Message in a Bottle

Chapter Eleven
I buried my face into his chest as I sobbed hysterically. He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back.
We sat down on the bench outside of the hospital and he sat in silence until my crying stopped. Or halfway stopped.
“How’d you know I was here?” I whispered.
“I got a call from Emily and she told me about Ben. I just thought you needed a shoulder to cry on.”
If I wasn’t so frustrated I’d be annoyed that Emily actually took my phone and got Carter’s number. “Thanks,” I mumbled. “I don’t know how much more I can take, Carter. Ben’s cancer is getting worse, my family is falling apart…. Everyone I love is getting hurt. Why is this happening to me?”
“I’ll always be here for you, Morgan. I won’t leave you.”
“You live in Boston, Carter. How can you not leave me? After this week is over who know’s where we’ll be.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “We’ll think about that when the time comes but for now we just have to enjoy each other’s company.”
“Yeah,” I sighed, nodding my head and wiping away the remaining tears that had stopped right when I saw Carter. “I should probably head back inside. Benjamin might be looking for me.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“Shouldn’t you get back to your hotel? Do your parents know you’re here?”
“No, I just left while they were asleep.”
“Carter, they’re going to be looking for you.”
“It’s fine,” he chuckled.
He took my hand and we walked back into the hospital.
We found Benjamin in a wheel chair and my mom with Kyle as she signed Ben out of the hospital. Ben kept his eyes away from his mom and it was obvious he was pretty pissed off that I left him alone with her.
“Hey, do you want me to push you?” I asked him.
“Yeah,” he said, taking a disgusted glance at mom.
“Let’s go,” Mom said silently as she walked past us with her head down and Kyle’s arm around her.
“Ben and I are actually going to get a ride with Carter,” I called. “If you don’t mind,” I whispered to him.
“Sure.”
Mom remained silent which meant it was a yes.
Carter drove Ben and I home. I stayed in the back seat of the Jeep with Ben.
“How’re you feeling?” I asked Ben.
“I’m fine, Morgan. Really. I feel like your younger brother with you taking care of me. It’s degrading.”
“Unless you want mom to take care of you…?”
“Nevermind,” he breathed.
We drove in silence for a while until Benjamin spoke up. “So Carter, where do you plan on going to college?”
“I’m starting at Harvard University this fall. I want to be a surgeon.”
Benjamin whistled is astonishment. I, on the other hand wasn’t so surprised that he got into Harvard. He was smart.
“I can totally see you as a doctor,” I laughed. “In your blue doctor uniform and everything. It’s going to be just like Grey’s Anatomy! You can be Mc… Mc-”
“McSexy,” Ben suggested.
“Ben, coming from you that’s a bit weird.”
“Oh please, you were thinking it.”
“But I wasn’t going to say it, sheesh.”
Carter’s cheeks rose in a smile. “It’s true though. I mean, look at me.”
“McSexy it is,” I said and laughed.
“So how about you, Morgan? You never told me where you were going to college,” Carter said.
“I got accepted into Georgetown University. I want to be a lawyer.”
“You see, you two are a perfect match. A lawyer and a surgeon? You two are going to make big bucks,” Ben said. “Me on the other hand… I’m just a stay at home high school graduate that writes songs.”
“But I was thinking about waiting a year before I actually go to college.”
“Why?” Carter and Ben asked simultaneously.
“Well, I have to look after Ben and with me being in Washington D.C that’s going to be impossible.”
“Morgan, you don’t have to do that,” Ben mumbled as if he won’t be around long enough to see me go to college.
“I know I don’t, but I want to.”
“Here we are,” Carter said when we came to a stop in front of my house.
I sighed, taking off my seatbelt and opening the door reluctantly. Carter and I walked around the car to Ben’s door and helped him out, supporting him all the way to the front door.
I walked with Carter back to his car. “Thanks for coming to the hospital,” I said. “And thank you for being here for me when I need a shoulder to cry on.”
“It wasn’t a problem. Trust me,” he murmured, bringing my face up to his. “Whenever you need me, I’ll be here.”
I shut my eyes. “Carter, please don’t say that.”
“Why?” he asked, confused.
“Because you won’t always be here and I know that. You know that.”
“Morgan, I know it’s hard to believe but I really care about you. I know you haven’t had a lot of people in your life that stuck with you through thick and thin but I’m not one of those people and I need you to know that.”
Gradually, a smile grew upon my face, showing my teeth. I forced myself to put it away but I couldn’t. He smiled in my attempt.
“It’s okay to smile, Morgan,” he chuckled.
I laughed lightly. “Well, I have to get Ben inside. He’s probably exhausted and hungry.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Er… later on today.”
He kissed me on my forehead and drove back to his hotel.