The Cowboy's City Girl - An Enemies To Lovers Romance

by Emerson Rose

  “What? Are you kidding me? You’re not on his side, are you?”

  “Of course, not, Imani, but we may have been able to handle it a little less dramatically if you had come to me.”

  “Well, I didn’t have time, Enrique, he was on the fucking floor dying and the only asshole that could save him was having a sick pleasurable moment watching it happen. I was desperate.” I’m pissed, how could he possibly have any sympathy for Brian? “Where is he anyway?” I ask.

  “Brian? He’s been readmitted. When he completed the surgery he collapsed. You’re lucky he was able to finish. He was in no condition to be doing surgery, let alone one of this magnitude. He could have killed him accidentally with a shaky hand and everyone else in the room as a result.”

  I open my mouth to defend myself but close it when I can’t find the words. I hadn’t even considered Brian’s true state of health. I didn’t care, I just wanted what I wanted and to hell with everyone else. God, who have I become? Now that the surgery is over I can see more clearly and Enrique’s right; I was heartless.

  “I didn’t think… it never occurred to me…”

  “I know. These are the kinds of decisions we make every day but never while under emotional duress.”

  “Who’s we?” I ask. I know Elena suspects, but the least I can do for her is find out for sure if Enrique is involved with the same organization that Marcus is. He doesn’t answer, he doesn’t need to, I take his eye roll as an admission.

  “Okay, yeah, I can see now that maybe I should have waited until I was calmer, but you know as well as I do that Brian wasn’t going to cooperate without being strong-handed. And I didn’t know you were anything other than a physician, Enrique. How would I have known to come to you? Nobody was there; nobody could force him but me.”

  “It’s done, it doesn’t matter now. In the future, though, could you briefly consult me before threatening people's lives?”

  I snort, “Yeah, now that I know you’re part of the Mafia, I’ll be sure to give you a ring and ask for a hit properly.”

  “That’s all I ask.”

  Surely nothing like this is going to happen again. I took his request lightly but maybe I should have given it more weight.

  “I’m going to take Elena home. They won’t allow anyone but you to see him until tomorrow. I’m only here as a consulting physician. Get some rest.”

  I nod and watch him go. I sigh and drop my head against the back of the tall chair and close my eyes. It’s the day after Christmas. I’ve been awake for over twenty-four hours but I don’t want to sleep. I’m afraid of what will creep into my nightmares after so much compounded stress.

  I sit up and dig through my purse for my phone and ear buds. I key up a very long playlist of classical music including his favorite Jocelyn Pook and insert one ear bud into the ear on the opposite side of his head from his long incision and barely turn the volume on.

  Now I watch, and wait, to see who wakes up.

  Eighty-Three

  It’s been two long days of waiting. Two agonizing days of worrying. Two tormenting days of anticipating the moment when Marcus opens his eyes and we find out who he is once and for all.

  Everything has been baby steps so far. First I was shown the wound by a neurosurgeon following up for Brian. It’s pretty gruesome but it’s just flesh and bone, I know it will heal. They removed the drain from his head and there has been no swelling. That’s a very positive sign.

  Today they will lower the dose of the sedative that has been keeping him asleep and calm while he heals. I can’t get ahold of my feelings. I’ve been swinging like a monkey in the jungle between excitement, dread, apprehension, expectation, and trepidation. But right now I’ve settled on impatience.

  I want this to be over, I want to go home. I want him. My family left yesterday and I felt horrible that I couldn’t even see them off at the airport but I can’t leave him.

  Elena and Enrique are still here and Elijah, of course. I don’t know what I would do without him; he’s been my rock through all the crushing stress, a placeholder for my husband until he comes back to me.

  “How’s he doing this morning?” Elena says entering the room with glamour and grace. She sweeps her wool cape coat from her shoulders and drapes it over the back of the chair opposite me.

