by Bailey B
My mom can’t stand to be around me, probably because I’m a daily reminder of the mistake she made. My dad’s actions, or lack of, are somewhat justified now that I know the truth. I wouldn’t want a kid that’s not mine. I mean if I dated someone with a kid, I’m sure I'd love it. But raising a baby you thought was yours that turned out wasn’t, that would kill me. And even though I understand why my parents are the way they are, it doesn't do anything to fill the void.
I linger outside the door a little longer, listening to her voice, trying to find the courage to face Piper knowing I may be rejected. Two uniformed officers walk past me and knock on the open door. I sigh, realizing I waited too long and follow behind them.
“Piper Lovelace?” one asks.
“That’s me, Officer,” Piper says with a mocking grin. It’s her hospital room, were they expecting anyone else? Her gaze bounces from one uniformed man to the other before noticing me. Her smile falters but only for a split second.
“We have some questions,” the other officer says. “If you’re up for it.”
I set the bouquet on the bedside table along with the bear and stand in the corner while the officers introduce themselves as Officer Shen and Officer McLean. It may have been my imagination, but Piper doesn’t seem happy to see me. Or maybe she isn’t happy to see them. Lord I hope it’s them and not me.
“How do you know Gerald McCarron?” Officer Shen asks.
They’re not starting with the easy ones, are they? Piper takes a breath and lets it out slowly. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for her, talking about the man who haunts her dreams. The man who tried, and thankfully failed, to kill her. “Gerald McCarron is a lot of things. He’s my friend Bane’s dad.”
“The same Bane who is in Martin Memorial Hospital?” Officer McLean interrupts.
Piper looks to Cooper, concern written all over her face. I guess they didn’t tell her what had happened to him. She’s going to freak, which is probably why they hadn’t said anything yet. “Yes, same one.” Cooper answers for her.
Officer Shen nods and scribbles in his notebook. “You said he’s many things. What else is Gerald McCarron to you?”
“Gerald is my birth mom’s drug dealer. For lack of better words, he’s her pimp and…” Piper’s voice cracks. She swallows hard and looks down at her hands. “He also attacked me last year.”
Officer McLean doesn’t bat an eye. Apparently hearing that this scumbag attacked a teenager isn’t surprising. “Did you file a police report?”
Piper shakes her head. “No, but I’m sure you can subpoena the hospital records.”
Officer Shen writes that down while Officer McLean paces the room. He narrows his eyes, sizing us up one by one. “Why do you think Gerald McCarron sought you out on Saturday?”
“Because I got the best of him. My birth mom, Monica, sold him my virginity to pay a debt. I never agreed to it, so I fought back and was able to get away before he could finish what he started. But Gerald made it clear he had some not nice plans for me.”
“How did your relationship with Bane McCarron affect those plans?” Officer Shen asks.
Piper bites her cheek. I remember when Cooper made a comment about Bane, it pissed her off. But Piper’s not stupid, she won’t fire off at the cops. They’re just doing their jobs, asking stupid questions in the process. “Bane was my friend. He kept me safe, let me know what was going on over there.”
“So, he was involved in his father's business?” Officer McLean asks. He raises his eyebrows at Officer Shen, who scribbles in his notebook then underlines the writing.
Piper pushes on the mattress, scooting herself up. She balls her fists, nails digging into her palms. She’s losing control and not in an emotional breakdown kind of way. “No. Bane and his dad were estranged, but Bane had friends who worked for Gerald. They kept him in the loop.”
Officer Shen nods, still scribbling in his notebook. “Why do you think you were shot? Was it always Gerald’s plan to kill you?”
“I don’t know explicitly what his plans were,” She snaps. “But when I saw he pointed the gun at Rex, I couldn’t let Gerald hurt him.” Piper looks at me, a sadness in her eyes. Her lips curl in the corners, mirroring the emotion already on her face. All this lasts less than a second. She turns her attention back to the officers. “I’m tired. Can we finish this later?”
