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“Then I will touch you constantly, Zoe. I’m not letting you go.”
She nodded but he knew it was only to make him stop. She thought he was making promises out of pity.
He’d show her how wrong she was. Nothing was taking this spectacular woman from him.
Three days passed and the police department still refused to release Zoe’s phone and personal effects. Every time he called them, there were excuses. Nate knew he needed to contact Zoe’s family in Georgia. Beth appeared with her boss’s emergency contact information from the library files and he hugged her in gratitude.
MaryAnn and Megan Green arrived the following day and promptly fell apart. The similarities to Zoe’s first accident and her physical appearance sent them over the edge emotionally.
Nate struggled for patience. “I need you both to pull it the fuck together. Zoe needs your support, not your hysteria.”
They stared at him as if he had two heads, frozen in shock for a long moment. Then they wiped their faces and nodded.
When they approached the bed, Nate signed their arrival to Zoe. He’d been frustrated to learn they still didn’t know sign language.
“Did you think her deafness would magicallygo awayor something? It’s been more than adecade. Pick up a few basics, damn it. It’s not hard and it would go a long way to improving communication.”
The women had the grace to look ashamed.
Megan was a stunning beauty and so was their mother. Despite their looks and obvious love for Zoe, Nate’s first impression of her relatives wasn’t good.
He wondered how someone as strong and capable could be related to such self-absorbed females. Admittedly, the intense stress of the situation might have affected his judgment.
Over the next several days, Nate never left her side.
He sat in a chair beside the bed, his cheek on the mattress next to her hip. Every time she dozed off, he made sure she woke up to the feel of his head beneath her hand.
“The way your hair feels…it calms me.”
She could stroke through it gently for hours as Nate watched her, unmoving. The feel of her touch made him want to hug her to him. He kissed her, signed to her, and kept her company.
Day after day passed the same.
Mandy came every afternoon when she was done with school and Nate talked with his mother and sister outside Zoe’s room. Bill or Rick always escorted them with Noel guarding everyone’s back.
He insisted someone Zoe knew maintain physical contact with her at all times and his daughter was happy to do it. She kept Zoe company whenever he stepped out to talk to doctors, police, family, or friends.
Mandy signed almost continually against her palm and she was the first person to make the injured woman smile again.
“Everyone came when you were hurt. They know how much we love you. I have Maximus at the house and he took over my side of the bed. Greedy kitty.”
Zoe’s smile was fragile but it was there and Nate broke down in the hall. His mother hugged him tightly. Her eyes waited to look into his when he got himself under control.
“I know you’re in agony so break with me, with your sister, with your friends…but you remain a pillar of unbending steel around Zoe. You and Mandy are theonlyones who can bring back her hope.”
Wiping his face, he hugged Caroline hard. Leaning back, he mouthed, “Thank you.”
Hand on his cheek, she smiled. “What a good man you are, Nathaniel Lang.” She winked. “I did a damn fine job on you and your sister.”
Laughing through tears, he quipped, “We get our modesty from you.”
“Naturally.” She used tissues from the nurse’s station to wipe his face. “Deep breath for me, Nate.” Staring into her eyes, he did what she said. “Love her and don’t give up. No matter how much she genuinely, and understandably, wants to give up herself.”
He nodded. “I love you.”
“I love you. Sit with Mandy for a bit. Both of you touching her will help a lot. We’ll stay as long as you need.”
Walking into Zoe’s room, he held his palm gently to the side of her face as he stood near the top of the bed. Every once in a while, he leaned down to trail his lips over her forehead or cheek. From that afternoon, she showed a measurable drop in her physical stress.
