Page 126 of Fall to Me
I place my hand in his. “Thanks. Same to you. We’ll see you around.”
The nurse comes in several minutes after the detective leaves and leads me to Carter’s room in the ICU. I don’t know what I expected, but seeing him with all the tubes and machines hooked up to his body sends a jolt right through my system. I don’t know what all those machines do, but seeing the lines go up and down and hearing the constant beeping of the heart monitor is proof this is real. He’s alive, and that’s the only thing that matters to me right now. Tears of relief trickle down my face. I cross the room, drag a chair next to his bed, then take his hand, and place a kiss on his knuckles.
“I love you,” I tell him, even though I doubt he can hear me. “You scared the ever-loving shit out of me.”
Exhaustion from the day overtakes me, so I lay my head down on the bed rail and close my eyes. The steady rhythm of Carter’s heart lulls me to sleep. I’m not sure how long I’m out before I feel my hair move out of my face, waking me up. Carter’s hand caresses my cheek, and I turn my head, pressing a kiss to his rough palm before taking his hand in both of mine.
“I love you,” I tell him again.
He gives my hand three squeezes back, then closes his tired eyes.
As the hours blend into days, I watch as Carter’s body heals, and I realize it’s time that I do some healing of my own. I think about the sacrifices he’s made for me and the ones that I need to start making for him. How I need to put forth the effort we all deserve: to be a stronger version of myself.
I reflect on our time together and how he’s been pushing me forward, asking me to tell him one thing about myself. And it’sthen that I realize that this entire time he’s been trying to help me to see that maybe my identity hasn’t been so lost after all.
I reflect on the woman I am and the one I want to be. The kind of wife and mother I want to be. So, when his parents and sister step into the room, I step out and make a call that is long past due. The phone rings a few times before she answers.
“Hi, Dr. Bailey. Do you have time in your schedule to meet me at the hospital?”
Thirty-Nine
Carter
“Good morning,” the cheery nurse sings as she walks through the door. “Guess who’s going home today?”
“Thank God,” I rasp, my throat still a little sore from the tube they had down it.
I’ve been in this hospital for two damn weeks, and I’m about ready to break out of this godforsaken place. All of the tubes were finally removed a couple of days ago, and I thought I’d be able to leave then, but no such luck.
The nurse checks all of my vitals, types them into her tablet, then takes the IV out of my arm.
“Alright, I’m going to print up your discharge instructions, then the doctor will be in shortly to go over them with you,” she says before pulling the door closed.
My head falls back against the pillow but turns when I hear the door open again. River walks through the door, and I smirk.
“Oooh, yes. Time for my sponge bath.”
“I already gave you one this morning.”
“There can never be too many. I need you to give a little more attention to my lower region,” I counter.
Rolling her eyes, River laughs, then holds up a couple of bags as Cam steps into the room behind her. “Aspen gave me a set of clothes for you to leave in, and Cammie picked up some things for you from the store.”
“Thanks.”
“So,” my sister starts as she plops down in the chair next to my bed. “I don’t know what kind of strings Aspen had to pull, but she got me into that little house across street from them a couple of days ago. I wanted to surprise you.”
“Wait! You’re moving here?” I ask, nearly coming off the bed in excitement.
“Well, yeah. What kind of sister would I be if I didn’t stay and help with my brother? Plus, I’m about to be an auntie, and I want to be close to the babies. Sooo, if you want, you two can stay with me instead.”
We were planning on staying with Cal and Aspen until we find a new house, but this is actually perfect. The doctor comes into the room, interrupting our conversation.
“Mr. Graham. I hear you’re itching to leave.”
River smirks as she sells me out. “Caught him picking at the tape on his IV earlier this morning.”
“Good thing today is the day then.” The doctor lets out a chuckle and moves closer to my bed. “Alright. Everything looks good. You were already in good health before this, so I expect you to heal a little quicker than normal, but we do need to address the elephant in the room.”
