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Blake rushed over to my side and grabbed my hand. I almost recoiled, but then I saw that my hand was completely normal.
Maybe it had all been a dream. What had really happened, then?
I looked up into Blake’s soft, brown eyes and waited for some kind of explanation. He looked as if he was going to cry.
He said, “Kat? Are you awake? Can you hear me?”
I said, “Yeah, I’m awake. I feel fine. Why the hell am I in a hospital bed?”
He exhaled, as if he’d been holding his breath all night.
“Oh my God, Kat, I was out looking for you. I was driving down the road, when all of a sudden this huge thing sprinted out of the trees. At least I thought it was huge. I didn’t even have time to swerve – it was as if it flew right in front of me. But, when I got out of the car, it looked as if I had hit you. But it didn’t look like you. That is, it only partly looked like you.”
Oh no. It wasn’t a dream. It was all very real.
He continued, “I could tell it was you, but there was something wrong with your body. It was all green and twisted. I thought I’d killed you, Kat. So I drove you straight to the hospital.”
He had seen me like that, partially shifted, and had driven me to a hospital. Because he saw what I really was.
I was a monster, and I could shift back at any moment.
He ran his hands through his fluffy blond hair, which looked like a halo in the sunlight. He said, “It must sound as if I’m drunk, because, clearly, you’re fine. Maybe I hit something else and then found you. The doctors said you’d been drinking. I don’t know how to explain what I saw. I must’ve been out of my mind, because I thought I’d killed you. Katherine, you’re the most important person in my world, and I thought I’d killed you.”
I had so many warring emotions. Yesterday, I had wanted nothing more than to hear this. But so much had happened since then.
So much that he’d never understand.
Clearly, he couldn’t sense that. He got on to his knees at the side of the bed and looked up at me.
With a tremble in his voice, he said, “Katherine. It’s always been you. I’ve met other girls and I’ve traveled around, but you know where my mind always goes back to? Walking through the woods with you. Yesterday, when you ran off, I felt so stupid. The whole time I had wanted to tell you how I felt, but my tongue was tied into a knot. How do I take a lifetime and drill it into one sentence, so you understand? So I understand? It took me all these years of your being gone to realize ... You’re it. I want you to be it for the rest of my life.”
He’d gotten carried away. He clearly hadn’t wanted to say that much.
He smiled that honey-butter smile.
He said, “After a lifetime already, of being your best friend, I want to see where this can go. If we take the training wheels off. I want to see what happens if we just go where things take us naturally.”
Little did he know what happened to my body when nature took over. I was getting nervous. Were my hands changing color?
I hoped I was imagining that. What would happen if I shifted right in front of him? I imagined it would not be a pretty process.
I couldn’t let him see it. Where could I go? Where in the world could I hide?
I looked out of the window, toward the sky. The first and only place I really felt powerful.
Out in the parking lot was a slender, handsome man in black leather. He was waiting next to his bike, looking at my window. At least it seemed as if he was.
Because how could he know I was in here?
Right. The telepathy thing. Did that still work when we weren’t in dragon form?
“Yeah, it super does,” he said, and winked at me, “Waiting for you, boo.”
I looked at Blake. He was breathless, searching my face for a response.
Then he jumped back in without letting me respond, “Maybe this is all too sudden. I get it. I think I’m just making sure I say it now, because when I saw you crumpled up on the ground, I thought I’d totally lost my chance to ever say it.”
I nodded. I said, “I thought I’d lost my chance with you when I ran into the woods like a madwoman.”
He smiled, “Hey, you ran away from a horrible date. I was awful. I barely talked the whole time. You must’ve thought I hated you or something. Truth is, I just didn’t know how to say all of this. But I had plenty of time to think about it while driving around the forest looking for you.”
He rubbed my hand gently. His hands were warm, but not as warm as CC’s fire on my back.
He said, “Do you think you could ... Forgive me?”
I nearly jumped. “Forgive you? What for? Being sweet?”
He shook his head, “For being a dope. And the bad date. Give me a chance at another date? Let’s start over?”
I smiled. A lump grew in my throat.
A chance to start over. God, I’d love that.
Except I didn’t have that kind of chance. There wasn’t any going back from the knowledge I’d gained last night.
Once you learn how to fly, you can’t forget it.
I swallowed the lump and told him, “Of course.” I needed him to feel comfortable leaving the room, so I could get out of there. Head to CC.
His phone rang, interrupting the absolutely blissful expression on his face. He checked it, with annoyance, until he saw who it was.
“Your parents,” he said, showing me the number, as if I wouldn’t believe him. He flipped it open and rushed from the room, telling both me and them, “I’ll be right down to get you. She’s up now, thank God.”
He had left the room. I had even less time, now, to make my escape. Once my parents came in, I didn’t think I’d be strong enough to leave them.
I couldn’t put them through this. Whatever this was.
I thought, “So how do I get out of here?”
CC shrugged. “Jump.”
I frowned. “I don’t have any clothes.”
CC said, “Totally fine with that.” I stuck my tongue out at him. He said, “I brought you an outfit, just in case you were squeamish about it.” He patted the folded pile on the seat next to him.
I struggled for a second with the window before finding the lock and popping it open.
As I leapt, I tried not to think about how Blake and my parents would feel when they entered an empty hospital room – the window open and letting in the summer heat.
