Texas Gift

by RJ Scott

“He collapsed.”

  She moved to the other side of the bed and pressed a kiss to Riley’s head, then took his other hand, careful of the cannula there.

  “I know that, but why? What did the doctors say?”

  Jack didn’t want to do this, but Hayley was eighteen and she had a right to be treated like an adult. “His spinal cord is compressed, he needs an operation to free the space so it isn’t so tight.” That was how he’d understood the situation and he hoped he was right in what he was saying.

  “An operation on his spine?” Hayley slid into the chair, still holding Riley’s hand.

  That he couldn’t lie about at all. “Yes.”

  “Is it dangerous…,” she began, and then shook her head, “of course it’s dangerous. What did dad say about it?”

  “I’m not sure he understands yet, I’ll talk to him when he next wakes up. He’ll be happy you’re here.”

  “Of course,” Hayley said, and then she began to cry. Not sobbing, just quiet tears that broke Jack’s heart.

  “He’ll be okay, sweetheart.”

  Jack couldn’t let himself think otherwise.

  Hayley slept, the hospital was quiet, and a parade of family had visited Riley today. He’d seemed brighter, able to talk and laugh, albeit with a wince every so often.

  “The drugs are good,” he’d joked every time he’d been asked how the pain was.

  Jack was as exhausted as Hayley looked. This was day three and tomorrow, all being well, the operation would be underway. A quick in and out, the surgeon called it, dismissing concerns with a bright cheeriness that contradicted the somber mood in the room. Riley had taken everything in; every tiny detail. He’d heard the odds, listened to the explanation, even smiled when he was told that this would probably fix all his issues. Only when the surgeon had gone, after a firm handshake and a cheery see you in the morning did Riley go quiet. Hayley curled up in the spare chair and fell asleep, so it was just Jack and Riley awake in this room.

  “She’s beautiful isn’t she?” Riley said, and Jack looked up from the hand in his lap. Last he’d noticed, Riley had been as fast asleep as Hayley was. “Hayley, I mean.”

  Jack studied their daughter as objectively as he could, but he was so biased about all four of their children. They were all gorgeous and funny and bright and blessed. Hayley had her dad’s hair and eyes and she was already five-ten, she might well get taller, who knew. She was so like Riley; in fact he was a mini-Riley, with his spark and drive, and Jack loved her so much.

  “She is.” Jack moved to get Riley some more water. When he’d done that he went to sit again in the hard chair, but Riley patted the bed.

  “Come here,” he said. Jack didn’t argue, anything that got him closer to Riley was a good thing. He sat, taking care not to lean too far so it rolled Riley. “I love you.” He found Jack’s hand, lacing their fingers.

  “And I love you,” Jack replied, pressing a kiss to Riley’s forehead.

  “If anything happens to me tomorrow—”

  “Nothing will happen.” Jack believed wholeheartedly in the power of positive thinking and he wouldn’t let Riley’s normal default stress setting railroad this whole thing.

  But, there was no stress, or panic, or pessimism in Riley’s expression.

  “If something happens,” he began again in that tone that defied Jack’s any attempt to talk over him when he had something important to say. “Tom knows what is happening at CH. I think he’d be a good person to keep there to run the place.”

  “Riley—”

  “And, my will, everything goes to you, you know that.”

  Emotion choked Jack, stopping his breath. “I know,” he said, because Riley didn’t look as if he was in the mood for arguments.

  “I don’t want you to work at CH, okay, I don’t want that as my legacy, I want you to go on doing what you’re doing. CH will be okay. The kids? I couldn’t be prouder of them, you tell them that if…okay, you tell them.”

  A tear slipped out of Riley’s eye and trickled down his cheek, sliding to the pillow.

  “Please, Riley.”

  “You promise me you’ll find someone else, okay Jack—?”

  Jack reached his limit, leaning right down and kissing Riley. “Shut. The. Hell. Up.” Riley didn’t have any choice in the matter. “I’m not listening to this.”

