Chapter 2 Bruises We Don’t Speak Of #2
“OK, mother. I’ll survive,” Kayden replied dryly, as they all filed out of the room.
As they left, he wished like hell he had the strength to get to that door, find Lana, and lock them in for a few hours of peace and quiet. They had been surrounded nearly every minute of the day, all day, and the lack of privacy was becoming exhausting.
DOWN THE HALLWAY from Kayden’s room, Sam turned to Lana, his eyebrows pinched together on his forehead.
“What’s wrong with that guy?” he asked, “Is he trying to act tough for you, or trying to intimidate me? You know how dangerous it is for someone...”
Lana held her hand up, signaling him to stop talking, and he did. She struggled to keep her balance on the crutches as she readied herself to tell him off when he reached to help her.
“Stop, Sam,” she snapped, and hobbled over to some chairs against the wall.
Slowly, she tried to sit, and he grabbed her arm and helped her down anyway.
“Kayden is a very strong and proud man. How would you feel if Joanna’s ex-boyfriend showed up out of the blue and wouldn’t leave her side?” Lana chided.
Sam shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, grateful,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it, Samuel. You pop up in my life, out of the blue, after a year with flowers in hand, and we’re supposed to pretend that what happened between us never happened?”
Sam dropped his head. “I’m sorry for all of that, Lana,” he replied.
“It doesn’t matter because I don’t care, Sam. I’m over it.”
He looked hurt, and it softened her a little.
“Listen, I appreciate every single thing you did for Kayden. More than you probably realize.”
“Oh, I realize it. You’ve never looked at me the way you look at him,” he seethed.
“Maybe, maybe not. But it is what it is.”
He breathed an exasperated sigh, and she reached for her crutches, struggling to position them. The purple, pink, and teal stones glimmered under the harsh hospital lights. He stood and helped her up.
“Thank you,” she murmured and started hopping back to the room.
“Lana,” he called out.
She stopped and turned to him slightly as he walked up to her. He stood over her now and looked her in the eyes as he spoke.
“I’ll always be here for you, but you need to be careful. Look at everything that’s happened since you met him. Really look at it. I don’t think you can trust him or his family.”
“That’s funny,” Lana retorted, a sarcastic grin on her face.
“What?”
“That you have so much concern about me and my well-being. Where was any of that when it mattered?”
“I was an idiot, Lana, but Kayden? He’s dangerous, and that’s not something I’ve ever been for you.”
With that, Sam turned and walked away, leaving her with the sting of his words. It hurt her to hear that anyone thought of Kayden that way. He didn’t know anything about him to pass judgment like that. The person she was worried about and feared was Kim.
She was the real dangerous one, and now, she was finally gone for good.
Kayden and her could finally move on from all of the mess and start their lives together.
He had no idea what he was talking about.
Lana hobbled back to the room and was surprised to find Kayden alone, with shaving supplies on his overbed table.
“Where’d everyone go?” she asked, surprised that Maureen could un-Velcro herself from his side.
“They went to get something to eat,” he replied, and reached his hand for hers.
She hopped over and took it before he placed it on her stomach.
“I still can’t believe we’re gonna be parents,” he said, staring up at her.
The scratches and bruises on his face were healing nicely, although one of his eyes was still partially swollen.
Even with them, he was still the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on.
After she told him about the baby, his mood shifted from elated to angry at the realization of what Kim had almost taken from them.
Lana did her best to reassure him that getting better was all they needed to focus on since the “crazy” in their lives had been locked away tight for weeks.
“Me either,” she replied, smiling down at him.
“Is he gone?” Kayden asked.
Lana hopped up on the bed and positioned herself as well as she could. She started mixing the shaving cream in the small plastic bowl and then used the cheap brush to apply it to his face.
“I told him his presence was no longer needed and thanked him for his help. I think he got the message,” she replied, and winked at him.
“Good. I don’t like the way he looks at you like you’re his. You are mine,” Kayden declared.
She started to slowly shave away the five o’clock shadow that had reappeared on his cheeks and felt her stomach get a warm, tingly sensation from his declaration.
“You have nothing to worry about, mister,” Lana reassured, intently shaving and washing the razor in the cup of water. He grabbed her hand before she could put it on his face again and stopped her.
“I love you. Did I tell you that today?” he asked, his one good eye searching her face.
She smiled widely but winced as her bottom lip pulled against the stitches in it—courtesy of Kim’s self-bought engagement ring colliding with her mouth.
“Ouch,” she frowned.
Kayden pulled her towards him and planted a sweet kiss on the broken skin of her lip, the shaving cream smearing all over her face.
“I love you too.”
She leaned back and returned to her duty when Kayden’s smile faded slowly, and he gazed beyond her.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, wiping the cold shaving cream off her chin with her wrist.
“When I was out…in the coma…I was with my dad and Joel,” he confessed, “It was so vivid. We were on a fishing boat, and it was just like we used to do. Drinking beers, you know—just having a good time. And for a minute, just for a minute, I didn’t want to leave. It felt warm and inviting and...”
“Safe.”
His gaze met hers, rimmed in tears.
“What do you think it means?” he questioned, his face searching hers for an answer.
“I don’t know, exactly. Maybe that was their way of watching out for you or...”
“Do you think it means they forgive me?” he interrupted, tears rolling down his face.
The question caught her off guard, and seeing him so raw and emotional caused her eyes to water next.
“Of course. I think that’s exactly what it meant. I think it also means that they not only forgive you, they want you to forgive yourself.”
Lana placed the plastic bowl and brush on the table and pushed it aside.
Kayden couldn’t contain his emotions anymore and sobbed at her comforting words.
She wrapped her arms around him, and he held onto her tightly as he let it all out.
Lana couldn’t imagine what an experience like that could mean to him and hoped that he found peace in it, finally forgiving himself for the person he used to be.
She kissed the top of his head and held him for what felt like forever, never wanting to let him go.