  She’s dressed immaculately in dark skinny jeans, her favorite black knee high boots, and a black silk blouse with a dramatic cream colored scarf thrown over one shoulder. I need to have her teach me the art of dressing sophisticated yet casual. This woman has it down pat.

  “You look beautiful. And he’s the same. They are going to start weaning him off of the sedative today.”

  “Thanks,” she says looking at Marcus. Then she turns to face me and gives me a once over from head to toe. “Imani, I’m not going to lie, you look tired. How are you doing with all of this?”

  Honestly, I’m not sure how I’m doing. “I just want him back.”

  Elena sits in the only other chair in the room and places her hand on my knee. She looks me straight in the eye. “It’s OK to be scared. I’m scared, too. I want him to wake up and be the caring man that loves you.”

  I sigh and bite my lip turning my attention to Marcus. He looks much better than he did forty-eight hours ago. His skin is the natural native bronze that I am fond of, he smells of spearmint and eucalyptus and his soft full lips have a touch of pink color to them again.

  Elena squeezes my knee and sits back crossing her long legs.

  “My Marcus, our Marcus will wake up, I know it.” I intended to sound convincing but I’m weary and my fire is lacking. She knows I have my doubts but she never mentions it and I love her for that.

  “You’re right, this is a good day, a happy day, let’s fill our minds with positive thoughts. We will be talking to him by this evening.”

  “Yes, you’re right, optimism, that’s what we need.” I say sitting up straighter in my seat. “I’m going down to the bathroom to clean up and put on some makeup and decent clothes.”

  I look like a super slob next to her in my yoga pants and a hoodie. I haven’t been putting much effort into my appearance for a while. Marcus has been my sole focus for so long I’m starting to have tunnel vision. It feels like the world stopped when he brought me to Italy. Nothing here is familiar, nothing is routine and I can communicate with less than ten people.

  What am I going to do if the old Marcus wakes up? I’m married to him no matter which personality emerges. I could be married to a sadist Mafia leader, a drug dealer… a killer.

  I feel the adrenaline creeping into my bloodstream. I need to move; these thoughts aren’t going to do anyone any good especially me. I grab my bag and dig for what I’ll need in the bathroom.

  When I’ve got my toiletries and clothes, I bolt. I’m glad Brian’s room is on the other half of the unit. No more tiptoeing up and down the hall.

  I crash through the door into the small restroom and get to work making myself look as attractive as I can under the circumstances.

  Applying makeup and untangling my hair distracts me from my thoughts of Marcus the Terrible. I have never looked so stressed out. My skin is pale, I have bags under my eyes, I’m still too thin and my hair, God, my hair needs help.

  I brush through it and it smooth it back and braid it checking my split ends when I’m done. I’m in desperate need of a hairdresser.

  With a little foundation, concealer, and blush I’m looking more like myself. I puff a stray curl off of my face and turn to look at myself from several angles. Good enough.

  One soft sweater dress and a pair of deep purple boots later I look pretty good. With my hands on my hips in true Wonder Woman style I give my reflection a pep talk.

  “You can do this. He is going to wake up and be fine. There is nothing to worry about. He loves you and he would never leave you.”

  I make my way down the hall and notice a few heads turning as I go. I can’t remember the last time anyone noticed me. I’ve been a sea
t warmer for so long I forgot what it feels like to be seen as a woman and not just a family member. It feels good.

  “Wow. What did you do with Imani?” Elena says when I step into the room.

  “Shut it.”

  “They did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “The nurse came in and turned his medication down.”

  It’s finally happening, the countdown is over. We will know by day’s end who won the battle for Marcus’s mind. I’m terrified.

  “Okay, great. Well, what should we do in the meantime?” I smile through the fear and Elena holds up our deck of cards tapping them with her finger.

  “Okay, what’ll it be? Poker? Pinochle? Old Maid?”

  I shake my head and giggle as I snatch the deck from her hands. “Poker, duh.”

  I kick her ass at Poker multiple times before we abandon the cards for lunch with Enrique and Elijah.