  “That’s stupid—”

  “No Ri, that is unshakeable faith and love.”

  Chapter 3

  Riley wondered, in his drugged-up state, if it was possible to fit more people in the room.

  The post-operative recovery area teemed with people, or at least it seemed that way, and not ones he wanted in the room like Jack or the kids or family. No, these were interns and nurses measuring heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, and making not-so-helpful comments about pain reflex. There were all kinds of them asking him stupid questions when all he wanted was to see a friendly face.

  Jack.

  He wanted Jack, right here next to him in this room. He must have said so, because a whole bunch of faces were right there telling him he was going back to his bed, and wasn’t it good that everything was a success, and for him not to worry.

  Well, he was worried damn it. And thirsty, and tired, and floating, and Jack should have been allowed into the recovery area.

  Someone needed to be listening to him.

  At last, they moved him, and he closed his eyes under the dizzying lights, waiting for the motion to stop.

  “Hey.” Was the first thing he heard—Jack’s voice, and blame it on the meds or on his state of mind, or a desperate need to have Jack near him, but he cried.

  By the end of that day it seemed as if the world and his wife had visited, but what he most anticipated was the kids coming in; the twins had a gift for him, apparently, and Max wanted to tell him a story about a tomato.

  “How’s the pain, Mr. Campbell-Hayes?” the latest nurse to check on him asked.

  “I don’t feel anything,” Riley answered. He was so drugged-up it was doubtful he’d feel a baseball on his head.

  The nurse made notes on his pad, and stood to one side when a doctor came in.

  “How are we doing, Mr. Campbell-Hayes?”

  “Fine,” Riley said, because they expected him to say that. He caught Jack’s quirk of a smile and tried not to smile himself. Jack had already warned him not to fake feeling okay to get home earlier than he should.

  The damn man knew him too well.

  “Nurse will fit you with a brace, and you should be out of here in one to two days.”

  “One,” Riley insisted.

  “One to two,” the doctor corrected him. “And we’ll furnish you with the appropriate discharge instructions. You may need help with daily activities like dressing and showering for the first few weeks. Fatigue is common. Let pain be your guide.”

  Riley was pretty fixated on the idea of needing help in the shower and smiled at Jack, but Jack was serious now, as if he was listening to the list of things they could and couldn’t do.

  “You can shower by the weekend, that’s four days from the surgery, okay?”

  Him, Jack, in a shower. Hell yes. He might not be able to go to his knees but Jack could.

  “—recovery takes between four to six weeks.”

  “Riley?” Jack interjected, “are you listening?”

  The doctor continued when Riley glanced back at him. “There will be targeted exercises with a Physical Therapist that’ll last two to three months but I am sure that was covered in your pre-op assessment. Walk, a short distance at first, aiming eventually for up to two miles, and that will work on your body mechanics.”

  The doctor carried on, something about staples, or stitches, and Riley hoped Jack was taking notes because he was feeling some pain. Spikes of it in his shoulders and neck. He closed his eyes.

  “You in pain Riley?” Jack asked.

  “Uh huh,” Riley murmured.

  There was medication, and blessed relief, an
d the doctor left, meaning it was him and Jack in the room.

  “When do the kids get here?” he asked when the fuzz of pain cleared a little.

  “You sure you’re up for that?”

  “God yes.”

  “They’re downstairs in the restaurant, I’ll get them.”

  “You look really silly,” Connor told Riley as soon as he walked into the room.

  Lexie elbowed her brother. “Don’t say that,” she said in a loud whisper.

  “Well he does look silly,” Connor whispered back.

  Jack corralled them closer to the bed, and Riley caught the nod he gave Lexie, who was making a really bad job of hiding something behind her back. He’d already seen the bright paper when she’d pushed Connor, but he didn’t say a single word.

  “We brought you this.” Lexie thrust the gift out in front of her. “Pappa helped us ‘cause of the glass.”

  “Don’t tell him it’s got glass, he’ll know what it is.” Now it was Connor’s turn to elbow Lexie, but she ignored him. She mostly disregarded everyone and did her own thing.

