LIKE RAIN (13 page)

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

I didn't go back to Halley's that night. Instead, I had Brett take me to the hospital. When I got up to the waiting room on my father's floor I saw a familiar nurse rushing towards me.

"You're Nevaeh right?" she asked me. I nodded. "I've been trying to call you! Something happened!"

Immediately panic surged through me. "What? What happened?"

A smile spread across her face. "Your father came out of the coma."

My eyes widened. "He did? When?"

"About an hour ago," she said, taking my hand. "Come and see him."

"Wait," I said. "Is he…okay?"

"Come and see for yourself." As soon as we got to the room the nurse left me to be alone with my father. There he was, sitting awake on his hospital bed in better condition than I was.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked when he saw me. I did not have the heart to tell him. I decided to use the same lie I already had.

"Fell down some stairs," I said. His mind seemed to be on something else, and I could see sadness in his eyes. I suddenly remembered Jasmine.

"Dad," I said. "Jasmine's-"

"Gone," he finished. He held up a piece of paper. "She left me a letter."

"Dad, I'm sorry. Really I am."

He nodded. "I know you are. Jasmine wrote that you and her were actually starting to get along."

"We were," I said. "Which should have been more reason for her to stay. I don't understand why she left."

"I do. Jasmine and I were more of a fling, not a love. I used her to try to forget everything else in my life."

"To forget me," I said quietly.

He sighed. "You're so much like your mother. It almost pains me just to look at you."

"Dad, it's been ten years," I said.

"I know," he replied, "but that was the last time I was truly happy. I still miss her a lot."

"So do I, but maybe it's a good thing that you see her in me. It means she still lives on."

He smiled. "You're right. I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I'm sorry for pushing you out of my life."

I smiled at him. "So, no permanent damage?" I asked, referring to his condition.

"Nope," he replied. "I'm as good as new. It's a miracle, isn't it?"

"It sure is." My dad fell asleep early that night. I laughed at him when he said he was tired at 7 o'clock. He argued that when you're used to being asleep all day it would take some time before you could stay awake until a normal hour. But after he fell asleep I didn't leave. I sat on the floor beside his bed.

I looked up when I heard someone enter the room. It was Kyla. I wanted to scream at her and tell her to go away, but I couldn't. She had been nothing but kind to me, and I knew yelling at her would not make the pain go away.

"Kyla," I said in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

"I…I figured you'd be here," she said. "I wanted to talk to you."

I could not imagine what she could possibly have to say to me. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "My dad came out of his coma," I said. "He's just sleeping now."

"Oh wow, that's great," she said. I could tell by her voice that something was wrong. Her usual perkiness was not there.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her. She looked down at me with sadness in her eyes.

"Cael and I broke up," she said.

I almost gasped but stopped myself. "What? Why?"

"He loves somebody else," she said.

I was confused. I didn't know of any other girl in his life, but then again, Cael and I weren't exactly as close as we used to be.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry Kyla," I said sincerely.

"It's you."

"What?"

"You're the one he loves," she said.

My heart caught in my chest. I must have heard her wrong. "What? No he doesn't," I protested.

"Come on, Nevaeh," she said loudly. "Isn't it obvious? How could you not see it? He's head over heels, reach for the stars, desperately…in love with you." I stared at her, my mouth open and gaping eyes. "And you're in love with him."

She was right. I could not deny it anymore. It was written clearly on my face. But when I looked up at Kyla I could see it written on her face too. "You're in love with him too," I said.

She nodded, tears now forming in her eyes. "But he's yours," she whispered. "God had meant him for you."

I stood up and hugged her. "I'm sorry," I said. But then I remembered the last time I had seen Cael, and I realized I was about to lose him forever.

Kyla appeared to have read my mind. "Go get him," she said. I looked at her one last time before turning and breaking into a run.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Running was becoming a new daily routine for me. I had no money for a bus so I just decided to run 3 miles to Cael's house. My head spun, my ribs pounded, my shoulder seared with pain, but I did not stop. If I had dropped my focus for one moment I would've passed out, but I just pictured Cael standing in front of me, cheering me on. Just a little further, he was saying to me.

The sky was gray with clouds and I could smell the moisture in the air. First one drop hit my arm, then another on my face. I kept on running, and the rain continued to fall harder and harder, soaking my skin with each drop. I finally reached Cael's house, panting and moments from passing out. There he was sitting on the porch steps in the heavy rain.

He stood up when he saw me running towards him. "Nevaeh!" he screamed over the pounding of rain drops. "What are you doing?"

As soon as I reached him I collapsed into him. The world had gone blurry, but the moment I felt his arms go around me all my pain disappeared. I pulled back so I could look at him, but he kept his arms tightly around my shoulders so I would not fall.

"Ask me again," I said, after finally catching my breath.

His eyes squinted in confusion. "Ask you what?"

"Earlier today you asked me what I needed. Ask me again."

"Okay," he said, still looking slightly puzzled. "What do you need?"

I hesitated, wanting to hold onto the moment just a little longer. But I had been holding onto it forever. It was time I let the truth go. "I need you."

This was the moment I truly wanted to keep. His whole face lit up, as if a spotlight had settled down upon us. He pulled me tight against him, tilted my chin up with his hand, and kissed me. It was unlike no other kiss I had ever experienced. It was soft and deep, the kind that sends the whole world spinning and makes your knees weak. And when it seemed time to pull away, he pulled me closer, and we just stood there, our lips locked together, getting drenched in the cool sweetness of the rain.

I finally stepped back, and in the wet sky above me I could see Maddy's beautiful, smiling face.
"I told you so." she was saying
. And I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Do you still miss her?" I asked Cael. He knew who I meant without me even saying the name.

"Everyday of my life," he said. "But this is how she always wanted it to turn out, me and you."

"I know. I don't know what took us so long to get here."

"It was worth the wait," he said smiling. I grinned back at him and felt a single tear roll down my cheek. "What's that?" he said, wiping away the tear with his hand. "You don't cry."

"I do now." I said. "Just like rain. I love it when the sky cries, so I want to cry too."

Cael looked up at the sky and let the rain drops hit his face. "You're beautiful, Nevaeh. Like rain."

"I love you." I said.

He held me tighter. "I love you too baby." We stood there in the rain for hours, each drop absorbing into my skin. I felt like a different person, or maybe it was the real me finally showing. It was as if my soul was rising to the sky, getting closer and closer to the source of rain. It was taking me to the clouds, where I always wanted to be. All the cracks that had developed in my heart through the last few months were finally healing. I no longer felt trapped. I was finally free.

So I guess God had been planning this all along, falling over and over again to finally be lifted up by fate, the one person I was meant to be with. I guess part of me had always known Cael was supposed to be mine. It was the inevitable. But even though it took so long to finally happen, all the waiting just made it hit that much harder, that much stronger, with that much more passion.

Cael suddenly lifted me up, holding me in his arms like a baby. He looked up at the sky, "Drink the rain, Nevaeh." I looked at him, taking in all his mystery, all his wonder, all the fire in his deep blue eyes.
I opened my mouth and drank the rain.

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Copyright © 2013 by
Leen Elle