It felt greasy. I was sure it was from days of being here at the hospital. I didn’t even want to imagine what mine looked like. My mother had already warned me about my face; it was one of the first things I asked her about when I woke. It terrified me, the chance that I would have scarring that would forever remind me of that day at the farm. Something I’d loved so much could have possibly killed me, and I found myself wondering if I would ever be brave enough to climb on a horse again.
One by one, everyone began to enter the room, stepping up to the opposite side of me that Mike was on. I could see how they looked at me, like I was fragile, and I might break. That would be something we would have to deal with because I was not a China doll.
“Do you remember what happened?” Gramps asked, and I could see the guilty look his eyes held.
“This was not your fault.”
He nodded, his nostrils flaring as I attempted to hide his emotions.
“I took Storm, even after you told me he was having attitude problems. This is on me, because even before we started the ride, he was giving me fits. I could have easily taken a different horse, but I stuck with it. It’s on me.” I needed him to understand this.
Gramps bowed his head and stepped aside so that Aunt Maria could move in to offer me a hug. “It sure is good to see those big beautiful eyes of yours again.”
“It’s good to see all of you, too. It was awful hearing you but being unable to reply.”
“You could hear us?”
I nodded, and my mom smiled.
“You and I have a lot to discuss.” I said this to Mike, and he lifted his head, staring intensely at me. It didn’t matter that we weren’t alone; my brush with death had apparently made me a whole lot braver. “There was some heavy talk about a life full of kids and some dancing in the rain.”
I heard a few chuckles, and Mike smiled even though his eyes were glossy and red.
“So, did you mean it all?”
“Every single word.” He didn’t even pause as he looked up at my parents. “Of course I would like to have your blessings, but if I’m being completely honest here, I’m not sure that would even stop me. For the last week, I wasn’t sure I would ever get the chance to fulfill all I promised to Mad, but now that she’s awake, I don’t want to waste another minute.”
The room had now filled one by one with family members that were still arriving. Apparently, the moment I opened my eyes, after my mother’s first initial shock, she triggered the family phone tree, and everyone came running. My big crazy family now took up almost every space of the hospital room.
“Then I’d guess that there was something you were wanting to ask her?” My father arched his brow in the craziest way, and I started to laugh. Only I quickly tried to stop it because my body still ached in ways I didn’t expect. I had been literally trampled and thrown around by a horse.
As I scanned over the crowd, my gaze connected with Grace, who had a cast on her hand. We shared a smile, though it didn’t feel like one of complete happiness. We’d both suffered a terrorizing event. I could only imagine what Chloe felt having to watch it all unfold.
“I do,” Mike spoke, reminding me of the conversation that had been taking place. “But with all due respect, I’d prefer not to do it in a hospital. Someone as amazing as Maddison deserves something more special than that.”
My father seemed pleased, and to be honest, so was I. I’d already heard Mike share some of his most intimate words with me. Though he thought I couldn’t hear them, I could assure you I did. I now knew all his secrets, all his wishes and dreams. And all I wanted to do was make every last one come true.
He rose up, leaned over the bed, and in front of every member of our family he offered me one of the sweetest, most meaningful kisses of my life. In that moment, my heart once again felt whole.
Epilogue
Mike
Rhett gave me shit every day about proposing to Maddison before he got the chance to propose to AJ, but it was his fault he was so slow. The moment I carried Maddison from her Jeep to the front door of our house on the day she was released, I popped the question. Right in the living room of our new home. Surrounded by boxes and a cluster of furniture, I lowered myself to one knee and asked her to become my wife.
I held up the ring I had found for her while walking past the front window of a local jewelry store. It was like it called out to me, and two weeks before her accident, I’d bought it and tucked it into the glovebox of my truck, fearful that if I hid it in the apartment, she would have found it while packing.
Maddison cried, nodding her head rapidly, unable to speak. I laughed and slid the ring over her finger. It fit her to perfection and not just the size. It wasn’t huge and flashy but more delicate and sleeker. She told me it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen, and I could see
