Page 103 of Rescuing Mary

Annie had marched over to the side of Truck’s bed and asked, “Do you know me now?”

Truck smiled. “Yeah, squirt. I know you.”

“You ’member?”

“Yes.”

And with that, Annie crawled onto Truck’s bed and lay down next to him. She once again put her little hand over his cheek and snuggled in.

Mary would never forget the look on Truck’s face. She’d seen the exact same look when she was sick and hurting, and he’d snuggled next to her at night. Love.

The adults didn’t try to make Annie move, they simply had a conversation as if she wasn’t breaking hospital policy by lying in Truck’s bed. Mary couldn’t exactly protest, as she’d done the same thing the night before, crawled right up beside Truck and held him as tightly as he’d held her.

“We’re postponing the baby-naming party one week,” Emily informed them.

“You don’t have to do that,” Truck protested.

“Yeah, we do. We’re not having it without you, so deal,” Fletch said. “But no longer. I don’t care if you go out and get yourself run over, we’re not putting it off again. I can’t keep calling my son ‘Baby Fletch’ forever.”

Everyone chuckled and Annie lifted her head and looked at Truck. “His name is awesome.”

“You know what it is, squirt?”

She nodded.

“I’ll give ya a hundred bucks if you tell me right now,” Truck teased.

But Annie shook her head. “Nope. My lips are sealed,” she said, and pretended to zip them closed. Then she lowered herself back down next to Truck once more.

After another forty-five minutes of chitchat, the Fletchers left.

Mary was thankful for the steady stream of visitors who had come to see Truck. It kept him occupied and less grouchy. Kassie and Hollywood had also been there, and had brought Kate. Mary thought she was going to melt into a puddle of goo when Truck had taken the tiny infant into his arms. He looked down at her reverently and whispered, “No dating until you’re twenty-five, little one.”

Kassie and Mary had laughed, but Hollywood and Truck didn’t. “I told her thirty,” Hollywood informed his teammate.

“Sounds about right,” Truck responded. Then told his friend, “She’s perfect. Congratulations.”

Hollywood beamed and had put his arm around his wife and responded, “Thanks.”

When Harley and Coach visited, Harley let Truck try out the latest video game she was developing. That killed two full hours, allowing Mary to get a much-needed shower and break from her grumpy alpha man who was ready to go home.

Casey, Beatle, Blade, and Wendy all stopped by together. Wendy’s brother, Jackson, had tagged along. They talked a little bit about the large group wedding they were planning, but Mary changed the subject quickly, not ready to talk about wedding ceremonies yet.

Of course Ghost and Rayne stopped in, and Chase and Sadie followed quickly behind them. Mary could tell Truck was enjoying seeing his friends, especially now that his memory had fully returned. But she could also tell when he started to get tired.

It wasn’t until all seven of the Deltas from the other team showed up—and spent an hour harassing Truck for not being able to overpower all of the gang members singlehandedly and for having to be rescued—that Mary decided it was enough.

She shooed everyone out of the room, telling them it was time for Truck to take a nap.

Of course, that made all of the other Deltas laugh even harder and start up with the mommy jokes, but throughout it all, Truck didn’t seem to give one little shit.

He’d simply said, “I’d much rather spend my time with Mary than with you assholes.”

But it was the conversation with her doctor that had been the most emotional for Mary.

He’d heard she was in the hospital and had taken the time to track her down. He’d wanted to talk about her reconstruction, since she’d skipped her appointment.

The three of them, Mary, Truck, and her doctor, had a long conversation about her options. Truck asked a million questions about safety and long-term repercussions of having the implants inserted. He wanted to know the odds of the cancer returning, and whether having silicone implants would make those odds worse, or if they would somehow impede detection if the cancer did return.