by Morgan Rayne
The monitors beeped and Kyle could hear people in the hallway outside, but nothing else happened. He sat there holding and kissing her hand; willing her to open her eyes.
A nurse came in to check her vitals, and he must have looked as miserable as he felt because she didn’t say anything; just left as quietly as she came in. Lindsay’s normally pale skin was even paler, and Kyle could see spots of dried blood still on her face.
Letting go of her hand long enough to wet down a washcloth, he came back and started to wash away the horrible reminder of what she had been through. As if her lying in a hospital bed, in a blue gown, hooked up to IV’s and heart monitors wasn’t reminder enough. When he finished, there was a knock on the door.
“I know you wanted time with her, but the girls are about to go crazy.” Kyle nodded, and Alex motioned into the hall for the girls to come in.
“Sorry, I hadn’t realized how long I’d been in here.”
“Don’t worry about it. Has she been awake at all?” He was still holding her hand and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.
“No. The nurse came in to check on her, but nothing has changed.”
“She’ll come out of it when she’s ready.” Kyle hoped it was sooner rather than later, because every minute she was unconscious he died a little more inside.
Alex convinced the girls to go home and get some sleep later that night, but when he tried to get Kyle to leave, he refused.
“I want to be here when she wakes up. I’m not leaving this room until that happens.”
“I understand, I’ll let the nurses know. Do you want me to swing by your house and get some of your stuff? I can bring it up tomorrow.”
“That would be great; you know where the key is.” Alex said goodbye and Kyle settled into the chair he would be sleeping in for the night. Reminding himself that Lindsay had serious injuries, was the only thing that kept him from crawling into bed with her.
He pushed the chair as close to her bed as possible and put down the rail. Laying his head as close to hers as he could get, while still sitting in his chair, Kyle kissed her forehead and whispered.
“Goodnight Red, I love you.” What he wouldn’t give to hear her sweet voice say the same back to him.
****
Chapter 19
“There is no magic pill I can give her to bring her out of the coma. She has to do that on her own.” Lindsay heard voices around her, but wasn’t sure who’s they were. Her whole body ached, and the pounding in her head was almost deafening. A tingling sensation on her hand made her aware that someone was touching her.
“It’s been three days. If her brain wasn’t damaged, why hasn’t she woken up yet?” Kyle sounded so upset and frustrated. Lindsay tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t cooperate.
“Kyle they are doing everything they can for her. Why don’t you come with your mom and me and get some fresh air and something to eat? They will call you if she wakes up.”
“No, I’m not leaving her. I’m never leaving her again.” His voice shook, and she wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it would all be okay. But before she could, her mind started to fade into the blackness again.
The next time she came to, Lindsay could hear Kyle talking to Alex. “When will she be here?”
“Stella said tomorrow morning. I guess it was the first available flight from Houston to Chicago. We are going to pick her up at the airport.”
There was that tingle again and this time Lindsay felt rough lips on the back of her hand. “You hear that sweetheart? We need you to wake up. All your friends want to see those pale blue eyes and know you’re okay.”
Yes. Yes, I want to see you too. Lindsay was screaming on the inside, but her body had other ideas, and sleep overtook her once again.
“I can’t believe how delusional they can be. They seriously want her charged with murder?” Who was murdered? What was going on? Lindsay’s body didn’t ache when she woke this time, but she still had a slight headache.
“The cops all but laughed in their faces. They just need Lindsay’s statement when she wakes up, and the case will be closed. His parents will have to come to terms with the fact that their son was an unstable lunatic. The best part is they are being charged as accessories.” Lindsay would know that voice anywhere.
She tried to move her arm, but it felt heavy. “What the…”
“What?”
“Her hand just moved. It hasn’t done that the whole time she’s been here. Lindsay, can you hear me?” The fog cleared a little more when Kyle said her name. “Hit the nurse button, I think she’s trying to wake up.”
