Never thought I’d say that, but here I was.
We got lost in each other, as we often did. His dick grew hard within moments, bulging against his pants, a reminder of what he was packing under the hood. What could I say? I’d gotten lucky. Not only did his personality drive me crazy, but his dick was on another level, too.
I was literally seconds from telling him to whip that thing out and remind me how good he was at using it, but my phone rang. Odd, I wasn’t expecting my dad to get here until the afternoon, after he got off work.
Pushing Levi off me, I crawled toward my phone. It sat on my nightstand, plugged into the charger. But the number flashing across its glass screen wasn’t my dad’s.
“Hello?” I answered, my heart skipping a beat.
“Hi, Kelsey, this is Linda, Mel’s mom.”
I swatted at Levi when he tried to get handsy, not wanting to do anything while on the phone with her. “Hi.” I threw him a look. Finally, he understood to quit it.
“We just got a call from the hospital. Mel woke up.” She paused, sniffing. “We’re on our way there now. I figured, if you wanted, we could swing by the dorm and pick you up? If you’d like to see her—”
“Of course I’d like to see her,” I said, my heart hammering in my chest.
Mel was up. Mel was awake. That meant, hopefully, eventually, she’d be okay.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Linda hung up, and I looked at Levi, speechless.
He blinked. “What’s going on?”
“Mel’s awake. Her parents are coming here to pick me up, and then we’re going.”
Levi was no longer the cocky son of a bitch he’d been a few moments ago. “I can take you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s best, considering.” I left everything else unsaid, but Levi was smart enough to know what I meant. Considering what happened between them, their history.
It was a moment, but eventually he said, “You’re probably right.”
I leaned toward him, running a hand down his face before kissing him once. After that, I texted my dad the news, told him I could get someone else to drop me off at home—thereby volunteering Levi for the job even though he lived in the opposite direction from campus—because I didn’t want Dad to make the trip out here late at night.
Mel. I had to see Mel. Had to talk to her, hug her, tell her how much I missed her and that I was sorry.
I let Levi stay in my dorm room, heading downstairs to wait near the curb for Mel’s parents. When their car pulled up, I hopped in. The air in the car was tense, anxious and heavy, and I understood why. Mel’s parents were bundled up in coats, the weather pretty cold outside. Me? I was fine in a thick hoodie.
Although, if I stood outside for a while, I did start to shiver. But whatever. I hated those overgrown puffy jackets that made it look like you were drowning in fabric.
We skipped the hellos, though I did ask, “When did she wake up?”
Mel’s dad, Thomas, was driving, leaving her mom, Linda, to turn around and answer me. “A little less than an hour ago. We left work as soon as we could.” Her eyes, a pretty hazel, studied me. “I’m glad we caught you. Isn’t it winter break soon?”
“I was leaving this afternoon,” I said. “But I’ll stay to see Mel.”
Linda gave me a sad smile before facing forward, and the car grew silent. Not even the radio played. My nerves were fried long before the hospital came into view, and I wanted to throw up when we got out of the car and headed inside. I kept my head low, trailing after her parents through the hospital.
Truth be told, I’d stopped visiting her so much. It was just too sad. Now, though, I felt a little guilty of that.
Mel’s room had been moved to the west wing of the hospital, four floors up. A long-term care wing. Her parents met with a doctor for a few moments before he brought us to her room. Her door sat, closed, and my heart skipped a beat as Linda reached to open it.
Linda and Thomas filed in first, and I was just behind them. The doctor said he’d give us some time alone with her, but that she’d need to regain her strength still.
The girl on the bed was awake, but she hardly looked like the Mel I remembered. As her parents took turns hugging her, I stared at her, feeling all different kinds of guilty. Mel was thinner than she was before, and I had no idea that was even possible, considering how skinny she used to be. Her blonde pixie cut was long and greasy, her cheeks gaunt. She was hooked up to an IV, among other things I didn’t want to think about, and yet she still looked so out of place here.
Mel didn’t belong here in the hospital. She didn’t belong at SCC, either. Where did she belong? I wasn’t sure, but if she’d let me, I’d be there with her to help her find out where that was.
When her mom and dad stepped away from her, trying to hide their happy tears, Mel’s brown eyes landed on me.
“Hey,” I whispered, and the moment Mel tried to lift her arms to me, the moment I saw her bottom lip trembling, I pushed