Officer Shen closes his notebook. “Of course. Thank you for your time.”
Piper waits for the officers to leave before saying, “I love you all, but can I talk to Rex? In private.”
My stomach knots. Cooper rests his hand on my shoulder as he walks by. He’s got this I'm-sorry-man look on his face that confirms my fears. We’re breaking up. My stomach jumps into my throat, threatening to do something embarrassing like throw up the rice and beans I had for lunch. I force my feet to move once the room’s empty, to carry me to the chair beside her bed. I make myself sit down.
Piper reaches out, touching my shaking hands. “Are you okay?”
No. I’m not even close to okay, but the girl’s just woken from a coma, been interrogated by the police and found out one of her friends is in the hospital. All things considered; she shouldn’t be worrying about me. “I’m not the one who just got out of a coma, Babe. How are you?”
She shrugs. “I’m okay. My head has some pressure, but nothing hurts right now.” She glances at the IV drip. “I’m sure once they take this away that won’t be the case though.” She laughs but the sound is forced. An awkward silence fills the room for a minute before she says, “Rex?”
I love the way my name rolls off her lips. I should record our breakup, simply so I can hear her voice beyond today. I don’t know how I’m going to do this, survive without Piper in my life. Thinking she was about to die was one thing but knowing the girl I love will someday be with someone else…it’s brutal. What else is brutal? Realizing you’re in love the moment it ends. “Yeah, Piper?”
“What’s wrong?”
I take slow breath, willing the burn in my eyes to stay put. Stupid liquid pain isn’t listening. I run my hand over my face before she can see I’m crying and clear my throat. “Just worried about you.”
“Baby,” she whispers. “I’m fine.” She flicks her wrist, pointing between both her and I. “We are fine.” A shadow of fear crosses her face. “Aren’t we?”
I clear my throat again, masking the sound with a cough. I cover my mouth with my fist for pretend etiquette, wiping my nose on my way to shove my hands in my pockets. I crush the fabric between my fingers, feeling my nails drag against my thighs. I’ve never known love to be kind. In my life, it’s caused nothing but pain. I’ve avoided it like the plague because no one was worth the suffering. But with Piper, if given the option to start over, knowing she’d kill me, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
“I…I guess.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing my voice not to break. “I think I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole shooting thing.” I pause for a second, needing that time to keep myself in check. “And the whole letter thing.”
Piper sucks in a breath. “Oh, Rex! I’m so sorry. I forgot.”
She scoots to the edge of the bed and holds her hand out to me. I cave, dying a little more inside from her touch. Her hand is so soft, so tiny. I’d give anything to put a ring on her finger. I’ve lived my life with rose colored glasses, thinking I was invincible, that we had forever together. Nearly losing someone you love does something to you. It puts how fragile life is into perspective.
“Rex?” Piper’s vice breaks. “Will you look at me?”
I nod and do what she says. Soft pink flushes Piper’s cheeks. The whites of her eyes are red and glassy. I grit my teeth, waiting to hear the words she obviously doesn’t want to say. Again. “So. That letter. I…” she wipes a tear from her cheek with her free hand. “Do you still want to be with me?”
“What?”
“I… um….”
I run my hand across
my face again. There’s no hiding them this time. A stupid tear gets halfway down my cheek before I catch it. “Of course I still want to be with you, Piper. You’re the one who left me.”
“Oh thank God,” She laugh s past the tears in her eyes. “Rex, I don’t want to break up. I love you. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. But now this mess is over, we can be together. Say you’ll be with me again, Rex. Please.”
I shake my head, not believing the words she’s saying. Piper’s an idiot. She never should have tried to leave. I would have taken care of her, kept her safe, if only she’d let me know what was going on. “I can’t be your boyfriend.”
“What?”
Boyfriend isn’t enough. The thought of Piper leaving me again is too painful. I slide out of the chair and get down on one knee. I don’t care that this is selfish. I don’t care that I don’t have a ring. I just need her to be mine. “Marry me.”