  “So, anything yet?” Enrique asks. He's the doctor, he ought to know nothing happens that fast.

  Elijah moves behind me and starts rubbing my shoulders helping to dissipate some of the tension that’s been building there all day. I drop my head forward and try to relax, but as soon as he’s done the tension returns.

  “What do you think’s going to happen?” Elijah asks as we unwrap the food Enrique brought from a deli a couple blocks from the hospital, or so he says. I’ve never even been outside the building.

  “That’s a loaded question, Elijah. I don’t think anybody knows,” Enrique says.

  “Well, I know exactly what’s going to happen. He’s going to wake up and be a little grouchy. Then he’s going to tell us how much he loves us. He will have a full recuperation and then we’re fucking going home,” I say with a newfound gusto.

  “Yeah!” Elena cheers mirroring my enthusiasm. The guys are looking at us like we’ve collectively lost our minds.

  I roll my neck back and forth and wag my finger at them.

  “Today is all about optimism, good juju and all that shit, no negativity… period.”

  Elijah heeds my warning and switches up the conversation. “So, what’s the first thing you two are going to do when you get sprung from this joint?”

  “Well, the first thing I want to do is sit on the dock of the lake. I want to breathe the unfiltered air and listen to the water lap against the rocks and hold his hand.”

  “So romantic.” Elena places her hand over her heart and swoons.

  “I just want normal, you know? I’d like to experience life without all the drama, just Marcus and I.”

  Enrique snorts, “Well, I don’t think life with Marcus will ever be normal, calmer maybe but there’s nothing normal about him.”

  “You never know…” I say. But I do know. He’s right, not one minute of my life has been the same since meeting Marcus.

  I will never again be the woman who kept her love locked away deep inside, hiding it and sheltering it from anyone who might hurt me. I was afraid to live. Taking risks was never my thing but now that seems to be all I do. Over and over Marcus has pushed me to be brave and open but most importantly he has taught me to trust. I trust him with my most prized possession, my heart, but I also trust him with my body, my soul, my spirit, and my essence. He has helped me blossom into who I am today and I adore him for that.

  He makes me strong and weak at the same time. When I’m with him I am powerful and powerless simultaneously. Our devotion is balanced and equal: I give he takes, he gives I take. The way it’s supposed to be.

  If Marcus wakes up a monster I’ll do anything that’s necessary to find the good in him and lure it out. I refuse to believe that good can be removed from a brain with a laser or scalpel.

  Elijah and Enrique sit with Marcus while Elena and I take a short stroll down the hall.

  “Come outside with me, just for a minute, Imani. He’s not alone, and you’ve got to be going mad cooped up in here.”

  She grabs my hand before I have time to protest and pulls me toward the elevator. We’re inside and moving down to the main floor when a pang of anxiety hits. She’s putting too much distance between Marcus and I.

  “Don’t look so panicked. You’ll stand outside for five minutes with me, get some fresh air and back up we go, no big deal.”

  I roll my eyes and let her drag me outside. It’s chilly without a coat but, God, she was right. I needed to see a tree, feel the breeze and the sun against my skin.

  I take a deep breath through my nose. “Mm, it smells so good out here.” I wrap my arms around my waist and close my eyes, tilting my face toward the sun.

  I wonder how something so far away can provide an entire planet with enough warmth to survive. It’s a miracle, like Marcus falling into my life and his surgery going well.

  I know it’s greedy but I need a few more. I need him to wake up and know me. I want him to remember only the good things about his life and I pray to God the vile immoral man he used to be is gone forever along with his brain tumor.

  “Told ‘ya. When are you going to start listening to your sister?” The corner of her lip curls up in a smirk that reminds me of her brother.

  The sound of Elena’s phone jingles from her back pocket and my body stiffens. We’ve only been gone five minutes. Surely there hasn’t been a change in his condition in such a short time. She slides her perfectly manicured hand around to her backside and slips her phone from her pocket answering it on the second ring.

