BACK HOME
JOSH
The second my feet hit solid ground, my mind was already racing.
There was too much to do. Too much to set up before Laura got here.
I adjusted the strap of my duffel bag and reached for my suitcase, which was still filled with clothes from the trip I never finished. My muscles ached from exhaustion–Germany to New York, then straight back home. At this point, I was running on nothing but caffeine and sheer will.
But there was no time to rest.
Laura was coming home.
The thought still felt surreal. Two weeks ago, she was nothing more than a memory I had been trying to hold onto for three years. Now, she was sitting in a hospital room, eating full liquids, standing on her own, talking.
Not much, but she was getting there.
I swallowed hard, dragging my luggage behind me as I stepped. into the airport terminal. Every time I closed my eyes on the flight, all I could think about was everything that needed to be done before she got here. The doctors had gone through an overwhelming amount of information about her recovery–how her muscles had wasted away, how she needed constant
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physiotherapy, how she’d need to relearn the most basic things.
I was prepared for the work. For the long nights, the setbacks, the frustration.
What I wasn’t prepared for was.how Laura forgave me.
I still didn’t know how to process it.
The morning after I got to Germany, I told her everything–every detail about Vivien, about how I gave up on her, how I almost signed the papers, how I had moved on.
I expected her to be angry.
Lexpected her to hate me.
Instead, the first thing she told me when she was able to talk again was that she forgave me. That to her, there was nothing to forgive really.
“It was three years, Josh,” she had rasped, her voice barely a whisper after weeks of forcing her vocal cords to work again. “You couldn’t have known I would wake up. I didn’t know I would wake up.”
I had stood there, stunned, guilt swallowing me whole.
She understood.
She told me we had both suffered enough. That she wanted her family back.
sighed as I pulled up to the house, my hands tightening around the steering wheel.
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The house felt too big now. Too quiet. For years, it had just been me and Asha, with Jess helping out when she could. Usually, Vivien was here too, watching Asha when I had games or training. But that… fuck. I still needed to deal with that too.
I hadn’t spoken to Vivien since I left the island. She told me to go. But I saw the way her heart broke when I left.
There was no fixing that.
I pushed the thought aside and focused on getting inside. The weight of my suitcase felt heavier than it should have, dragging behind me as I unlocked the front door and stepped into the dark kitchen.
The second I closed the door, a light flicked on.
I tensed.
Jess stood by the counter, arms crossed over her chest, a half- empty mug of coffee in front of her.
She raised an eyebrow. “You look like shit.”
I let out a tired breath, rubbing a hand over my face. “I feel like shit.”
Jess gestured toward the coffee pot. “There’s more if you want some.”
I hesitated for half a second before dropping my bag and walking over to pour myself a cup.
Jess watched me, quiet for a beat, then said, “How is she?”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “She’s… better. The
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doctors are optimistic. She stood before I left, and they removed the tube. Her voice is weak, but they think with therapy, she’ll be fine.”
Jess exhaled slowly. “She’s coming home.”
I nodded. “Yeah. In a week or so. The nurse is making sure everything’s set up here before she gets on a flight.”
Jess studied me. “And you?”
I glanced up. “What about me?”
Jess narrowed her eyes slightly. “You’re exhausted, Josh. You‘ ve barely slept in two weeks, and I know your brain is running a hundred miles an hour trying to figure everything out.”
I looked away, gripping the coffee cup a little tighter. “I just want to make sure everything’s right for her.”
Jess sighed, stepping closer. “You’re doing everything you can. You always have.”
I shook my head, my chest tightening. “I almost gave up, Jess.” My voice cracked, the words tasting like poison on my tongue. “I almost signed those papers.”
Jess’s face softened. “But you didn’t.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Not because I believed she’d wake up. Because I was too much of a coward to make the choice.”
Jess reached out, squeezing my arm. “She doesn’t blame you.”
“I blame me.”
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Jess didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, finally, she sighed. “Josh, listen to me. Laura is coming home. You have now. Stop looking at what you did wrong and start looking at what you can do right.”
I clenched my jaw.
She was right.
I had to get past this.
I had a week to get everything ready. A week to prepare for Laura coming home, to adjust to life with her again. Asha would need time to get used to having her mother around.
It wouldn’t be easy.
But I wasn’t giving up on her again.
