Mirabelle winces, some of the color coming back to her face. “Touché. You might be as bad as Henry.”
“What were you even doing to cut your hand open?” Kaitlyn asks, and Mirabelle looks at the closet, tears pooling in her eyes.
“I was grabbing Henry’s sweatshirt because I missed him, and he hid a bag of my favorite candy underneath it, so I grabbed the scissors to open it. When the lights flickered, it scared me, and I dropped them, but I caught it. When the lights turned on, I saw the blood on my hand,” she explains, and that might be a series of the most inconvenient coincidences I think I’ve ever heard, but totally believable. “I’m sorry. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to scare you guys.”
“So basically, this is my dumb brother’s fault for hiding candy in the closet,” Kaitlyn says, trying to make Mirabelle laugh.
“It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re okay.” I finish wrapping gauze and a bandage around her hand with care to ensure the entire thing is covered. “Are you really okay?” I ask, looking up at her after applying medical tape to hold the bandage in place, except Mirabelle hesitates.
“What if I hurt them?” All of her bravado from a minute ago has disappeared, and she wraps her other arm around her stomach. “I promised Henry I’d be careful if he let me stayinstead of going to training camp with him, but what if I hurt them when I fainted?”
Her dark eyes are wide, and Kaitlyn leans forward to give her a hug. “You didn’t do it on purpose. I bet they’re okay, but when the storm lets up, we’ll take you to the hospital to get checked out, okay?” Kaitlyn suggests, but I’d feel better if there was a way for us to take her now. The last thing we need is to be stranded on the side of the road if there’s flooding.
“Do you think you’ll be okay until then?”
Mirabelle inhales a shaky breath, wiping at her cheeks. “I-I think so. Do you think I can get a call through to Henry? I just . . . I really need to hear his voice.”
“It’s worth a shot.” I smile, hoping for her sake it goes through as she pulls her phone out of her pocket.
“I’m gonna go check on Javi,” Kait says, and I feel awful for leaving him downstairs by himself, but it would have been worse for him to see Mira unconscious.
I get up to put the first aid kit away while she calls Henry, but Mira grabs my hand, keeping me in my place. “Stay,” she whispers, and I’m a little relieved because I’m not ready to let her out of my sight again, just in case she passes out again. “Shit, I cracked the screen.”
“That can be fixed,” I say, and Mira squeezes my hand as the phone clicks when Henry answers.
“Hey, I saw the storm hit not too long ago. Is everything okay? I’m shocked the phone lines are still up.”
His question seems to break the dam holding her tears at bay. “I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you.”
“Mon cœur, what happened? Why are you apologizing?” Henry’s voice is soft, carefully choosing what he asks, but I also recognize that he’s trying not to freak her out more than she already is.
“I accidentally cut my hand, and I fainted when I saw the blood. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“Are you okay?” he asks, less calm this time.
“I-I think I’m fine. What if I hurt the twins when I fell?” Mirabelle’s breathing hitches, and she spirals fast. “I should have listened to you, and I’ll never forgive myself if anything—” A sob wracks her body, and I feel my insides twist. I know she needs to focus on this conversation, but I can’t just sit here and not offer more comfort than holding her hand. Pulling my hand away from her only to replace it with my other, I wrap my arm around her shoulders to pull her into me as she cries.
“Hey, no, baby. I know it’s hard, but you need to stay calm. I wish I were there so you could punch me in the dick for saying it, but I need you to take a few deep breaths with me. It’s okay to be scared, but you did nothing wrong. It was an accident, and accidents happen all the time.” Henry pauses, no doubt trying to find the right words to say instead of telling her to calm down, which in my experience, doesn’t work all too well. “I love you. There is nothing you could do that would ever change the fact that my heart belongs to you, Mirabelle Walker. Fuck, you could take all of my money, and I’d still think you hung the moon. I’m proud to wear your last name on my jersey, and I am so irrevocably in love with you,mon cœur. I’m so sorry I’m not there, but no matter what happens, none of that will ever change.”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard Henry say so many words at one time. I’m a little awestruck, but it has the desired effect on Mirabelle, who is at least trying to take a deep breath. “But?—”
“Butnothing. God forbid something does go wrong, I’ll do anything to get to you so I can tell you again in person. I already love our babies, but we can try again. That’s the fun part, right? Please, don’t hate me for saying it, but I can live with knowing we’ve loved them for every second we got—if and only if something happens. What I can’t live without is you, Mira. Now, please . . .please,tell me the truth. Are youokay?” His voice cracks on the second please, and I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth to keep myself from crying.
“I’m okay,” she says, more confident than before. “Je t’aime.”?1
“I’m going to tell Andrew I’m catching the first flight back. I never should’ve left.”
“No, I want you to stay there. There won’t be any flights for a couple days, and I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe.”
Henry’s silence implies how much he wants to disagree with her, but Mira’s not wrong. It’s going to be impossible to get back here until the storm passes and the city is able to clean some things up. “Okay,” he relents, opting to take the easier road. “Is Bailey there?”
“Yeah, you’re on speaker,” I say, and Mirabelle exhales a long breath.
“Can you take me off?” he asks, and I take the phone from her, standing up to move a few feet away because it’s pretty clear to both of us he doesn’t want her to hear what he’s about to say.
“You’re good,” I say after holding the phone up to my ear, preparing myself for the worst.
“Is she lying to me about being okay?”
