Chapter One #2
“I’m not a doctor, but if she’s cold, ask for more blankets. How bad is her head injury?” Johnny asks.
“Bad enough for them to put her in a medically induced coma. They say the swelling in her brain is severe, and they’re trying to reduce it, but it’s a slow process.
They explained a whole bunch of other medical stuff in jargon I don’t understand,” I reply and run my hand through my hair in frustration.
“Why don’t you take a break and get something to eat? You know Dee wouldn’t want you starving yourself,” Johnny says.
“I won’t leave her. Plus, I’m not hungry,” I say as I stroke her cheek.
“Colt, c’mon, bro, you need to eat something,” Hux says.
“Yeah, seriously, mate—”
“Just stop with all this concern shit,” I snap, cutting Johnny off. “The thought of food makes me want to throw up. You’re both just in the way. I need to be with Dee. She needs to know I’m here, waiting for her. So can you just… leave.”
“Colt, c’mon. Be reason—”
“Just fuck off! Both of you!” I roar.
They share a look, exhaling hard. Hux rises first, his jaw tight, then Johnny follows without a word.
I drop into the chair beside her and take Dee’s hand in both of mine, pressing desperate kisses against her skin. Touching her is the only thing tethering me to this fucked-up reality. The only thing keeping me from completely unraveling.
“Just know we’re here for you, Colt,” Johnny calls out as they reach the door.
I don’t turn around.
I’ve already wasted too much time talking when I should have been watching over her.
Sinking back into the chair, I reach for Dee’s hair, letting it slide through my fingers. I press soft kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, her hand, anywhere I can, so she knows I’m here, still with her.
Then, barely holding it together, I whisper the same words over and over…
how much I love her, how much I cherish her, and how she has to come back to me.
“So, when you’re ready to wake up, we can talk about where you want to get married,” I murmur, brushing my thumb over her hand.
“I don’t care where, baby. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be happy.
So, think about where you wanna go. And don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. Anywhere you want, it’s yours.”
I tuck her hair behind her ear, my heart aching as I take in her stillness.
“She’s a lucky girl,” Anna says softly from behind me.
I turn to her standing there with a paper bag in her hands. I give her a slight nod, and she walks in, placing it gently on the counter. “Oh, Dee,” she says, wiping a tear from her cheek.
This is the first time she’s seen Dee since…
Anna leans into my side, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me.
“She looks so…”
“Pale, cold, lifeless,” I finish for her.
But Anna shakes her head.
“No, actually, I was going to say peaceful.”
She rises onto her toes and presses a soft kiss to my cheek.
Peaceful? With all those tubes and wires trailing from her body? That’s not the word I’d use. Not even close. But if that’s what Anna needs to believe to get through this, then who the hell am I to take that from her?
“Yeah… I guess she does look a little peaceful,” I murmur, conceding.
Anna starts to cry—really cry—so I pull her into a tight hug. She reaches out and takes Dee’s hand.
“C’mon, Dee. We all need you. Stay strong, Little Bean,” she weeps, pressing a kiss to Dee’s hand before letting me go and turning to the bag she brought in with her.
I slump into the chair again, eyes locked on Dee, watching—hoping—for any flicker of response to her best friend’s voice. But there’s still nothing.
Then the smell hits me, and my stomach growls before I can even think.
Anna glances back with a knowing smile. “Okay, don’t even try to tell me you’re not hungry… your gut just betrayed you. And I know you won’t leave Dee’s side, so I brought the food to you. No excuses. Got it?” she says with a teasing lilt, hands on hips.
I exhale, nodding. She’s right. I haven’t eaten in over thirty hours.
She hands me a burger and fries, and for a moment, I almost smile. Almost.
“Thanks, Anna. Appreciate it,” I say as she settles into the seat beside me.
Anna taps her burger against mine. “Cheers,” she says, then unwraps it and takes a giant mouthful.
It looks delicious, so I unwrap mine and take my first bite.
She watches me as I chew, and the second the flavors hit, I’m ravenous. I devour the burger so fast that she’s barely a third of the way through hers by the time I finish.
