Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Charley all but ran to her car and with a wave, headed down Triple C Ranch-West’s ponderosa pine-lined drive.
Before turning right onto the highway, Charley glanced into her rearview mirror to see Chloe and Derek walking hand-in-hand up the porch steps.
The front door opened, and Cooper appeared holding Wyatt with the twins right behind him.
How wonderful it must be to have such a solid, loving marriage with children.
“I wish I could be so happy,” she began, pulling onto the highway, “with Sully.”
Heading toward Pikes Peak, she made herself drive the speed limit.
But the trip from the country into town seemed never to have taken so long.
When Charley finally reached Memorial Hospital, she zipped into the parking garage, found a spot, and parked.
With another glance in the rearview mirror, this time she cringed.
She’d cried all her eye makeup off and searching the wreckage had wreaked havoc on her hair.
Reaching into her purse, she pulled out mascara and lipstick.
After applying some of both, she hopped out of her car.
Running her fingers through her hair, she hurried to the parking garage elevator.
Punching the down button, she tapped her foot.
The doors opened, she hopped in, and pushed the button to the main entrance of the hospital.
When the doors didn’t close fast enough, she punched the button twice more.
Finally, she reached the inside of the hospital and found her way to the information desk.
She was told Sully was still in the medical ICU.
Reaching the waiting area of the intensive care unit, she found the unit itself lay beyond closed doors, as there was a strict limit on visitors.
A discreet sign above a button and a speaker said to press the button in order to inquire about admittance. Charley pressed the button.
“Who are you here to see?” came a voice over the intercom.
“Sullivan Custis.”
There was a pause, and Charley whispered to herself, “Please, please let me in.”
After a moment the voice said, “Bed three.”
A click sounded before the door swung open.
Charley entered the ICU, where a busy but quiet nurses’ station was on the right.
Around its perimeter were small rooms consisting of glass doors.
Most of the doors were partially open, with hospital curtains over them to provide some privacy.
Charley slowed her pace in an effort to gain her bearings.
Straight ahead was bed four. She looked left and saw a number three on the room next to it.
Just as she was about to take a step in that direction, Owen emerged from the room.
The lines on his face said he was worried.
“Hello,” Charley said and walked toward him. She blamed herself for Sully being in the ICU and fully assumed Owen held her responsible too. She prepared herself for his icy greeting.
“Charley,” Owen said, walking forward and hugging her. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” Charley hugged him back, and fresh tears stung her eyes. When his embrace lessened, she stood back and asked, “How is he?”
“The same. Unconscious,” Owen said quietly. “They’ve been giving him blood transfusions. I don’t know how many units of blood he’s had. But he’s hooked up to all kinds of machines. He’s had and an EEG—electroencephalogram.”
“Does the EEG mean they think he has a brain injury?” Charley prayed the answer was no but braced herself.
“At the very least he has a mild concussion,” Owen said as they stood outside of Sully’s room. “After the accident happened, he oozed blood all night long until he almost bled out.”
Charley shivered. “Thank God, someone finally spotted and reported the accident.”
“Right, thank God,” Owen agreed. “The accident was approximately eighteen hours ago, and with the blood transfusions Sully’s received, his physician thinks Sully should have regained consciousness by now.
He wants Sully to be alert and oriented within twenty-four hours.
So, if Sully doesn’t come around in the next couple of hours, they’re going to fly him in a flight-for-life helicopter to Denver to their neuro ICU. ”
“I understand.” Charley wanted to collapse to the floor in tears. Instead, she smiled at Owen and patted his arm reassuringly. “May I see him?”
“Yes, of course,” Owen said and rubbed his forehead. “I was just going to get something from the cafeteria and bring it back here to eat.”
“Before you go, I have Sully’s wallet and cell phone,” Charley said, taking them out of her purse.
“Thank you for going with Derek to find them,” Owen replied. “Can you hold on to them for me for now?”
“Yes, of course, Owen.”
Charley put Sully’s wallet and phone back into her purse.
Owen took a few steps to Sully’s open doorway and pulled back the curtain to allow her to enter.
Sully lay in the narrow bed, and as Owen said, he was hooked up to several machines.
Charley’s heart nearly stopped seeing the strong, muscular man unconscious, pale, and unmoving in the bed.
There was a bandage on his forehead, and his right hand was scraped.
Owen said something from the crash had punctured his left side causing the blood loss.
Charley walked into the room and stopped at Sully’s bedside.
There was an empty chair pulled close, and she figured it was where Owen had been sitting beside his son.
“Have a seat, Charley,” Owen said from behind her. “I’ll give you some privacy with Sully. May I bring you something to eat from the cafeteria?”
“No, thank you,” she replied, never taking her eyes off Sully. “I’m not hungry.”
“I’ll be back in a little while.”
“I’ll be right here,” Charley said.
Owen left her, and Charley sat unmoving in the chair beside Sully for several minutes.
Slowly, she placed her purse on the floor and gripped her hands together in her lap.
Even in his current condition, Sully was outrageously handsome.
Despite what he’d been through, his thick black hair fell into place on his head and the stubble of his black beard as always gave him that rugged, sexy look.
His breathing seemed shallow, but steady.
