Guilt replaced any blood running through my veins as tears sprung to my eyes. I recalled the conversation over the phone earlier. It was all my fault that he had an accident; all because I was too stubborn to temporarily agree with him over the phone until I had the chance to discuss it and change his mind in person. I grabbed a hold of his uninjured hand and entwined our fingers before kissing his knuckles softly.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
Somehow, I had fallen asleep with Adrian’s hand still intertwined in my own and my head resting on the edge of the hospital bed; waking up to the sound of a woman letting out a wail before my body was engulfed in a hug.
“Emily, thank god you’re here. His doctor isn’t here and the nurses here are useless. Is my son okay? What happened?” Her voice was thick from tears, and I pulled back to see a bloodshot-red-eyed Katherine, with Mason lingering in the background.
“I… He has a broken leg and wrist, and broken ribs. The doctor said he should recover over the next few months…” I trailed off, biting my lip and looking over at Adrian’s bruised sleeping figure.
“Has he woken up at all since then?” Katherine asked.
“I have. Can you guys talk any fucking louder?” Adrian groaned, making all three heads snap back to look at him. “Turn off the lights too, dammit. What does a guy have to do around here to keep his sight?”
“Adrian.” I breathed, tears springing to my eyes once again. I rapidly blinked them back in and mentally scolded my period for creating such crazy mood swings.
“Has the accident made me someone else? Obviously it’s me. Unless… shit how much damage did it do to my face? Who cares, I’m good looking either way.”
“Only my idiot of a son would say something like that after almost dying.” Mason chuckled. I looked over him to see relief hidden within his eyes even though he tried to make a joke out of it.
“Hey, I get my humour from you. Mother is too dry to be funny.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Katherine wailed, before gushing over to her son and pulling him into what looked like a painful hug.
Adrian let out another groan. “I’m fine. You can stop now.” His voice came out muffled and a smile made its way to my lips as he stiffly tried to pry his mother’s grip off himself with his uninjured hand.
“What the hell did you do to get into a car accident this severe!” she exclaimed angrily.
“I was speeding because I wanted to get to Emily as quickly as possible and kind of ran a red light…” He gave a sheepish smile to his mother before his gaze landed on me.
“Why did you want to get to me so quickly? I thought you were angry with me because of-”
“We got here as fast as we could! Is Adrian okay? Where is he? Shit, is he asleep – Adrian! Man, you look like shit.” Like Mason, Allen tried to make a joke out of the situation, although there was a serious demeanour to his words.
Amy and Blake trailed in after him; Amy looking down at her feet and Blake glaring at the back of Allen’s head. My eyebrows shot up in surprise as I examined the situation more closely, before putting a mental reminder to ask Amy about that later.
“Mate, have you seen your own reflection lately? You always look like shit,” Adrian fired back, smirking slightly before grimacing in pain. “Can I get some water?” he asked no one in particular.
Katherine nodded eagerly before anyone else had the chance to react to the question, and was out the door as soon as it was mentioned.
“I’m glad you’re okay Adrian,” Amy finally spoke up, looking up at him. My eyes immediately looked over at Allen and Blake, who were both watching her before meeting each other’s gazes and glaring.
“This is the part where you’re supposed to say you don’t know how your best friend would last without me, and then I agree with you and bring up the solution to that,” Adrian continued for Amy, who gave him a confused look.
I mirrored her expression as he tried to reach out to take hold of his suit jacket. “Allen mate, for once in your life stop being a useless prat and give me my jacket.” Adrian ordered sarcastically, giving Allen an annoyed glare.
Allen laughed before throwing the jacket at Adrian’s face. “Fetch, injured doggy.”
Adrian scowled. “Idiot.” He shoved his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket and began rummaging for something as he spoke up. “Emily, come here for a second. I need your help.”
Frowning curiously, I made my way over towards his battered figure, taking my previous seat beside him. “What’s wrong?”
“This near-death experience made me realise something-”
“You were nowhere near death,” Mason scoffed from the opposite end of the room. “Stop being a pussy.”
Adrian glared at his father before turning back to me and continuing. “Okay, I lied. I was going to do this whether I was in a car accident or not. I’ve just come to the complete realisation on how I feel about us.”
My eyes went wide and I instantly stiffened in my position. “Are… Are you breaking up with me?” I whispered, not trusting my voice in front of everyone.
“What the hell, son?” Mason exclaimed, taking a step closer towards the bed. “Are you crazy?”
“Don’t you dare break my best friend’s heart, you prick! If that wasn’t your death bed; I’ll make sure it is now!” Amy scowled, also taking a step closer towards Adrian.
Adrian sighed, looking over at all of them. “I really didn’t want to do it in front of all of you,” he grumbled irritably, shooting them a stone cold glare and shutting them up completely.
“Adrian… If this is about Rita-”
“Let me speak!” he snapped, before letting out an impatient sigh. “Fuck it. Emily, Marry me. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else but you. I was trying to make a romantic speech but they all killed my mood; so that’s as romantic as it’s going to get.”
Adrian pulled out a small, navy coloured velvet box from beside him and popped it open, revealing a platinum engagement ring with a square diamond the size of my fingernail.
“What did I miss – oh my god.” Katherine came to an abrupt halt at the doorway as her eyes landed on the navy box Adrian was holding, her eyes widening as she looked over the piece of jewelry again. I turned back to observe the expensive looking engagement ring myself.