Chapter 23 #2
“How does Tex do anything? I’m sure he’s hacked into the hospital files or something. And yes, that’s illegal, but shit, is anything that man does truly legal? I’ll ask Laryn to send a Rain update and more pictures. Mandy will want to see them when she wakes up.”
And with that, Obi-Wan squeezed Buck’s hand, hard, then let it go and walked out of the room.
Buck immediately turned back to Mandy, taking her hand in both of his. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed the back gently. “You hear all that, Rebel? Blair is dead. She’s gone. Out of our lives forever.”
“I love you. You love me. Rain is good. Tex is… Shit. I need to call him. This wasn’t his fault.
I know that…but deep down, I need to blame someone.
Blaming myself is easy, but I wanted someone else to blame as well, and I chose him.
I know it’s wrong—hell, it’s not even logical.
I’ll get my head on straight, I promise.
How about you wake up and yell at me to get my shit together? ”
For the first time in days, Buck felt a little better. Knowing Blair was dead went a long way toward easing the tension he’d carried on his shoulders. He wasn’t sure that made him a decent human, being glad someone else was dead, but he wasn’t going to waste time beating himself up for it.
“I love you, Amanda Rush. So much. I’m gonna marry you, we’re gonna have kids someday, either biologically or we’ll adopt.
You’re going to be teacher of the century, and we’re going to live happily ever after.
You just have to wake up so we can get started on that, okay?
When the doctor reduces the drugs keeping you asleep, it’s safe for you to wake up. I promise. And this time I mean it.”
Buck was exhausted. The doctor said he was pleased with how she was progressing.
They all just had to wait and see if her brain had suffered any permanent damage from the blows Blair had inflicted.
But for the first time since Mandy had fallen to his feet in that parking lot, Buck felt a spark of hope.
There was a chance she might not even remember who she was, or her life. That she wouldn’t know who Buck was. If that happened, it would be devastating, but he was determined he’d make her love him all over again. He’d won her once, he could do it again. He just needed the chance to do so.
And for that to happen, she had to wake up.
He fell asleep with his forehead on the back of her hand, and for the first time in days, didn’t have any nightmares about Blair bursting into the room to finish what she’d started, or the doctor grimly informing him that Mandy had passed away in her sleep.
Instead, he dreamed about his wedding day, with Mandy at his side…about seeing her smile and hearing her laughter.
This was it. The doctors had reduced the amount of drugs keeping Mandy in the coma enough that she should be able to wake up on her own.
For the last day and a half, she’d been restless in the bed.
Moaning a little in the back of her throat and frowning as she slept.
Buck had sworn she’d even squeezed his hand when he’d ordered her to a few hours ago.
Throughout it all, Buck still talked to her.
So much his voice was scratchy and hoarse.
If she woke up, and they were able to remove her breathing tube, she’d be moved to a regular room where all their friends could visit her.
And someone, probably Tex, had even arranged for Rain to be able to come in as soon as she was moved, as well.
But first, she had to open her eyes and prove that she was still in there. Prove that she was still Mandy.
“How’s she doing?” the doctor boomed, as he walked into the room.
Buck winced. His voice seemed too loud after the quiet of the last several hours.
“Better, I think,” he admitted.
“Let’s try this,” the doctor said. There was a flurry of activity as the room filled with nurses. Buck moved to the end of the bed and held on to one of Mandy’s feet. He was as nervous as he’d ever been.
The doctor leaned over Mandy—and loudly ordered her to open her eyes.
To Buck’s shock, she did as she was told. Her eyes popped open.
“Good job, Mandy! Can you hear me? Squeeze the nurse’s hand if you can.”
Buck stared at Mandy’s right hand, and watched as her fingers slowly tightened around the nurse’s.
“Excellent! I’m sure you’re confused, and maybe scared, but we’re going to remove the tube that’s down your throat and keeping you from talking. It’ll feel weird, but I promise it’ll be over quick.”
Buck hated that Mandy was going through this, but was as proud of her as he could be. He squeezed her foot, wanting to let her know he was there but not wanting to distract her from the doctor’s instructions.
In seconds, the tube was out of her throat and she was coughing slightly.
“All done,” the doctor told her. “You did great. Take a few deep breaths, very slowly. Good. There’s someone here who I think you’ll want to see.” He gestured for Buck to move to the other side of the bed, nearer her head.
Buck was scared shitless. What if she didn’t recognize him? What if her brain was too damaged from the blow and the swelling, and she wasn’t the Mandy he used to know?
The nurse moved out of his way, and he made his way to Mandy’s head. He took her hand in his and leaned over.
“Hi, Rebel. It’s so wonderful to see your beautiful blue eyes again,” he said softly.
She stared up at him for a long minute with a blank look on her face.
Just when Buck’s world almost caved in for a second time in a week, she blinked.
Then mouthed, “Nash.”
He’d cried more in the last week than he had in his entire life, but Buck wasn’t ashamed when the tears fell again. Not in the least. These were happy tears. Ecstatic ones.
“Yeah, Mandy, it’s me. I’m so happy to see you awake.”
Her fingers closed tight around his as her eyes closed.
Buck looked up at the doctor in alarm.
But he had a huge smile on his face. “It’s okay. She’s tired. It’s perfectly normal. But it’s all good news. She recognized you. She’s going to be okay. It might take a while, she’ll need some physical therapy, but I have no reason to think she won’t be back to normal in no time.”
Buck wiped his cheeks with his shoulders, refusing to let go of Mandy’s hand.
She looked rough. Her hair had been shaved on one side of her head for the surgery, and she still had tubes connected all over.
But she was alive. And knew who he was. They could deal with everything else one day at a time.