A nurse, who appeared to be in her mid-forties, entered the room with a bag of blood.
She smiled at Charley and said hello. Then she went about her work of hanging the bag on the IV pole beside his bed and attaching it to the needle already in his left arm.
The nurse noted that the patient had a slight fever, but that was to be expected as his body tried to fight the injuries and heal.
When the nurse left the room, Charley scooted closer to Sully.
Sully’s right arm lay lengthwise alongside his body, and she gently placed her hand atop his much larger, scraped hand.
It was warm to the touch. Flashes of Sully touching her face, holding her close, caressing her breasts, and spreading her legs with that hand replayed across her mind.
Charley bowed her head and wondered if he’d wake up and touch her like that again.
Would he even want to? Deep in her very soul, she prayed he would.
But if he woke, no, when he woke, he might blame her as she blamed herself for the accident.
She slipped her other hand underneath his and softly squeezed.
“Sully,” she whispered, looking at him. “I’m so sorry.
Please wake up. Even if you never forgive me, you need to wake up.
You have your whole life ahead of you.” He didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes.
Holding his hand with both of hers, she said, “If you do give me the chance to make it up to you, I will never let you down again. Never ever.”
There was no response. The monitors did their job with red lines on black screens.
The blood dripped red out of the bag into Sully’s blue vein.
The clock on the wall ticked. Nurses’ voices drifted to her from their nearby station.
Everything seemed overwhelming, tenuous, and surreal.
She let go of Sully’s hand only long enough to text Chloe, letting the Coopers know she was safely at the hospital with Sully and Owen.
But Sully’s condition remained the same.
After pressing send on the text, Charley bowed her head and prayed.
An hour later, Owen returned and handed her something in a Styrofoam box.
Despite how little she’d eaten, she had no appetite.
But as she’d done in taking a couple of bites of the snack at Chloe’s house to be polite, she took the box and found a ham sandwich inside it.
She thanked Owen as he pulled up a chair at the end of the bed and sat.
Charley glanced at the clock on the wall.
In another hour, Sully might be transferred to a Denver hospital.
At Owen’s urging, she nibbled on the sandwich.
But it was mostly to please Owen, who by some miracle seemed concerned about her welfare.
“Hello,” said a man, wearing a white lab coat, light blue scrubs, and stethoscope around his neck as he entered the small ICU room.
“Dr. Sankari, this is Charley Cooper, a friend of my son,” Owen said politely and stood up. “Charley, this is Sully’s physician.”
“Hello,” Charley said to the doctor.
Dr. Sankari acknowledged her with a polite nod. Walking to the opposite side of Sully’s bed, he put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to Sully’s heart as he felt the pulse in his wrist. He looked at the monitors and glanced at the bag draining blood into Sully.
“Mr. Sully, are you going to wake up for us? If you would do so, I would not be worried, as your vitals are normal and your bloodwork is coming around,” Dr. Sankari said kindly, holding Sully’s left hand in his.
Sully didn’t move. Looking at Owen, the doctor said, “The hospital in Denver has a bed, Mr. Custis. I’m going to play it safe and request the helicopter. ”
“I understand,” Owen replied, his broad shoulders sagging just a little.
Dr. Sankari walked out of the room, and Owen went with him.
Charley heard their voices and that of Sully’s nurse discussing the transfer.
Charley closed the Styrofoam box and set it aside.
Now that she was alone with Sully once more, she took his hand in both of hers again.
Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and prayed.
“Sully, please wake up,” Charley said upon raising her head.
His green eyes remained closed, and except for breathing, his body stayed motionless.
“I know what Trish told us was a lie,” she whispered.
“I was wrong not to ask you about it. I should have stayed and found you instead of running away.” She swallowed hard and continued, “I’m not usually scared so easily.
But what she said hit me so hard because I love you so much, Sully.
” A small sob escaped Charley after telling him she loved him for the first time.
“I love you with all my heart. Please give me the chance to prove it.”
The nurse entered the room again, and after checking the blood hanging on the IV pole, she turned to Charley and said kindly, “You’ll need to leave in a few minutes.”
Charley nodded and the nurse left. Charley stared at Sully, willing him to open his eyes.
But he didn’t. She sniffled and said, “A little black puppy showed up on my porch this morning. He wants me to adopt him.” She wiped tears off her cheeks.
“I think he could be a Labrador retriever. Your favorite kind of dog. When you wake up, I’ll introduce you to him. I named him Wyatt Earp.”
Charley watched Sully carefully, but there was no response. She bowed her head again, and tears rolled down her cheeks. A moment later, Sully’s nurse was back. She explained they were going to prepare him for his flight to Denver and it was time for Charley to leave the room.
“All right,” Charley whispered. She stood, and still holding Sully’s hand leaned over him.
She placed her lips to his forehead, opposite the bandage over his right brow, and lightly kissed his skin.
At that instant, she thought she detected his fingers move ever so slightly within her grasp.
She straightened her stance and said, “Sully?” His eyes stayed closed.
She glanced away from him long enough to say to his nurse, “I think his fingers moved.”
“Probably involuntary,” the nurse said with compassion.
“Sully, it’s Charley,” she said. “Can you hear me? Sully, please wake up.”