“Stop shouting” He was going to make her headache come back if he kept yelling like that, but her complaint came out as barely a squeak.
“I’m here. Open your eyes, sweetheart. What were you trying to say?” Slowly one eye lid slid up, and she quickly shut it; damn that’s bright. Blinking twice, she was finally able to open both eyes without pain.
Kyle was leaning over the bed and planting kisses all over her face. Her joy at seeing him was overshadowed by the person standing on the other side of the bed. Jessie’s eyes were covered in a sheen of tears, and so were Lindsay’s.
There was so much she wanted to know. How did Jessie know she was here? Why was she here? Lindsay started to ask, but her throat was too dry to say anything. She mouthed “water”, and Jessie picked up a cup with a green sponge on a stick off the table.
She put the sponge in Lindsay’s mouth, and the tiny amount of liquid was like ice cream on a hot summer day; refreshing. A few more swallows and Lindsay was able to talk, although it was scratchy.
“What’s going on?” Kyle wiped at his eyes as he started to explain.
“You’re in the hospital. You’ve been unconscious for four days.” Four days? What the hell? A nurse came in and moved to the side of the bed next to Jessie.
“Welcome back Ms. Pierce. I’m Jody, and I’ll be your nurse until six. How are you feeling?” What a question. Lindsay was feeling a million things. Confused, pissed, excited. All she wanted to do was talk to Kyle and Jessie.
The nurse was waiting for her answer, so Lindsay went with “Fine. My head hurts, but nothing unbearable.”
“I would imagine it does. You took quite a blow to the head, but luckily your skull wasn’t fractured. You have some stitches, but they will be coming out next week. I’ll call the doctor and have some pain meds ordered.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be back with your medicine in a bit and to check your vitals. If you need anything before then, just hit the call button. You can have small sips of water if you’re thirsty, but don’t overdo it.” Jody left the room, and Lindsay tried to push herself up on the bed. Shooting pain radiated through her abdomen and she winced.
“Don’t do that, you have bruised ribs. Let the nurse come back and help you.” Kyle was reaching for the button, and she caught his hand.
“No. She will poke and prod on me, and I will never get to talk to you guys.” Lindsay let go of his hand. “You can help me.”
“I don’t think…” Lindsay scowled, and Kyle shut up. He did as she asked, and she was only sort of uncomfortable as he raised the head of the bed so she could sit up.
“There, much better.” Jessie hadn’t moved from her position at the side of the bed and Lindsay just wanted to shake her out of it. “What’s wrong?”
A dam broke and Jessie pulled her into an embrace that said everything. “I missed you too, Jessie.”
She blocked out the pain in her ribs, and clung to her oldest friend. “I’m so glad you’re finally safe.”
Bits and pieces of the conversations she heard when she was asleep ran through her mind, along with the last thing she could remember from that horrible morning. Her whole body went rigid and Jessie loosened her hold.
“What’s wrong? Your whole body is tighter than a drum right now.”
“I’m safe? Did I…?” She was looking at Kyle as
she asked the question. For some reason, him telling her would make it true.
“Yes sweetheart, you did. He can’t hurt you ever again.” Lindsay had cried so many tears over the years for so many things, but now with the knowledge that she had taken a man’s life no tears fell; she almost couldn’t believe it.
“You are finally free. No more running, no more hiding, no more fear.”
I killed someone. I killed someone. That was the only thing Lindsay could think about. How could she do that and not feel one ounce of regret. Kyle was studying her from his spot on the bed and began shaking his head.
“No, no way. Don’t you dare feel guilty. That bastard tried to kill you more than once. If you hadn’t done what you did, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Actually, I was trying to figure out what kind of horrible person I am for not feeling guilty. I mean, who shoots someone and doesn’t even feel bad.” He grasped her hand so tight, she thought it might break.
“The kind that had no other choice” When he brought her hand to his lips, Lindsay finally got a good long look at Kyle. All of his emotions were playing out on his now tired and scruffy looking face. Dark circles encased his chocolate brown eyes and she could see the hell he had been through in them.
