Happier

Chapter 27

She had fallen asleep with her head on the edge of the matrass and her hand still holding onto his. After being warmed up by hers, his feels a little less cold. Her dreams are filled with him and how he wakes up. She dreams of how he kisses and hugs her again, and an "I love you" escapes her mouth. 

"Lacey," at first, she thinks it's Cole in her dream, but then she hears it again and it's not his voice anymore. "Lacey," her eyes flutter open and she sees the familiar eyes of her dad and Frank. They both look down on her with tender smiles on their faces.
"We're going home, Lace," her father tells her. Lacey looks at her dad with fear struck in her eyes. Oh no, she's not leaving his side. Not now, not ever. She can't.
"I'll call you when he wakes up, darling," Frank tells her when he sees the glint of fear flash through her eyes. Lacey contemplates the possibilities. Go home and come back when Frank calls when he wakes up or stay and have her father be annoyed at her.
"It's late, honey. We'll have dinner together and after you can come back," her dad tries again. Lacey thinks about it again and then sighs, loosening the grip on Cole's hand. When she tries to pull away, she can't as Cole's grip on her hand has tightened. Lacey looks up to his face. His eyes are still shut, his breathing slow.
"Lacey," his lips move barely, but there's still a whisper. Now Frank and William both look up too, both a little surprised. All three stay silent for a moment, waiting to see if they were dreaming or not. "Lacey," he whispers again and now the three look at one another with the same, surprised look on their face. The girl now leans closer to him, her other hand to his forehead.
"Cole," she whispers back, looking at him with hopeful eyes. Please, wake up. His eyes open very slowly, the blue finally showing again. The girl smiles a little as one tear escapes her eyes.
"Lacey," he whispers again, a smile appearing on his face too. He's still very tired and his eyes flutter shut again, but when they open a third time, they stay open. "Oh, Lacey," he says louder this time, but his voice sounds croaked.
"Hey baby," she smiles softly, stroking his dark hair back. He tries to reach his other arm out to her, but stops and hisses at the pain. "It's okay, stay down, honey," Lacey tells him, her voice soft. She looks over to her dad and Frank, hoping they'll let her stay. They both smile, agreeing to her silent plead. Cole's eyes dart over to where his dad stands.
"Hi, dad. Hey, mister Goldberg," he smiles and for the first time in a while, the sparkle in his eyes is back. It makes Lacey fall in love with him all over again.
"Hi son," Frank greets whilst William just gives him a grateful smile. Grateful for the fact that Cole is still alive. Grateful towards God for letting him live. Grateful towards his wife for not taking this boy with her for the sake of their daughter.
"Come on, Lace. Let's go so Frank and Dianna can be alone with their son," William tells her carefully. Frank shakes his head in disagreement.
"No, Will. Let her stay. We'll come back tomorrow. Cara needs dinner and do her homework. It's a school night," says Frank, more to William than to Lacey and his son.
"You sure?" Lacey asks, hoping to get the answer she wants.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You have your time together. You were both planning to make things up anyway," Cole looks at Lacey for a moment, confused as to why he'd use 'both'. Cole was on his way to hers, but is it possible Lacey was on her way to his? Is that why his dad just said that?
"Were you?" he starts, but doesn't finish his question. Frank and William take that as their cue to leave, neither Cole nor Lacey noticing their disappearance.
"I was on my way to you to make things up when I found you on the intersection where you ..." Lacey stops when she feels the tears escape her eyes. "I'm sorry, Cole. I'm so sorry," she takes a deep breath, but when she releases, the tears stream down her face. A loud cry fills the room.
"Hey, baby. It's okay," he whispers. It sucks that he can't move his arm. He wants to hug her so badly. Hold her in his arms. Rock her to sleep and make the tears stop.
"If only I were sooner. Maybe then you wouldn't have been hit, because you wouldn't have been at the intersection at the time, and I-..." she wants to continue, but Cole stops her.
"Lacey, enough!" he nearly shouts, but tries to keep his voice down as they're in a hospital. The girl looks at him with wide, startled eyes. "None of this is your fault, okay? Stop trying to blame yourself, LaceyLay. Please? I should've been more careful when I crossed the road, I shouldn't have been going so fast. But I just couldn't wait to see you," he explains to her, causing more tears to fall down her face. With winces and hisses, he tries to slide over in the bed.
"Careful, baby," Lacey shoots up to fluff up his pillow and make sure he's comfortable.
"Come here," he whispers, still in pain. The girl shakes her head.
"I don't want to hurt you," her voice quavers, her eyes not even meeting his. She doesn't want to see the pain in his eyes. She doesn't want him to see the pain in hers either.
"You won't, I promise," he reassures her. Lacey contemplates it. She wants to be close to him again and for him to put his arms around her. So, she carefully sits down on the edge of the bed and swirls her legs up on the bed. "You can lay down on my shoulder if you want," he tells her, tilting his left arm so she's able to lean into him and he can wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Are you okay?" she then asks, hoping she's not hurting him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replies with a smile that she doesn't see. "Were you really on your way to see me?" he then asks after a moment of silence.
"Yeah," Lacey replies softly and then chuckles when she remembers what she was going to do. "I was actually going to sing beneath your window like in those movies you don't like," Cole chuckles a little too, realizing how much of a dork his girlfriend actually is.
"What song were you going to sing?" he then questions, curious about what she's had planned. Lacey now smiles a little.
"Never can say goodbye," and now Cole's smile grows even wider. She picked one of their collectively favorite songs.
"Can you sing a little bit for me?" he tries a little innocently when a wave of sleepiness washes over him. How can he be tired again? He just slept for what felt like an eternity.
"Now?" To that, Cole just hums, too tired to make words. "I don't know if I should," she suddenly grows insecure. She can't sing right now, her voice sounds too thick from all the crying.
"Yeah, please, baby? With a cherry on top?" he tries, followed by a tired sigh. His lips plant a kiss on her hair before he rests his head on top of hers.
"OK, here goes nothing," she mumbles, not really caring if he heard that or not.
"Never can say goodbye
No, no, no, no, now.
Never can say goodbye
Even though the pain and heartache
seems to follow me wherever I go
though I try and try to hide my feelings
they always seem to show,"
Even with that short part of the song, Cole has already found his way to dreamland. His breathing becomes even, his grip on her a little weaker. A smile forms upon her face as she stops her singing. At least now she can shut her tired eyes too. At least now they're both back where they belong: in each other's arms. Together.