Kyle
I moved closer to her side of the bed, only to find it empty. From the looks of things, she hadn’t just left the bed. The sheets showed no sign of her figure pressing into them, held none of her body warmth. Tiffany had been gone for a while.
“Shit,” I muttered. Getting out of bed with little hope of finding her in the kitchen or living room, I still called her name, and got no answer.
Talk about being bummed. I’d thought we were on the same page last night. Had we gone too fast? Or maybe I hadn’t made myself clear enough regarding being serious about the two of us. With Tiff’s trust issues, I should’ve made sure she understood how much I wanted our thing to be more. I considered calling her, but if she left in the middle of the night, then she probably wanted space, which I was ready to give her for a few more hours. No more than that.
Like every other morning of my monotonous life, I ate breakfast, showered, got dressed, and then made my way to the shop. Expecting Levi or Val to be there before me, it was surprising—and somewhat annoying—to find the shop lights off and the doors locked. Married life had changed Levi. He’d become more pussy-whipped than Justin Bieber was to Selena Gomez. Did I really just mention Justin Bieber? Whatever. I was so over it.
Turning on the music and lights, I reviewed our schedule for the day. There was an appointment in the late afternoon, which I still needed to work on the final touches of the design for, but not much else. While waiting for Val or Levi to arrive, I started working on the design, and got lost in it. It was looking great, if not perfect.
I managed to push Tiff from my mind up until about noon, but thoughts of her kept haunting me, driving me insane. A couple of hours had passed, but still no one had shown up or even called. Getting worried, I checked my phone to find fifteen missed calls from Levi and Tyler, and just as many messages.
Why the hell didn’t I hear the ringing? I wondered and checked the settings. Because, you idiot, you put it on mute last night.
“Fuck!”
I was in the middle of calling Levi back when Tyler came barging in the front door. “What the fuck is going on?” I asked ending the call.
“It’s Tiffany, Kyle. Something happened.”
My world came crashing down on me.
I knew what those two words meant, and knowing this was happening to me, again, sent my whole body into panic mode. Everything moved at hyper speed in my head, my heart raced, and the uncontrollable trembling started in my fingers. Flashes of Cassidy’s body on the ground hit me, followed by the smell of blood and an echoing gun shot.
“What happened to Tiffany?” My Tiff. Images of her inert body appeared in my head and I knew I needed to listen to Tyler very carefully. “Is she dead?”
Not wanting to hear a yes, I begged whatever being watched over us to let me hold her again, alive and well. I couldn’t do this. Not ever again. A silent prayer formed on my lips as I looked down at the floor. Closing my eyes, I waited for the moment of truth. Would every part of me be broken, or would I run as fast as I could to the one person I couldn’t lose.
“She’s stable.” His words made me sob like a baby. Not in pain, but with relief. Tylor held me in his arms, telling me to be strong. “Tiff is a fighter, but she needs you at her side.” They’d met years ago, so he knew her more than me, but I’d already known she was a fighter.
I nodded. “What happened?”
“She was hit by a drunk driver in the middle of the night.”
Fuck. “She left my place in the middle of the night…” I trailed off, feeling devastated.
And responsible.
He tapped my shoulder as if he knew. “That’s what we figured.”
“How bad is it?” Knowing Tiff was hurt, killed me. I wished I’d heard her when she woke up; this wouldn’t have happened to her. There’s not a fucking chance that I would have let her go home alone at that hour. If she’d wanted to leave, I would have driven her home.
“She has a concussion, a broken wrist, and a pretty bad cut on the back of her neck and arm.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Collecting my keys and phone, I closed up the shop. My place was next to her.
“Get in the car,” Tyler said pointing at his illegally parked Porsche when we got outside, and I shook my head. Idiot was lucky not to be towed.
“Hurry, please.” Wiping at the traitorous tears on my face, I tried to regain control of my fucked up emotions. The memories of Cassidy on a loop in my head were increasing my anguish.
“She’s in good hands, Kyle.”
I didn’t care if Tiff was in good hands, she needed to be in my hands. I had to hear her beating heart, feel her strong pulse beneath mine.
