“She is. She tried to convince Tucker to come home when she heard, which was right when they landed, but he begged for a couple of days out there. I think he’s going to propose or something because, according to Maeve, they had itoutabout coming back. She was about to jump on a plane solo, and he begged for forty-eight more hours. Ten bucks they’ll be back before then,” Cora said.
Even though I knew a proposal was the plan, I wasn’t going to spill the beans. “And an engagement would certainly be a bright spot. Speaking of engagements, what’s your plan with Maverick now, Cora? Where did you leaveoff? Saturday was so damn romantic. Bravo to Maverick after his big mistake. My God, you guys, I can’t believe everything that’s transpired in the last few days.” I sagged my head back into the pillow and took a breath.
“That’s a lot of questions, friend. Though there are no engagements on my horizon, I’m going to delay opening Grá by, I’m guessing six to eight weeks, so I can spend time in California with Maverick,” Cora answered.
“I’m so happy for you, Cora.” I smiled at her as I yawned. “And you, Jules? Are you going to openly admit where you’re staying yet?”
“I’m only answering because you’re in a hospital bed with a stab wound. I’m staying at the twins’ house, which is also about to become McKenna’s accommodation as well.”
A smile spread across my face. “Color me surprised.” The three of us laughed, but it made my incision hurt, and I winced in pain right as Carol and Trina walked in.
“Okay, ladies, it’s time to head out. We need Audra to rest,” Trina said.
We exchanged hugs and goodbyes, and when they left, they pushed more painkillers into the IV. It didn’t take long before I passed out.
I got another five hours of sleep and woke up around 7:45 a.m. Trina was still there; she must have stayed all night to sit with the nurses to keep tabs on me. She knew four of the six overnight nurses on the floor, so she had a few special privileges extended to her, like the ability to stay after visiting hours. When I rang my call bell, she’s the one that came to help, and she assured me she’d get me to Donovan when she could.
At around 8:50 a.m., she informed me that rounds were delayed, so she wheeled me and my IV pole down to Donovan. It’d been a long time since I was on the patient end of a hospitalstay, and it gave me fresh eyes to the experience that I’d rather not have.
When we got to his room, the sight of him knocked the air from my lungs. He looked so vulnerable with the chest tube and cannulas. Seeing as that kind of equipment was second nature to me, I didn’t quite expect the response I had, which was feeling like I got punched in the stomach. Taking a deep breath, I puffed my cheeks to blow it out, hoping to keep it together, but my eyes became blurry with tears anyway.
As I was wheeled further into the room, someone stood up and scared the shit out of me.
“Bennett?” He shocked me because he wasn’t exactly the early bird. “What are you doing here?”
“My favorite Audra, I’m so sorry this happened.” He carefully hugged me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but he’s not. I’m worried about him, B. Why are you here though?”
“Ah—well….” He never stuttered. “Just a little snafu here. It’s not a big deal, but two different people have shown up and claimed to be Donovan’s girlfriend. They’ve come up to sit here with him.”
“What the fuck? How in God’s name would you know something like that? What are strangers coming to sit with him for?” It’s not that I thought he was lying, but that seemed insane to me.
“Well, you know I’m good fuck buddies with one of the ICU floor nurses here, Molly.”
Ah, yes, I actually knew that he and Molly had a good time together. It was my hospital, after all, and this place was a gossip mill.
“I have no idea why people would do that,” he continued. “Nora Banaff is the one who came by last night,saying she was his girlfriend. Molly texted me immediately to question it because she had heard that it was you and Donovan who had caused the scene. I confirmed that it was most assuredly the two of you who were together. That’s when she told me that Nora was in the room with him, pretending to be his girlfriend. Although she was gone when I arrived, I sat for the remainder of visiting hours. I came back right when they opened this morning to ward off any other suspicious bitches, which was good because at 8:10, another one came. I didn’t know who she was, though, she looked young. Regardless, I’m just looking out for my friends. It’s the least I can do, seeing as this happened at my fucking bar.” He hung his head.
“B, this was inevitably going to happen. Theo was coming for me. Believe it or not, I’m grateful it happened at your bar because I had friends readily available to help. And beyond that, I’m so very grateful that you and Murphy took my advice and had those chest seals in your first aid kit. That saved his life. If it happened on a street, he’d be dead.” Speaking that reality into the universe was too heavy to comprehend. Chills followed by goosebumps erupted over my skin.
Bennett took a big breath as his hand rubbed down his face. Then he hit his knees to stand up.
“Hey, I’m going to take a quick walk, okay? Do you want anything?”Bennett had his own experiences with hospitals, so I’m guessing sitting in a room like this brought back some hard memories.
“Nothing for me, thanks.”
Before he exited, I called his name. “Bennett, thank you for being here. You’re coming back, right?”
“Yeah, I’m just going to run and grab more coffee, but I’ll be back to sit with you.”
“Thank you. Truly, Bennett. Thank you.” He left, and Ipositioned myself next to the bed, grabbed Donovan’s hand, and put my head down on his thigh. My throat constricted as I tried to hold back the tears, but as soon as the first one slipped out, the dam broke. My sadness, my pain, and my guilt soaked the hospital sheet. After a while, I just started blubbering to him.
“Donovan, I’m so sorry. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. We were supposed to come off the plane ready to give this a shot. Now you’re fighting for your life, and I only have a couple of stitches. It’s not fair. How could you forgive me?” The words tumbled out, just as fast as the tears. When I looked at him, so still, surrounded by the equipment, my insides recoiled. I did this to him, and there was nothing I could do to help right now.
I clung to his arm and continued, “You know, I never wanted to fall for you. I tried to push you away because I saw how easy it would be to love you. God, you are so easy to love, Donovan Wright, I’m so sorry the world ever told you otherwise,” my voice faltered.
“You told me you’d protect my heart, Van, in this life and the next, so I need you to wake up. I was skeptical, but now all I see are adventures and Magic 8 Balls, the backs of limos, butterfly gardens, laughter, our ridiculous games, the touch of your lips on mine,” I paused trying to find the words. “You can’t take that away from me. Now that I’ve had you, I don’t want to do this without you, Donovan. I know you can hear me right now. Wake up and fight for this thing between us that is just getting started. You called what we have between us once-in-a-lifetime, and I agree, I know I won’t ever find this again. I want our future.” And I put my head on the bed again while my body shook with emotion.
