Olivia

I’ve been in the hospital for five days now and my parents have barely left my side. My mother has been sleeping in my room in a recliner, because she’s scared to leave me. I would complain, but the truth is, I’m glad she’s here. The last thing I want is to be alone in this hospital room.

I had to have surgery on my ankle. It was broken in two places, and then it got infected on top of that. I needed antibiotics through an IV, and I was also really dehydrated when I came in. My ankle is in a cast now, and the doctor told me it’s going to be a while before I can put weight on it again. So I guess I better get used to crutches.

As of yesterday, I finally started feeling up to having visitors besides my parents. The first person who came to see me was Madison, of course. She gave me a huge hug and we both cried and it was like our fight never happened. She told me she never gave up hope that I was okay.

She’s back again today. She’s sitting at my bedside while my mother is downstairs in the cafeteria, and she’s drawing a doodle on my cast. I’ve never had a cast before, and I’m actually excited for people to sign it. I remember being so jealous of the kids in my class who had a cast and got to have people sign it.

Other than that, it sucks having a cast. The damn thing gets so itchy. I stuck a pencil in there this morning to try to reach an itch on the side of my calf, and the next thing I knew, the pencil was gone! When I take this cast off, half the contents of my desk drawer are going to fall out.

“Leave some room for other people,” I say to Madison, whose drawing is getting a little out of control. She’s going to be like the John Hancock of my cast.

“Hey, I’m giving your cast an artistic flair.” She’s not joking around. She actually brought different color markers for just this reason. “You’ll thank me later.”

As she gets back to work with her design, my nurse comes into the room. “Olivia,” she says in a singsong voice. “You’ve got another visitor.”

I must be feeling a lot better, because the thought of having two people with me in this room doesn’t fill me with dread. “Who is it?”

“It’s a boy. And he’s very cute.” The nurse winks at me. “He says his name is Liam. Is he your boyfriend?”

Madison freezes, mid doodle. “You’re not going to see him, are you?”

“Mad, he saved my life,” I murmur.

“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for his dad, he wouldn’t have had to.”

I don’t want to admit that I share her hesitation. Liam came to see me yesterday too, and my mother quickly turned him away. I was upset at her, but also a little relieved.

But at the same time, Liam did save my life. When he saw I was trapped, he jumped into that hole without hesitation and picked me up. He carried me into the hospital. He was my hero.

“Send him in,” I say.

Madison gives me a look. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” “It will be fine, but… can you give us a minute alone?”

She holds up one finger. “One minute. That’s all you’re getting, girlie.”

Liam steps into my hospital room tentatively, holding a small bouquet of multicolored flowers. Madison shoots him a dirty look, but she steps aside to let him in. He steps towards my bed, holding out the flowers. “Hey. These are for you. The florist said it was, um, a summer assortment.”

“Thank you,” I say stiffly. “You can put them on the windowsill.”

As he places the assortment next to all the others, I flash back to the last time I saw him. He was crouched in front of his mother’s car, his shirt caked in drying blood, and he was coaxing me out of the car to take me into the hospital. He was so gentle with me. It was exactly what I needed.

He drops his eyes. “I’m really glad you’re okay,” he says.

I study Liam’s features. I noticed five days ago that he had a black eye, and it’s mostly faded by now, but I can still see slight bruising. “What happened to your face?”

He laughs and touches his cheekbone. “That? Oh, it’s nothing.” “So tell me.”

“Um, Tyler punched me when he thought I was the one who…” “Oh.”

I only heard a little bit about what happened while I was missing. It sounds like the whole town believed Liam was the one who kidnapped me. The police actually arrested him and took him to jail. While I was locked up, so was he.

“How is your family doing?” I ask.

The smile disappears from Liam’s face. “Shitty. My mother cries a

lot.”

“Do you miss him?”

I hold my breath, waiting for an answer. During the days Jason Cass

had me trapped in that hole, I grew to despise him. But I can’t forget he’s Liam’s dad. If I found out my dad were a murderer, would I hate him? It’s hard to imagine.

“I don’t know, Olivia,” he says. “He lied to all of us. There were other women, you know. A lot of others. The police aren’t even sure how many… honestly, it makes me sick to think about it.”

I suck in a breath, realizing that if Hannah hadn’t followed her father that night, I would have joined his long list of victims. And Jason Cass probably would’ve gotten away with it. Liam may very well have taken the fall.

“I didn’t even know him,” Liam says. “How can I miss him if I didn’t know who he was? None of us knew.”

I nod. “I know what you mean.”

He smiles crookedly. “Anyway, I’m sure Madison will burst in here any minute to throw me out. And I know for a fact your mom will kill me if she finds me here. So… I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. And now I better go.”

I look up at him. I keep remembering that moment when he jumped into the hole to save me. Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before. I don’t care what kind of person his father was, Liam is very different. He’s a good person. He’s a hero.

And also, that nurse was right. He is very cute. And I still get a little tingle in my lips, remembering how it felt when he kissed me.

“Hey,” I say.

He lifts an eyebrow at me. “Yes?”

“When I get out of here,” I say, “maybe you’ll let me take you out for vanilla milkshakes.”

His eyes widen. “Really?”

“Well,” I say, “I want to thank you for saving my life.”

A slow grin spreads across his face. “I’d be okay with that.” I shrug, but I’m grinning too. “So it’s a date?”

“Okay.” He nods vigorously. “It’s a date.” And we can’t stop smiling at each other.