Tyler drove as fast as he could, for which I couldn’t be more thankful. He dropped me at the main entrance of the hospital and told me where to go, then drove off to park. I ran, even though the nurses kept telling me to walk. I didn’t give a fuck, I had to find her. There was no calming down until I touched her warm skin and heard her breathing. My lungs hurt, and my eyes were blurry from the panic still present in me.
Why the fuck did this have to happen? Why did she leave at that ungodly hour?
I couldn’t lose her. I’d just found her.
Rounding a corner, it was obvious which room was hers. All the gang were waiting outside her door. Everyone is here but me? That hurt even more.
“I have to see her, guys. I have to see her now.” I pushed past them, not hearing anything they were saying. I had one goal, one thing mattered to me, and nothing could have stopped me.
Tiff laid there, plugged into an IV, her eyes closed and bruises on her face. She looked small and fragile, but safe. There was no sign of her pain, apart from the bruises, of course.
“Tiffany!” I cried out hoping she’d open her eyes, but she didn’t. Once I reached the side of her bed and grabbed her hand, I entwined my fingers with hers. The warmth of her fingers holding mine with so little strength made me gasp. She didn’t look good now that we were inches apart.
“Sunshine, you have to wake up now. Okay?” This was harder than I’d thought it would be. She was alive, but not awake. I pressed my free hand over her heart and started crying again.
“She’ll be okay. Don’t worry, she’s not in any right pain now. They gave her some painkillers an hour ago,” Val said as she came up to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I’m right here for you, K.”
“She can’t die, Val. I’m feeling something again for the first time since Cassi. I don’t want to go back to that nothingness.” No longer able to contain my emotions, the tears fell.
“You love her, don’t you?”
I nodded. “I think so. Last night was our first date. It went well, I thought, but maybe it was too much too fast for her. I’m not sure. I don’t know why she left.”
“Tiff was just as excited about the date as you were.” She smiled at me. “She knew something was up, and she jumped in with both feet because she was curious. Tiff wants more with you, Kyle. You have to see that.”
“I’ll have to take some time off from the shop to care for her.” The shop had been my home, my sanctuary for years. Taking time off had never been a consideration before now.
“Levi was headed back there. He’s taking care of the clients for today. Don’t think about that for now.”
Right. I had to focus on Tiff. She would live through this, and part of me couldn’t wait to talk to her. To find out why she’d left in the middle of the night. My guess was that she’d gotten scared or insecure, because of her difficulty trusting people, but I wanted more with her.
“Wake up, beautiful. There are so many things we have to talk about.” My lips rested on top of her hand while I tried to blank the part of me still fearing she would die. She needed positive encouragement and vibes, not the opposite. “Wake up,” I begged while Val rubbed my back, trying to comfort me. She’d seen me at my worst, more than once. “Thank you, Val.”
“Anytime, K. I’m here, always. That’s what friends are for.”
I started to thank her again but Tiff squeezed my hand then, and I turned, my eyes fixed on my girl. Her eyelids fluttered as her tongue ran over her parched lips.
“Tiff, beautiful, I’m here, and so is Val and everyone,” I said in a whisper.
Tiffany cracked her eyes open a tad, then tried to move her arm but groaned while a pained frown took shape on her face. It seemed an age passed before I saw her beautiful eyes again. Unique in coloring, they brought me something so real.
“Tiff, I’m begging you to please come back to me. I’ve been through this once. I can’t, and won’t, survive it again. Please, wake up.”
“Kyle, she’ll be okay. Remember, they medicated her before and after they stitched her up. She’s probably very tired right now.”
Val had a point, so I had to trust them and believe she would be alright. For someone who had been hit by a car, her injuries were minimal. It could have been so much worse.
It could have been fatal.
“I’m going to sit here and wait.” Waiting sucked, but maybe this was meant to be. It wouldn’t hurt for me to take some time to relax before she was awake again. It was I calmed down before they decided to sedate me as well.
And so, I waited.
Tyler spent most of the time with me, but we barely spoke. With all of the ups and downs of the day, I could feel the exhaustion in my body. I wanted to crawl into bed with Tiffany and hold her safe in my arms. Doubting the doctor would’ve approved, I crossed my arms next to her pillow and relaxed my head on them instead.
Two more hours elapsed before I saw any movement from her fingers or eyes.