Broken Beautiful Hearts(112)

Christian winks at me.

“Thanks.” Grace beams with pride and walks back over to Cam.

Christian says, “Let’s get back to the eggs. Exactly how much butter are we talking about?”

Just when I think I have things all figured out, life throws me for a loop.





CHAPTER 44

Happily Even After

THREE MONTHS LATER …

I WAKE UP in the hospital for the third day in a row. Every muscle in my body aches from sleeping in a chair, but I’ve never been so happy to feel like crap. And I know Owen must feel worse.

I lace my fingers between his and rest my cheek on his leg. The first two days in the hospital, he was so out of it from pain meds that I wasn’t sure if he knew I was here.

His fingers tighten around mine for a second, and he stirs in his sleep.

I end up falling asleep, too. I have the best dream. Owen running his fingers through my hair, smiling at me. The dream feels so real that I don’t want to wake up.

“Peyton?” He’s calling my name, and I love the sound of his voice.

I rub my eyes and feel Owen’s hand sliding through my hair.

I lean over him. “How do you feel?”

“Good enough to do this.” He catches me around the waist and pulls me closer. He coughs, and I pick up the giant plastic cup on the table. It’s full of crushed ice and water.

“Here.” I bend the straw so he can take a sip. “Are you all right?”

“My throat is just scratchy. Come here.”

I lean over him. I can’t believe how happy I am that he’s awake.

“Closer. I can’t see you,” he says.

I lean in a little more. “How do you feel? Seriously?”

“Like I got run over by a truck.”

I laugh as a tear runs down my cheek. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Remember what you promised me before I went into surgery?”

“Which thing?”

“The one about how I can have anything I want afterward?”

To prove how confident I was that he’d make it through the surgery, I promised Owen that I’d give him anything he wanted. “So what do you want? Since you get to pick anything.”

“I don’t know what the rules are about going in the pool now that I’ve got an Arc Reactor implanted in my chest.”

“Iron Man jokes? Seriously?”

“It sounds cooler than shock box.”

Owen gave up so much when he decided to have the surgery—just to give himself a chance at having a life. Something most of us take for granted.

The surgeon implanted an ICD—an implantable cardiac defibrillator—in Owen’s chest that will shock his heart if it stops. Like most people, Owen calls it a shock box and he knew that getting one meant he’d never be able to fight again—or play any contact sport. His whole life would change. “At least I’ll have a life,” he said.

The day of the surgery, Owen was more worried about his mom and me than about himself. I know he was scared, but he still went through with it.

Owen touches my sleeve. “What are you wearing?”

I have on my uniform. “Oh, I have a game. But I’m gonna skip it. I have someone who can cover for me.”

“No.” Owen shakes his head. “It’s bad luck if you skip it.”

“Now you’re superstitious?”

“You have to go. I’m pretty sure an army of nurses will show up any minute to start poking at me and taking my temperature.”

“I don’t know about that, but your mom will be here any minute. She won’t leave unless she knows I’m here.”

“She’s a good mom.”

The door opens a crack, and Owen’s mom pokes her head in. “You look great today, sweetheart.” She smiles. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her smile.

“You have to go,” he tells me. “I’ll hang out with my mom.”

I don’t want to leave.

This feels like the beginning of something, and I don’t want to miss any part of it.

“Okay, but I’ll be back as soon as the game’s over.” I kiss his forehead.

“I think you missed.”

“What?”

“I think you missed my lips,” he says.

I have no idea what the rules are about kissing after heart surgery, but I don’t want to test the boundaries. Plus his mom’s standing right across from me. I kiss him gently, our lips touching just enough.

“Come here. I want to tell you something,” he whispers. I bring my ear closer to his lips. “I decided what I want.”

“Your mom is here,” I remind him.

“It’s not about going to the pool.”

“Okay. What do you want? You get to pick anything.”

“Look at me.” The way Owen says it reminds me of other times he said it.

“Are you finally going to tell me?”

He gives me a half smile. “I want to be more than just friends.”

My heart melts.

I kiss him again. “Done.”

As I walk out, Owen’s mom calls after me. “Good luck.”

I’m practically flying by the time I get to the soccer field.