A weighted silence descended as the last reverberations of the slamming door disappeared. Kit and Jaxon didn't move, their eyes transfixed on it. Jaxon's stance remained tense, ready if Edison returned. She knew he wouldn't. She had seen the look on his face.

Jaxon turned and studied her. He took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

She gave a small nod. She turned back towards the television and pulled her hand out of Jaxon's.

"Can you turn the TV up?" she asked.

He quickly did and they returned to silence.

Rachel and Scott returned, the doctor and nurses came and went. They removed the tubes from her nose, she remained silent, wrestling with her regret, until the meds began to wear off. Her pain returned, needy and impatient, but she found relief in it.

She paged the nurse and waited for the cool, easing sensation of the medicine slipping into her system. The inevitable drowsiness followed.

***********

When Kit woke, the sky outside was dark, and there was no hum of movement outside the door.

She tried to sit up and Rachel jumped from her seat.

"Hi sweetie, What do you need?" She gently took Kit's hand.

"Water," Kit said.

Rachel quickly filled a small cup and held it to her lips. It helped soothe Kit's dry, sore throat.

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked.

"Better," she said.

The painkillers were holding the pain off to bearable level and sleeping had helped. She could feel some strength returning.

"Good," Rachel said. "I heard from your parents. They made their connecting flight. They'll be here in about seven hours."

Kit nodded slowly and looked around the room. Rachel answered her searching gaze.

"I sent Jaxon and Scott home a little bit ago. They were worn out and hungry."

Kit looked at her aunt and saw she was in a similar state.

"Did you sleep?" she asked.

Rachel smiled lovingly. "I rested."

"Did you eat?"

"Not yet. I didn't want you to be alone when you woke up."

"I'm up now."

Rachel studied her. "Are you sure you're okay? I promise I won't be gone for long."

"I'm fine," Kit said.

"I can see if one of the nurses will sit with you."

Kit shook her head. "I'm fine. I have the call button. Go."

"Okay."

For the first time since she had woken up in the hospital, Kit was alone. Her thoughts jumped to her parents, wondering where in the air they were at that moment. She could imagine her dad antsy with fear, every part of him jumping as he tried to contain his emotions. Her mother would be right beside him, as steady as a rock, keeping her worry inside.

It was easy to imagine her parent's fear and it kept her own at bay, so she let the scene play out in her head. She imagined their sleepless worry, their hands clasped as they drew strength from each other. It was how they had been when this had started, and she imagined it was how they would remain until it was all over. She found hope in the idea of her parents continuing on as she knew them to be, even when she wasn't around to see them.

Her aunt said they would arrive by the morning and then, they would be there to lend her their strength. To face what they had all been expecting. This possibility had been hovering on the periphery of their thoughts for the last five months.

But Kit paused, because that hadn't been the case since she had arrived in Lighthouse Point. Somewhere, between late night waffles and adventures, another tear in her heart or something worse hadn't been haunting her thoughts. She had been able to forget her condition, and she knew it was mostly because of Edison.

The image of Edison storming out of the room came to the forefront of her mind and regret came slamming back. He had been right. Every accusation he had flung at her had been deserved. He should be mad.

For both their sake's, a part of her hoped he walked out of the hospital and never thought about her again. Then he wouldn't discover all of the truth, and she wouldn't have to face how much she had hurt him.

The door to her room creaked open and she froze when she saw Edison.

She held his gaze and saw there was no anger on his face, only sadness and disbelief.

"Hey," she said quietly.

He took the single word as an invitation to enter. He took a few hesitant steps towards the bed.

"Hey," he finally said.

He stood awkward, unsure, and even though they were in a hospital room, his behavior felt the most out of place. He was Edison Reigns, the unstoppable force of Lighthouse Point. But the person in front of Kit was barely recognizable. It was a bitter pain when she realized it was her fault.

Now they were two people, in a hospital room, with so much to say but unable to speak.

In that moment, she knew she had to take responsibility.

"Edison." Her voice was weak. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so so sorry. I never should have caught you up in this."

He nodded in disbelief. "Kit," he started, then he dropped his gaze.

She reached for his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey. I'm here. I'm breathing. And craving waffles."

He looked up in surprise and she caught the ghost of a smile. But it quickly settled into a sad look.

"What is going on?" he asked hesitantly. "You had heart surgery? You have a condition? Are you...? What does it mean?"

Kit was quiet for a long moment, trying to find words to explain.

"I have a rare degenerative cell disease that is attacking my heart."

Edison sat on the side of the bed, his hand still in hers. He remained silent, but his eyes betrayed his shock.

"It's called ARVC," Kit continued. "Simply , the cells in my heart are breaking down. This morning there was a tear in my right ventricular. They did surgery to close it."

He gave her a pained look. "Are you going to be okay? Did the surgery fix the problem?"

"For the moment."

She gave a sad smile, wishing it was as simple as that.

"But the surgery didn't completely fix the problem?"

"No."

"But you can fix it, right? You said you have a diagnosis so now you know the cure."

A part of Kit wanted to lie. To let him believe there was a cure. But delaying the truth would only make it harder.

