Chapter Thirty-Two Nate
Chapter Thirty-Two
Nate
It’s remarkable how a night in jail, not knowing if you’ll ever be released, can strip you down fast. It’s like a glass of cold water in the face. It really wakes you up.
After the video was posted on Facebook, it took hours for Arthur to arrange my release.
I didn’t even know why I was being let out.
No one told me anything, so I assumed bail had been granted.
But when I see my brother’s buoyant smile in the station corridor, I know immediately that it was something much better than bail.
I stride fast into Arthur’s arms and cry my eyes out.
“You’re all right now,” he says, hugging me tight and patting my shoulder to console me. “The charges were dropped.”
So much for not showing weakness. I guess jail time stripped me of that instinct as well.
I back away from him and wipe at my cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been such an ass about the restaurant.”
Arthur flippantly shrugs a shoulder. “At least you can admit it.”
Suddenly, I’m lost for words. Clearly, Arthur hasn’t changed. As a lawyer, he’s tough as nails, but with me, he’s still, despite our estrangement, the same teasing, affectionate brother I’ve always known.
We walk out, and I feel a long trail of regret behind me, but as we push through the glass doors and step into the sunshine, I promise myself that, from this day forward, I will do better with my family. And I won’t let my brother drift out of my life again.
Arthur gets behind the wheel of his Mercedes to take me straight to the hospital. He explains about the video that was posted on Facebook.
“But what about the evidence the cops found in the search?” I ask as we pull away from the curb.
Arthur speaks bluntly. “It was garbage. They found some panicked emails you wrote about your line of credit being overdue, and then a new life insurance policy a week later, so they figured they had enough to get a guilty verdict out of a jury.” He glances my way and shakes his head dismissively. “I would have destroyed them in court.”
I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate as we cross the city.
When we finally arrive at the hospital, we take the elevator to the neurosurgery floor.
The doors slide open, and my body pounds with anticipation.
I step off and search for a sign indicating which direction to go for Sienna’s room number.
“It’s this way,” Arthur says, grabbing my arm.
My whole body is buzzing with impatience as I follow him.
I can’t wait to see her. I don’t recall feeling like this since the day I drove to meet Sienna at Point Pleasant Park for our first date.
I’d stepped out of the car with Dolly and searched the parking lot for Sienna.
When at last I’d spotted her with Scooter, my heart erupted.
I was a goner. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and it was as if I’d been hit by a high-speed train.
She became the center of my universe after that, and when our children were born, they expanded that universe.
Arthur is walking too slow, so I start to jog ahead until I find Sienna’s room. I enter cautiously, knocking on the wall to make sure I’m in the right place, but the bed is empty. There’s no one there, and my stomach drops. I swing around and nearly bump into Arthur on my way out. “She’s not here.”
I go to the nurses’ station and find a young man sitting behind the desk at a computer. “I’m looking for Sienna Palmer, but she’s not in her room.”
He finally drags his eyes from the screen and meets mine. It takes a few seconds for the question to register in his brain. “Mrs. Palmer . . . yes . . .” He points down the hall. “They have her up walking. She should be down that way.”
Walking . . . I can think of no better news.
I turn and stride fast in that direction. I swerve around a tall cart of linens rolling toward me and the hospital worker who’s pushing it. I reach the end of the corridor and look to my right.
There she is—at the end of a long hall, dressed in her pink bathrobe and slippers, shuffling in the opposite direction. Amanda walks slowly beside her, pushing a metal IV pole with a dangling saline bag.
For a few seconds I can’t breathe. I feel as if I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Eventually, I recover my emotions and resume my pace.
They reach the end of the hall, turn around, and see me.
Our gazes lock on each other, and I feel an intense longing, but it’s mixed with sorrow.
Sienna’s eye is still black and blue, her head is partially shaved where they operated, and her arm is in a sling.
She looks weary, but she’s still the most beautiful woman on this planet, alive and on her feet.
It’s not lost on me that our last words to each other had been shouted in anger and frustration, but that’s all gone now. I feel only love and gratitude.
We come together and stand face-to-face. “I thought I’d lost you,” I say, and my voice breaks.
“You didn’t.” She reaches her good arm out to me, and I step forward into her embrace, where I shed all my tears, sadness, and regret—and also my boundless joy.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
“I’m sorry too,” she replies. “Thank goodness they let you go. I knew you didn’t do it.”
I draw back, lay my hand on her cheek, and kiss her tenderly on the mouth.
Sienna laughs softly through her tears. Then we both look at Amanda, who’s standing beside us, gripping the IV pole, staring in silent awe. We reach out and pull her in for a group hug, where we cry and I mumble about how happy I am to see them both.
Eventually we step apart and begin to walk slowly back toward Sienna’s room. “Where’s Connor?” I ask.
“Becky came and took him to hockey practice,” Amanda replies. “It’s his first time back on the ice since the accident.”
“That’s good to hear.” I want normalcy for our family.
But I know it will take time for Sienna to get there, physically, and I’m not sure how I’ll fit into their normal world.
I’ve not been a part of it for quite some time.
I only hope that Sienna can love me again like she used to, and that everyone can forgive me.
Even if I’ve done nothing yet to deserve it.