Reconnected

by Bethany Daniel

Chapter 13

  The next time I open my eyes, everything seems extra bright and my whole body just feels heavy, especially my hand. Once my neck muscles wake up enough, I turn my head slightly and find Liam there, with his head leaning on my hand and I think he's sleeping.

  I try licking my lip to be able to talk but it’s hard. Wow, my head is killing me.

  "L...Liam.” I whisper softly and try to move my hand.

  He startles and his head darts up, as he realizes I'm awake his eyes change from wild with sleep and worry to excitement. "Oh, baby...Oh my God, baby.” he reaches up and kisses my forehead, my cheeks and finally my lips. "I was so scared I'd never see your eyes open again."

  I try to reach my hand up to his cheek but he just shakes his head, "Just rest, Katy. Let me get the doctor, ok?"

  I just nod and watch him go. Where are Krista and Lucas? Are they ok? Everything hurts....

  "Hello Mrs. Warren.” I hear a sweet voice and look to see a blonde haired woman dressed in a doctor's coat. "My name is Dr. Ryder; I've been your doctor for this last week.” She says with a soft smile.

  I gasp and turn my eyes to Liam, "Week? It's been a whole week?"

  He nods sadly and takes my hand, "It has, a very scary week, not knowing if you would wake up or not. I’ve been so scared of losing you, baby.”

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath, "Krista...and Lucas. They were in the car when that...when we were ran off the road. Where are they?"

  Liam exchanges a look with the doctor that fills me with dread. "Talk to me, Liam. Where are they?” I demand with as much force as I'm able.

  Liam sits on the bed with me and squeezes my hand. "Krista is in a medically induced coma. Her brain had a lot of swelling, they just want her to heal and not try and fight it."

  I feel tears streaming down my face. I can't imagine my lively, happy go lucky best friend being strapped down to a bed with machines keeping her going. I have to be able to see her, somehow.

  "Let me go see her,” I whisper through my tears.

  "I'm sorry Mrs. Warren, you can't yet. She's in a coma right now and you’re going to be recovering yourself for a while. You need to focus on you for right now.” Dr. Ryder says and comes over towards me to start checking over all my vitals.

  Once she's finally done, she pats my hand then nods at Liam before walking back out of the room.

  "Liam, out with it...where's Luke?"

  He runs his hand through his hair and looks at the floor, "Both of our parents flew in after the accident, I need to call and tell them you’re awake now and make some arrangements for physical therapy and stuff because you’re going to need it..."

  "Liam Elliott Warren, what the hell is going on?! You’re trying to distract me and all you’re doing is making me mad, where is he?!” I yell with what little energy I have left.

  The look he gives me tells me it all and I shake my head back and forth over and over again as the tears just continue to fall.

  "No, no, no....please, tell me...he's not...not.” I can't even say the word. It's just not possible that he can just be gone. He's supposed to go on and be a great architect and find a woman out there somewhere that could love him the way he thought he loved me. This is my fault...if I hadn't invited him to come to set with us he wouldn't have been in that car and he would have just been waiting on campus to hang out like always. Not sitting in a morgue drawer, but no. The pain quickly turns to anger; this is Alexia Dalton's fault. All because of some stupid jealousy she has for the man that is sitting next to me and has his arms wrapped around me.

  "I'm so sorry, baby. I didn't want to have to tell you yet. I know...I know that you loved him, and I may not have gotten along with him...but I really am sorry.” He whispers and kisses my head.

  "When...when is his funeral?” I whisper when I can breathe again and the tears have stopped.

  "I'm not sure, Katy.” He pushes some of my hair out of my eyes, "I haven't had the chance to speak with his parents yet, but I will, I promise.”

  I just nod and groan at my achy body. I feel so useless. I need to go see Krista, she has to be ok, and I can't lose her to. If I ever see Alexia Dalton again, I don't know what I'm going to do.

  Taking a deep breath, I look up into Liam's clear blue eyes, "Alexia...Alexia did this. I saw her just before we lost control of the car, I looked out the window and I saw her driving that SUV...she killed Luke!"