  Riley couldn’t quite reach the gift, and patted the bed, waiting until Lexie and Connor had both climbed up, with some help from Jack. He made a great show, as much as he could with his clumsy hands and inability to look down, of opening the present and picked the frame up so he could see it closer.

  The picture was one of him and Jack, with the kids on their shoulders; he had Connor, Jack with Lexie, and it had been taken on a day trip to the river. A beautiful day, Max had spent all of it finding the shiniest stones, and Hayley had only used her phone for taking photos. The whole day had been one of those shining, perfect moments in their lives and Riley looked straight at Jack to see his soft smile.

  “I love this,” he said to the twins, but also to Jack.

  Lexie took it carefully from him and placed it on the bedside table, right next to the jug of water and the family cards.

  “You can look at it later,” she said, “when you can move your neck. Max has a present too, but he wanted to wait in the restaurant with Carol and Hayley and a huge pile of scrambled eggs.” Lexie waved her hands expansively to indicate the quantity of egg. “I’ve never seen so much egg and then he put all this ketchup on it, loads and loads and loads, and it went all over the plate and some on the table. Hayley said it was okay though because he was quiet and happy, though Carol scooped some of it off and didn’t know what to do with it, and Hayley had to get another plate.”

  Connor nodded along with his sister, but didn’t have anything to add. Although getting a word in edgeways when Lexie was on a streak was really hard.

  The twins left with Carol and Max after Max explained that the ketchup at the hospital was yucky, and he wanted to go home. He didn’t express anything like sympathy or affection, well not outwardly, but Riley hadn't been expecting it. Max stored away information and would talk about what had happened at some point. Carol explained Daddy was not well, that was all Max needed to know at this moment.

  Hayley brought in snacks and drinks and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, Jack pulled up a visitor’s chair, turned it around and straddled it. Riley worried immediately, it didn’t matter he was on meds and stuck in a bed, Hayley looked very serious and clearly had something on her mind.

  “So, I wanted to talk to you guys, and it’s important and scary,” she began, halfway through an energy bar.

  “We’re listening,” Jack offered, when Riley didn’t say anything.

  “I made a decision about college,” she announced.

  “I thought you were still looking at options.”

  “I was, but this is an easy decision, I know what I want, and I know where I want to be. I got accepted everywhere I’d applied but I’ve made a choice.” She paused and Riley waited, expecting the lights to dim like on a talent show. Hayley had applied for a range of courses, from business to geology, but he’d never said a single word to influence her. This was her decision and she might love business school. Just because Riley didn’t like it, didn’t mean that Hayley would hate it as well.

  “And?” Jack prompted. For someone who was usually so laid back the one thing he couldn’t handle was suspense.

  “I want to join the Geological Sciences program in Colorado.”

  Memories flooded Riley. He’d followed the family tradition and gone to a private college in upstate New York, studied business as his dad wanted; or rather he chose the only course his dad would fund. Given he didn’t have access to his trust fund at that age and convinced he shouldn’t have to work for money at that point in his life, he’d gone along with it. Coming out of the place with a shiny degree in business administration and a daughter he didn’t know he’d created.

  He’d have given anything to be studying geosciences, that was still his passion.

  “What do you think, Dad?” Hayley asked when Riley hadn't said a word.

  “Maybe your dad needs to sleep,” Jack explained.

  “No.” Riley held up a hand. “I’m so proud of you, and so pleased that is what you want to do, but do you truly want to study Geology?”

  Hayley nodded. “Remember that time you helped me with homework and you found those stones on the ranch? We went out on the horses, I was twelve, I think.”

  “Yeah, I remember that.”

  “We found topaz. And you explained it was a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine. And then you told me about the orthorhombic system, remember?”

  “You remember all that?”

  “Yep,” she said proudly. “I wrote it all down and researched it.”

  “Even the bit about the crystals being mostly prismatic, terminated by pyramidal and other faces?”

