Chapter 59: Chapter Twenty-Four

Natalee

I fought back tears as we walked into Demetri's room. A tube was coming out of his mouth, his face was bruised and bandaged.

I choked back a sob when Alec fell to his knees next to his brother's bed. I didn't know what to say. What do you say? All of us were hurting, all in different ways. I did all I knew I could do.

My fault, is all that ran through my head. The treacherous thoughts screamed at me! Why did I go for Demetri when I knew my heart belonged to Alec? Why did I drag both of them through this?

I loved them both, I truly did. I was never one to understand people when they asked if you could love two people at one time. I thought they were stupid and selfish to even think of such a thing.

But my heart was broken for the boy in the bed in front of me. I wanted to take his place. I wanted to remove the bandages one by one and kiss the bruises away.

My knees felt weak, so I walked over to the nearest chair and sat down. Alec didn't move. He grabbed his brother's hand. “I'm so sorry,” he croaked.

The nurse came back in and told us it was time to leave.

I thought it would take ten men to get Alec to leave his brother's side, but he nodded his head and put his arm around me as we walked out.

“You need food,” I said once we got back to the lobby. It had been hours since we had eaten.

“I never thought I'd see the day when you would be force-feeding me,” Alec joked. Tension released in my shoulders.

“Let's go grab some overnight stuff and some food and we can come back here.”

“You sure you want to stay the night at the hospital?”

I exhaled. “I'm family, remember?”

“I won't ever forget.” Alec kissed my cheek and we walked outside hand in hand.

****

The next three days flew by. I refused to go to school even though Alec was irritated with me for staying at the hospital. I couldn't leave Demetri's side any more than he could.

Like he said, we were family. I felt like I was the only family they had. It was like another half of myself was in that hospital bed.

Each night I would go into Demetri's room while Alec made phone calls to update his agent as well as his publicist.

I was probably boring the poor guy to tears, but I kept reading from our senior lit class textbook as if nothing had happened.

The media had a field day with the accident. Some stations reported some really awful things, saying that Demetri had a drug problem, that he was high when he got into the accident.

I was so angry most of the time that when I walked out of the hospital and got a camera shoved in my face all I wanted to do was cry and lash out.

Thankfully, Bob and Lloyd were lifesavers when it came to our security at the hospital. On several occasions I told them I wouldn't be upset at all if they suddenly lost control of their firearms.

They laughed.

Alec was talking quietly in the hall. I reached out and caressed Demetri's hand. His doctors had been slowly lessening the chemicals in his body.

They figured he would be completely out of his induced state over the next twenty-four hours.

“Your brother told everyone I was his fiancée.” I caressed his hand. “It was the only way they would let me see you.” My chest clenched; I was too sad to laugh but I wanted to.

“Trust me, I could have taken that tiny nurse. We all know how strong I am.” I bit my lip and watched Demetri lie completely still, making no movement.

I laughed again and squeezed his hand. “Naturally, I thought the best way to get you out of your drug-induced state was to threaten you.

“Cruel,” Alec said behind me.

“And in order to prove my theory, I also recorded a few bird calls on my iPhone. Did you know there was an app for that?”

I could feel Alec's chuckle behind me as I pressed play. We both laughed, and then Demetri's hand moved.

I thought I imagined it, but Alec's hand froze on my shoulder. “Play it again.”

I pressed play again, this time it was a crow, and yes, it was beyond creepy. My eyes trained on Demetri's hand. Nothing.

Frustrated, I pushed the play button again. His hand moved, just slightly. I raised my gaze to his face.

“His eyes are open! Get the nurse!” I yelled. Alec was already out the door yelling down the halls.

Demetri's eyes widened as he looked around the room, his eyes filled with tears. “No, no, it's okay.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “You're fine, okay? Don't panic.

Demetri didn't nod, but his heart rate went back to normal. I couldn't blame him. If I was strapped to equipment I would be freaking out too.

“Ice?” I reached for a cup of ice that I had set there in hopes that he would wake up soon. He nodded his head just slightly.