“What?”
“I know it’s crazy, Piper. And we haven’t been together that long but I almost lost you twice in one day. My heart broke in ways I didn’t know were possible. But you’re here now. You’re alive and still want to be with me. I know that should be enough, but it’s not. You are so much more than just a girlfriend. You’re my best friend. My soulmate. And I know I’m doing this all wrong, but will you marry me?”
Piper doesn’t hesitate. “Yes!”
Yes? She said yes? Fuck yeah! I jump into her bed to hug her. She winces from the pressure on her shoulder and I instantly let go. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She says with a devilish grin. “Since we’re talking crazy….”
“Oh boy.” I chuckle. I am crazy, crazy about her. This girl could ask for a zebracorn and I’d do my best to make it happen. Whatever she wants, it’s hers.
“Let’s do it now. Today.”
“Do what now?
“Get married.”
Wait, now? I barely expected a yes. My heart races. Maybe this is a trick, her way of seeing if I’m committed. I am. I’ll do it here and now if she really wants, but I also want it to be right. If things go the way I’m hoping, Piper will only get married once. “Don’t you want a white dress and flowers and whatever else it is girls want on their wedding day?”
She shakes her head. “No. I just want you. They do this kind of stuff in hospitals all the time, and everyone I love is already here.”
“Except for Bane.” I don’t know why I’m stalling. I want to marry Piper. Gretchen’s the only family I care about, and she’s already here. So for me, there are no hold ups. I just can’t shake the feeling that most girls dream about the perfect wedding. I can’t imagine that this is anything close to what she thought up. “And we don’t have a marriage license or anything.”
“We can do a big ceremony this fall. Bane can go to that one along with whoever else you want to invite. And I’m sure the hospital has a stack of blank marriage licenses. You know, for those couples where someone is terminal and it’s their dying wish or whatever.”
My heart stops and shatters in my chest. Terminal? “Piper, is there something you’re not telling me?”
33
Piper
I don’t mean to laugh, but I can’t help it. The look of sheer horror on Rex’s face is priceless. Scaring him was never the goal, I just meant that hospitals are prepared for weddings. You know, just in case. A jolt of pain breaks through the drugs, killing the moment. I suck in a breath, hoping my stilled body will end the pain. It does, thankfully. I exhale slowly and rest my palm on Rex’s cheek. “No, Baby. I’m healthy as a horse that’s been shot.”
“People don’t shoot healthy horses, Piper.”
“Good thing my shooter has terrible aim then.” I quip. The line between Rex’s brows deepen. “Too soon?”
He shakes his head, a smile playing on his lips.
“So, are we doing this? You know the whole marriage thing.” My stomach flutters. I’m nervous and excited and kinda terrified this is some crazy hallucination from all the drugs they’ve got in me. I know I should be worried about Bane and what’s going to happen next, but I survived. I want to celebrate that my nightmare is over with the man I love.
“If you’re sure about this.”
I squeeze his hand. I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life. “I am. Send out a group text. Let’s do this.”
Less than two minutes after Rex sends out the text message, Mamma T bursts through the door. “Are you out of your goddamn mind, Piper?”
“Mom!” Coopers voice carries down the hallway to us. He comes in the room a second later, huffing like he just ran up a flight of stairs or something. “Calm down.”
“I will not calm down.” She yells at her son before looking at Rex and me. “Piper, you literally just got out of a coma! You can’t get married. I get that you love Rex, and I’m glad you guys have worked out whatever issue you had but be reasonable.”
Mamma T’s reaction was the last thing I expected. Cooper freaking out, sure. But they seem to have switched roles and it’s a little confusing. “I am being reasonable.”
“No, you’re not!” She paces in front of the bed, running a hand through her messy hair. I bet she’s stressed. By the looks of the bags under her eyes, I don’t think she’s gotten much sleep the last few days.
“Well, it would be nice to have your blessing, but I’m doing this either way. Hopefully within the hour. So if you won’t support my decision, then you can go home.”
