Kiss Me Captain (Emily and Maddie) novel Chapter 44

[Maddie’s POV]

Three days in the hospital teaches you fascinating things—like how many medical dramas you can watch before you start diagnosing your own ankle with disturbing confidence.

The doctors finally cleared me for discharge with enough paperwork to start my own practice and a prescription list that reads like a pharmacy inventory.

My parents are loading the car with the impressive collection of get-well flowers and balloons—apparently people feel obligated to send cheerful inflatable objects when you destroy your ankle on live television.

Very thoughtful. Very helpful for my crushing existential dread.

Emily arrives just as my mother disappears down the hallway with roses. My father follows with the balloons, leaving Emily and me alone in the hospital room that’s been my prison for seventy-two hours.

She’s wearing jeans and her Lakeview jacket, hair pulled back, and she looks tired in a way that makes my chest ache.

We stand there staring at each other like two people who’ve forgotten how normal human interaction works. Which, fair assessment given everything that’s happened.

The investigation. The questioning. That moment when I almost kissed her before my parents walked in. Just your standard casual roommate behavior.

“Hey,” Emily says, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Ready to get out of here?”

“More than ready. If I watch one more episode where someone flatlines and comes back through the power of dramatic music, I’m going to scream.”

I shift on the bed, my ankle wrapped in enough medical tape to mummify a small pharaoh. “My parents are taking me home for the weekend before surgery on Monday.”

“Right. Surgery.” Emily’s voice goes tight, like she’s trying not to think about what that means—more recovery time, more uncertainty, more months of my career hanging in the balance. “I’ll come back next week. Be here when you wake up, if you want.”

“I’d like that.” The words come out softer than I intend, more vulnerable than I’m comfortable with. I clear my throat. “Thanks for being here these past few days. I know it’s been—”

“Don’t.” Emily cuts me off, her expression shifting into something careful and controlled. “You don’t have to thank me for being here. I want to be here, Maddie.”

The silence that follows stretches between us like taffy being pulled too thin. I should say something.

Should tell her I’m glad she wants to be here, that having her beside my hospital bed made everything more bearable. But the words stick in my throat.

Emily breaks first. “I’m nervous about going back to campus alone.” She’s looking at her shoes instead of me, voice careful. “People are going to have questions. About the investigation, about what happened, about us.”

About us. Right. Because we’re roommates who spend suspicious amounts of time together and apparently can’t hide our feelings for shit.

“At least you can focus on skating without me there making everything complicated.”

The words come out sharper than I intend—defensive and cutting and exactly the wrong thing to say.

I see it land in the way Emily’s face shifts from vulnerability to hurt to something harder. Her jaw tightens and she takes a step back.

“If that’s what you think, maybe I should just go.” Emily’s voice is flat, carefully empty. “Clearly you don’t need me making things more complicated for you.”

Panic slams into my chest. “Wait, that’s not what I meant—”

“It’s what you said.” Emily’s already moving toward the door, grabbing her jacket from where she’d draped it over a chair.

Her movements are sharp, angry, and hurtful. “You think I’m making your life complicated? You think I’m some burden you have to deal with on top of everything else?”

“Emily, please.” I try to stand up and immediately regret it when my ankle protests violently. I grab the bed rail for support, my other hand reaching toward her.

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