The fries don’t stand a chance—I inhale them just as quickly.
Anna smiles and reaches into the paper bag, pulling out another burger. I think I love her right now. I offer her a half-smile and take it from her while she keeps eating.
After two burgers and a pile of fries, I’m stuffed.
And for the first time in what feels like forever, I feel my energy returning.
***
Anna left a little while ago. After spending about two hours with me, she realized I wanted to be alone with Dee. The thing about Anna is that she can read me like a book, knows exactly what I want, and gives it to me.
When the doctor comes in, I watch him check Dee over.
“Well, how is she, doc?” I ask, and he smiles, which instantly makes me more alert.
“She’s doing as well as we are expecting her to do at this time. We need to take her for another scan to check that the swelling is reducing, and if it has, we will bring her out of the induced coma,” he informs, and for the first time since this happened, I smile. I actually smile.
Jumping up, I rush around and hug him. He laughs and pats me on the back.
What the fuck? Since when have I turned into a hugger?
“So, when are you taking her for the test?”
“In a few minutes,” he replies, and I exhale heavily.
“I’ll be back in a moment to take her up.”
“Thanks, doc, I appreciate it.” He walks out, and I return to Dee’s side. “See, you’re getting better, baby. You’re on your way back to me.”
Someone clears their throat, and I look up at Mom, who’s standing in the doorway.
Why is it that when something horrible happens, and you see your mum, everything falls apart?
I can’t control myself and let out a loud sob.
“Oh, honey…” She rushes to my side, wrapping her arms tightly around me.
“Colter, she’s going to be okay,” she says, trying to comfort me as she strokes my hair.
I feel sick, physically sick. I haven’t seen my mother in years, and when I finally do, it’s because of something terrible. I feel guilty, an undeniable sadness, but most of all, I feel loved.
“Colter, look at me,” she says, holding me at arm’s length, and I meet her gaze.
She pulls a tissue from her bag and hands it to me.
While I blow my nose, she looks at me with that love look.
You know, the one all moms get when they look at their children.
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry this happened to you both.
But I am so very proud of you for being here and helping her recover,” she says, kissing my cheek.
She looks down at Dee and smiles. “She is beautiful, isn’t she? ”
“Dee’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, Mum. She’s not just beautiful on the outside. She’s undeniably gorgeous on the inside as well,” I reply, and Mom smiles back at me.
“You really love her, don’t you?” she asks, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“With everything I am,” I confess, and Mom pulls me in for another hug.
More hugging? Fuck, I’m turning into a pussy!
Mom stays for a while, catching up as I tell her all about Dee after she’s wheeled away for her test. I hate watching her leave without me. I beg them every time to let me go with her, but they never say yes.
After she leaves, I impatiently wait with Dee in her room for the results to come back. I’m holding her hand and just staring at the tube coming from her mouth.
I wonder if she’s in pain. That thought makes me cringe.
“You!” someone yells, and I turn to see Mr. and Mrs. Norman walking through the door.
I blow out a heavy breath, knowing this won’t be fun.
“Mr. Norman—”
“Get out! You’re the reason she’s here. If it weren’t for you and your ridiculous fans, my precious Dee wouldn’t be fighting for her life right now. Look at her. This is all your fault, you ignorant son of a—”
“Ford, stop it! Can’t you see that he’s hurting just as much as we are?” Dee’s mum, Liz, says, cutting him off.
The enormity of guilt weighs down on me when I realize what he’s saying.
“I know this is my fault, sir. Trust me. It’s all I’ve thought about for the last two days.
Don’t worry. You can hate me all you want, but it still won’t add up to anywhere near as much as I hate myself!
” I reply and run my hand through my hair, closing my eyes so I don’t cry in front of Dee’s father.
“Oh, Colt. Don’t hate yourself, darling. It’s not your fault. It was an accident, and as long as she is getting better, that’s all that matters,” Liz says, and I swallow hard before resting my head on Dee’s bed.
“No, I don’t care how guilty you feel. You don’t belong here. Now, get out,” Ford exclaims harshly.