The last time her and Kyle had talked, things had ended badly. Now Lindsay wanted nothing more than to make that right. It had been four years since she had seen Jessie, but now that she was safe they had all the time in the world to catch up.
“Jessie, I hate to ask, but…”
“Say no more. I’ll go out in the hall and tell everyone you’re awake. You have quite the fan club assembled in the waiting room.” This is why Jessie had always been her best friend. She knew what Lindsay needed without her having to ask.
“Thanks, I’ll try to make it quick.”
“Take your time.” Jessie winked and left the room.
Knowing it was probably a bad idea but not caring one bit, Lindsay gingerly moved closer to Kyle until she was curled up on his lap. She was expecting an argument from him, but what she got instead was a waterfall of tears as Kyle sobbed into the crook of her neck.
“Shh, please don’t cry. Everything is going to be better now.” He wept harder when she tried to calm him. “Kyle why are you so upset; talk to me.”
He had brought his emotions down to a few sniffles and then sighed. “How can you want to sit on my lap after what I did?”
What he did? Lindsay tipped his head up to look at her like he always did to her. “What did you do? If you mean the fight we had, that was not your fault; it was mine.”
“If I hadn’t bought you that ring we wouldn’t have fought, and I wouldn’t have said those horrible things. I would have been in the apartment instead of storming out and leaving the door unlocked. I’m the reason that asshole was able to get to you.”
Fresh tears were falling from his eyes and she understood why he looked the way he did; no way was she going to let him blame himself. Lindsay grabbed the edge of the sheet, and tried to clear the tears from his eyes.
“Listen to me and listen good.” Her tone must have been harsh because he looked up in surprise. “You did not stalk me for weeks. You did not sneak into my apartment. You did not knock me on the ground and kick me. You did not cut me with a knife, and then hit me over the head with a...”
“A chair” Kyle supplied. He had hit her from behind, so Lindsay had no idea what it was.
“a chair, thank you. You didn’t do any of that, Mitch Rhodes did.”
“But…”
“Don’t interrupt me.” Lindsay placed her hand over his mouth to silence him. “What you did do, Kyle Brady, was make me laugh and smile and trust and feel safe and loved again, and you taught me how to love in return.” His eyes widened after her last point.
“Yes, I love you. I love you for everything you did and didn’t do. I was an idiot the morning I found the ring. I didn’t want to believe that my life could be normal, that a man as wonderful as you could love me. I let the fear take over, but never again. Never again will I hold back my feelings for you.”
And to prove her point, Lindsay pressed her lips to his and waited for him to respond. It didn’t take long for his long fingers to cup her face and give her the passionate kiss she craved. When his fingers tried to bury in her hair, she gasped in pain.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry. Shit, how could I forget?”
“It’s okay. I was as lost in that kiss as you were.” Kyle slowly lifted her off his lap, and sat her back where she was before.
“Hey.” He took a few steps back from the bed.
“I don’t want to hurt you, and after everything you just said, I don’t trust myself to touch you.” Even with stitches in her head and bandages wrapped around her midsection, Lindsay desired this man; and he seemed to want her just as bad. Knowing this wasn’t the last time she would be with him, Lindsay laid back and smiled.
“I like you touching me.” Kyle narrowed his eyes.
“You are not going to distract me from what I want to say. No matter how sexy you look in that blue gown.” Finally his sense of humor returned.
“I’ll make sure I can take it home with us.”
“With us?”
“Well since we are getting married, I figured that involved living together.” Lindsay said the statement dryly, but on the inside she was cracking up.
“D-Did you just say married?” Kyle was staring at her in disbelief. She went on as if they had already discussed all of this.
“I think the sooner the better, don’t you? Stella will be showing soon, and I don’t want her to get too tired standing for the ceremony.” Lindsay had never seen a bigger grin on someone’s face. Kyle moved back toward the bed, but didn’t sit down. Instead, he sank to the ground and was now kneeling on one knee.