She held her breath for a moment, grasping for words that would lighten the blow. But she hadn't been able to find them in the year since her diagnosis, and it wasn't likely she would find them now.

"No," she said, letting it out like a breath.

"But... but, you'll be alright. People live with diseases all the time," he said, like he was trying to find his footing in thin air. "My grandma had arthritis for half her life."

She understood. She'd had similar ideas in the beginning.

"Edison, the cells in my heart are breaking down," she said. "This was my third surgery. Eventually, there will be a tear that will be too big to fix."

"What about a heart transplant?" he asked. "They do those all the time. Can't you get a new heart?"

She gave him a sympathetic smile. She and her parents had followed the same thought process, anything to keep hope alive.

"No."

"Have you had a heart transplant?"

"No, but the doctors did tests with stem cells. The ARVC is aggressive. It targets the cells in and around the heart. It would ruin the new heart just like its ruined mine."

"But...but." Edison stood and paced. "But there has to be something. Medication of some sort. They are always doing medical trials for cancer. Maybe one of those would work."

Kit's chest swelled as she watched him try to reason with her disease. His determination showed how much he cared.

"Stop," he said. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" she asked, embarrassed her feelings had come across on her face.

"Like you pity me for trying to find a solution," he said. "Like you've given up. You can't give up. I won't let you. You have to keep fighting. Make the doctors think harder. Make them do their damn job."

"Edison," she said. "I'm sorry I put you through this."

"No!" he said more passionately. "You can't give up. It's not over. You're still here. You still have time. It's worth the fight. You're worth the fight."

His chest rose and fell dramatically, but he barely caught his breath, determined to say everything he wanted to say.

"You are the one who is constantly badgering me about quitting football. I know you think it was stupid that I quit, and I agree. It was stupid. I should have fought. Just like you need to. Kit," suddenly he was by her side again, desperately gripping her hand. "Please," he pleaded. "You can't die. You're the only person I know who is truly living."

A choked sound escaped her lips as tears started to blur her vision. She thought she had gotten use to the overwhelming sadness that came with telling people. But Edison had caught her off guard.

She sucked in a steadying breath.

"Edison," she said, her voice soft and broken.

He began to shake his head before she could get another word out. He stepped back, and dropped her hand.

"No," he said defiantly. "No."

He clenched his jaw and stared at her, something wild in his eyes.

"Edison," she pleaded.

"No!" he repeated. He turned and stormed out of the room.

Kit sat in shock, her eyes locked on where he had just disappeared. It had been painful when he had stormed out of her room earlier that day, but this time, it was even more so. He had left this time because he cared too much, and this time, she desperately wanted him back.

She wanted a chance to tell him all he meant to her. A chance to comfort him, and see him smile again.

She took a painful breath, preparing to accept that she had lost him, again, when he was back in her room.

He stopped just inside, looking at her. For the first time that day, he was looking at her like she was his Kittery Maine, and not some depleted form in a hospital bed. His eyes grew sad and he clenched his jaw as he took determined steps towards her.

He took her hand and gently wrapped it up between his as he sat on the edge of her bed. He kept his focus on their joined hands for a while.

She let the silence be, relieved she hadn't lost him for a second time. She didn't care if he never spoke. It was enough having him by her side.

Eventually, he did look at her and the look in his eyes was haunting. She could read everything he felt, and it was like her heart was breaking in a new way.

"Kit," he said, his voice broken.

He shook away the emotion and dropped his gaze again.

"I know," she said, placing her free hand on top of his. "I know."

**********************************************************************

Manic meringue pie! 🥧

So! Whose heart is in a puddle on the floor?

Well, since that is the case let's go get some ice cream. 🍦 Try to avoid the heart puddles, you might want to come back to that later.

Okay, now you have real answers! Are you happy? ☺️

😳 Wow still growling and glaring at me. You know I will take that as a yes!

Let me tell you a story to distract you from the misery you are currently facing, it's about a boy named Higor 👨🏽‍🍳(pronounced Igor) and how he worked in a bakery and how I fell in love with coconut bread! ❤️🥥🍞

As you can guess I didn't really go there for the coconut bread. Okay I did, it was amazing and tasted like heaven! ❤️🙃 But I also went there because of him! He had the best and friendliest smile ever and was so cute, Brazilian with dark skin and dark brown eyes. (Did I mention he was also a model? Not even joking.)

Anyways, nothing really came of it. 😔 I flirted with him when I went there. Then he got a new job at a bank and I haven't seen him since. And yes, I have tried to come up with reasonable options of why I would wander into that specific bank, but needing to borrow a pen or stumbling in there on accident just didn't seem to that great of excuses.

So there you have it. He could be the love of life and I will probably never seen him again. Now which story is more tragic? Mine or Kit's?

Okay, fine, yes she still wins, but I say I come in a close second!

Do you have a one-that-got-away story?

Describe yourself in six emojis!

Also if you've been consistently commenting on every update can you do me a favor and comment on this specific line? Go ahead and tell me something random or simply put an emoji.

शांति, प्यार और आइसक्रीम (Hindi) 

Dear Kitten, we're just as shocked as you