Page 44 of Final Temptation (Alpine Peak #2)

There was a light tap on the door, and my head tilted up.

“How’s he doing today?” Paige snuck in, the door shutting behind her.

Her long, wavy, brown locks flowed over her shoulders, her cleavage more on display than normal, indicating she was most likely all dolled up for work and stopping by for a visit before her shift.

“I swore I felt his hand move against mine last night. When I called the nurse in, she made me sound crazy. I’m probably overly hopeful, though, so I’d say he’s doing the same as always.

” I was in the middle of cleaning Myles up when Paige walked in.

His facial hair had grown longer than he usually liked to wear it.

So, once a week, I’d clean up his beard to the best of my ability.

It kept me busy, and it was another reason to be close to him that I couldn’t refuse.

“You’re not crazy, Soph. Did you really feel his hand move?” Paige’s hand rubbed against my arm, the small amount of comfort warming me.

“I swear it did. I know I’ve had some wild dreams in this hospital room, but I know I wasn’t just imagining it. Even if I’d been begging him to hold my hand back for weeks now.” I dipped the razor into the water, cleaning off the hair and shaving cream.

“So, do you want me to confront the overly peppy nurse out there and tell her to go fuck herself for not believing my best friend? Because, you know I will.” That deserved a laugh, one I couldn’t force out at the moment.

Usually, I was the one to crack jokes, but seeing as how I hadn’t been feeling like my normal, sarcastic, and witty self lately, Paige knew exactly how to make up for it.

“Nah. She isn’t worth it. Luckily, in just a few minutes from now, your mom will be here to take over.

It’s always better with her here at night.

” Paige’s mom, Lisa, had been a night nurse for years.

It was a relief to have her assigned to Myles’ room.

I’m pretty sure she pulled rank on the other nurses and asked her boss to assign her here.

There wasn’t another nurse I’d trust to take care of Myles more than Lisa.

“Maybe it’s worth a shot telling my mom you felt him move. I’m sure she’d have better insight than making you feel crazy.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Running a cloth under warm water, I rung it out and wiped Myles’ face clean. He’d always be so fucking handsome, no matter what condition he was in.

Paige took my place at the side of Myles’ bed, and I busied myself, cleaning up the shaving equipment, giving her a moment to spend with him alone.

The room was tiny, and even if you gave someone space, it was almost impossible not to hear anything said in “private.” With my back turned, I could still hear Paige whisper, “I know my dad is watching over you today.” Her words felt like a knife to my heart, immediately making me feel like a terrible best friend. How could I forget what day it was?

Had it seriously already been a year since the accident? I pulled my phone from my back pocket to confirm it was October 8th.

“Dammit, Paige. I’m so sorry.” I turned around after sliding my phone back where it belonged. Taking a few steps forward, I wrapped her in a hug, knowing today had to be a hard one for her.

“Soph, don’t be sorry. You have so much going on, and I don’t blame you for that. Even I couldn’t believe a year crept up on us this fast.” She hugged me back, and it wasn’t until this moment that I thought about how badly we both needed this.

“It still doesn’t excuse my forgetfulness,” I mumbled against her hair.

With my chin resting against her shoulder, I had the perfect view of Myles and his freshly shaven face.

“Paige…” I whispered, swearing for the second time since last night, I noticed Myles’ fingers twitch. For a moment there, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but at this point I’d swear on my fucking life I wasn’t wrong.

I knew what I was witnessing.

“Yeah?” She hardly got the word out before I spun her body around, so she now faced the bed.

“I’m not fucking around here, but I swear I just saw his fingers move again.” We both stood there, wide-eyed and staring at his limbs.

“It has to be you he’s responding to, Soph. Try to talk to him. Grab his hand,” she ordered.

“I did that last night; nothing came of it.” I doubted myself.

“Humor me and try again.” Paige gave me a light shove, inching me closer to the man I loved.

Reaching out for him, I ran my fingers along his freshly trimmed beard.

I lowered my lips to his ear, whispering, “Please, Myles, prove I’m not insane.

Squeeze my hand again, open your eyes, anything, baby, please.

” I slid my hand down from his face to his hand, praying and hoping for dear life that he would show me he was still in there somewhere.

I sat next to him for minutes, those minutes feeling like hours, Paige standing silently behind me the whole time. My thumb ran along the palm of his hand, and with each stroke, I engraved the letters I L-O-V-E Y-O-U into his skin.

It felt like a long shot every day I woke up and he didn’t. From everything I’d read on the internet and the conversations I’d had with doctors, it was a pipe dream for someone in a coma for weeks to wake up. Every day that passed, his odds became worse.

The silence was broken when Lisa walked into the room.

“Hey—” She instantly stopped what she was saying when Paige pulled her out of the room, leaving just Myles and me.

“It’s just me and you, Myles. Please wake up. I know I’ve begged a lot lately, but with every sliver of hope you give me, my heart sinks a little more. I don’t see a future without you, and I need you to open your eyes so that can happen. Please,” I pleaded one last time.

Crickets.

