Chapter 10 #3
“As real as the stink coming off my clothes that I’m still wearing from yesterday.” He laughs at me, but then his face turns more serious.
“You scared me,” he whispers with an emotional quaver in his voice.
“Sorry.” It’s all I can say when I think about what seeing me like this must be doing to him.
I don’t even know why he’s here, but all I do know is that I don’t want to let go of his face.
My arm is getting tired and starting to feel so heavy, and I reluctantly let it drop back onto the bed again, my eyes moving down as I look him over.
“Nice tie.” I reach out and run my hand down the bright red tie I bought him for Christmas that I wasn’t sure he would ever wear.
“Yeah, someone told me I was a little dull and needed to brighten up my wardrobe.” He takes my hand and holds it against his chest with his hand over top.
“Well, it worked, you look handsome.” That’s not the word I wanted. My brain is being too polite. The right words are that he looks so fucking sexy like that.
“I’ll make sure to let the gift-giver know.” His words make me think back to the smile on his face when he opened it. It feels like a lifetime ago. The boys’ voices and giggles fill my head for a moment, until it hits me what he just said.
“Wait, how long have you been here, what day is it?” I feel so floaty still. It’s like my brain is working but at a slow pace. Like trying to process my thoughts through a pea-soup fog.
“I arrived last night about eight pm, and it’s now two pm on Sunday afternoon.” I can tell he’s trying to drip feed me details to help me digest what he’s telling me.
“Did I sleep all that time?” I ask.
“Most of it. Last night you would stir every so often and mumble a few things to me, but you weren’t really coherent.
Then early this morning they took you to surgery and operated on your leg.
Do you remember what happened, what injuries you have?
” Landon reaches out and strokes his other hand over my hair.
It feels so soothing for the headache that is banging strongly in my head.
“Yeah, I think… maybe.” I try to think back, but most of it is a blur, and there are some gaps.
Landon patiently runs through what happened to me at work, the injuries I sustained, and what the doctors have done since I arrived.
“Now there’s something we need to talk about.” That serious look on his face is back, and the creases in his forehead are straight, like he’s worried.
“What?” I’m worried he’s about to tell me something bad.
“I need to call your mother. She’s already going to hate me for keeping this from her for this long, even though I understand why we did.” He tilts his head to the side like he’s checking me out. “You don’t remember that part either, do you?”
“I don’t understand… My mom… she doesn’t know?” Landon just starts laughing.
“Oh no, no, no. You aren’t hanging me out to dry on this one.
You’re taking some of the blame too. When they were loading you into the ambulance, you briefly came to and told Rosco he wasn’t allowed to call your mom.
Made him promise that he would tell the hospital too.
You kept mumbling it in the ambulance, and then when you were lucid enough and called me, you made me promise the same thing. So here we are.”
Why don’t I remember any of that?
“Well, I’m glad you all listened, she would’ve panicked.
” I can imagine how distraught she would’ve been getting that phone call.
When my dad was killed, it was a knock on the door which she describes as the worst moment of her life.
But at least she had people around her to get her through the news being delivered.
A phone call saying your daughter has been injured in a fire and is on her way to the hospital without any real answers might have given her a heart attack, literally.
“I know, and I do agree, but here lies our problem. Today is her birthday, and she’ll be worried if you don’t FaceTime her at some stage and…” I cut him off.
“Her birthday, I never miss calling her. Never. Even when I’m on shift, which I was supposed to be.” I start trying to push myself up off the bed to find my phone, puffing at even the slightest exertion.
“Whoa there, calm down. We will call her, but I just wanted to hear you say it was what you wanted first. I’ve already sent her a message this morning apologizing and canceling our date to take her out for lunch,” he calmly tells me as he settles me back on the bed.
My head is spinning from the sudden movement. “What did you say to her?” I take a few slow deep breaths to get through the pain that has followed the dizziness.
“That something came up. I wasn’t stupid enough to make the lie any bigger.
I’m going to be groveling for a while to get her to forgive me.
You know how I feel about Mrs. B. I’m not about to wreck that friendship.
” He’s lighthearted in the way he says it, but I know she has become like a mother to him, and she has the boys calling her Granny B.
“Ughhh, it’s me she’ll be mad at. Golden boy Landon can do no wrong in her eyes.” Rolling my eyes at him, he just laughs.
“I’m sure if she knew what I did to her daughter, I doubt that title would still apply.
” He winks at me, and I can’t help but smile.
We both sit in silence in that thought until Landon breaks it by standing up.
“I’m just going to get the sponge I used last night to clean your face and freshen you up a bit, then we’ll FaceTime your mom.
But me first so I can explain, and then you can reassure her that you’re okay.
Sound good?” He starts moving to a door across the room.
Hearing water running, he returns with a small bowl and the sponge.
This is a side of Landon that I’ve seen with the boys.
Kind, compassionate, and so caring, but it’s not how our relationship was.
We were hot, heavy, and frantic in all the best ways.
I’m not sure anyone has ever been this tender with me since I left home. Even the few partners I’ve had along the way, I can’t picture them being like this. Although I’m not sure I have ever let myself be that vulnerable with anyone either, so maybe that’s on me more than them.
“Thank you,” I whisper when he gives me another quick kiss on the forehead as he finishes cleaning me.