  He wraps his arms around me and grips me tightly, "She's missing. After you called Nate, everything kind of went nuts. We had just been lounging around; re-watching some scenes we shot and no one realized that she left when you guys did. And by the way, Nate and Eric have been dealt with for not watching you well enough to know that you had left...anyway, Eric came over to Scott and me and told us what was going on. I've never felt so scared, baby. They had a GPS thing on your car, so they tracked it and by the time we all got there, the car was in shambles and you guys were all trapped. People had to hold me and Scott back. We wanted nothing more than to jump down that ditch and get to you guys.” he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, "When they put you on that stretcher, you had a huge gash on your head and were totally knocked out. Your right leg has several fractures; you’re going to need to have someone with you for a while. Which is another reason your parents are here, by the way, but I'll get back to that. I was glued to your side when they were working on you before they put you in the ambulance. Then I heard Scott yell.” he shakes his head and I squeeze his hand.

  "Krista....she was really bad, wasn't she?” I say softly as I look down at our hands.

  He nods as he squeezes back, "She was. She just looked completely broken, Katy. When you were on set, she was so bubbly and full of life and to see her not even an hour later broken and battered, it just about killed Scott. He hasn't left her side. Her family has been here and they haven't asked him to leave or anything, she apparently has talked very highly about him to them.” He smiles sadly, “He really loves her…and I know when…when, not if, she wakes up that he isn’t going to ever let her go, I have a very strong feeling that Krista is going to end up going from being Ms. Quinn to Mrs. Adams.”

  I smile at that and try to turn over but wince from the pain, "I'm really sore, Liam."

  "I'll call the nurse,” he says and kisses my forehead before leaning over to press the page button.

  He quickly speaks with the nurse over the speaker and the next moment an older woman with graying blonde hair walks in carrying an IV bag. Liam sits beside me and kisses my hand as he holds it and I drift off to sleep.

  When I wake up again, I can hear people whispering until they notice me stirring around.

  "Oh Katelyn...I'm so happy to see you awake.” My mom says with tears in her eyes.

  I smile slightly as she comes over to grip my hand, "Hey Mom. I'm ok.” I tell her even though I can feel tears in my eyes the mirror hers.

  "Your dad and I have been so scared.” she shakes her head and then rubs her tears away, "Derek calls to check on you, you know your brother has always had a soft spot for you."

  I smile a little more and nod, "I just want to get better, and be able to get out of here and back to school, and I don't have much longer left before graduation..."

  She shares a look with Liam and I frown looking between them.

  "What? What now?” I ask irritated.

  "Baby, you’re not going to be able to go back to just living in the dorms and going to class like before. Your legs are really bad right now. You’re going to need Physical Therapy and you’re going to be stuck in bed for a lot of that time so you can heal properly.” Liam tells me as he comes to sit in a chair by the bed.

  "So you're telling me I can't finish my degree."

  He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "You can, but you're going to have to finish it online, we've already worked it out with all your teachers. And you’re going to be recuperating at home...with your parents, back home,” he tells me with a steely look in his eyes.
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br />   "What?! I'm not just going to pack up and move back in with my parents. I...I'll make things work, I'll learn to work around whatever leg issues I have.” I sputter out and look over at Liam.

  "I'm sorry Katy, but on this, I'm putting my foot down. As your husband, I've made this decision for your safety and comfort until you’re medically ok again."

  I glare at him and shake my head, "So what about you? Where are you going to be?"

  "I have to go do some movie promotion interviews in L.A, and then I'm taking my time off and coming home too. We have a home there. I know it's not home to you yet, but I'm going to let you decorate to your heart’s content.” he smiles softly and comes up to kiss my forehead. "We're going to have top of the line security around at all times. I don't want to risk Alexia coming back around to finish what she started."

  I close my eyes to that thought and take a deep breath, "What about Krista? When she wakes up and is healing, where is she going to be? I need to be there for my best friend...it's the least I could do after getting her involved in this and getting Luke killed! I couldn't be there for him...but I can for her.” I say through tears as they make their way through me. Once they've started, I can't stop them.

  My mom tries to hug me and then Liam moves to pull me to him but I push them both away, "Please...I just...I need to be alone right now, ok?"

  "Katelyn, I don't think it's best for you to be alone when you’re feeling like this. You need to get it all out,” my mom tells me soothingly as she pushes my hair back.

  All I can do is cover my face as the sadness overtakes me. At some point Liam climbs into the bed with me and turns me towards him.

  "This wasn't your fault, do you hear me? You didn't kill him; you didn't put your best friend in a coma and almost kill yourself. That's all on Alexia, do you hear me?” he turns my head to look directly into his eyes, "You are so strong Katy, but you can't put the problems of the world on your shoulders. You have to step back and let the other people of the world take over sometimes."