Rex leans in and kisses my cheek. “I’m gonna talk to the nurse. Be back soon.”
I smile up at him and nod. He’s so much more than I deserve. Even with the craziness that is my life, and knowing that I’m dirt poor, he still wants me. It doesn’t make sense, but I stopped trying to figure out Life’s plans for me a while ago.
“Piper,” Mama T says on an exhale, taking Rex’s newly abandoned spot by my bed. “What’s the rush?”
“Life is short.” I say with a shrug. “I don’t want to waste a minute of it wishing I had done something I didn’t. If I’ve learned anything from this mess, it’s that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.”
Mamma T looks down at her nails. She’s quiet, so quiet that Cooper comes up and puts his hand on Mamma T’s shoulder. He squeezes, pulling a small smile out of her as she reaches up to hold his hand. “Okay,” she whispers. “Let's get you ready to become Mrs. Montgomery.”
It takes longer than I thought to get ready for a wedding. Mamma T insisted on me wearing a white dress because something needed to be traditional about today. Luckily, Rex’s mom had one in her closet and we are pretty much the same size. Gretchen grabbed it as well as Rex’s jacket from prom and brought it here hours ago.
My hair is in a messy ponytail and the gift shop flowers Rex brought earlier is my bouquet, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Actually, I would. I’d have Bane here with us but from what Cooper tells me, he’s still in the ICU with severe internal bleeding. As shitty as it sounds, there’s nothing I can do for him right now. And when he gets out, he’ll understand.
“Put this on.” Mamma T hands me a tube of lip-gloss. She gives me a once over, making sure I’m as perfect as can be for an impromptu hospital wedding. “You look beautiful. Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“We don’t have to do this, Piper. We can wait until your healed and do it right.”
I love Mamma T and her persistence. I get it, she just wants what’s best for me but she doesn’t understand. Rex is what’s best for me. “Everyone I love, except for Bane, is already here. He may not even survive his injuries. Call me a shitty friend, but I’m not gonna wait and find out. I love Rex, and he loves me. I don’t want to wait another minute.”
She smiles. “Guess we’d better get going then.”
All hospitals have a chapel. They’re tiny, dimly lit, and usually occupied with grieving loved ones praying for a miracle. Not today. Mamma T opens the door and my breath catches. Every pew—all ten of them—have a short bouquet
of white roses and three tiered candles at the end, lining the walkway. The aisle is sprinkled with flower petals of every color: white, yellow, pink, red, and even purple.
Mamma T squeezes my hand. A piano rendition of Disney’s Tale as Old as Time starts playing from someone’s phone. I laugh, setting a rogue tear that I didn’t realize was building free. I wipe it with the back of my hand, not wanting to look away.
Rex stands at the front of the chapel, a single white rose pinned to his jacket, hands in his pockets, with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen. Cooper’s behind him, Logan too.
We stop a foot away from Rex. Mamma T kisses my cheek, then takes a seat beside an older woman, who I assume to be Gretchen, in the front row. Gretchen dabs her eyes with a rag, a proud grin on her face. Cooper pulls his phone out of his pocket, stopping the music as I take my place at the altar.
“Hi,” Rex whispers.
“Hi,” I whisper laugh. “Come here often?”
He grins. “Only with you.”
“Sorry I’m late!” An older man says running through a side door. “I was finishing up someone’s last rites ceremony. It took longer than I expected.” He clears his throat. “You do know the groom is supposed to be on the left side, right. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to celebrate… “
“Rex and Piper,” Cooper whisper yells.
“Yes, that’s right. Rex and Piper in their union of holy matrimony.” The man looks at Rex. “Do you Rex take Piper to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love and to cherish from this day forward, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do.”
“And do you Piper…”
“Yes!” I say cutting him off. “Hell yes.”
Logan snickers. The man marrying us—who I’m assuming is a pastor of some sort and not some joe-schmo-notary based on his black pants and matching black shirt— glares at me. “And now for the rings,” pastor man says.