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Something about the sight of his toes breaks me. They’re bruised and they look so cold to me. My eyes fill with tears and I wipe them away. Crying won’t do any good. Right now, he needs to hear my voice. He needs to know I’m here waiting and that he’s going to be just fine. I walk over to him and put my hand on his toes as gently as I can. They’re not cold to the touch but instead are hot to the touch. I move up to his side and put my hand on his left arm. It seems like the only place on his body that isn’t bandaged, bruised or stitched up.
I take a deep breath, then find my voice. “Well, that was some ride. I thought you were a professional.” My joke gets caught in my throat and I break down, sitting on the chair next to his bed. “Ryder, please don’t leave me. I’m going to love you for the rest of my life and you better damn well be here for it.”
He stirs just the tiniest bit. Or maybe it’s wishful thinking because he doesn’t open his eyes. He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t say my name. And I’m terrified he never will again. I climb into the bed next to him and snuggle into his side.
When I speak, it’s in a whisper. “You better not die on me. We have a deal, remember? Where I go, you go.”
Sixteen
Ryder
My entire body aches as I start to come to. I’m not sure where I am at first. This doesn’t feel like a dirt floor under me. I hear a beeping sound that I wish someone would just turn off because I have the worst headache of my life.
My eyelids are so dry they stick to my eyeballs as I force them open. The first thing I see is a dark ceiling. Then, managing to turn my head a bit, I see her curled up in a chair, fast asleep. My girl is here. And if she’s sleeping, I must have been out for a while.
“Hey,” I say, but my voice only croaks.
It’s enough to wake her though. She sits, then stands quickly. “Ryder? Are you really awake?”
I try for a smile, but
it hurts too damn much.
She bursts into tears and starts smiling and shaking. “You’re awake! You’re really awake! You can’t imagine how many times I thought you were finally coming to but it was my imagination. Are you okay? Can you talk? Do you need anything?” She laughs and shakes her head. “You’re alive.”
Then her face falls. “Wait. Do you remember me?”
I know I shouldn’t, but a moment like this really only comes once in a guy’s life. I nod my head a little. “Sure, I do. You’re the sexy nurse the guys hired to cheer me up.”
When tears fill her eyes, I know I’ve gone too far. “Julia, of course I know who you are. You’re the girl I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.”
Julia gives me an exasperated look. “That’s not funny!” she says, but she laughs anyway. “I’d slap you if you had any part of you that wasn’t broken.”
“How about you kiss me, instead?”
She leans down and gives me a long, sweet kiss, her tears falling on my cheeks. When she pulls back, I say, “One question though. Who am I?”
“Asshole.”
“That’s a strange name. Did my parents not like me very much?”
“They may have, but I’m not sure if I do.” She grins.
“One more question. Did I win?”
Six Months Later
“Do you, Ryder Graham West, take Julia Helen Rutherford to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to honor her, love her, and cherish her in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, forsaking all others, until death do you part?” The preacher asks.
“I do.” I smile down at her in her white lace dress, as the gentle breeze blows a piece of her hair in front of her eyes. Reaching up, I tuck the curl behind her ear so nothing’s in my way when it’s time to kiss her. She’s absolutely breathtaking in the late day sun, and I know that I’m the happiest man on the planet. Because she’s mine and she always will be.
“Do you, Julia Helen Rutherford, take Ryder Graham West to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to honor him, love him, and cherish him in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, forsaking all others, until death do you part?”
“I do.” Her voice comes out strong and clear even though her eyes are filling with tears.
I think about how she’s already loved me during worse and sicker. She’s been through hell and back with me in our short time of knowing each other. Three weeks in the hospital. Four months of physical therapy. Quitting her job to look after me and be by my side through it all. Giving up her life and moving to Montana for me. I get a lump in my throat as I smile down at her.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the preacher announces. “Ryder you may—”
