As they were poking me a bit more, I turned to Ty who was on the phone with my mother. When he ended the call, he turned to me, swiping at his face to clear away the falling tears.
“You’re going to be okay, baby.”
“Damn straight. You’ve got a whole bunch of babies to put in me,” I said. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I’m ready to get started now,” he teased and the nurse and doctor both laughed.
“Easy, you two. We need to get her well first, but I think things are definitely looking good,” Dr. Roberts said.
After what felt like forever of running every test under the sun, Ty climbed into bed with me and pulled me close.
“My mama was right. You do stink,” I said over a fit of giggles as he nuzzled my neck.
“You heard that, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I heard all of you.”
“Well, I don’t care if I stink. I wasn’t leaving your side until you opened your eyes.”
“Well, now we can both get some sleep,” I whispered, because even though I’d been asleep for three days, I was still exhausted.
The next morning was a whole lot of crazy. When the nurse helped me into the bathroom, I had to do a double-take when I looked in the mirror. Aside from a bunch of bruises and cuts, I looked like I was ready to go out and hit the town. “Am I in full makeup? And is my hair curled?”
“Oh yes. Apparently, they’re called beach waves. Your girlfriends have been styling you for when you woke up. Coco was painting your nails, Addy did your hair, Gigi and Maura were bronzing you up with some sort of shimmer powder that they promised to share with me.” She chuckled. “In all my years in nursing, I’ve never heard of such a thing, but look at you looking like you just got back from a nice vacation.”
My head fell back in laughter. “Those are my girls.”
“They sure love you. But that boy of yours.” She whistled. “He loves you something fierce, young lady.”
“I’m a lucky girl.”
She smiled and helped me back to bed after I took care of business.
My parents were the first to rush in, just as the sun started coming up. The girls weren’t far behind, and they all sat around the bed telling me all the stories from over the past three days. Every time I looked up, I saw Ty watching me.
Looking at me like I set the sun.
Looking at me with so much love I thought my heart would burst.
Visitors trickled in throughout the day. Family and friends telling me how much they loved me.
I’d felt it. I’d felt all of it. Even when they didn’t know that I could. Their love had pulled me through. Their love was the reason I fought.
Ty had run home to his house to shower upon everyone’s encouragement, and I’d spent that time with the girls. They told me about staying at Ty’s house at night while they’d been here in Nashville. They told me how scared they’d been. We cried and we laughed, just like we always did.
When Ty made it back for the day, everyone left. He climbed into bed with me once again and held me close.
“I’m so fucking happy that you’re okay, Ive. I promise I’m going to make everything better.”
I closed my eyes and breathed him in. “Everything is better because you’re here.”
No words had ever been more true.
Chapter Thirty
Ty
“When it comes to love, don’t ever go down without a fight.” Ivy, while recovering in the hospital after the accident
Thompson had scheduled a press conference for me the morning after Ivy woke up. I hadn’t wanted to speak out until I knew she was okay. Because nothing else mattered. And after all we’d gone through, I knew now more than ever exactly what mattered.
Ivy.
She was everything to me, and it was time that the world knew that. I made my way down to the lobby with my bandmates, Tanner, and Thompson at my side. We walked out the front doors where endless camera crews were lined up. Someone had brought some sort of podium and placed it outside the entrance to the hospital. I made my way over and set my water bottle down. Cameras flashed and made it difficult to see. But I didn’t care. I’d had days to think about what I was going to say.
Three days to be specific.
Three fucking days that I didn’t know if she would wake up.
I was a barrel of emotions. I was happy. I was angry as hell. I was hopeful. I was sad. Zane had betrayed me and betrayed Ivy. But she was here. She was breathing and laughing and acting like everything was going to be okay.
I tipped the microphone toward me and cleared my throat. Zack, Jo, and Smith hovered around me just in case things didn’t go well. They were probably concerned that my lack of sleep and the emotional roller coaster I’d been on the past few days would allow me to say something that I shouldn’t. But I knew exactly what I came here to say.
“Thanks for being here today. It’s been a long couple of days, and I know you all want answers, and I’m here to clear the air. First and foremost, my girlfriend has woken up and she is doing well.” I chuckled because I recalled her first words and they still made me laugh.
Cameras flashed and people started shouting questions out and I held my hand up. “I’m not here to answer your questions. I’m here to set the record straight. I allowed someone that I trusted to guide me for a long time, and I should have spoken up sooner. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? So here it is in a nutshell. I probably fell in love with Ivy Baron the first time that I saw her, which was kindergarten, so it probably doesn’t count.” I chuckled, and the group of reporters laughed along with me. “We grew up together and were the best of friends. We started dating in high school and I swear to you, it was the kind of love one writes songs about. And I did,” I say to a few more chuckles as I pause to take a sip from my water bottle.
“Life was unfair to me and Ivy, and we spent several years apart. In that time, I never formed any kind of deep relationship with another woman because I’d already given my heart away.”
“What about you and Jo?” someone shouted from the back of the group.
“There never was a me and Jo. That was something leaked intentionally to make you all turn against Ivy, I suppose. Jo and I are the best of friends, but there has never been a romantic relationship there at all. She’s very happy with her partner, but that isn’t my story to tell. And when she’s ready to tell hers,” I said, glancing over at Jo, who smiled at me, giving me the green light. “Well, I think Jo will be sharing her story with you as soon as I finish sharing mine.”