Page 62 of Wanted

Sara was in the middle of telling me how much she missed me, includingmy overbearing ways, when I tried yet again to communicate with her somehow. I wouldtake a stupid wiggling of one of my fingers if it meant she would gain thecomfort she so desperately needed.

Then it happened.

A simple movement was all it took to break me out of my slumberingworld.

My left pointer finger rose off the bed an inch, but it wasenough to push her fears away, bringing all hope of recovery forward. I did itagain, and again, until she noticed. She was in the middle of a sentence whensuddenly she became quiet.

I’m coming back to you,baby.

“Alek? Can you hear me?” she asked, hope laced around each word.“Do it again. Raise your finger for me one more time.”

And I did. One more time.

She squealed so loudly that within seconds, there was a nurserushing into the room. She inquired as to what was wrong, and when Sara explained,the nurse laughed, patted my arm and told her I must’ve been done with my nap.

She checked my vitals and reported everything looked good.The next step was to wait.More waiting. But it was progress, and Ilatched onto it with all I could.

All of the excitement quickly wore me out, pushing me back intomy dreams once again.

~40~

Sara

It was the smallest of movements, but it made my heart soar. Eventhough a full day had passed, my hope had been restored Alek was on his wayback to me.

I was sitting by his bedside, as usual, when he squeezed my handright when I asked him to. His grip was weak at first, but it didn’t matter. Heheard me and his body reacted.

His eyes were still closed, never giving way to the struggle hemight be going through. I hoped he’d heard each word I’d whispered to him. ButI wouldn’t know for sure until he woke up, giving me my opportunity to ask him.

I was walking back into the room from a quick bathroom break whenI saw his eyelids flutter. Rushing to his side, I stroked his jaw as Iencouraged the progress. One after the other, he slowly opened his eyes,looking straight ahead, unable to focus at first.

“That’s it, honey. Take your time. I’m right here when you’reready,” I cried, pure joy pouring from the depths of my soul.

His lips parted but no sound came out. It took him awhile beforehe was finally able to shift his head to the side. The moment his eyes foundmine was glorious. I witnessed my undying love reflected back at me.

How I’d missed those beautiful, soul-searching green eyes of his.I was beginning to think I would never see them again. But there he was,looking right at me, pleading with me to be more patient with him as his bodybegan the process of waking up.

Refusing to overwhelm him with my incessant need to rain kissesall over his face, I leaned over and pushed the button for the nurse. I caressedhis cheek again, a weeks’ worth of beard growth scratchy against my skin. Thenurses made sure to keep him looking as much like himself while he recuperated,so they shaved him weekly, asking me multiple times if I wanted to do itinstead. But I didn’t trust myself. I knew from my lack of sleep and nutrition,I wouldn’t be able to keep my hand steady enough to pull off the job. So Irelied on them for their kindness.

Alek had lost weight and looked like a paler, thinner version ofhimself. To me, he was still the most beautiful man alive. I knew once he was trulyon the road to recovery, he was going to push himself until he was back tonormal. And I knew it was my job to make sure he didn’t overdo it.

“Well, well. Look who’s awake.” The nurse startled me even thoughI was the one who called for her. She glanced over at me and smiled, thestruggles of the eight days etched deep into the lines on my face.

“Obviously this means he’s out of the woods, right?” I asked,hopeful she was going to soothe my tightly wound nerves.

“Well, I don’t want to rush things, but yes, this is a goodsign.” She checked his vitals before typing in the results to the computer shewheeled in behind her. “I’ll see if I can find the doctor so he can do his ownexam. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

After she left, I placed my hand back in his and simply stared athim. I was in awe. All I wanted him to do was speak to me, assure me he wasgoing to be okay. As I parted my lips to speak, his eyes fluttered closed, theexcitement obviously too draining on him.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Rest now. You’re going to need it.” Ileaned in and kissed his lips. When I moved back, I saw a small smile tip thecorners of his mouth as he drifted off to sleep.

In the next couple of hours, I called everyone I could think ofto tell them the good news. They all wanted to rush right over, but it wasnearing eight in the evening and visiting hours were almost finished. Plus, hehad fallen back asleep, and I didn’t want to push too fast.

The next day, Kael came strolling into the room as Alek waswaking up.

“Well, my man, if you wanted this kind of attention, there arebetter ways of going about it.” He strode toward me and kissed my cheek, andfor some reason, I glanced over at Alek. Sure enough, there was a look ofannoyance on his face. But he still wasn’t speaking, so he couldn’t voice hisdispleasure. I smiled. He was coming back to me more each day. All of him. Hispossessiveness over me was the most reassuring, proving we would be back tonormal very soon. It would annoy me later on but right then, it made me happy.

Kael caught his look, as well, and patted his arm. “Don’t gogetting all crazy on me. Actually, nix that. Go ahead, be crazy. At least thatway, you’ll yell at me, and I would like nothing more than to hear your voice.”He moved in closer. “I’ve missed ya, buddy.” Kael had really been affected byAlek’s condition. I hadn’t realized how close they were until he was hurt. Painand fear shone in his eyes as he stared at his longtime friend, lying helplessin a hospital bed.

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