22. Recover
Recover
Nash
I almost killed that son of a bitch. If Clint and Blake had not pulled me off of him, I would have. Now I am sitting in Willa’s hospital room next to her with a broken hand, waiting for her to wake up. I need her to wake the fuck up. The doctors put her in a medically induced coma because of all the swelling. The sick bastard . I slowly glide my fingertips down her face where she has a few facial bones broken, a horrific black eye with all this covered in black and purple on her right side. Her left side has slight bruising, but nothing compared to the right. Her body is covered in bruises from top to bottom, and the X-rays also confirmed broken ribs.
When we finally busted through the damn door and saw her knocked out, belted to the bench, my heart clenched so hard, I nearly fell to the ground. Fletcher was ready to pounce if I went down. I remember him barking through the whole chaotic scene. Blake and Clint ran to pull Brooks off of Willa so I could get to her. She just laid there, lifeless. My feisty, full of life, tough as nails girl was broken. Rage surged through me until I was pulled off of him. By then, the paramedics had entered the room. Once I released her from the bench and picked her up, there was no giving her up. I carried her out to the ambulance, then laid her on the stretcher. Never leaving her side. Never letting go of her hand and always kissing it. She squeezed it a few times. All I can do is pray she knows it is me that has her.
* * *
Two days have passed, and I have only left her side to shower. Fletcher lays on her left side, providing the warmth and comfort he knows how. All other matters can wait. Both sets of parents have come by numerous times. Despite what brought them together, it has been nice seeing them catch up and be here for Willa. The last dinner I had with them after I had left Willa’s, was as expected. My parents had known all along about us and the history.
Dad agreed to leaving the Crenshaws’ land alone, as he only had it on the schedule to push me out that way. He knew we would never run into each other otherwise, so his plan was to get me in front of her and see what I would do. Little did anyone know that fate had different plans, allowing everything to spiral quickly. My mother believes divine intervention always had a plan and was just waiting for the perfect time. Can’t say I disagree with her after all that has transpired in just a month. Clint and Blake state they have work handled so I have not been on my phone except to make sure Brooks is being handled properly and working on getting Willa transferred back to San Antonio as soon as she wakes up and is cleared. The morning rounds doctor stated the swelling has gone down tremendously so they stopped the infusion other than pain meds. That it could be any time now. Willa is the one in control now.
* * *
Day four, I am pulled out of exhaustion with Willa’s whines and screams. Her body is shaking and looking as if she is struggling. I can only imagine what her mind is re-playing for her, but I need to get her out of this state. I call in the nurse, and we both work on coaxing her out of the nightmare. After several minutes, her eyes flutter open, and she locks her eyes on me.
“Nash,” she hoarsely whispers.
“Don’t speak. Let me get you some water.”
A few sips get her coughing, so I move in to sit her up more carefully. Her arms go around my neck, pulling me down to her.
“Willa, I don't want to hurt you.”
“I don’t care. I just need you with me, touching me.”
“I am right here. Not going anywhere.” I slowly sit up, kissing her on the forehead. She squirms a bit at the touch, then places her hand on her face so she can feel the bandages.
“How bad is it?”
“Some broken facial bones. You had severe brain swelling, so you have been in an induced coma for the last few days. Broken ribs. But nothing that will not heal. The plastic surgeon said he did not see anything that would cause scarring.”
“Wow.” She blinks her eyes a few times. “I think he planned on killing me.”
“Not going to lie to you. A few more punches to the head, and he would have.”
“Wait, you came for me? How did you know?”
“Amity told Blake, who told me.”
“What?” She stares up at me, looking helpless and clueless.
“Apparently those two are together. Have been since Paramour. They have kept it a secret from you since we were apart, and she knew you had a lot riding on the rodeo.”
“Hmmmm, ok. I’ll have words with her later. Hades! The rodeo.”
“Don’t worry about that. Every one bore witness to you when I carried you out of the locker room. Your sponsor has all intentions to cover you in the next event, and everyone is cheering you on. And this time, I will be right by your side.”
“Wow, okay. Well at least it won’t take this long to heal, and I can hopefully be on the road for next month's show.”
“How about we take this one day at a time for right now? First, we need to get you back to San Antonio, then released, then home. Speaking of home, I would really love it if you came home with me to Horseshoe Bay.” She nods a yes, which completely throws me back because I expected push back.
“Really? No push back?”
“No. I don’t want to be away from you any longer. All I wanted was to call you and share in all the excitement with you. To hear your voice. I know we have things to work through, but I want us to do it together.”
“Oh, Cherry, I couldn't agree more.” Pulling her in my arms, I rock her back and forth, vowing to never let her go again.