  Hayley grinned at him. “Yep, all of it. It’s fascinating. That’s where it started, and I want to work at CH if I’m good enough and help you research.”

  Riley’s eyes stung with unshed tears, he couldn’t have been prouder, or more blown away.

  She clambered up the bed a little, fitting in next to Riley, “so you need to get better, Dad, so we can work together.”

  Riley planned on it. “I will.”

  Jack huffed a laugh. “Like father like daughter.” He shook his head as he smiled, and Riley knew he was just as proud. “Don’t go talking rocks around me,” he added and faked a yawn. That earned him a greetings card in the face, and when it came time for Hayley to leave Riley realized he’d forgotten all the dark things, and that Hayley was a special kind of light in this family.

  Chapter 4

  By the time they’d passed April and were firmly into May, Riley had ditched the collar and was working with a Physical Therapist, who spent a lot of time trying to make Riley cry. Or at least that’s what Riley told Jack after every session.

  “And then, Jesus, I had to bend to the right, and fuck, I could have cheerfully strangled the guy.” Riley stomped around the kitchen, and yeah, stomping was the word Jack wanted to use. He was opening cupboards and shutting them again, and the poor cookie jar was perilously close to the edge of the counter. Jack rescued it and moved so he was between the cupboards and Riley, holding him still with a gentle touch on his arms.

  “But you feel better?”

  Riley stiffened to pull away and Jack rubbed patterns into his skin. Riley had been so brave in the hospital, had endured all kinds of pain and anxiety without a single word of complaint. But Jack couldn’t fail to see that now Riley was feeling better he was impatiently in the wish-it-was-all-over stage. Riley leaned into him, pressing his face against Jack’s and sighing.

  “I just want this done.”

  Jack shifted so he could take Riley’s weight and height at just the right angle and then slid a hand between them, unbuttoning Riley’s jeans. At first Riley didn’t get with the plan, still needing the hug. Then he seemed to realize what was happening and lifted his head from Jack’s shoulder.

  “Come on,” Jack encouraged, “we can fool around a little, that’s what the doc said.”

/>   At that Riley blushed, same as he had done when the doctor explained that relations, as long as they weren’t too intense, could begin again. That had been two weeks ago, and they had made it to bed a couple of times, but it was always Riley getting Jack off, never Riley getting anywhere near orgasm.

  “I can’t,” Riley murmured. “Not yet, still in too much pain.”

  Jack pulled back and looked Riley in the eyes. “Okay then,” he said, determined, “get in the bedroom and you can suck me off.”

  Riley’s eyes widened, but he didn’t argue. He’d been very good about making sure that Jack was happy, that Jack got off, and fuck, it was starting to piss Jack right the hell off. This morning, no kids, no nanny, Robbie covering for him at the school, Vaughn out with the horses, this was his time to show Riley that he was getting better.

  Of course, he wasn’t doing this without research and one humiliating call to the same doc who said they could start to get it on.

  As soon as they reached the bedroom he closed and locked the door. It didn’t matter that no one was supposed to be home, it would be just their luck that someone would come looking for them. He could see the side of their barn from here, but that was for another day, when Riley was fully healed. Today was all about taking him out of himself and leaving him pliant and loose on the bed, all fucked out.

  “Take off your clothes,” Jack ordered. Riley hesitated, his hand on his belt. The three times he’d sucked Jack off since the doc’s meeting he had been determined to keep his clothes on. “I mean it Riley.”

  Jack used his best I’m-in-charge voice, which sometimes made Riley hot, and sometimes made him laugh. Today he just looked confused, but at least he did as he’d been told. He stripped, fumbling over his belt and Jack watched until Riley was entirely naked, and then he copied him and dropped his clothes to the floor.

  Riley had lost some weight in the hospital and during post-surgery, his muscles a little less defined, but god, he was gorgeous, from head to toe.

  “On the bed,” Jack commanded and Riley climbed onto the bed and scooted back so his ass was against the pillow. “No, lay down.”