My dad laughed.
“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled into her shoulder. “I just…”
“It’s okay, Pen.” My dad said. “Just try to be more careful in the future. You’re going to worry us to death.”
I laughed and unwound from my mom’s hug. I eyed my jacket on the chair again. “Can I have my jacket?”
“If you’re cold we can get you some more blankets.” She patted my back.
“I just need my jacket.”
My dad walked over and grabbed it off the back of the chair and handed it to me. I put my hand in one empty pocket and then the other. The envelope was missing. “How long have I been here?” For a brief second I thought I had lost my mind. Maybe I had made Professor Hunter up.
“Just a few hours, sweetie.”
That wasn’t enough time to create such wonderful memories. I bit my lip. Or such painful ones. I hadn’t made him up. There was no way. It felt like I was going insane. “Is Brendan here?”
“He’s waiting outside,” my dad said.
“Can I talk to him? To thank him?”
“Of course. We’ll give you two a moment.” My dad walked over to the door and gestured for my mom to follow. She leaned down and squeezed my arm before following my father out of the room.
I heard them talking in the hallway. A second later there was a knock on the door and Brendan walked in. A smile broke over his face.
“Well you look a million times better.”
I bit my lip. “I passed out, huh?”
“You did.”
“I guess it was good that you were stalking me, then.”
He laughed and sat down next to me on the side of my bed. “I wouldn’t say that I was stalking you.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“Looking out for a friend. You weren’t in great shape when we were talking.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I was worried about you.”
“I’m glad you were stalking me.”
“Yeah, me too. Hey, move over.”
“Brendan…”
“I’ve been sitting in an uncomfortable chair out there for hours. I want to lay down too. So scoot.”
I slid over and he immediately laid down next to me on his side. He put his hand under his head and propped himself up on his elbow so that he could look down at me. “Your parents seem nice.”
I laughed. “It’s kind of weird that you met my parents.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” I rolled onto my side to face him. “I’ve never introduced them to someone that I was dating. Not that we’re dating, obviously. We kissed though. So it’s a little strange.”
He laughed. ” Well, I think they like me.”
“Well you did save their only child.”
“I did. By the way, I feel obliged to tell you that you’re showing a lot of skin.” He was smiling at me.
“What?” I looked at my back. The slit on the hospital gown was revealing my backside. “Oh my God.” I quickly rolled onto my back.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen a lot of you already. I’m starting to think your favorite pastime is flashing people.”
“Hardly. Just you apparently.”
“I’m not complaining.” He smiled at me.
“Thanks by the way. For saving me, I mean.”
“I kind of had to, or else all of my meddling in your life would have been for nothing.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I took a deep breath. “What did you tell my parents?”
“You mean about why you fainted? Or about us?”
“Both.”
“I told them that you were dating two guys at once and they got in a fist fight over…”
“No you didn’t,” I said, cutting him off. Holy shit.
“You’re right. I didn’t tell them that. I just said you had fallen the other night and still weren’t recovered. So you fainted.”
“Thank God.”
“They didn’t ask any questions at all. Apparently you’re quite clumsy.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I am.” I looked at him curiously. “And the other thing?”
“What did I tell them about us?”
“Yeah.”
“I told them that we were friends.”
“And did they look confused that I was friends with someone who was so much older than me?”
“I’m not that much older than you. Besides, I assumed they wouldn’t be surprised since you’re dating your professor. I’m sure that was a fun conversation. They probably just thought I was one of his friends or something.”
“They don’t know about James.”
“Oh.” He had a small smile on his face. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” I turned to face him in the bed again, making sure my gown covered me. “He didn’t want me to tell anyone about us. And then we weren’t really together anymore. There wasn’t anything to tell.”
“And that’s it?”
“No. I shouldn’t be dating my professor. I don’t want to tell them. I’m worried about what they’ll think of me.”
“Well they seemed to like me okay.”
“But you’re not my professor.”
“Right. Plus I’m super charming. And I saved their only child.”
I laughed. “You probably can’t do wrong in their eyes now.”
“If you say so.” He leaned down and kissed me. His kiss was soft and gentle. I put my hand on his chest to stop him. He pulled back and looked at me. I could feel the tears start to fall down my cheeks.
“You’re right, Penny. You shouldn’t be dating your professor.” He wiped my tears away with his hand.
I stared up at him. He was right. Of course he was right. I shouldn’t be dating my professor. I thought about how upset my parents looked when I woke up. They’d be ashamed of me. Am I ashamed of myself? I should be with someone nice like Brendan. Or Tyler. But none of that mattered. Because I was in love with Professor Hunter. I loved him despite everything.
“Get some rest, Penny.”
Sunday
When I woke up I turned toward Brendan, but he was gone. In his place was my cell phone and the envelope from Professor Hunter. There was a note on top.
Penny,
I’ve given you my two cents. You have my number. I hope to hear from you soon.
-Brendan
I put my fingers between my eyes and squeezed to help diminish my headache. I leaned back down against my pillow and looked at his note again. Brendan was right. I knew he was right. I had always known that I shouldn’t be with Professor Hunter. But I wanted to be. I needed to be. If he really still felt the same way about me, then there was no choice to make. It was always going to be him.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 2 a. m. Professor Hunter would be asleep. I picked up my phone. I had two missed calls from him, but no voicemails. I clicked on his name. He had shown me his divorce papers, but his wife still hadn’t signed them. Maybe we just needed to take a break until it was official. If it was love, time wouldn’t matter. We could wait until it was right.
I typed out a text to him. “Are you up?”