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chair so her face was closer to his. When she spoke, her voice was barely louder than the gentle hum of machinery keeping him alive. “I always thought you were too safe.” Ashley ran her thumb over the top of Landon’s hand. “You crazy guy. Now look at you.”
    Something seemed to move near the end of the bed. Was it Landon’s foot? Ashley stared at his toes poking up beneath the blanket. A minute passed, then two, but there was nothing. Her father was right; Landon was unconscious. If he didn’t start breathing on his own, if his oxygen levels didn’t improve, he might not make it.
    What if he died? What if she never got to talk to him or laugh with him again?
    All her adult life she’d known that Landon was in love with her, waiting for her, even when she did her best to maintain the distance between them. She remembered when he’d come to her parents’ house the week before she left for Paris. That night when he said goodbye, they had lingered for a while beneath the moonlit sky.
    “I’ll miss you.” Landon had leaned against his Blazer and stuffed his hands in his pockets, gazing down at Ashley with a crooked grin.
    Ashley hadn’t planned on an emotional scene with Landon. After all, he was setting off for college in a few weeks. She wanted to leave without any romantic ties in Bloomington, nothing to keep her from experiencing life in a city that breathed creativity. Regardless of their shared high school days, they were about to chase separate dreams.
    She had stared at the gravel, dragging the toe of her tennis shoe in small circles before answering him. “Hey, you’ll be fine.” His words had rattled around in her heart while she tried to ignore them. “Besides, you’ll be busy with all those college girls.”
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s w a I I e y
    : For a long while Landon had simply looked at her, almost as though he was trying to memorize her eyes, her face. When he finally spoke, he’d said something Ashley remembered clearly to this day. “Just once”-he had given her a sad smile-“just once, I wish you’d look at me like you love me.”
    Even then, Ashley had refused to let her heart be sucked in, refused to acknowledge the feelings she had always had for Landon. Feelings that weren’t exactly love, but were certainly deeper than ordinary friendship. Feelings of, well, connection, which frightened her more than any crush ever could have. But instead of allowing her eyes to reflect her deepest emotions, instead of kissing him as she’d done just once, she had made a joke. Pushed him or tickled him or kicked his foot-Ashley couldn’t quite remember what. But in a matter of seconds the mood had changed, and they were back on more comfortable ground, teasing and laughing and wishing each other the best before saying goodbye.
    A nurse entered the room, and Ashley j umped. Self-consciously she let go of Landon’s hand and sat back in her chair. The nurse nodded at her and checked the monitors set up around the head of Landon’s bed.
    Ashley followed her every move, trying to determine from the look on the nurse’s face whether Landon was doing better. “How is he?”
    The nurse glanced at the clipboard in her hands. “About the same. We need to see an improvement in his blood oxygen level before morning.” Her eyes raised and met Ashley’s. “Are you his girlfriend?”
    “No.” Ashley’s answer was quick, and instantly she regretted it. What if Landon could hear them? She gave a quick laugh. “I’ve known Landon forever. We’re…
    we’ve always been close.”
    “Take another ten minutes.” The nurse was fiddling with the IV bag. “After that, his parents want to see him again.”
    “Okay.” Ashley nodded. “May I stay in the waiting room? I want to be here …
    when he wakes up.”
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    The nurse smiled. “Definitely.”
    When she was gone, Ashley leaned forward and took Landon’s hand once more. She still didn’t know what she felt for this strong, handsome man who somehow always