Chapter 49 #5
It was like a reverse of last Thursday night when she was asking for my forgiveness. I stood slowly and painfully from my wheelchair, and she walked over to me for a hug,
“Don’t you dare say that; it’s not your fault in the least, Audra. I’m so grateful he was there to help you.”
Miles came in from the hallway right after and hugged the both of us. I didn’t know he was coming.
Bennett cleared his throat after we held on to each other for a while, “I, um, I’m going to run for now. I’ll text you, Audra,” he said as he scooted out of there.
“He looks terrible,” McKenna said as she sat down. “I didn’t tell my parents. Do you think I should?” I could read between the lines of her question. Was he going to survive?
“There’s no reason to think he won’t come out of this. It’ll be a tough recovery, but Donovan is a tough man. At this point, I don’t think having your parents here would be helpful to him,” I said honestly.
McKenna’s head nodded in agreement, as another tear slipped from her glistening eyes. “This is hard to see,” she said.
“It is. I was a wreck earlier. The guy who just left is the one who grounded me, and got me talking to Van about our future adventures. Because we’re going to have so many when he wakes up.”
“That asshole?” she questioned incredulously as she flipped her thumb behind herself towards the door. “I find that hard to believe,” she scoffed.
“He can rub some people the wrong way,” I answered, but I couldn’t begin to imagine what he said to her. Bennett Connelly was far from abrasive, and I would probably describe him as the most charming man I knew. He never rubbed anyone the wrong way. Something crazy must have happened between them.
“But you should tell Donovan about what your plans are now that the bar exam is out of the way. He can still hear everything,” I encouraged her, like Bennett had encouraged me.
“I won’t leave,” her voice got quiet as she said it. “I can’t leave until he is okay. My plan is to stay and help. Nothing else matters to me.”
“Oh, Kenna,” I hugged her again.
“Moving to the country, Mackey Mae? Never thought I’d see the day,” Donovan’s gravelly voice filled the room. Both of us turned to him, too shocked to speak.
“D-D-Donovan,” I stuttered out, as my heartbeat pounded.
I was frozen in place for a minute, processing his voice and looking into his eyes.
“You’re awake?” I hit the nurse’s call button immediately, and kissed him as carefully as I could before interlacing my fingers in his and hugging him.
“I love you,” I said as the sting in my eyes returned.
“God, I love you, Donovan. Thank you for waking up. I’m so sorry. ”
“I love you, too, Audra. Sorry for the poorly timed declaration yesterday, but damn, I love you. And I love you too, McKenna. Miles? Wait, am I really dead? How are you both here?”
Donovan’s voice was hoarse, so I lifted the cup of water by the bed and gave him a small drink while McKenna came in to hug him, too.
“My bonus son was in the hospital and unconscious. Of course I flew in with Kenna. Plus, I needed to keep an eye on your sister, this is as foreign to her as outer space,” Miles said.
They told us the story of how he sped into the parking lot and jumped on the plane at the very last minute. It solidified everything they had said about Miles being like a father to Donovan.
“Thank you for being here, you two,” he said. “I wish it was under better circumstances.” Then, clearing his voice, he looked at me and spoke again. “So what’s going on with me? What’s this sticking out of my chest? What’s your status, Chaos?”
“Your lung collapsed, and you lost so much blood internally that you needed a blood transfusion. Those are drains sticking out of you. I didn’t have any damage to vital organs, so I’m just stitched up here.
” I maneuvered my gown to show him my dressing.
Then I moved it to show him a different part of me. “You’ll have scars like this.”
“Street cred,” he replied.
“Yeah, on the mean streets of Savannah Springs,” I reflexively said, as I immediately realized how dumb that was.
“Hey, hey, we both got stabbed yesterday, so shit’s wild out there.”
I laughed before I got choked up. “I’m ... I’m so damn sorry, Van.”
“Sorry? I’m sorry I didn’t stop him from stabbing you first, Jesus Christ. Talk about scaring me. Fuck Audra, it happened in slow motion for me. I’m so happy I was there and that he didn’t hurt you worse. Is he alive?”
“Hi is, but you’re right. He would have killed me, Donovan. You quite literally saved my life.” I looked at Donovan and hoped he understood the weight of my words. “Thank you.”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat, Audra, no questions about it. So what’s my prognosis here, nurse?”
“As I understand it, you’re expected to make a full recovery. You’ll be in the hospital until the drains come out, and that could be anywhere from three to seven days. After they’re removed, you can leave, but you’ll have to take it easy for a while. But, you’ll be okay.”
“Plus, you’ll have a nurse on your payroll. Audra will have to look after you,” McKenna piped in.
“Well, things are looking up then. With her expertise, I’m sure I’ll make a full recovery.
I believe we have some adventures to get to.
” He winked at me and my heart somersaulted.
I wondered if he heard me. “Don’t think this puts me at a disadvantage for Pentathlon Day, though,” he tried to say seriously, “I’m still going to beat you.
” He smiled at me, and I spotted his dimples despite the cannula on his face.
Relief flooded my system as he laid his head back on the bed, “But fuck, this hurts. I can’t believe I freaking got stabbed.
Not in New York or any of the shady ass neighborhoods around the globe I’ve been to, but in a small-ass town in South Carolina.
Chaos, you’ve really earned your name now. ”
At that moment, a wave of something powerful swept over me, and it was so intense it left goosebumps on my skin.
I wasn’t much for religion, but it had to be a sign from heaven.
A deep, soul-soothing certainty settled in my chest when I laced my fingers with his, and I knew, without question, that Donovan Wright was my forever.