Chapter 133: All the love
**OLIVER WEST**
"Come here, Pumpkin," I said softly, patting the bed beside me.
She rushed over then, climbing carefully onto the bed and wrapping her arms around me. "Oliver, I knew you were going to wake up today, I made an early birthday wish for you last night!" she whispered into my shoulder.
My gaze snapped to Kieran as I suddenly realized that I had missed our birthday!
Now, I suddenly felt like crying. Wasn’t the first birthday after a relationship special? But wait... Now that I was in the hospital, there was no way Kieran would demand that atrocious present right?
"You just woke up, what are you thinking about?" Kieran’s intense stare made my insides feel heated. He couldn’t tell what I was thinking, could he?
Then, he squeezed my hand once before standing. "I’ll go talk to the doctor about your test results," he said quietly.
After he left with the doctor, Mom busied herself unpacking things from her bag. She pulled out a container of cut fruit.
"You need to eat something," she said, holding out a piece of apple on a fork. "I know you must be feeling very weak,"
I opened my mouth and took a bite, surprised by how good it tasted. Everything felt more vivid somehow - the sweetness of the apple, the afternoon light through the window, the sound of my mom’s voice.
Pumpkin made herself more comfortable on my bed.
"I want to be fed by you as well," she announced, opening her mouth expectantly at Mom.
"Pumpkin!" Mom frowned. "Your brother just woke up from a serious injury. You can’t be demanding his food."
But I grabbed the fork from Mom and picked a fruit "It’s fine, Mom. There’s plenty, I will feed her myself."
Pumpkin grinned and ate the apple slice, chewing happily. For a few minutes, we just sat there with Mom fussing over both of us, and Pumpkin stealing bites of my fruit. Everything felt almost normal again in a way that made my throat tight with gratitude.
"I can’t leave Kieran to handle everything alone. I’ll go here about your improvement from the doctor, I’ll be back in that alright?" Mom spoke, and I tried to nod only to wince. Why do I keep forgetting?!!!
If this were Squid Games try not to move your head, I would be dead!
After she left, Pumpkin moved closer, picking up another piece of fruit and holding it out to me.
"Here, you need to eat more, too. You can’t just keep feeding me,"
I stared at her in surprise. This was my usually bratty little sister, the one who normally demanded I serve her, not the other way around.
"Whoa, just a small accident made you change so much? Someone pinch me or is my little sour lemon caring for me?"
"Yes, I do care." Her voice was firm, but her bottom lip was trembling. "When you were sleeping, I... I regretted a lot of things."She met my gaze and for a flicker of a second, it was Mom’s eyes staring back at me.
"Like how I always made you do things for me and never did anything nice back and we always argue, and last week has been so quiet...I called your phone so many times just to hear your voice... but ... but"
Her voice started to wobble. "So I promised. I promised that if you woke up, I’d be better. I’d take care of you instead of the other way around."
Before I could respond, she threw her arms around me and started crying into my hospital gown.
"Don’t ever sleep like that again," she sobbed. "I was so scared. I promise I’ll be good to you now. I promise."
My own eyes started burning. I held her tight, feeling her small body shake with sobs while my own throat closed up.
"Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. And you’re already a good sister, Pumpkin. You always have been. Being siblings means we’re allowed to be annoying sometimes."
"Yeah, I don’t care, don’t terrify us like that ever again!! Or I will kill you for real!"
I looked up to see William in the doorway, holding the largest flower bouquet I’d ever seen. Before I could say anything, he was across the room, wrapping both Pumpkin and me in a giant hug.
"Will," I breathed, my voice muffled against his shoulder. "What is that on your hand?"
He pulled back, grinning through his own tears. "Lilies, roses, baby’s breath, and about six other flowers I can’t pronounce. Too much?"
"It’s very... you," I said, eyeing the massive arrangement. "A bit dramatic, don’t you think?"
"I don’t mind being dramatic when my best friend almost died," he said, his voice catching slightly.
Pumpkin giggled and slid off the bed to get a closer look at the flowers. "They’re really pretty, William."
"Thank you, Pumpkin. At least someone appreciates my artistic vision."
William helped Pumpkin place the flowers by the bedside before pulling up a chair, settling in like he planned to stay for a while.
"I’m glad you are better. If you were in a movie, you could have lost your memories, you know," He said and I snorted.
This was real life, it wasn’t one of my comics where I got to be cool by forgetting everyone.
"So," William said, his tone becoming more serious. "I’m guessing you already know everything."
Something in his voice made my stomach clench. "Everything? What kind of things?"
Surprise flashed in his eyes and then that look he always got whenever he was the first to find out about a gossip.
"Kieran didn’t tell you anything?"
Now, I was burning up with curiosity.
"Tell me what? Don’t speak in riddles, as you know, my poor head cannot take any suspense!"
"Well, for starters, Amanda was arrested. She confessed to hitting you with a branch. She’s been expelled and charged with assault."
My mouth dropped to the floor with shock, I knew I didn’t slip and fall, but I had not been able to bring myself to believe that someone would want to hurt me intentionally.
Why was I unconscious for too long? This was something I’d have loved to witness in person.
Ugh.
I always miss out on the good part.
"But there’s more," William continued, his voice dropping. "About what Kieran did before the police arrived. He nearly made Amanda commit suicide!"
My blood went instantly cold. "Kieran did what?"
"Yeah, I’m still processing it myself. Oliver, he really lost it when he found out what Amanda did, like really lost it, let’s just say Vince and Xander had to physically stop him from... well, doing something he’d regret like pushing her from a roof!"
As William explained the details, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I felt as though he was narrating a movie, because what he was saying couldn’t be real.
"I wish you could have seen how worried and panicked Kieran was, I felt so proud on your behalf" William continued, his voice taking on an almost dreamy quality. "He would have really hurt that bitch to get revenge for you. I was so jealous. I want my boyfriend to be exactly like him!"
I stared at William as though he were an alien while he kept on talking like his horror story was the most romantic thing he’d ever heard.
"William," I said slowly, "trying to kill someone isn’t romantic. It’s terrifying. What if he’d actually done it? What if he’d gone to prison?"
The thought made me feel sick. Kieran, locked away because of me. Because of his need to protect me.
"But he didn’t," William said quickly. "Vince and Xander stopped him. And honestly, after what she did to you..."
"No," I said firmly. "No, I’m glad they stopped him. I don’t want Amanda dead, and I definitely don’t want Kieran destroying his life over me."
William studied my face for a long quiet moment and then he spoke. "While you were unconscious, Kieran said that he wouldn’t lose you ’a second time.’ Did something like this happen before?"
I relaxed against the pillow, a rush of emotions spreading through me, gratitude for waking up and not reopening a wound in Kieran that was just starting to heal.
"Didn’t you ever wonder why Kieran hated me for so long?"
I felt Pumpkin’s attention shift back to us, her flower-examining forgotten and William also shook his head, "I knew there was a backstory, I can’t believe this is the day I finally get to hear it!"
My lips twitched at his words and then I sighed. Building up the courage to confess my darkest secrets to a third person.
"We used to be best friends when we were kids. But then his sister died, and..." I swallowed hard, the memories flooding back. "It’s a long story."
William and Pumpkin were shocked to know that Kieran had a sister.
I told them everything then. About Ginny, about the camp, about our guilt and slow, painful journey back to each other.
When I finished, William was quiet for a long moment.
"That’s so tragic," he finally whispered.
"Poor Kieran," Pumpkin said softly. "No wonder he looked so sad when I asked him about a sister, I should apologize to him"
*