He opened his mouth just slightly, that same mouth I had spent endless days and hours kissing. I choked back another sob as he tried to smile and nod again. He liked it. He wanted more.

I giggled, and lifted more to his mouth.

“Well, well, well, it seems my daughter's treating our patient well.” My dad had been my lifesaver these past few days, always answering questions and telling me that everything would be fine.

He walked to the monitors and wrote some stuff down on his clipboard, then began a slow examination of Demetri. “How are you feeling? Blink once if you are in pain, twice if you are okay for now.”

Demetri blinked twice. I squeezed his hand in encouragement.

“You've been in an accident,” my dad stated. Demetri rolled his eyes as if to say no crap.

We all laughed nervously. Alec put his hand on my shoulder. I had one hand holding Demetri's and the other holding Alec's.

“You should have died,” my dad said. Sheesh. Talk about no bedside manner. “I'm going to be honest with you, and I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, son.”

I saw a tear pool at the corner of Demetri's eyes. I wasn't sure if it was fear getting to him or the fact that my dad just called him “son,” a term he hadn't heard for over ten years.

“You have a long road ahead of you,” my dad said. “I've made a few calls to enroll you in a local rehab program. The missus thinks it will be a good idea.”

Demetri's eyes continued to pool with tears but in that moment he seemed strong, not weak. He stared at my dad as if he was some sort of god. “You're better than this, Son.”

Okay, now I was getting choked up.

My dad sat on the bed and sighed. “You were made for more than music, more than just living on the edge, Son. I need you to believe that. I need you to work with me so we can get past this.

“Together. Can you do that?”

Tears streamed down my face as I watched Demetri slowly reach for my dad's hand and grasp it between his.

I wiped the tears away before my dad turned around, but his sixth sense picked it up anyway. He pulled me into a tight bear hug. “He's going to be fine, Baby.

“I'm going to leave you guys for a minute. I'll send the nurses in to start taking away some of that equipment hooked up to him.”

I nodded and looked back at Demetri. His face was cracked into a half smile. “What are you smiling about?” I grinned.

His head moved slowly from side to side.

Alec laughed behind me and gently brought my back against him as he wrapped his arms around me. “I'm thinking it's the first time an adult has scolded him in years.”

Demetri's smile widened.

We all laughed. I walked over to Demetri and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you, Demetri. I'll always love you.” I grabbed his hand and placed it on my heart. “You're right here. Always.”

His eyes pooled with tears again; he nodded.

I walked out of the room, leaving the brothers alone with one another. It was time for me to go home and get some sleep. I found my dad at the nurse's station.

“Dad?” I was turning into an emotional basket case. He turned around, concern in his eyes. “I just needed to tell you…” Okay, insert hormonal teenager here. Tears streamed down my face.

“Thank you, and I'm sorry. I love you so much. I'm so sorry.”

“Baby girl.” Within seconds I was in his arms. He was cradling my head in his hands and kissing my hair. “Oh, Baby. I'm the one who's sorry. Your mom said you two talked. I had no idea, Baby.

“I thought you were just going through a stage. I thought you wanted to be alone. But know this—” He pulled away from me, his eyes filled with tears. “You are my little girl. I love you so much.

“I would do anything for you. You are mine. Do you understand, Natalee? You are my flesh and blood, and there is nothing on this Earth that is more important to me.”

I half-expected the people around us to start clapping. His speech was beautiful, but not as beautiful as I felt in that moment.

For the first time in my life, I felt truly beautiful, and it was all because my father, my flesh and blood, claimed me as his. I knew to whom I belonged, and his name was Paul Murray, my father.”

I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life. I cried the whole way home. I cried as I made my way up the stairs, and when my mom burst into my room, I cried again.

She held me, as all good moms should when their daughter is having an emotional breakdown. She promised we would try harder as a family, that we would work harder.

She even asked for my forgiveness. And all because I fell in love with two boys.

I laughed through the last of the tears and changed into my sweats. I was exhausted. Tomorrow was Saturday.