I try to contain my anger. “I’m sorry, Mr. Norman, but I’m not going anywhere. I told Dee I wouldn’t leave her, and I never will. So you can hate me all you want, and I don’t blame you. But I am not leaving under any circumstances.” I return my focus to Dee’s beautiful face.
“No, I don’t accept that. Get the fuck out of my daughter’s room, or I’ll drag you out myself,” he berates, walking over to me and pulling me up by my collar.
“Ford, stop this right now,” Liz exclaims loudly.
“Hit me! Go on, I know you want to,” I say.
Ford pushes me, causing me to stumble backward slightly, but I manage to catch myself before I fall.
“Don’t tempt me, boy,” he bellows, and I rush back over to him and look him square in the eyes.
“Hit me! Do it!” I urge, needing the punishment.
He grabs me by my collar. “I swear to God, if you don’t get out now, I will bloody hit you,” he states through gritted teeth.
“Well, I’m not going anywhere, so give it your best shot,” I taunt.
He pulls his clenched fist back, and then, in slow motion, his fist comes forward, and I smile slightly just before his hard knuckles connect with my face.
“Oh my God, Ford,” Liz screams as I fall back, hitting the floor, blood pooling from my nose.
For a second, the pain is so bad that I forget where I am, and I start to laugh—a deep, harrowing belly laugh.
Ford and Liz look at me strangely as I sit on the floor and bring my knees to my chest. I wipe the blood from my face and look up to see that Dee is still the same, not moving, just there, sleeping.
She might as well be gone. I guess I was hoping that maybe if she heard us fighting, she might wake up and stop us.
My manic laughter quickly turns to sobs as I rest my head against my knees and fall completely apart in front of her parents.
“Jesus, Ford, look what you’ve done to the poor man,” Liz scolds, sitting beside me on the floor. She wraps her arm around my shoulders, blood still dripping from my nose.
“I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry—”
“Hey, hey, stop that now. Stop feeling guilty, Colt. You are not the reason Deliah is here. Don’t listen to Ford. He’s doesn’t know how to deal with this,” Liz says, waving her hands around. She pulls my head up, examining my nose, then winces before turning to stare harshly at Ford.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have punched you. I’ll get a nurse,” Ford apologizes and walks out of the room, rubbing the back of his neck.
I try to control my tears. Falling apart in front of Dee’s parents was the last thing I wanted to do.
Ford walks in with Shannon, the nurse from earlier, and she grimaces. “What on earth have you done now?” she asks while walking over to kneel in front of me.
When I look up at Ford, he’s purposely not looking at me.
“I walked into the wall.”
Shannon glares. “You’d have had to have hit the wall pretty darn hard to do all this damage and have this much blood,” she says.
Ford’s gaze shifts to me.
“Yeah, I need to start watching where I’m going, don’t I?”
“You sure do. Head back. Let’s stop this bleeding, then we’ll take you for X-rays.” I look at her sternly. “Colt, seriously? You know you have to be checked out. I know you don’t want to leave her side, but if your nose is broken—”
“It’s not broken, and even if it is, I don’t care. I’m not leaving her. No arguments,” I reply, and Shannon shakes her head.
“I’ve never met anyone quite as stubborn as you are,” she teases with a slight laugh.
“When it comes to my girl, I’m as stubborn as you can get.”
Liz smiles while Ford watches me intently. I’m sure he’s waiting to see if I’ll say something, but he’s going to be my father-in-law, so I want to be on his good side. Plus, I don’t think Dee would approve of her father being charged with assault.
“Okay, let me get some supplies, and I’ll clean you up,” Shannon says, then walks out of the room. I rest my head against the wall while holding the tissues to my nose.
“Thank you,” Ford says, and I turn my attention to him and nod once. He returns the gesture and puts his hand out to help me up. Without hesitation, I take it, and he pulls me up.
“Sorry, I misjudged you, Colt.” Then he puts his hand out for me to shake, which, of course, I do.
We might be under considerable stress, but in the end, we need to find a middle ground.
For Dee.
Always for Dee.