Cowboy Take Me Away (Rough Riders #16)

by Lorelei James

  She opened her eyes.

  “I’ll ask if they can give you something that’ll dull the pain but won’t put you out. Okay?”

  Her gaze searched his. “Promise me you won’t trick me about this?”

  “I promise. If they can’t guarantee it won’t put you under then I won’t let you take it.”

  “Okay.”

  He brushed his lips over hers. “Be right back.”

  Five minutes later he trailed into the room behind Lissa. She piggy-backed a clear packet of liquid onto her IV. “This will help.”

  “Good. She needs it.” Carson lowered the bedrail so he could move in closer. He stroked her head. Something about that stubble…he couldn’t stop touching it. He couldn’t stop touching her.

  “That feels nice.”

  “Anything else I can do?”

  “Since I’m pretty sure the meds will knock me out even when they swore they don’t, I want your promise that you’ll sleep with me.”

  “Much as I can’t wait to get my hands on you, think about what you and me goin’ at it does to your heart rate. You want the nurses to see that on the monitor and race in here and see my ass in the air as I’m bouncing on you?”

  “Even when I’m decrepit in a hospital bed, with bad hair and a bad attitude, you’re scheming to nail me.” She smiled softly. “It’s good to be me. But I’m serious. I want to sleep in your arms tonight, Carson. I’m never scared when I’m with you.”

  He stroked her cheek. “Did you have nightmares while you were under?”

  “Only that I’d never find my way back to you.”

  “You did.” He kissed her cheek. “Make room for me while I get undressed.”

  Lissa, the night nurse…

  Lissa hadn’t been in to check on Carolyn McKay for forty-five minutes. She’d gotten sidetracked but the monitor readings were normal so she wasn’t worried. As she entered the room she was making a mental checklist of all the things she needed to accomplish before shift change so she didn’t notice them at first.

  But when she reached the foot of the bed she stopped and stared.

  At some point in the last hour, Carson McKay had crawled into the hospital bed with his wife. The gruff rancher, always decked out in boots, jeans and a long sleeved western shirt, at all hours of the day or night, had donned a hospital gown and a pair of flannel pants. His bare feet stuck out the end of the bed, but she could see beneath the blanket his legs were entwined with Carolyn’s.

  Carolyn had curled into him, resting her head on his chest, her left hand clasped in his right. He’d draped his left arm across her back and palmed her butt. The posture couldn’t have been more intimate even if they’d been naked.

  Feeling intrusive, Lissa backed out of the room until her shoulders hit the wall. She couldn’t stop the tears.

  Justine, the other night nurse was right there. “Lissa? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Everything is right.”

  “Then why are you crying?”

  Lissa gestured to the room with her head. “I’ve been taking care of her for a week and watching him. It broke my heart because he was just so…lost without her. Now watching them together? That’s the first time I’ve ever really seen the I-can’t-live-without-you kind of love that everyone talks about. They have it. They’ve had it for half a century.” She sniffled. “Now they’re wrapped up in each other’s arms, sleeping in that small bed, because they couldn’t bear to spend another night apart. I can’t imagine loving someone that much.” She glanced through the doorway to the room. “I want that. I want a man who will be by my side for the next fifty years. I’m done settling for good enough.”

  “Good for you. But you know him sleeping in ICU is against the rules.”

  “Her vitals have improved in the last hour and that’s all that matters, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Let them be. After all they’ve been through they deserve this.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Carolyn didn’t know why she was nervous to see her own kids. She’d birthed them, nursed them, raised them and cherished them. She’d let them go when they started families of their own.

  Everything was so disjointed.

  She still didn’t feel like herself.

  She’d lost a week of her life.

  A week in which she’d relived her life-long love affair with Carson McKay.

  Part of her feared this hospital scene was just another memory. That she was dying and this was her life flashing before her eyes.

  Upon waking in Carson’s arms in the small hospital bed, she’d been hit with the dizzying sensation of being plucked out of the void of her mind and shoved into a memory.

  She’d panicked and fought against it.

  No! I want to stay here, in this time.

  Evidently her reaction had sent her heart rate soaring. The nurses burst into her room to see why their monitor screen had gone crazy.

  That’s when they’d kicked Carson out of her bed, but he’d refused to leave her room. He’d insisted the doctors check her out thoroughly. Immediately. The stubborn man made a real nuisance of himself until he got his way.

  Speaking with her doctors didn’t alleviate her anxiety. They’d performed a complete examination on her—physical and psychological—that took an eternity. Some of the questions they asked her didn’t make sense. But she wondered if that was part of the test—if she could differentiate between gibberish and jabberish.

  Was jabberish even a word? But that’s what some of the tests they’d given her had looked like. Gibber-jabber.

  She’d drifted in and out as they’d awaited the test results. Finally the doctors had declared her on track to recovery.

  Except…the doctors had taken Carson out of the room and spoke to him out of earshot. She’d been a little pissy about that. It was her brain. If there were problems with it she deserved to know.

