Page 97 of The Fool
I look at the bed while contemplating what it would be like to have that with Bea, but then I realize there’s a real possibility that we might not get the chance to have that happy ever after. Cam tucks something into my hand, a small ring box that looks slightly battered from years of wear and tear.
“Mom told me to give this to you,” he says with a knowing smile, “for when you guys are ready.”
When I open it, I see Mom’s sapphire ring sparkling up at me. It brings a mixture of emotions to the surface, and I find myself crying like a baby again. Cam chuckles softly beside me, so I flip him the bird and try to ignore him by placing the ring on Bea’s finger.
“It fits,” I whisper to her sleeping body.
“Yeah, best to ask a girl when she’s conscious though,” Cam murmurs in the background.
“That’sifshe wakes up,” I reply with a sigh and a stabbing pain running all the way through me.
“Whenshe wakes up,” he corrects me as he clasps his hand over my shoulder again.
Feeling hopeful for the first time since seeing her in this state, I stare fondly at Bea’s finger, still sporting the ring I’ve just placed on it.
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Nate
Over the next day or two, I practically move into Bea’s room. I’m on first-name terms with all the nurses and have made it my mission to bring in sweet treats on a daily basis. Bea’s out of the forty-eight-hour critical zone, but there has been no change in her condition. I talk to her all the time and only ever leave her side to sleep or to allow others in to see her. Ben is often here with me, but he’s still got to work. I’m only working if I can do so remotely, which is another perk of working for my big brother.
On the Monday following the accident, I’m making my way down the familiar path to her room, where I find a sorry-looking brunette sitting beside her. Almost a carbon copy of her sister, but with curlier hair. Of course, I know who she is, and I’m glad she’s left her piece of shit husband behind, but I can’t help wondering what to say to her. Apart from dancing with her at the wedding, we’ve never spoken.
After a while of silent contemplation, I purposefully cough from the doorway, prompting her to jump and turn around to face me. From the worried look on her face, I think she’s expecting me to throw her out, so I offer her a small smile of reassurance. Her shoulders slump, as if feeling relieved.
“Hi,” she says awkwardly, “do you mind me being here?”
“She’s your sister; you probably have more right to be here than I do,” I tell her at the same time as taking the seat on the other side of Bea’s bed.
“I’m not her sister, not after what I did to her,” she says sadly, and we fall into a few moments of quiet reflection.
“Can I ask you something?” I venture. “You can tell me to mind my own business.”
“Why did I do what I did?” She blushes as she takes hold of her sister’s hand. “It will always be the biggest regret of my life. I didn’t know the full facts when I went to bed with Dean. I was so in love with him, I just went along with the lies he told me.” I lean in closer, hoping she’ll elaborate. “He told me she had been sleeping with his best friend; that he had caught her in the act when he went to see her a few hours earlier. He then said he was surprised when he had felt nothing when he saw them, that he had always been in love with me.”
“But you must have had your doubts. You knew Bea better than anyone, surely it sounded out of character for her.”
“I was young and naïve and had been pining for my sister’s boyfriend for the past year. I had been swimming in guilt, hurt, and obsession, for what felt like forever. When he began kissing me, it was like a surreal situation, seemingly my dream coming true and, regrettably, I didn’t take the time to think about it. I didn’t think about how my actions were a complete betrayal to my sister. Kissing led to touching, touching led to…well, you know. It didn’t even register with me that we were in Bea’s bedroom. I had just heard him rummaging around in there so had gone in to see who it was.” She lets out a long, painful groan before releasing a tear down her face, which she angrily swipes away. “I swear I didn’t know about her pregnancy or attempted suicide. I just thought she had decided to get away from it all and move in with Ben. Had I known, I would never have stayed with him.”
“You sure about that?” I ask, probably sounding judgmental, but how can I not be?
“I deserve that,” she says with a shy smile and nod of her head. “I’m not trying to pretend I was anything but selfish back then, a truly terrible sister, however, I want you to know that as soon as we got back home on Saturday, I told him it was over. I’ve already sought legal advice. For all that I threw away for him, he didn’t even try to fight me on it.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, trying to sound sincere because I am. No matter what happened in the past, she’s been screwed over by him too.
“It’s no less than I deserve,” she admits as she strokes back a lock of her sister’s hair. “I have so much to make up for, so many changes to make.”
“Well, I’m glad you know the truth,” I offer, “it sucks now, but it sounds like you are so much better off without him. Imagine learning about all this with kids. And, if it helps, I get how crazy being in love with someone can be, especially when you don’t allow yourself to be with them.Believeme.”
“And I’m glad she found you,” she says with a genuine smile. “The whole world and his dog wanted to be with Nathaniel Carter, the popular boy with a heart, and he chose my big sister. Lucky you.”
“Hmm…” Bea releases the sweetest sound, making us both jump up with expectation and excitement. She doesn’t make any other sound, but Emma is already running out to get someone who knows what they’re doing.
“Say it again, baby,” I plead as I grip hold of her hand, “please…for me?”
The nurse rushes in with a doctor quickly following behind her. She gets out a long needle-looking object and begins to poke at various patches of skin on her body. Meanwhile, the nurse is checking all her vitals. They keep looking for a response but it’s not until he reaches her toe that she twitches against it. At the slightest movement, we all immediately look up at the doctor with desperation and held breaths.
“Good news,” she finally says to us, “she’s beginning to come out of her coma. We’ll keep monitoring her, but hopefully, it won’t be long before she shows us more signs of waking up.”