The only sound that surrounded me while I waited for something, anything, was the soft beeps of the machines and my own shallow breaths.

My eyes drifted down to my hand fastened in his, and just as I was about to let go and step away, his hand gripped mine back. My heart rate instantly peaked, sending me into a state of shock.

Myles laid there with his eyes still closed, his hand pulsing against mine. A second squeeze in the last minute caused my breath to hitch.

My eyes shifted from our hands to his face, back and forth, as I waited for any other sign.

“Myles, I know you’re there, baby. You’re so strong. Open your eyes and fight through this pain with me. We can do this together, I promise.” A hopeful tear rolled down my cheek.

With my opposite hand, I stroked his cheek, rubbing my thumb back and forth, doing my best to remain calm when his eyes began to blink open and shut.

“Oh. My. God.” With the words stuck in my throat, I was only capable of letting out one syllable per breath. The sound of my heart beating echoed from the inside out.

“PAIGE!” I screamed, knowing she was on the other side of the door.

She and Lisa came stumbling into the room at my panicked voice.

“H-h-his eyes opened and s-shut, and he s-squeezed my hand a couple times. I swear, I’m not crazy, I p-promise,” I cried, refusing to leave his side or let go of his hand.

Lisa rounded the opposite side of his bed, and with a light, she opened his eyes, looking for any sign of awareness.

“This is a really good sign,” Lisa said after seconds of silence, moving her light back and forth.

When she shut his lids, they didn’t open back up, but whatever she saw must have been progress.

“He’s following the light with his eyes, look here.” She lifted his lids once more to show me his beautiful blue eyes following along to the slow pattern of the light.

I’ve been deprived of his eyes for weeks.

“Lisa, please tell me this is a good thing.” I sniffled.

“It’s a very good thing. At least to my knowledge, with coma patients, these are all signs of the possibility he could be waking up.

He’s been out of it for weeks now, but I can only assume this is him slowly coming out of the coma—waking up.

” Paige stood behind me, her hand reaching out to grip my shoulder, almost as if she was trying to tell me that it would all be okay.

“How long do you think it could take him to wake up?” I asked impatiently.

“There’s no telling. It’s different for every case,” she responded, pulling up a chair next to me, a dip of concern laced in her brow, “but I do want to prepare you, honey. It could be tomorrow or days from now, and unfortunately, there are still some unknowns.” Her soft, petite fingers reached out and rested on my arm.

“We have no idea what condition he will be waking up in; again, it’s very different for every case.

” I nodded my head, doing my best to digest the information and internally screaming at myself not to get my hopes up.

“It’s possible that it could be a while from now before we see another sign like you experienced with the squeezing of your hand and his eyes opening and shutting.”

“Yeah.” I sighed, unsure of what else to say.

“Everything I just said to you, that’s what you’d hear from me as Myles’ nurse.

But if you were to ask me the same questions as the mother of your best friend?

I’d say, keep hoping, keep doing what you’re doing, stay strong, and we are all in this together.

” My lips lifted, curving into a sad smile.

“Thank you, Lisa.”

“I’m going to step out and give you and Paige a few moments. I’ll be back in a bit. If anything else happens, you know how to reach me.” She stood from the small chair on wheels beside me and let herself out, leaving just me, Paige, and Myles.

I slept on the couch most nights, but tonight wasn’t comparable to most nights . I spent the entire day with my emotions tied up in knots. Today there were highs and lows—each high dropping at lightning speed, to the bottom of the barrel.

With each squeeze of my hand, I felt more na?ve by the minute—absolutely pathetic for thinking he would what… Wake up right then and there?

I laid awake on his chest all night, my mind refusing to shut off and my body denying me the sleep I desperately needed.

Even after hours of attempted sleep with my eyes pressed shut and each beep from the machines acting as a metronome, my hopes of being hypnotized into an alternate world slowly fading away.

The beep, beep, beep, that I’d been so used to hearing lately, began to speed up. My attention instantly perked up, my not-so-sleepy eyes bugging out of my head when I propped up on my elbow to see Myles’ eyes open.

Not blinking open and shut.

Wide. Open.

“Oh my fucking God.” I slid off the edge of the bed, rounding the corner, slamming my hand against the big red button I hadn’t had to use yet—but dreamed of being able to for reasons like this.

While I waited for Lisa to come running into the room, I looked into Myles’ eyes, his crystal blues staring right back at mine.

“Myles, can you hear me?” I tried to remain calm, awaiting his next move, if there was one.

“What’s going on?” Lisa stepped into the room, walking at a fast pace over to the bedside.

“H-his eyes. They are open,” I responded, tears pricking at my eyes.

“Honey, Myles is awake.”

I took a few steps back, allowing Lisa to take over.

My heart pinched on the inside of my chest, my breathing starting to pick up. I hadn’t felt the overwhelming sense of anxiety in a while, but it was currently taking over my body, a million thoughts running through my head all at once.

Will he remember who I am?

Will he remember what happened at all?

Will he be able to explain what his intentions were all those nights ago?

But most of all, my mind couldn’t stop hearing Lisa’s voice echoing Myles is awake.