The Broken Pieces novel Chapter 45

"Scout's honor," he agrees almost instantly before digging in the containment box in his car and pulling out a letter. "I found this at my parent's house earlier today. I was going to give it to you. Its date is set back 5 years ago. Read it and tell me what you think about it in the future." He hands it to me and I grab it before backing away from his car.

"In the future," I wave him off as he drives away.

I turn back to the hospital after shoving the letter into Parker's hoodie, which he forgot to get back, before marching into the hospital. A plan on my mind.

The ring felt heavier on my finger as I stride towards the room which I knew could only end with two emotions; despair or joy. I had to play my cards right.

My feet carried me towards the door as my stomach dropped and a rush of nausea hit my every nerve in my body. I took a deep breath to ease my sickening before reaching for the cold doorknob and twisting it open to reveal a laughing Tomas with his parents, who sat in the hospital chairs. Happy smiles overtook their faces as they saw me.

"Emily, how wonderful it is to see you." Fred McCoy, Tomas' father lifted from his chair before walking towards me and giving me a hug.

I wrapped my arms around the older man before letting go. "Hi, Mr. McCoy."

"Oh please," Tomas' mother, Livy, waved me off dismissively, "you know you can call us 'mom' and 'dad'."

"Mom." Tomas eyed me warily.

"What?" Livy turned back towards her son before rolling her eyes and pulling me into a hug and whispering in my ear. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." She joked.

I smiled before pulling her away.

She sauntered over towards her son before gesturing me over. "I suppose that you've been here already?" She asked and I guess it was rhetorical because she didn't give me enough time to answer before she continued. "I asked the front desk, sweetheart."

"Yeah, she was," Tomas answered, his eyes still watching me.

I backed away from the bed and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth before I fiddle with the ring on my finger. "Um... Mrs. McCoy and Mr. McCoy, may I talk with Tomas alone, please?" Awkwardly, I asked the couple in front of me.

They peered at each other cautiously before wordlessly leaving the room and I prayed to any universal force up in the heavens to give me strength.

Silence filled the room as Tomas and I looked at each other.

"You should-,"

"I was gonna-,"

As I continued my checklist, Tomas gave a bitter laugh. My eyes snapped towards him.

"What do you want from me, Emily?" he rubbed his temples.

I scoff, my eyebrows furrowed, "what do you mean?" Cocking my head to the side, I rewind the previous conversation to understand where I went wrong.

Finally, his veiled forest green eyes inspected at me, irritation radiated off of him in vigorous waves. His small lips pressed together tightly, tiny wrinkles crinkled around his lips. The young man in front of me seemed to age as he pushed his blond locks back, revealing another set of premature wrinkles between his eyebrows.

"I mean, what do you want from me?" He sighed as if I was getting on his last nerve. "Do you want me to confess? To what, huh? I'm not the bad guy here."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head, "what are you talking about Tomas? You're making no sense."

"That's because you're not listening," he scoffs and I am trying my hardest to take him seriously right now. It must be all the drugs in his system.

"Emily, you've always pictured the world through this rose-colored glass; thinking that everything and everyone is perfect when actually they weren't. And I tried so hard to make sure you've never lost that, but now I'm thinking you should have because this perfect person you've created in your head isn't me." He implored, a shaky hand runner the back of his neck before he continued, "you've always wanted me to be this perfect prince to sweep you off your feet. Haven't you ever thought about how tired I got?"