  When the staff delivered her food, she managed to eat half of it, despite the fact it had zero flavor. She stared at the evening dinner menu choices, but again the words on the page were a jumbled mess. She’d have to ask Carson to find her reading glasses.

  The therapist forced her to walk around. Moving about had buoyed her spirits even when she’d kept a snail’s pace up and down the hallway.

  Carson hadn’t complained. He’d just hovered. Encouraged her. Held her up when her body and her will had started to falter.

  Exhausted and sore from working her muscles after a week of no activity, she returned to her room. But her fear about getting lost in sleep kicked in again. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, she couldn’t settle down until Carson climbed in bed with her.

  Luckily she’d slept without dreams.

  But again she woke in a panic.

  Carson calmed her down before the nurses barreled in. “Hey, sugar. Listen to me. If something doesn’t feel right, you need to tell someone. If you’re havin’ headaches or hallucinations or you’re feelin’ paranoid, some of that is a normal reaction as the drugs are getting washed out of your system. Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t try and hide it. The doctors can’t help your recovery process if they don’t know what they’re dealin’ with.”

  She closed her eyes and nestled her face in his neck. “I’m scared.”

  Carson didn’t say anything; he just trailed his fingers up and down her spine.

  After a bit she began to talk. Then it all spewed out, in a fragmented mess. Her emotions were all over the place.

  “Did that help?”

  “Just being with you helps.”

  “Mmm. I love the sweet talkin’ side of you.” He traced her jawline with his thumb. “You know you can tell me anything, but you oughta rethink your stance on talkin’ to the lady psychologist because I think she can help you.”

  She frowned. “
What stance?”

  “You told her you didn’t need her help.”

  “I don’t remember.” Another memory lapse. How many had she had since she came out of the coma? Two? Three? A dozen? “Was I rude to her?”

  Carson shrugged. “I’m sure she’s used to patients tellin’ her to get the hell out of their rooms and to never come back.”

  Her stomach roiled. “I said that?”

  “It wasn’t like you made her cry or nothin’.”

  Carolyn wanted to cry. “Am I going through one of those personality changes? Where I was a nice woman and after bein’ in a coma I become a total asshole?”

  “Hey, it was one incident. You’re entitled to a little bad behavior after what you’ve been through. Don’t get yourself riled up.”

  “Too late.”

  “Sugar, just breathe, okay?”

  “I can’t. I’m suffocating.”

  He kissed her then, a sweet distraction. Soft smooches and the gentle brush of his lips across hers, the tease of his breath mingling with hers while his thumb continued to caress her face with utmost tenderness.

  It settled her. It soothed her. She curled into him. His heart beat steadily beneath her ear. His outdoorsy scent filled her senses.“What time are the kids coming?”

  “Whenever you’re feelin’ up to it. No rush.”

  Carolyn lifted her head from his chest. “I thought they were all fired up to see me since you kept them out of ICU for the past week.”

  “They are very anxious to see you. But they were also warned you might have a setback the first couple of days, so they’re on standby.”

  “Setback? I haven’t had a setback.”

  The look in his eyes contradicted her statement. “Answer me this. How long have you been out of the coma?”

  “Not even twenty-four hours.”

  He shook his head. “It’s been forty-eight hours.”

  Time confusion in the first couple days is an aftereffect for coma patients, the doctors had assured her.

  “You were agitated by the pain, so they had to sedate you and keep you in ICU.”

  “It’s a blur.”

  “It’ll get better.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “No, but whatever happens, Caro, we’ll deal with it together.”

  “I hate that I put you through this.”

  “Just another bump in the road. We’ve had a few of ’em the past fifty years.”

  Later that day Carolyn felt a million times better after they let her shower. It was such a shock to see her hair buzzed almost to her scalp. Carson already said he was used to it and he liked it. Then he’d gone into great detail about all the places on his body he couldn’t wait to feel her rubbing that short hair.

  If the thought of that man’s wicked mouth and skilled hands all over her didn’t speed up her recovery process and her desire to go home, nothing would.

  Carson had summoned their kids. She’d debated putting on makeup so as to not scare them, but nothing would hide the pallor of the last week so she opted to let her age show.

  She was wired as she waited. Carson sat beside her on a tall chair, his hands in near constant motion. Seemed he had a case of nerves too.

  The door opened and her children filed in, lined up by birth order like she used to demand whenever they were in trouble. No surprise they still knew how to do it.

  Carson’s hand tightened on hers. His mouth brushed her ear. “Any time this is too much, let me know and I’ll kick ’em out.”

  “I always make you the bad guy, don’t I?”

  “No reason for us to change that now.”

  Her gaze started with Cord, who gripped a bouquet of flowers from her garden. Then she focused on Colby. His hair held more gray streaks than Cord’s. Her gaze moved to Colt. Still the image of his handsome father, down to his dimpled grin. Cam, her burly boy, wept openly. He’d clamped his hand on Carter’s shoulder, as if his little brother was holding him up. Then she noticed somber-eyed Carter also clasped Keely’s hand. Tears streamed down her daughter’s cheeks.

