“Yeah. Big proud.” A giggle bubbles up in my throat. “I got all the good drugs today, Sinc. I feel all marshmallowy.”
“That sounds kinda nice.” He chuckles. “You should get some sleep, Louis.”
“Didja—you—hear me?” I ask, focusing all my remaining energy on getting my words out. My brain might not be working,but I know he needs to hear me right now. “Stop beating yourself up.”
Another heavy sigh. “I’m trying.”
“You b’long here, Tanner,” I mumble. My eyes are already closed. The phone is slipping in my loose grip. “You b’long with us. With me.”
I don’t know if I was supposed to say that last part. The filter between my brain and my mouth has dissolved. But it’s true. He belongs with me.
For a moment, he’s quiet, the sound of his soft, rhythmic breathing reaching my ear. It’s like a lullaby, making me want to let go and slide back into sleep.
“Lou?” he whispers.
“Mmm,” I hum.
“Thank you for telling me that. I—I really needed to hear it.” His voice is gentle.
“M’kay. Jus’want’d make sure you knew it.”
“Okay.” He lets out a soft chuckle. “Thanks. You can rest now, okay? Sleep well, Louis.”
“K. I will.”
I let the phone slide out of my hand, It lands somewhere on my chest as I drift away with the sound of his voice tucked safely in my head.
With me.
Chapter 12
Louis
Iwake up to the smell of coffee and something that might be bacon, which is weird because I’m pretty sure I don’t have bacon in my fridge.
My neck feels like I slept on a pile of rocks, and the dull ache radiating from my shoulder reminds me why I’m not in my own bed. But the cotton-ball haze from yesterday is gone, replaced by a somewhat fuzzy memory of exactly what I did before I passed out.
You belong with me.
Oh, god, did I seriously say that?
“Morning, sunshine,” Caley calls from the kitchen, her voice way too cheerful for whatever ungodly hour this is.
I squint at the windows. Bright light streams through the blinds. “What time is it?”
“Almost eleven. You’ve been out cold for hours.”
“Where are Mom and Dad?”
“They went down to Pike Place Market. Mom decided they’d better take advantage of the sunshine since it’s winter in Seattle.”
I roll my eyes. “Makes sense. Because they’re not getting enough sunshine now that they live inPalm Springs?”
My parents moved out of the small Ontario town where I grew up and retired down in Palm Springs last year. They were tired of the hard Canadian winters, and since I’m on the West Coast, and Caley was offered a permanent position at the hospital in California where she did her residency, it made sense. But good lord, apparently, it doesn’t take long to get totally spoiled by warm weather.
I manage to sit up, testing my shoulder. It hurts, but it’s manageable. Not like the screaming agony from a few days ago.
“Coffee’s ready when you are,” she says, handing me a mug that smells like heaven.