Landon nods as he takes the bowl back to the bathroom. I brush my hands over my hair, hoping it doesn’t look too bad.
“How do I look?” I wait for his answer as he glances at me and smiles.
“Beautiful,” he quickly replies.
“Liar.” I groan because I know I’m far from that right now.
“Well, what did you want me to say, that you look shit? Because that’s never going to happen.
” He stares at me like I’m crazy. “I don’t care about your hair being perfect, or that you have a few bruises coming out on your neck.
To me you always look beautiful. Got it?
” His tone tells me I’d better not disagree with him as he picks up his phone and sits down on the side of the bed in front of me again.
“Whatever,” I snap back at him.
My brain might not be functioning at peak performance, but it’s not going to stop me from being my usual annoying self, pushing back at his bossiness. I’m sure he secretly loves how I stand up to him. Well, that’s what I tell myself, anyway.
The way he’s sitting on the bed puts a plain wall behind him, so there will be no giveaway to where he is. The line starts to ring through the speaker on Landon’s phone. The moment it connects, he plasters a big smile on his face like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“Oh, Landon, what a surprise.”
Hearing my mother’s voice as she answers his FaceTime creates a reaction in me I wasn’t expecting.
Tears start rolling down my cheeks, and I desperately want her arms wrapped around me.
I feel like I’m five years old again and have just fallen and scraped my knee, rushing to her to kiss it better and to hold me close in a warm, loving embrace.
“Happy birthday, Mrs. B, I hope you’ve been having a lovely day.” He reaches out and starts wiping away my tears that are streaming down my face, with his thumb.
“Oh, I had a sweet visit with the boys this morning. Felix brought them over to give me some beautiful cards they made. They were so proud of their artistic talent.” I hear her giggle a little because I’m sure they are one-of-kind pictures.
“The boys said you had to leave before they got up this morning, which was a surprise…” Then I hear her hesitate a little.
“Umm, Landon, what is that beeping alarm, do you need to turn something off?”
And I suddenly feel sick in the stomach as he starts talking.
“Yeah, about that.” He stops and takes a deep breath.
“I’m actually in Rochester right now, and before I explain any more, I just need you to know that Poppy is fine.
But maybe you should sit down on that chair behind you.
” If this wasn’t so serious, I would be laughing at the sweat on his brow and slight hesitation in his voice.
“Landon Wood, you tell me what’s going on right this minute,” she yells forcefully at him. “Where’s Poppy, because those beeps sound a lot like a hospital, now that I think about it.” The panic is rising in her voice.
“Just take a breath, Poppy is fine, and she is right next to me ready to wish you a happy birthday, but first I want to explain what happened.” Landon reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze of comfort because he knows how upsetting this is, hearing her on the other end of the call.
“I’ll breathe when I know what the hell happened.” And now her voice is wobbling a bit.
“Poppy was in an accident at work yesterday and is currently in the hospital recovering from some smoke inhalation, a concussion, and a broken leg that—”
“Yesterday!” Mom yells hysterically. “What do you mean yesterday? Why am I just finding out now? Why didn’t they call me? Wait, why are you there, how did you find out?” Oh yeah, she’s pissed. She has that high-pitched shrill tone in her voice that doesn’t happen very often.
I can see by the worry lines in Landon’s forehead that he’s uncomfortable about the reply to her question, but he still answers her truthfully.
“Poppy called me.” His hand clutches around mine that little bit harder, and I’m not sure if it’s to reassure me or him.
“Poppy called you. Hmm, did she now. Right, we are about to have some serious words. You put that daughter of mine on this call right now!”
Landon looks at me for permission, and I give him a little nod. As he starts to hand the phone to me, I can still hear my mom yelling.
“I’m so angry at both of you, just wait until I get there. You are both in so much trou…” She stops mid word and gasps loudly, her hands grabbing her cheeks the moment she sees my face.
“Hi, Mom.” I was trying to stay calm, but instead, the words come out so shakily that I burst into tears and so does she.
And all I can think is I’m glad Landon told her to sit down, because I’m not sure she’s breathing properly from the shock.
“Oh, my baby. My little Poppy,” she mumbles, and her hands drop from her face. Instead, she wraps her arms around herself, trying to hold it together.
Landon gets up then gently slides my hips across the bed a little further, then does the same with my legs, being ever so careful.
Covering me again with the blanket, he sits back down on the bed but not in front of me like he was.
Instead, right next to me this time. Lifting his arm up, he pulls me into his side and lays my head on his shoulder.
I’ve never been more thankful for him being here than I am right this minute.
“I’m okay,” I manage to get out to Mom as Landon starts to wipe my tears away from my cheeks again.
“You’d better be,” Mom replies as she reaches for a tissue from the table next to her couch where she’s sitting, pulling herself together a little. “I’m packing my bag right now.” She sits up a bit taller in the seat.
“No,” I protest at the same time as Landon.
“No,” he says more calmly than me. “Don’t you dare get in that car.”
The look of shock on her face tells me she’s hurt too.
“Let’s talk first. I can explain everything, and then we’ll make a plan. Okay?” Landon takes control of the conversation again, and my energy to keep my eyes open is waning fast.
“Okay,” I murmur and snuggle a little more into his chest.
“Fine,” Mom grumbles but doesn’t look happy at all. “Then get on with it.”