Stephanie was propped up in the bed, a nasty looking bruise above her left eye, a face full of scratches, and her entire left arm in a cast. She looked uncomfortable, but she smiled when she saw Kevin.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself." He walked into the room.
"How are you?" She asked.
His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "What kind of question is that?" His voice cracked like a teenager.
"A perfectly normal one actually. This is usually how people make conversation. You can sit if you want."
He sat in the chair beside her bed and looked into her eyes.
"That's my question to ask. Seriously Stephanie, how are you?"
"So, you can ask me that but I can't ask you?" She tried to quirk an eyebrow back at him, but it came out like a wince instead. "Well, they've given me enough pain killers to feel almost nothing. But not so many that I've started hallucinating, so I think that's a good sign."
He chuckled at her. "Well please let me know if I sprout an extra head or something like that."
She laughed and winced again. Kevin instinctively lunged towards her, "what's wrong?"
"Stupid ribs. Turns out I can still feel them when I laugh."
Kevin's face blanched, "Oh God. I am so sorry."
"No, it's okay. But I do want to ask you a couple things, and I need you to be completely honest with me."
"Okay..." Kevin had never felt less okay about anything.
"How much time did Mark spend on the phone out there?"
Kevin was not expecting that, and Stephanie picked up on his hesitation. "That much huh? I guess Denise wasn't exaggerating."
He sighed. "It was a lot."
"Okay. I definitely made the right choice then."
"What's that?"
"I told him to leave me alone and go back to work. No point dividing his attention when I didn't want it. My Mom was really not impressed."
"I would agree with that. She seemed... frantic?" He was intimately aware that he was on rocky ground describing her mother that way, and feared her reaction. Stephanie just smiled, but her face turned serious again quickly.
"So, about Sunday. Where did you go?"
Kevin looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. He'd planned what he would say when he finally got the chance, but all the words escaped him now. He certainly hadn't planned to be delivering them in a hospital.
"I panicked. I knew that you thought you would marry him before, and then he was asking you, and we'd only been on one real date, so I didn't know what you would do and I panicked. I've never been with anyone I've even considered marrying, so I don't know how that feels, or how you can get over it.
"I was afraid of getting tossed aside for him, so I bailed before I even gave you the chance to decide. I knew that was a mistake, but by the time I called you, I didn't get an answer. I figured you'd taken me for the coward I was and weren't interested in me anymore."
Her expression stayed stony. "You literally came back for your car, but didn't even try to talk to me. And you didn't answer any of my calls."
"I went for a walk and by the time I got back you weren't there or didn't answer when I knocked. I assumed you were with him. I had turned my phone to airplane mode when we watched the movie together. I freaked out that night when I realized how long it had been and saw all the missed calls."
"You turned on airplane mode to watch a movie with me, at home?" He nodded and her gaze softened. "That's stupid!"
"I didn't want us to be disturbed."
"You could put it on silent. Or vibrate. Or even, 'do not disturb' mode for the two hours." He was blushing furiously now and she chuckled.
"Kevin, do you trust me?"
He looked into her eyes, "What-"
"Do you trust that I won't just throw myself on any guy offering me a ring after they hurt me?"
"Yes."
"Good. And do you promise not to ghost me again like you did?"
He chuckled, "Yes."
"Here's the thing Kevin." She tried to move her arm and grimaced, "I don't give second chances. When I was little, my dad left my Mom for another woman. We were devastated. When the other woman found out about us, she dumped him and he came crawling back to us. We welcomed him back with open arms. My Mom believed he had come to his senses and was back for us so we could be a happy family again. We gave him a second chance.
"He left us again within the year. He took off and never looked back. I haven't talked to him since. I don't even think he's in the country anymore. But that's when I decided I would never give second chances. Not when it comes to my heart. I honestly don't think I could survive that again. The second heartbreak is so much worse than the first, when it comes from someone you love and trust."
Kevin felt his heart breaking as she spoke, and reached out for her hand. They held each other silently for a moment before she continued.
"I went to my Mom's house that night to get away, and I told her everything that happened. We actually got in a big fight this week about it. I told her I was never going to give anyone a second chance at my heart, and she told me repeatedly that I should forgive and forget and give someone a second chance. We both said terrible things to each other during the few days I was there, but I realized, my Mom is still standing, even though she had her heart steamrolled at least twice.
"I thought being strong meant never opening yourself up to being hurt a second time, by moving on even though you still loved them. I could never understand people who took back cheating partners. But this week I realized, there is a different kind of strength in opening up and letting people back in.
"I never told you this, but Mom's been hounding me to get back with Mark basically since we broke up. Before I left her house last night, I said I was going to go fix a mistake, and maybe it was time I gave someone a second chance." She was blushing by now but she continued on "I think Mom assumed I was going to find Mark. Hence, why she's being a crazy person today."
Kevin finally interrupted. "I think all Moms get a free pass when their daughter has just been in a car accident."
She smiled "Yeah, you're probably right. But I wasn't coming back for Mark." She squeezed his hand, and Kevin felt a hope growing inside of him.
"I came back for you. So, if you're done running away at the first sign of trouble or awkwardness, I want to give you a second chance."
Kevin looked in her eyes and saw fear. She was being vulnerable with him in a way no one ever had before. All of his fears from the past four days were wiped out, and he felt a light glowing in his chest. A smile itching to be let out.
"But I swear to God, now that I've told you all this, if you do some shit like that again, I will destroy you. Do not make me regret this."
Kevin couldn't help but smile now. She was fierce, and he was inspired. "Duly noted. Can I kiss you now?"
She smiled back at him, "A kiss means you agree to these terms."
"You mean not being a little shit again?" he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Those would be the terms."
He got up and kissed her gently and quickly, scared to disturb any of her injuries. He pulled back and sat back in the chair, but kept a hold of her hand.
"So, what happened on the drive?"
"Oh, I got t-boned by someone running a stop sign."
"Shit."
"Yeah. Everything else is kind of fuzzy."
At that point, Denise stuck her head back in the door and yelled "knock-knock!" She looked much happier than she had when Kevin left her in the waiting room. Carrie was right behind her.
"Who's there?"
Denise did a double take, but didn't miss a beat, "Atch"
"Atch who?"
"Bless you!" She grinned so big Kevin couldn't help but chuckle. Stephanie shook her head, but waved the other ladies in.
Carrie glanced at their intertwined hands on the bed, and pursed her lips, pointedly looking away from Kevin.
"Mom stop being weird. This is my boyfriend Kevin. Kevin, this is my Mom, Carrie."
Kevin looked at her when she called him her boyfriend, and her blush warmed his heart. Kevin stood up and stretched his hand out to Carrie.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She begrudgingly shook his hand. Stephanie beamed at both of them. Denise shouted "hallelujah!" and could barely contain her laughter.