  None of them said a word.

  She cleared her throat. “What a fine looking bunch.” And because she was feeling ornery, and because these hellions had played numerous pranks on her over the years, she kept a confused look on her face, and said, “Who are all of you again?”

  The room, already silent, went deadly still. The kids exchanged bewildered looks with each other. Then they looked at Carson. And finally at her.

  Just as Cord opened his mouth to speak, Carolyn smiled and said, “Just kidding.”

  “Jesus, Ma, that was mean,” Cam complained.

  “Really mean,” Carter added.

  She flapped her hand at them. “Oh pooh, you all deserved that and you damn well know it.”

  Colt grinned. “And you’re swearing at us? Now I know you had a head injury.”

  Silence.

  Then Colt said, “Ah, too soon?”

  “Ya think, asshole?” Colby shoved him.

  Cord elbowed Colby. “Knock it off, you two.”

  Carson sighed. “Some things never change.”

  “Thank God for that.” Carolyn held her arms open. “Well, kids, come here and give me hugs. Then tell me everything I missed in the past week.”

  They gathered around, pushing each other out of the way to be the first in line.

  Then they all started talking at once.

  She turned her head and looked at Carson.

  He gifted her with that dimpled grin and mouthed I love you.

  That’s when her topsy-turvy world righted itself.

  This chaos was her life and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Epilogue

  Ten years later…

  “See that silver-haired fox over there?” Carson said to Cal. “She’s comin’ home with me tonight.”

  “You sure? That guy in the three-piece suit in the corner is eyeballin’ her. Looks like he’s gonna make a move soon.” Cal chuckled. “Of course, he’d have to get up and outta that wheelchair first.”

  “Don’t care if he’s in a wheelchair. He puts a hand on her and I’ll beat his wrinkled ass.”

  Cal snorted. “Good thing you’re carryin’ around a cane, old man. Your brawlin’ days have been over for a long damn time.”

  “Piss off. That woman has been mine for sixty years. I ain’t ever gonna be too old to fight for her.”

  Carolyn threw her head back and laughed at something Kyler said. She was holding someone’s baby but there were so many kids around that he couldn’t keep track of which ones belonged to whom.

  “She is still something, all right,” Carson said to Cal, never taking his eyes off his wife.

  “Yep. Think she’s got a sister?”

  “I’ve heard that little whip of a thing is mouthy. Think you can handle her?”

  “Been doin’ my level best to handle that spitfire for the past fifty-three years,” Cal said dryly. “Give me another ten years or so and I might have it figured out.”

  Carson grinned. “Been a helluva ride, bein’ married to the West sisters.”

  “Got that right.” Cal lifted his bottle for a toast. “Best thing I ever did was drag your ass to the dancehall that night.”

  He raised his bottle and touched it to his brother’s. “Amen. And if I never said thank you…”

  “You did. So how long is this party supposed to last?”

  “Hell if I know. That’s the good thing about bein’ old; no one expects us to stay for the whole thing. They think we’re goin’ home early and goin’ to bed.” Which was partially true. He’d be taking his wife home to bed, but they sure wouldn’t be sleeping.

  Cal snorted and didn’t say a word, but he knew what was on his brother’s mind, probably because the sa
me thing was on his. “The blonde tornado is givin’ me the stink eye so I’d better see what’s up.”

  Carson’s gaze remained on Carolyn until she sensed him staring at her.

  After passing the baby to Vi, she started toward him.

  The background noise and the groups of people faded away and all he saw was her.

  Carolyn moved slower now. She looked a little different. After her accident a decade ago, her hair follicles had sustained damage and her hair had never grown back the right way. He’d expected her vanity would force her into wearing a wig. But she refused and kept her hair in a military crew-cut style. Those once blonde tresses were completely silver. Now she was the very definition of a hot, sexy and hip grandma.

  She stopped in front of him.

  “You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. How’s about we run off together?”

  “Does that line usually work for you, cowboy?”

  He traced the edge of her jaw. “It did once. Got me what I wanted and it lasted for six glorious decades. So I wanna make sure you’re onboard for the next six decades with me.”

  “Hmm. Well, I might have to think about it… There are pros and cons.”

  “Such as?”

  “The cons? You are still too handsome for your own good. And you’d prefer to answer all challenges with your fists.You still sneak the occasional cigarette. You cuss like a sailor. You drive like an idiot.” Carolyn placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. “The pros? You’ve got a full head of hair and your own teeth. You make me laugh. You set my blood on fire. You are still the best man I’ve ever known. So, I’ll keep you around for a little while longer.”

  “Whew. I was worried there for a second you might want to upgrade this model for a newer one.”

  “The training period for a new model is far too long. Besides, they’ve replaced all your worn out parts.”

  In the last decade he’d had his other hip replaced and both knees. Most days he felt pretty good. He missed riding. He probably always would.

  Carson leaned forward and kissed her. “How’s my bride?”