Written In The Stars: Book Two

CHAPTER TWELVE: REUNION

"You came," Madeline whispered to him, her voice cutting through the beeping in the room.

To her left was a doctor sitting in a chair, watching the monitor. So Elijah stood to the right. "Always."

A faint smile painted her bruised lips as she looked up at him with so much adoration he didn't deserve. "You look so handsome, all grown up. Do I look very bad?"

Elijah's smile was bigger than her own, hoping it would give her some measure of comfort. "Madeline, you will always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Scars and bruises won't change that."

Madeline cocked her head a bit, then pinched her eyes shut and groaned from the slight movement. "You never call me Madeline."

His eyes moved over to the doctor, who sat across from him, seeming to feel his stare. "She's going to be a little out of it for a while. Confusion and memory issues are completely normal. It can take anywhere from an hour to a few days to fade. I wouldn't be concerned with it."

Which would explain her comment about him looking so grown up, and why she was saying his name when she woke. Elijah should have just declined the visit, but if there was a chance to see her, even like this, he'd take it.

He liked to think he'd grown a backbone since their last encounter. It fucking gutted him to high hell, leading him toward a drinking problem and causing him more pain than he thought possible for someone to survive, but when the drinking stopped, he'd found himself in a new place. A better place in some ways, and a worse one in others.

"I called you Madeline when we were in love, honey," Elijah told her finally, forcing his attention back to the broken young woman in the bed.

A frown took over Madeline's face, and her brown eyes narrowed on his. "Were? We aren't anymore?"

"You aren't," Elijah told her as he shook his head, "but I will always be hopelessly in love with you."

It looked like she was trying to allow it to sink in, seeming to struggle with it all. "When did this happen?"

This was fucking rough. Worse than talking about it in therapy or group, because this time he had to explain it to her. "Four years ago. I came back into your life after twelve years, and there were sparks right from the start. There was no ignoring what we felt for one another. We tried to, but it was undeniable. Our love went from friendship to true love the moment I kissed you the first time."

"Was it a beautiful love story?" Madeline asked, her frown curving up ever so slightly.

Elijah couldn't help but smile through his forming tears at the question. "It was brief, and the worst pain either of us has ever experienced in our lives when we had to let it go. But yes, Madeline, it was beautiful."

Her smile grew only for a moment, then faltered. "Why did we have to let it go if we loved each other so much?"

Fuck. This was ten times worse than being interrogated by any cop he'd ever faced in his younger years. "Because I decided a long time ago, I would never have children. Since it was something I knew you wanted someday, I had to let you go. But you have a fiancé in the waiting room who's going to give you everything you've ever wanted."

"I don't want him," Madeline told him with as much conviction as she could manage. "I want to have you back."

Those tears in his eyes finally fell against his cheeks, but he didn't bother to wipe them away. "I want that too, Madeline. More than anything. But he's the one you love now, and I have to accept that."

"What's he like?" She asked, curiosity seeming to get the best of her.

Elijah laughed and scratched at his facial hair. "Well, I think he's a dick, but I'm pretty sure my opinion of him is a tad jaded. No one's good enough for you, Madeline, especially not me."

His little M&M closed her eyes and allowed her cheek to fall against the pillow. "I feel like you and I haven't seen each other in a long time."

"Four years," he confirmed.

"That's too long. If we haven't seen each other in four years, why did you come?"

Elijah sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand over his own. "Because you're still the love of my life, and never stopped being my best friend, even if I couldn't be those things for you. Nothing could keep me away from this hospital."

He watched as a tear wet her eyelashes. "There could be a tornado outside, and if I asked for you, you'd find a way to get back to me."

Hearing her repeat the words he'd spoken to her four years ago was almost too much for Elijah to handle, but he pressed on. "That's right, sweetheart."

"You aren't your father, you know," she spoke then. "You're like mine. Brave, and kind, with so much conviction and love. I think you'd be a pretty good dad."

A laugh caught in Elijah's throat. Truth was, he'd thought a few times over the last couple of years that maybe he could overcome his fear of fatherhood. It'd never been about disliking children, or never wanting children, necessarily. It'd been the feeling like he shouldn't. Shouldn't put a child through his mental health issues, and shouldn't pass along his DNA.

"Back then, it wasn't something I could even think about," Elijah told her. "Now? I don't know. I've come a long way in the last couple of years, but I'm not sure I could ever get to that place. If I do ever get to that place, and it isn't with you, I don't want it."

A sniffle filled the room, but it hadn't come from Elijah, or from Madeline. It was from the doctor staring at the screen, her body shaking as she tried to hold it all in.

Their story was a pretty heavy one, and Elijah still became emotional about it from time to time. Nights were the worst. He may have now been on medication that helped with his night terrors, and the nightmares had faded a bit once he bulldozed the house. But Elijah missed her.

The bed he shared with her on and off for those two weeks felt empty without her. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Madeline next to him, pressed up against his body with her hand beneath his.

"If I fall asleep, will you still be here when I wake up?" Madeline asked quietly, seeming to have no response to his last words.

Elijah's hand lifted from hers and brushed the hair away from her face. She wore it straight now, or at least did for her engagement party. Madeline must have looked so elegant just a few hours ago. Now here she was, laying in a hospital bed, her face bruised and stitched back together.

But he wasn't lying. She was still the most beautiful woman in the world. "The next time you wake up, you'll probably have gone back to never wanting to see me again," Elijah told her. "And that's okay. It was enough for me to be this close to you, even if you don't remember it."

"You broke my heart pretty bad, didn't you?"

It was a tough question to answer. Yes, he'd broken her heart, but tried to do it so they could remain in each other's lives in some measure. They hadn't been in so deep they couldn't have remained friends afterwards. Maybe it was a fantasy thinking that. But it was why Elijah hadn't allowed the topic of children to slide for the time being.

If they'd reached that conversation a year from then, Elijah knew the friendship wouldn't have stood a chance. But that's not what Madeline wanted. She couldn't go back to remaining friends; only acquaintances, and only on the page and rare text. Elijah understood, and accepted the decision was her own to make.

Elijah leaned down to kiss Madeline on the forehead. When he straightened his body, he looked down at the beautiful angel laying in the bed. His friend, Maddie. His little M&M. His Madeline. "I'm not sure who hurt who most, honestly. But you'll be okay, M&M. You're going to heal and lead a big life. But remember, anytime you want me to be a part of it, or need me, I'm here until the day I die."