Page 57 of Finding Basil
“He is a wonderful person. He’s a light in a dark place. When any of us are sad or angry, we call him and in ten minutes, we’re laughing. He’s been that way since he was just a little baby. His smile, wow, lit up the room. None of us were jealous of him, even though he got so much attention. We were as captivated as the adults.”
“I love hearing stories about him. It confirms a lot. Does the guy have any faults?”
“Sure. He’s a terrible driver,” she said and rolled her eyes. “Shit.”
The doctor came out of the trauma room, surprised at the number of people who’d come while he was in the room. “Is everyone family?”
In one loud chorus, everyone said, “Yes!”
Michelle was the first to ask, “How is he?”
“He’s going to be just fine. The concussion is minor; the cut on his head will leave a very tiny scar, if any. We did a CAT scan, and there are no signs of major trauma to the head. He’s got a little whiplash, so he’ll need to be placed in a collar for a few weeks. It may lead to some upper back pain, but we’ll handle the worst of it with meds and the rest with physical therapy. All in all, his outlook is good.”
The family shouted, and Herb felt hot tears draining from his eyes in thick rivers. He went to sit in a chair and held his face in his hands as he let out all the pent-up fear.
They were allowed in one by one, so Abuela and Michelle were first, then they came out a few minutes later to tell Herb that Basil was adamant about seeing him next.
Herb rose from the chair, his insides fluttering. He was going to see Basil, alive, awake, given a good bill of health. Much more than that, however, he was in love with a man so deeply, he didn’t think he could handle it if something like the wreck ever happened again.
Walking into the room, he saw the bandage on Basil’s head, saw how pale he was, but mostly, he saw the love of his life.
He went to him and grabbed his face tenderly, kissing him the same way. “You were very worried, I hear.”
Herb laughed and said, “A little, yeah.”
My mom and grandmother hugged me, kissed me and then began to bitch me out for not telling you what was happening. I’m sorry about that. I never wanted to lie to you, or keep things from you, ever.”
Herb sat in the chair next to the bed and took Basil’s hand, carefully taking it, being there was an IV in the vein there. “Basil, I am not even a little mad. I was confused because, well, I saw you. I was hurt, yeah, but I knew something in my heart, that whatever it was, if it was you doing it, it was out of love.”
“I don’t still love him like that, Herb, I promise you.”
“But you love him enough that you didn’t want to see him in jail. I’d wonder about you if you didn’t. You’re not the type to just leave a person behind and stop caring. It’s one of the many, many reasons I’ve fallen so hard for you.”
“I’m so sorry I worried you. A deer ran across the road, and I swerved. I can’t believe how you guys found me, or how the truck was stuck on that tree.”
“No, God couldn’t be cruel enough to take you from me this early. Please, baby, don’t ever leave me. I mean, I am not some stalker that will hunt you down, or anything, but…”
“Good. Because I love you. I don’t want to leave you ever.”
“Okay, and that means you don’t get to drive anymore. Ever,” he said with a grin.
“That isn’t happening. I’m a free spirit; the road is my home!”
“No, the fields are your home, and we have a lot of work to do, so get better fast and make me a damn farmer.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sevenmonthslater…
The fields were so beautiful, he couldn’t help but stare as he drank the butterscotch-flavored coffee Basil had got him addicted to.
Rows of thyme, coriander, parsley of every variety, sage, tumeric, ginger, which was a fun addition, in Herb’s mind, oregano, and of course, basil.
There were ten varieties of basil in the rows, and ten mint plants in a raised bed that Basil and his brothers had built measuring nine feet by ten feet, and each section cut off from the rest. That was when he learned that certain herbs were invasive, like him.
He was invasive, all right. He’d invaded the town of Foggy Basin and now, he was about to marry one of their beloved residents.
Basil pulled up in his new truck, the one he bought when his insurance had finally settled. Red, small but has lots of loadcapacity. He’d researched for weeks to decide which one he wanted.