“Did you just agree to be my wife, Red?” Cocky Kyle was back, and Lindsay couldn’t have been happier.
“I sure did. What are you going to do about it?”
“What I should have done weeks ago?” Kyle reached into his pocket and retrieved the small brown box. Opening it, he removed the ring from its cushion.
“I love you Lindsay Logan.” Lindsay raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed. “Jessie filled in some of the blanks while you were unconscious; your name being one of them.”
“I like Lindsay Brady better.”
“So do I” He picked up her left hand and paused with the ring hovering over her finger. “Now, so my mother doesn’t beat me for not doing this properly, I want to ask you a question.”
Lindsay sat up more, pushed her shoulders back and pretended to fix her hair. “I’m all ears.”
“Smart ass” Kyle grumbled, but then he straightened and cleared his throat. He was once again ‘serious’ Kyle. “These last few days have been the worst days of my life. I thought we had all the time in the world, but when I saw you lying on the floor…”
Kyle closed his eyes and the pain on his face made Lindsay tear up.
“I’ve died a thousand deaths since that day. It’s shown me that life is precious, and that I don’t want to waste any more time that we already have.” He slid the ring onto her finger and looked deep into her eyes; all the way to her soul.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” He gave her a quivering smile as he rose from the floor. Being as gentle as possible, Kyle kissed her with all the love both of them felt.
“Can we come in; I’m dying out here.” Vicki’s voice echoed through the room, followed by a bunch of other ones telling her to “shut up and be patient.”
Lindsay and Kyle shared one more brief peck, before they gave in. “You can come in.”
A never ending stream of people filed into Lindsay’s hospital room, and she had never felt so loved in her life. They received congratulations from Kyle’s parents, Stella and Alex, Jessie, and Vicki. The nurse came in a few minutes later and kicked everyone out so she could check over her patient.
Everyone said thei
r goodbyes, and promised to come back tomorrow. Nurse Jody said she was doing very well and even let her order dinner, but the only thing she was hungry for was some more alone time with her future husband.
“Do you want me to go get you something to eat? Hospital food isn’t all that great.” She moved over on the bed and patted the spot next to her. Kyle walked over and sat down where she wanted him.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Lindsay snuggled into his side and nodded.
“I am, but I wanted to do this first.” Being mindful of her ribs, he pulled her in closer to his body.
“I love you, Red. You are everything I never knew I wanted.” Lindsay looked up into those chocolate brown eyes, and knew he meant every word. There wasn’t anything left to say, so Lindsay simply replied.
“Ditto”
****
Epilogue
“Where are the rest of the streamers?” Stella yelled from the kitchen.
“In the car” Vicki, Stella and Jessie had all arrived at Kyle’s house an hour ago to start setting up for Lindsay’s welcome home party. She had been in the hospital a little over a week, and today was finally the day she was coming home.
Jessie decided to stay in Chicago for a few extra weeks to catch up with Lindsay, and had offered to help set up and even make some of the food. Vicki and Stella adored Jessie, and would be just as sad as Lindsay when she went back home.
“What is left to do?” Jessie asked as Vicki wiped down the entertainment stand.
“I think that’s it. Once Stella grabs the streamers and we hang them up, we should be done.”
“Cool. Who all is supposed to be here?” Vicki through the paper towel she was holding in the trash and tried to think.
“Pretty much everyone you’ve met at the hospital. I don’t know of anyone else that would be coming.” Stella walked back into the house holding two rolls of streamers.
“Don’t forget Kyle’s friend Coop.”
“Who’s that?” Jessie asked.
“I’ve never met him, but he’s an old friend of Kyle’s. He actually lives here too, but probably not for long since Lindsay’s moving in.” Vicki had yet to meet this mysterious Coop, or learn anything about him.
