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She glanced at Jon, who was stirring in the hospital bed. “Jon? Can you open your eyes?” She’d recovered her voice after rest, but it was still a little raspy.
She couldn’t do anything to figure this out until she knew Jon was going to be all right.
***
Annie’s voice.Jon swam up from the deep recesses where he’d been floating. She was counting on him, and he had to get to her.Something was wrong. He heard it in the quiver of tears and the thread of fear in her voice. He wanted to open his eyes, but they seemed so heavy and he was so tired.
There was a pressure on his hand as if someone was holding his fingers. He tried to hold on, but he wasn’t sure he could. Part of him wanted to slip into the warm light around him and sleep. Maybe for just a little while. But Annie’s voice tugged at him, and he couldn’t ignore her.
He made another try to open his eyes, and he caught a movement through his slitted lids. Annie’s worried face hovered above him. Kylie was there, too, and a nurse. Dr.Ben too.
He closed his eyes again, and the sound of beeping went wild in the room. Going back to sleep to escape seemed a good option.
When he opened his eyes again, dim daylight filtered through the windows. Annie was curled up in a chair by the bed, and her blonde hair was disheveled around her face. She breathed evenly in her sleep.
He looked around the room. He was in the hospital. The events at the gorge came flooding back, and with it, pain made itself known. His shoulder and head throbbed, and it hurt to breathe. The steady beeping of the machines around him was a soothing rhythm. It had been dark at the falls. How long had he been here?
He yawned and flexed his jaw. His headache eased a bit, and he desperately needed a sip of water. His mouth felt like it was full of sand.
He’d fallen. That horrible moment when he couldn’t hang on any longer. The plummeting through the air, expecting oblivion when he struck the ground. The fear combined with his joy in knowing his daughter was safe in Annie’s arms. He’d knowngoing down that rope that his return was unlikely, but he’d willingly offered his life for his little girl. And in that moment when he was falling to certain death, he’d been content knowing at least Annie wouldn’t be alone. He’d expected to see his mother in heaven in the next instant.
And yet here he was. Alive with Annie sleeping next to him. How had that happened?
He drank in the sight of his beautiful Annie. So faithful, so determined, so loving. How had he won such a prize? He was a lucky man, and he’d never take her for granted again.
She rustled and lifted her head. Her gaze met his, and joy flooded their blue depths. “Jon? You’re awake!” She leaned in closer and kissed him.
The taste of her was better than the finest chocolate. Ignoring the stab of pain in his ribs, he wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her half onto the bed. Her soft lips were a reminder that he was alive by some miracle.
He reluctantly let her go. “Have you been here all night?”
“Yes. Kylie was here for a while, then Bree came and got her for me.” She hesitated. “You probably don’t remember anything we said to you before you woke up, do you?”
Bits and pieces came back in a jumble. “Not really. I just knew you were here, and I wanted to get back to you.”
Her eyes filled with moisture, and several tears leaked out. “You were in a coma. Ben wasn’t sure you were going to live. He told us you dislocated your shoulder climbing down to get Kylie.”
He remembered. “I did. I was pretty sure I couldn’t climb back up, and I didn’t want to risk trying to do it with her in case I took her into the falls with me.”
“Sarah told her you’re her dad. I think Kylie’s willing to open up to you. At least a little. It’s progress. She compared you to Jesus. She said you were willing to die for her.”
His throat tightened. “That’s a name I can’t live up to. But I love her, and I’ll always do my best to let her know how important she is.”
“She kissed you last night before she left.” Annie leaned over and cupped his face in her hands. “I was so scared I was going to lose you, Jon. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
His lips quirked, and he turned his head to kiss her palm. “I’ll try. It’s kind of out of my hands. When I was trying to get back to you, I’d promised you I’d never leave again. And I didn’t want to break that promise.”
He pressed the button on his bed to raise his head. “Could I have water?”
“Just sips,” she cautioned him. She held the cup and straw under his chin.
“Hey, I’m the doctor here.”
“Yeah, the doctor with a concussion who refused to go to the hospital. I’m discovering that doctors make the worst patients.”
“Shh, you’re not supposed to know that.”
“Kylie told us Lissa made Sarah leave. She had a gun. I think Sarah is in trouble.”
