Stolen Course (Wrecked and Ruined #2)

I can’t hold myself back anymore. I dive across the chair and throw my arms around her neck. She’s stiff at first, obviously not having expected me to assault her with hugs, but a second later, she relaxes and wraps her arms around me too. We stay like that for a few minutes, both of us silently dripping tears and sniffling.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I say, and the moment is immediately ruined.

She goes stiff and awkwardly releases her hold on me. “I’m not who you miss,” she says with a cold chill to her voice.

The forgotten Dr. Clark speaks from across the room. “We didn’t get to this part, Sarah. Give her a break.”

“What did I say?” I frantically look back and forth between them.

“Go ahead. Tell her,” she says to the doctor.

“But then you wouldn’t have to guess.” He offers her a fake grin that has her rolling her eyes.

“I’m not the person you remember anymore. Shit changed after the accident. My ‘care team’”—she makes air quotes around the words—“says it’s because of my brain injury or whatever. But I’m not that woman anymore. It’s weird. It’s like I remember who I used to be, but I hate pretty much everything she used to love. Remember how much I used to read and write?”

“Of course. You were always such a geek when it came to books.” I laugh, but she doesn’t even smile.

“I hate them now,” she says matter-of-factly, like her sudden anti-reading status is going to run me off.

“Okay?”

“Oh and remember my obsession with cooking?”

“Yep,” I say, knowing where this is going.

“I would order takeout every day for the rest of my life if I could,” she says, and it once again makes me laugh. “What’s so funny?” she asks in a bitchy tone I definitely recognize.

“You!” I exclaim. “I’m not laughing at you per se, Sarah. I do, however, find it funny that you think your reading and cooking habits have any bearing whatsoever on how I feel about you.”

“Okay, let me interject here. I think Sarah might be not be explaining this very well,” Dr. Clark says, placing his notepad on the table beside him. “What she’s trying to say is she is not the same person you might remember. People who know her have expectations of who she is, but she feels that the person she is now will never be able to live up to those expectations. Is that accurate, Sarah?”

I look to her as she nods.

“She’s my sister!” I shriek at the doctor. He uses his pen to point over to Sarah, reminding me who I should be talking to. “You’re my sister!” I repeat to her.

“I’m not the person you remember though.”

“I don’t give two shits who you are now. You could turn into a purple flying monkey and I’d still love you. You’re my family.” Her eyes get wide and fill with tears. “Jesus, Sarah, is this why you pushed everyone away? Oh my God, is this what happened with Brett? You didn’t want to disappoint him?”

“No!” she screams and jumps to her feet at the very mention of his name. “Brett is my biggest change and regret. I just don’t love him anymore, and he wouldn’t fucking accept that!”

“Let’s everyone calm down.”

“Wait, do you still love me?” I jump to my feet alongside her as fear floods my veins. If she fell out of love with Brett, maybe she hates me now too.

“No. I mean yes! Yes, I love you.” She looks around the room before repeats my words back to me with a timid smile. “You’re my sister.”

“Well okay then,” I say, flopping back down onto the couch, filled with relief.

Instead of sitting in the chair, she moves to sit next to me. I’m done with the seriousness of this conversation. I quickly collect myself then whip out the old trusty humor.

“Look, we’re in this together. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care how much you have changed. It looks like we have a lot of catching up to do. Good thing we live together now.” I give her a wink. “I see many ‘get to know you’ wine nights in our future.”

“I don’t drink anymore,” she whispers.

“Okay, well you can watch me drink while we talk.” I pat her leg and offer her a crooked grin. We both start laughing, and she leans her head on my shoulder.

Finally, fucking finally, something feels right with Sarah. It’s crazy how one hour-long conversation can change everything. I still feel guilty as hell for not having been there for her, but we are at least on the right track now.

“Those jeans make your ass look big,” Sarah pulls me into one last hug before I leave.

“Your hair looks like shit,” I tease back.

She leans away and gives me a huge smile. “Next week?”

“I’ll be here. Maybe you can call me if you get a chance?”

“I’ll try,” she replies, looking down at the floor.

“Thanks, Dr. Clark.” I extend a hand but at the last minute go in for a hug. I’m really fucking happy, so he can suck it up and take it.

“All right, Emma. We’ll see you next week.” He quickly pushes me away, and Sarah quietly laughs behind him.