

“Let that be a lesson to you. Next time let me win the

argument.”

The doctor smiled as Gabe and the twins laughed under their

breath.

“This isn’t the time to be making jokes,” Dixie scolded again.

“Is that true doctor?” I cringed, hissing in pain when he softly

poked and prodded the back and sides of my neck. I could feel

every muscle in my body, and they were all really pissed. “Is

comedy hazardous to my health?”

Wade’s eyes popped back open. “Marry me?”

“I thought I was the one with the head injury?”

“Stop being all lippy and say yes,” Wade demanded.

“So damn bossy.” I looked at the doctor who was testing my

ribcage. “That really hurts dude.”

Wade squeezed my hand, pulling my attention back his

direction. “I wouldn’t be so bossy if you’d do what I wanted you

to.”

“You could at least pretend to be joking when you say stuff

like that,” I said.

“From the seatbelt,” the doctor interrupted, “there will be

some bruising.”

Wade was standing over me, holding my hand. “Marry me?”

He seemed like he wanted to touch me but was afraid to,

254 Ethan Day

which was starting to freak me out again.

“It’s the least you could do, for making me cry in front of

your parents and friends.”

“That’s true,” Gabe said. “He even hugged me. It was quite

disturbing.”

I started to laugh, then winced as a sharp pain shot up my

side. I cursed under my breath after turning my head. “I’m really

fucking stiff.”

“Okay, people that’s enough,” the doctor demanded. “You

all need to leave so I can finish up here.” He turned to Donny.

“Let’s get four milligrams of Morphine and a dose of IV Ancef,

we want to make sure we don’t get any infection from that scalp

wound.”

Donny quickly exited the room to do the doctor’s bidding,

but I could see it on his face that he was irritated at being ordered

out just when things were getting good.

“Simmer down there, buddy.” I scowled at my cute doctor. “I

realize you have an obligation to be all surly and disapproving,

but I can tell you’re half interested. And I haven’t answered the

man yet.”

“Yeah doc, cool your jets.” Wade grinned. “He’s in a fragile

state of mind. I may never get another chance like this. So what’s

it gonna be, Boone?”

“Was it like, one of those serene, single tear cries or…”

“It was the full on nasty kind, gurl,” Lonny chimed in.

“With snot-blubbering and everything,” Tommy added, as if

having witnessed it had scarred him in some way.

“I was afraid of that.” I sighed and I peered over at my

parents. Dixie winked at me and Rocky put his arm around her.

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice then do I?”

“Not if you care at all about my manhood,” Wade said.

“Oh, I’m all about your manhood.” I glanced toward the

doctor, making sure I didn’t move my neck. “Sorry if that was

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an over share.”

“Don’t mind me.” He shrugged, shaking his head at me as he

went back to his chart. “I’m just the guy in charge of your well

being.”

“I’m happy to hear you understand where your place is in all

of this,” Wade said, causing me to laugh again, followed quickly

by that soreness shooting through my body.

Okay, so maybe comedy is hazardous to my health.

Dixie was wearing a smirk as if to say, I told you so. I could tell

my doc was quickly losing patience with his patient so I winked

at him before turning back to Wade.
At least my eyelid doesn’t hurt,

that’s something
. “I guess I will marry you, Wade Walker.”

Wade leaned in and very gently pressed his lips over mine, and

the room erupted in clapping and cheering.

“That fight…I’m sorry,” I whispered when he pulled away.

“Almost dying in a car crash means never having to say you’re

sorry.” Wade smiled as the doctor began ordering people out of

the room. Donny rushed back in, his hands full, only to frown,

realizing he missed it.

“I almost died?”

“Well, I was afraid you might,” Wade said, while Donny asked

if I accepted. “Seeing you unconscious—”

“A dream come true, I know,” I said, cutting Wade off and

ignoring Donny, assuming he’d get his info from one of the

others that were already filing out one by one. “Am I still pretty

or am I gonna be saddled with some awful nickname like, The

Mangler?”

Wade shook his head and smiled. “I’d have caught the
first

plane outta here if that were the case.”

I laughed, only to stop myself while watching the doctor and

my father all but forcibly removing Dixie from the room.

“I love you,” Wade said, carefully brushing a few strands of

hair off my forehead.

256 Ethan Day

His touch soothed me, and I was suddenly glad to have not

died. It would totally suck, never being able to feel that again.

“You’re dreamy.”

I stared into Wade’s eyes, listening as the doc asked Lonny to

go and check on labs for another patient.

“Wow, she is surprisingly strong for her size.” Dr. Richards

came back to the bed with Donny hot on his heels.

“We’re scrawny, but we’re wiry.” I squinted as the doc shined

the pen light in my eyes again and patted Wade’s arm. “Is it okay

if he stays?”

“If you’re okay with that,” Dr. Richards said.

“Good.” I sighed, half afraid to ask. “So how bad is it, really?”

“Some cuts and bruising for the most part, but it’s the

concussion we’re going to want to keep our eye on over the

next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. We’ll want to check your

alertness every hour or so throughout the night. But barring any

unforeseen complications I’d say you could be walking out of