Mia's Heart (The Paradise Diaries) by Courtney Cole Read Free Book Online Page B

mumble.  “I just feel intimidated by coming out here.  I don’t know
why. It makes me feel sort of panicky.”
    I’m
such a baby.
    I
look around, at the shrubbery in the hospital courtyard, at the benches filled
with visitors and patients, at the flowers, the grass, at the wide open blue
sky above us.  And all I can do is to try and still my racing heart. 
I don’t know why I’m so anxious about this place.  It’s irrational.
    “You
know,” Gavin says quietly as he leads me around the path.  “We were here
last year.  Our friend Dante had a car accident.  And when we came
here, we weren’t sure exactly what we were going to find.  We knew he was
alive and they told us that he was okay, but we didn’t really believe it until
we saw it for ourselves.  Maybe that’s it.  Maybe you have some
suppressed memories deep down about that time.  It was pretty emotional. 
It was one of the only times I’ve seen you cry.”
    I
look at him.  The sun is shining onto his face, illuminating his already
bright smile.  He’s a gorgeous guy, that much is true.  Strong,
good-looking and self-assured.  That’s a good recipe for destruction.
    “I
don’t cry?” I ask hesitantly.  That doesn’t seem right.  Because
right now, I feel like a blubbering mess on the inside.  Gavin shakes his
head.
    “Not
usually.  You’re pretty bad-ass.”
    I
have to smile at that.  “Bad ass?”
    He
nods.  “Yup.  Totally bad-ass.”
    “Tell
me why you say that,” I instruct him. 
    We
continue walking around the pretty landscaped sidewalk as Gavin tells me
escapades of my youth, beginning from the time we were in primary school. He
speaks smoothly and calmly as we walk around patients who are walking slower
than we are. 
    “And
then there was the time that you got the assistant principal at school fired-
when we were only in fourth grade.  You thought he discriminated against
you because he was a pacifist and your father was the minister of defense.”
    “ Did he discriminate against me?” I ask, with my eyebrow raised.
    Gavin
nods. “It sure seemed like it.”
    “So,
I’m ballsy.”
    Gavin
laughs.  “Yes, you’re ballsy.”
    “Why
are you and I such good friends?  Have we always been?  Have we ever
dated?”
    Gavin
stares at me.
    “You
truly don’t remember anything, do you?” he asks softly.  There is sympathy
in his eyes and I hate that. I’m not asking for sympathy.  I’m just trying
to learn more about myself. 
    “Don’t
feel sorry for me, Gav,”I tell him. “I don’t need sympathy.”
    He
stares at me again.
    “You
just called me Gav,” he points out quietly. “I haven’t told you that you used
to do that.”
    I
am instantly still.  Holy crap.  He’s right.
    “I
don’t know where that came from,” I admit.  “It just came out. It felt natural.”
    “It’s
your memory,” Gavin decides confidently.  “Subconsciously, in there
somewhere, you know me.” He grins.  “Because seriously, dude, how could
you truly forget me?”
    He
is cocky and arrogant and pleasingly so.  I smile back.
    “I
don’t know.  It’s like I got hit on the head or something.  Oh,
wait.  I did.”
    He
laughs and I laugh and it suddenly seems normal to hang out with him. 
Relaxed. Friendly.  Normal.  I’m digging it.  So I tell him
that.
    He
looks surprised.
    “Did
you doubt that you would?”  He is cocky again.  “Your favorite time
of the day is always Gavin Time.”
    “Gavin
Time?” I repeat doubtfully.  “Are you always this sure of yourself?” I
ask, one eyebrow cocked.  He laughs.  He tightens his grip on my
elbow and I enjoy the feeling of his warm fingers on my skin. 
    “Always,”
he says, leaning in toward me like he’s confiding something.  “It’s one of
the things you love about me.”
    “So
I love things about you, then?” I ask, laughing.
    Gavin
smiles.  “Of course you do.  Everyone does.” 
    He
winks and laughs and I laugh again. 
    “Have
we ever