  “Enrique? What’s going on?” she asks.

  Enrique? He wouldn’t call unless it’s important. He knows we were only going to be gone a few minutes.

  I don’t even wait for her to tell me what’s happening. I turn on my heel and run.

  Elena is calling my name but I’m not stopping. No time for elevators, I find the stairwell throw open the heavy door and sprint up the steep stairs. My calves are burning and my heart feels like it’s going to pound right out of my chest. I never should have left him.

  Damn, damn, damn, I curse to myself with every step. Sweat runs between my shoulder blades and down my back as I approach the ICU’s door. The thick material of my sweater dress is sticking to my skin and I’m gasping for air. I can’t get enough into my lungs fast enough. I’m so fucking out of shape.

  I burst through the door, and a group of nurses gathered at the nurses’ station jump when the metal door hits the wall.

  “Sorry,” I say as I run by. I have learned a few words in Italian but I can’t remember them right now.

  I’ve been giving myself regular pep talks about crying and fainting but I feel both sensations coming on. The tears in my eyes and the ringing in my ears pisses me off. Don’t be weak now, Imani, you’ve come too far for that shit.

  I skid to a stop at the door grabbing both sides of the doorjamb gasping for breath.

  Enrique is still holding his phone to his ear talking to Elena. It only takes a fraction of a second before I feel his eyes on me. The magnetic pull between us is so strong I can actually feel my body being reeled in like a fish on a hook.

  He's awake, oh God, he’s awake. Heat begins to spread from my heart throughout my body. A flush creeps up my neck and burns when it settles in my cheeks.

  The anticipation is overwhelming. Does he know me? Is this my Marcus? What does he remember? Questions roll around in my mind, over and over, crashing into each other until my head hurts.

  And then I see it.

  Recognition. Life sparkles in his irresistible eyes, my Marcus's eyes. This miracle man is leering the same way he did when he came out of his coma in Seattle. He’s not alone this time, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about not being here when he woke up. Again.

  “I never left you.” I say, as I approach.

  “I… know.” He says slowly, purposely as if he’s searching for the words to string together. He reaches for me, and I take his hand in both of mine kissing his knuckles my hot tears splash onto his skin. He doesn’t smile or blink and his jaw tightens. His pulse accelerates and he sil
ently parts his lips.

  I wait for him to say something else but he doesn’t. I can see the frustration building in his eyes and I realize he’s having trouble with speaking, a typical side effect after brain surgery.

  “Are you having trouble finding the right words?” I cup my hand on his jaw and he leans into it. His eyes say all I need to know when tears well and threaten to fall. He reins them in and blinks them away.

  “It’s going to be ok, baby, this is a side effect. You need to relax and the words will come back.”

  I lean in to kiss his cheek and he gently pulls me closer until our lips touch. My tummy flutters and my world is once again aligned and in focus. He’s alive, he knows me, and he loves me. That’s all I’ll ever need.

  Eighty-Four

  He won’t let me go, as in he has been holding me against his chest with his fingers tangled in my hair for twenty minutes in silence. His breathing is calm and relaxed and his blood pressure and pulse are down.

  He is radiating with contentment and I’m not about to ruin this moment. I have my hip propped on the edge of the bed for support. I’ll stay here for as long as he needs me to.

  Elena returned a minute or two after me, he looked up and nodded in her direction but went right back to fussing with my hair.

  “Honey, the doctor is here, he needs to see you for a minute. Can you let her up?” Elena asks. I pull away just an inch and his arms tighten around me. He isn’t holding me so tight that I can’t move, he’s still weak, but the message is loud and clear. He isn’t ready to let me up.

  The surgeon covering for Brian is shuffling around the room behind me. I imagine he’s uncomfortable having to care for Marcus and now he thinks he’s dealing with a clingy wife.

  “Marcus,” I say and pull away until we are nose to nose. “Just for a minute, he needs to do an assessment, I swear I’m not going anywhere.”