She laughed. “Yeah. Oookay.”
Our night followed that pattern. Asking each other questions and getting to know one another. Our food came. We ate. We drank. And I had a real conversation with a real person. One who made me genuinely laugh.
As the night went on, I found myself thinking less about sex and more about the things I could do to bring her out of her shell and put a smile on her face. Because if I were to say one genuine thing to Shannon, other the fact that I loved her hair, it was that her smile had a way of making the dim restaurant around us a lot brighter.
We were about to order dessert when her cell phone lit up. She looked at the phone as if she was unfamiliar with the number and then accepted the call.
“Excuse me,” she said, holding up a finger.
She chatted on the phone with the other person, and I watched as her happy smile dropped and her face paled.
“Okay. I’m on my way,” she said into the phone.
“Something wrong?” I asked after she hung up the call.
“Yes. I have to go. Lilly’s in the hospital. Something terrible happened to her.” She tossed her things in her purse before digging out her wallet and tossing a fifty-dollar bill on the table—as if I would let her pay for her food. “I’m so sorry I have to run. We’ll set something up soon.”
And before I could even respond or tell her to keep her money, she stormed out, leaving me at the table.
TEN
SHANNON
I DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO THINK again until I left the hospital. It was a flurry of running from one room to another, looking for Lilly’s exact location. Stairs and elevators were taken, and my feet were killing me since I my uncomfortable shoes were not suitable for running or walking. It took nearly forty-five minutes, but thanks to a nurse who was actually willing to do her job, I found her in the intensive care unit after she’d been transported to the hospital by ambulance.
After fighting my way inside, because I wasn’t technically family, and seeing exactly how she was doing, there were phone calls and arrangements to be made for her mother, who was vacationing in New York, to get her back to South Carolina. And on top of all that was the debilitating stress and anxiety of knowing my best friend was in a coma.
Once again, I was face to face with the destruction of man. Lilly had been beaten nearly to death by a group of men. She was protecting Devin’s little sister, keeping her from being raped. It was just like Lilly to play the hero, and I was thankful Jenny, Devin’s sister, had a protector. I never did, and the consequences left me burned and broken beyond repair. But at the same time, seeing my best friend wounded was killing me.
Internal bleeding and swelling on her brain. That was what being the hero got her.
The doctor filled me and Devin in, and the floor beneath my feet seemed to jerk and shake with every word he said.
“I think if we can get the swelling around her brain down, I’ll feel a lot better about her prognosis. Right now, it’s hard to say. She could wake up at any time, or she could be in this comatose state for a while longer. There’s no way to know until the swelling goes down. We have her on some antibiotics to fight any infection and pain medication to keep her comfortable. I’ll know more as soon as the rest of the test results come in.”
Seeing her in the hospital bed, her face swollen so terribly she wasn’t recognizable and machines pushing oxygen into her lungs, was too much. It was like a memo from God—a reminder of what men were capable of. Seeing her that way made me wonder what I was doing with Matthew.
Devin stood to the side while I held Lilly’s delicate hand and cried over her. Memories mixed with reality floated around my brain, giving me a severe bout of motion sickness. Whispering encouraging words and promises I knew she couldn’t hear, I patted her hand, letting the tears slide over my cheeks.
I stayed by her side as much as I could, but I had to leave when it was time to go to work. I was covering both of our shifts for Mrs. Franklin, but I kept my phone glued to my fingers in case there were any updates. If I didn’t hear anything for a few hours, I would call the hospital to check on her. So much, in fact, the nurses at the front desk were becoming familiar with my voice.
Once I closed the doors for the day, I’d go home, shower, and head right back to the hospital.
Matthew had texted a few times, but I ignored him.
I couldn’t think about him and the bizarre situation I’d gotten myself into at the moment. Not when all the reasons I decided to stay away from men were slammed in my face again. It was like reliving my terrible prom night except much worse because it was my best friend.
Poor Lilly.
Sadly, it wasn’t the first time she had been attacked. Back in high school, a group of rabid cheerleaders had beat her up. That didn’t leave her with brain swelling, but it did take away her ability to have babies.
It would be me and Lilly—childless. Her from a pack of wild bitches, and me from my brain rebelling against me and keeping me away from men in general.
The day she opened her eyes and we found out there was no permanent damage was a joyous day. One where I finally breathed a refreshing breath and didn’t feel like my heart was bruised.
On that day, I saw something truly beautiful. Something I hadn’t seen since the day my pop left the Earth.
I saw love.
Devin, who was all man and kept his emotions shuttered, held her close and cried. Seeing him weep over her did something awkward to my heart. It made me consider a few things. Twice in my life, I’d seen the real deal. Once with my grammy and pop, and now with Devin and Lilly. Maybe there were a few good men in the world. Then again, Grammy and Lilly were rare women, lucky in love and full of heart and bravery. I, on the other hand, wasn’t a lucky person and didn’t take chances.
I was a coward, hiding behind a block wall of memories, afraid to even consider having a precious moment in time.
A few days later, Lilly came home. She wouldn’t admit it, but she wasn’t well enough to care for herself. Devin and I took turns taking care of her, and thankfully, Mrs. Franklin was an understanding boss.
Matthew had stopped texting, and instead of dwelling on him, I dived headfirst into caring for Lilly, visiting Grammy, and squeezing in work. On the days when Devin wasn’t there to play doctor and make sure Lilly was well cared for, I was so busy I’d sometimes forget to stop and eat.