I’m fuming.
Fuming.
The doctor only allowed Ellie to go in to see Blue, because she’s family. Not me—the woman who’s loved him forever and has stood by him no matter what and who’s been crying and going crazy with worry and who is the mother of his child.
“I can’t believe this,” I say to Reece as I pace the small room. “We should be in there with him. Not her. Does he even like her?”
“Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t like her.”
I stop pacing to stare at him as if he’s lost his mind. “What does that mean?”
“He’s probably not ready to see us, because he cares about us and he knows we care about him. I’d guess we’d be pretty hard for him to face. Especially you.”
God. He’s right.
Ellie isn’t gone for more than twenty minutes when she comes back to the waiting room. I practically jump on her like a starving wild animal.
“How is he? Is he all right? Is he in a lot of pain? What did he say?”
Reece touches my arm. “Piper, give her a sec.”
I am giving her a sec.
She falls into one of the chairs and sighs. “He’s a mess of casts and bandages and cuts and bruises. He looks like he went through a hurricane. It’s dreadful.”
“Oh my God…”
“But he’s going to be fine.” She grabs my hand. “He’s going to heal, maybe get a little plastic surgery for that cut on his face, but he’ll be good as new, Piper. It’s going to take a while, of course, and he’s going to need some physical therapy, but his body will heal.”
“Good,” Reece says with relief, but I’m still stuck on the plastic surgery comment. How deep did he get cut? “Did he talk at all?”
“Very little. He seemed surprised to see me, which I expected. His usual attitude is still there.”
“But what did he say?” I ask impatiently.
“If you really want to know, he said he fucked this up just like he fucks everything else up.”
Reece scoffs and shakes his head. “So typical,” he says.
I’m crushed speechless. Blue actually thinks living is a failure? Does that mean he wishes he had died and still wants to die?
Why?
“He asked to see you,” Ellie says to Reece, further annihilating my heart. “You have to see the nurse before you go in, she’ll tell you what you have to take off. Like your shoelaces. And we’re not supposed to ask him questions about why he did it, or say anything to guilt him or upset him in any way.”
Confusion and heartache have me at a total loss for words as I watch Reece leave the room.
Blue must want to see me last. That’s why he asked to see Reece before me.
“You don’t want to see him like this, honey,” Ellie says. “He’s such a handsome man. You don’t want to see him all bruised and swollen and cut up, trust me. It’s not a pretty sight.”
Does she really think I wouldn’t want to see him? Has this woman ever loved a man before? “I want to see him no matter what, Ellie. I just want to tell him I love him and I’m here for him. I want to tell him we’ll get through this together, so he knows he’s not alone in this anymore.”
