Page 61 of Revived

“Please, don’t.” My words came out quiet, but felt as though they were powerful enough to be heard throughout the whole house. “Sit with me for a minute, Mel.”

“I really shouldn’t.”

“Maybe not, but I enjoy the company.” It had been a while since I’d just been able to appreciate her closeness. “Stay, please. I could also use the inspiration.” I tapped the notebook in her hand. “Maybe you can help me out with the rougher parts?”

She laughed. “I’m the nurse, remember? You’re the musician. If anyone should be in here helping you with this song, it should be Chevy.”

“You know him, and have been around the other boys enough, that you can be more helpful than they will be.”

Again, her laughter rang through my room and warmed my heart. “That’s probably true. If you let them have a go at it, I can see all the ego that will get dumped inside.”

“Hey! You two look cozy.”

“Speak of the devil, and he shall appear,” I called out to my son, who was inadvertently going to be the one to burst this bubble I had going with Mel. Sure enough, she scurried off the side of the bed and went to retrieve the sheets from the chair.

“You didn’t have to stop whatever you were doing,” Chevy called out and I could tell by the look he offered me that he was sorry for interrupting.

“It’s okay. Your dad was just showing me a song he was writing, and I have some things to get to once this is done.” She held up the sheets for him to see. “Don’t suppose you’d mind helping your dad swap to the chair while I get this done?”

“Sure thing, Mel. You know, I could have done that. You’re not a maid here,” he told her and then tossed me a look like I was being an asshole making her do something that seemed more housekeeping than medically necessary.

Mel laughed. “Like father, like son, huh? Your dad said the exact same thing, and then I informed him that I’d seen the way you make your own bed.”

Chevy visibly cringed before turning a sheepish smile to me. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “So what song are you working on?”

“Something for you, for your band. Mel’s going to help me with it later, when she gets done whatever else it is she needs to do today.”

My son smiled widely then. “Great! Can’t wait to see what you two come up with,” he told her before he turned quickly to leave after he helped deposit me in the chair.”

“You shouldn’t give him hope that there will be more here than there is,” she warned me quietly while stripping the old sheets off my bed.

“Maybe it’s not him I’m trying to offer hope to,” I explained.

“Gabe,” she whispered.

“Mel,” I called out with far more confidence that I felt.

“You are unrelenting.”

“This time,” I corrected. “Only this time, Mel.”

The wetness in her eyes told me what her silence tried to deny. She understood exactly what that meant, I had never been relentless with my attentions toward any other woman before. Only her.

~*~

The next two weeks moved by similarly, and I feared the fact that mobility wasn’t really an issue for me at that point. It still hurt to move around my leg, and I did so with a cane, so as not to overwhelm the wound I’d sustained, but it was doable. It also made me worried that Mel would soon be leaving me. She had started joining me for breakfast on the balcony outside my bedroom, and she would stay long after, helping me flush out song and after song. They were no longer just for my son. Some were for her, though not in the same way I’d once written songs about the loss of Kendra from my life. These were happier, more upbeat songs about finding the woman you love, and not fucking it up. It was probably ridiculous thinking, but I was hoping my therapist was right and that life would give back more of the energy I put out into the world.

Mel helped with songs about falling in love, about waking up to smiles, and feeling complete for the first time ever. I don’t think she even realized they were all for her. That was what had been happening until she walked in my room that morning with a perplexed look on her face.

“What’s up, Mel?”

“Your lawyer is downstairs and says he needs to speak with the both of us,” she told me before biting into her bottom lip nervously. “Do you think this is about the hospital in New York again? I thought all of that was settled?”

It had been, which made me wonder if more had come of it since then. I’d been out of the loop with my legal team as they were focused on Wen’s issues with Janet since I was busy healing up.

“Do you want me to bring him up here or do you think you can manage the stairs today?”

I hadn’t been downstairs again since we got here. That initial climb up, even with John’s help, had taught me a quick lesson about my stubborn ass. Sometimes, it just wasn’t worth the trouble. Considering I’d been conducting strengthening exercises, I didn’t think it would hurt so much now. “I think I can try it, but might want to get one of the guys up here to help me down, for now. Just in case.”

---