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Feeling his gaze on me, I turn and hold his gaze. “I hate that I’m not able to look after you,” he admits, anguish lacing his voice. “New York isn’t a city for you to be wandering around.”
“Do you remember what we’d been talking about in the restaurant?”
His fists clench. “I remember. I also remember whom it is that you were talking about.”
“He’s a good man, Blake. A really good man. You only have the experience of playing on opposing teams, but if you give him a chance, for me, you’ll see that he really cares about me. I’m safe with him.”
He sighs and seems to be struggling to keep his eyes open. “I’m not going to argue with you. I don’t have the strength right now, which pisses me off. But as I’m stuck in here and he isn’t, I’m going to trust him to keep you safe. We’ll take it from there when I’m out of here.”
I smile and hide my surprise that he’s being easier to handle than usual, and from what Roger told me, he isn’t blaming anyone but himself for what happened. It’s a relief that he doesn’t blame Kasey, even though it was totally Blake’s fault.
My attention moves to the door as it slowly opens to reveal a woman. She looks to be in her forties maybe, with short dark hair. Her clothes are neat on her slender body, but her face looks as pale as the white blouse that she wears. “I just wanted to see him.” She swallows and looks nervously at the bed.
I follow her stare and realize that she has Blake’s full attention. “Do we know you?” I ask, not wanting to be rude but curious.
“I’m”—she clears her throat—“the driver of…I wanted to say that I’m so sorry, but it seems inadequate considering your injuries.”
Glancing at Blake, I catch his eye and I really hope that my brother doesn’t act like an idiot. I know he’s pissed and frustrated to be i
n this situation, but hopefully he still has a conscience.
He sighs and squeezes my hand. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who should apologize to you…I’m sorry. I was angry and didn’t think when I stepped in front of you. It was my fault, so please don’t feel guilty or anything.”
“I wasn’t expecting that,” she admits. “I’ll um, go. I can see that you’re tired. I just wanted to see you even though my husband told me not to.”
Blake stays silent so I jump in. “Thank you. We appreciate it but like my brother says, he was at fault, not you.” I smile. “He’ll bounce back. He always does.” I watch Blake and hear the door close behind me.
I walk over to him and kiss his cheek. “You can be sweet when you want to be.” I laugh when his eyes pop wide before he winces. “Sorry, I forgot you have a sore head.”
“And the huge bandage wrapped around my head doesn’t make it obvious?”
I roll my eyes and drop to the chair. “Wiseass. You need to sleep.”
He looks unsure. “You’ll be here when I wake up?”
Unable to resist, I lean over him again and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “I’ll be here. I promise.”
He falls asleep within minutes.
All of a sudden I feel exhausted. I know it’s the worry and stress of Blake being injured, and it took a lot out of me at seeing how heartbroken he is over what’s happened. I’m glad I was here for him, but it hurt seeing my big, strong brother, so downtrodden.
He’ll get back on his feet if it’s the last thing I do, and I know that Kasey will be there for me to fall back on.
Smiling, I move over to the more comfortable chair and settle down thinking about Kasey. He makes me happy and I know that he’s happy to have me in his apartment. I caught him staring at my clothes in his closet with a silly grin on his face this morning. I like having them in there also, and before we left this morning, I slipped a hanger with a shirt on it between those of Kasey’s. I don’t have that much with me, but it’s still nice.
I let my gaze linger on my brother and wonder what he’s going to want to do when he’s eventually released from here. My heart is going to want to stay in New York, but my home is in Cleveland, and I have a feeling that Blake is going to want to be there. It’s where his friends are. Where his life is.
At least the paralysis is only temporary, or so the doctors had informed us. He’s very optimistic that once the swelling at the base of his spine disappears that the feeling should return to his legs. They have told us that there’s a possibility of surgery being in Blake’s future, but for now they want to wait and see if the swelling goes down before any further decisions are made. I hate that we don’t know what his future now holds, even though I’m hoping this really is just a blimp on the way back to normal.
Feeling my cell buzz in my back pocket, I wiggle around and retrieving it, I smile at the message from Kasey.
I’m outside the door. Is it safe to come inside? Don’t want to cause trouble for you.
I softly smile at his message and appreciate that he’s thinking about me. Checking on my brother, I pad to the door and open it. I smile when I see Kasey leaning against the opposite wall, staring at his cell. He glances up and when he sees me, his face lights up.
I put my finger to my lips so that he knows Blake is sleeping. He cradles my face in his large palms and presses a kiss to my lips. “I missed you.” He rests his forehead against mine.
“Missed you too. Come in here.” I take his hand and bring him into the room.
