Letting Go (Mitchell Family #1)(35)
Author: Jennifer Foor

When the doctor finally came in, his parents stepped outside with me so he could be examined. At first, we stood in the hallway not speaking, but finally his mother pressed her angry lips together and came walking toward me.

“We need to talk.” She said as she pulled me further away from Ty’s room.

She got me standing in the opposite hallway and began pacing in front of me. I half expected her to slap me. “I don’t know what kind of games you are playing with my family, but it will stop now! You will not see or speak to Colton anymore young lady. My son has been through Hell and if you have a decent bone in your body, you will be there for him. I hope he finally opens his eyes and sees you for the little tramp you really are, but until that day, you will do whatever he wants. Do you understand me?”

I swallowed the vomit forming in my throat. “Yes Ma’am.”

Tears streamed down my eyes. I refused to argue with her. She had her mind made up. There was nothing I could say or do.

Before heading back toward the room, she turned around. “If I find out that you even spoke to Colton, I will tell Tyler everything.” She reiterated.

I nodded my head and collapsed on the cold concrete floor. My hands were buried in my face and I kept them there until I had no more tears left to shed. My head was spinning and the nausea was overwhelming. I contemplated walking all the way back to town. It was late at night and pitch black outside. With no street lights for most of the way, I was sure to be killed and left to the animals living in a country ditch somewhere. Maybe that is what I deserved.

Realizing that my purse was still in Ty’s room, I knew I had to go back in there. Thankfully when I went in, his parents weren’t there. Ty pulled me as close to him as he possibly could. When he pulled me in to hug him, his lips found mine. For all of the months that I missed his kisses, and all of the fantasies that I had played out in my head, it was nothing compared to how Colt kissed me. I closed my eyes and let Ty kiss me as the tears, I didn’t know I still had, began to fall. I couldn’t believe that I had spent all of my time just waiting for this moment and now that it was happening, I didn’t even think I wanted it.

Ty let me pull away and he wiped off my tears. “Don’t cry babe. Everything is going to be fine now. I promise.”

I wanted to believe that it would be, but things were so far from fine. “I am so glad you finally woke up. Do you remember anything?”

“I remember fighting with you. You catching me with that blonde. I remember taking the car.. I even remember the car rolling. I didn’t believe the nurses when they told me it had been months. When my mom and dad came in and I saw the look in their eyes, I knew it was the truth. While I waited for everyone to arrive, the nurses told me about my girlfriend spending almost all of her time here. I never knew how much I loved you until I heard them saying that Van. Thank you for standing by me and taking care of me. I want you to give me another chance. Let me prove to you that I can be that guy you need.”

When I saw Ty’s parents rounding the corner, I squeezed his hand and had no choice but to agree. I was digging the hole deeper for myself every second.

His parents came in and acted nicer to me. They pretended to be on good terms with me and even asked if I wanted to get something to eat on the way home. Ty wanted me to stay, but realized it would be uncomfortable. Knowing they were my ride home, I smiled and said all the right things. I hugged Ty goodbye and told him that I loved him, because it was true. I never stopped loving him as a person, but my heart beat for his cousin and I couldn’t believe it took me seeing Ty awake to realize it.

Before walking out of the room, I turned and waved one more time. He would see me tomorrow, I didn’t plan on not being there for him. He was very important to me and I wanted him to be better before I told him we couldn’t be together.

The ride home was horrible. We stopped and got something to eat at a little fast food place on the way home. Nothing else was really open. Ty’s father talked about sending Colt home right in front of me. I knew he was saying it to get a rise out of me. At one point I put my fingers through the door handle and considered just jumping out of the car. Remembering having to get stitches made me rethink injuring myself.

When we pulled up at the house, I climbed out and said nothing. The window in the passenger seat rolled down and Ty’s mother stuck out her head. “If you know what’s good for you, you will not cross me young lady.”

They abruptly pulled away and I sat down on the curb in front of my house. When the sun started to come up, my mother came rushing outside in her bathrobe. “Van? What are you doing out here honey? What is wrong?”

I fell into her arms. “Everything is a mess Mom. Ty woke up tonight, but before that his parents caught me with Colt and they threatened to tell him about us if we didn’t stop seeing each other. I don’t know what to do. I love him Mom.”

“You were with Colt? Ty’s cousin?” My mother finally asked when we were in the kitchen and she was making coffee. “Is that who you have been hanging out with? Cause I gotta tell ya honey, I saw Brina the other day and she claimed she hasn’t seen you in weeks. I just figured you would tell me if something was wrong.”

“It started out as friends. I got beat up at a party.” I held my hands up. “Mom wait! It was still during school. I am fine now. Anyway, Colt saved me and took me back to the farm to rest. I didn’t want you seeing my face so I stayed there for a few days. Things started happening between us. I slept with him.”

My mother was shocked at my confession, but to be fair I was an adult and she knew for a fact that I was not promiscuous.

“Then what? Because, obviously you didn’t stop seeing him.”

I shook my head. “We decided to be friends, but we couldn’t keep our hands off one another. Mom being with him is like nothing I have ever experienced. I found myself thinking about him all of the time, even when I was at the hospital visiting Ty. We treated it like a summer fling, but something changed for me this week and I wanted Colt to know how I really felt about him. Just as I was confessing to him, Ty’s parents burst in the door, catching us without clothes, and telling us that Ty woke up. Mom, they said they would tell Ty if I had any contact with Colt ever again. Ty can’t know Mom. He can’t ever find out what I did. He would never forgive Colt.”

My mother pulled me into another one of her hugs when she didn’t know what to say. I was used to them after all these years.