Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36
GRIFF
N ight enveloped the ranch, and when it did, I could pretend that the barn still stood, and I hadn’t laid out there on the ground dead, and my girl didn’t have to do things to me she never should have had to.
I hadn’t seen her since she’d done my dressing. Ryder stayed, and the other guys had rotated through, and then there were my parents, who had been a constant since I’d woken up. But Elle wasn’t anywhere near me.
“Hey, are you up for a visitor?” Looking up from the book I was reading, I smiled at Troy, who had peeked around the half-open door.
“It’s good to see you, sure come on in.” Troy opened the door, and Parker walked in first.
“ Hey, pal.” I couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
“Can I hug you?” He asked, standing a few feet from the bed.
“Of course you can, but just not as tightly as normal.” The boy crossed the space between us and I could see he had to restrain himself from leaping at me. He wrapped his arms around my neck, and I used my good arm to embrace him.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”
“You look so much better than when I saw you at the hospital.” The boy smiled, and I watched the concern in his eyes ease a bit.
The three of us chatted for a bit. “I’m going to see Mom, and grab a few things from my room.” Parker hopped off the couch and ran out of the room.
“I expected Elle to be glued to your side.” Troy said as he crossed his leg over the other and relaxed back onto the couch.
“Well, she had been until this morning when she went to change my dressing. She totally shut down.” Closing my eyes, I’ll never forget the hollow look in her eyes as she stared out at the barnyard.
“Let her come around. She has to go into nurse mode to process things sometimes.” He leaned ahead and rested his knees on his elbows. “When we finally got the diagnosis for Parker, she was someone I didn’t even recognize. She dove into research, figuring out which implants worked best for kids and what would make life easier for him. She knew how to sign because of her brother, but she worked endlessly with Parker so he would be able to recognize signs when he was older. She’s a fixer, and she’s feeling a little lost right now.” Troy took a deep breath, and I wondered if he was thinking back to those days.
“I will be honest and tell you I wasn’t the supportive spouse I should have been. I didn’t help her. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. It was something that Parker would eventually learn, and I let my family get in my head. It wasn’t fair to either of them. Parker deserved a dad who did everything he could for him, and Elle deserved a husband who supported her in trying to figure it all out. I wasn’t the man they needed me to be back then.”
“She’s pregnant,” I mumbled loud enough for him to hear. And he heard because he nodded slowly. “It wasn’t planned.” I looked down at my hand all bandaged and closed my eyes.
“I’m going to take Parker home. I think you both need to talk to one another.” Troy stood and held out his hand. We shook hands, and as weird as it sounded, this man was becoming a friend. “Give her a little space. She’ll process it and be back to the woman you’re in love with. Just make sure you don’t give her too much space. Take it from someone who did.” He smiled tightly, and that’s when I saw it. Troy was still in love with Elle, but the lack of support from him had closed her heart and she’d never given him another opportunity to disappoint her.
“Thanks. And thanks for bringing Parker.”
“He loves you man, and trust me, as a father, it’s not easy to see my son with another dad figure, but I’m glad he has you when I can’t be around.”
“Hey, Troy, you’re welcome here whenever. We’re a misfit group that managed to make some sort of family situation here and we’re more than happy to have new people around. And I won’t be working horses for a while, so if you’ve got time, I can put you to work.”
“That sounds good. We’ll talk in a few days.” He nodded and left my room.
Hours passed and I drifted in and out of sleep. Mom came and went checking on me. Dad sat doing his crossword puzzle, but it hadn’t ever been Elle.
A soft thud pulled me out of the haze I was in, and I watched Elle move around the room cleaning things up and making sure she had everything she needed for my dressing tomorrow. As she turned, she caught my eye and froze. “You’re awake,” she said softly. “I hope I wasn’t being too loud.” She set down the gauze in her hands and moved to stand beside my bed.
“No. You hardly made any sound at all. Are you going to come lay down?” I asked as I turned my head to see her pillow and book that always sat on the nightstand were gone.
“No, you need to get your rest, and that doesn’t happen when I sleep next to you, so I moved back into my old room.” She didn’t look at me as she spoke, and I was sure the spot on the floor would start smoldering from her staring at it.
“Troy’s going to come over and start working with some horses until I’m up and around. Just because I’m hurt doesn’t mean things here stop.” I was hoping she could read between the lines and see I was meaning us.
“That’s good. It will be nice to have Parker around, even if he isn’t staying here right now.” I saw the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile. As I stared at her, I saw how pale she looked, and her face was gaunt.
“Are you eating enough?”
“Yeah, your mom’s making sure I eat.” Elle bit the corner of her mouth, and I wanted so badly to hop out of this bed and pull her into my arms.
“Good. We need to discuss a few things, I think.”
“Not right now, Griff, let’s just worry about getting you better. Then we can deal with things.” She finally looked up at me, and I saw tears in her eyes. “I’m going to head to bed. I’ll talk to you in the morning. If you need anything, just shoot me a text. I’ve set up a walkie-talkie app on your phone so you can control it with one hand, and you can talk right to me.”
“You better not walk out that door without kissing me, or I will follow you down the hall.” Shifting, I tried to sit up a little straighter, but my broken ribs made me groan with the movement.
“Stay where you are, silly man.” She moved to my side leaning over and kissed me. Her lips were like medicine and I forgot that I was in pain. Reaching up, I cupped the back of her head and held her to me, dragging my tongue along her lips so she’d open her mouth. My heart fluttered when she did, and I swooped in and brushed my tongue along hers. It was the most intimate thing we’d done since the day of the fire, and I missed her. I missed the woman she was before she brought me back to life.
Elle pulled away and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll be down the hall.” She didn’t turn around when she left the room, and I missed the smile I’d come to love.