Only Tyler

by Jess Dee

  Katie knew he’d been in the hospital all along, but he’d given Tyler’s room a wide girth for the last hour or so.

  “Hey, b-” His voice broke midsentence. “Hey,” he said instead, and focused his gaze solely on Katie. “How’s he doing?” Steve didn’t look too good. There were shadowy smudges below his eyes, and his color was still a little off.

  “Same, same,” she answered. “Dr. Lavine was here a little while ago.

  They’re going to decrease the Hypnovel tomorrow.”

  Steve nodded thoughtfully and his gaze wandered first to Tyler, and then almost reluctantly to Pen. The muscles in his neck corded.

  Pen stared at him, her face an expressionless mask. “Hello, Steve.”

  Only her panicky eyes gave her discomfort away.

  It took a good ten seconds before he responded. The profound silence echoed through the room. “Hello, Pen,” he answered finally.

  “It’s good to see you again.”

  “It’s good to see you too.”

  Tension reverberated through the air. Katie felt like an intruder watching Steve and Pen’s first meeting in two years. Penelope, who had been remarkably composed for the last couple of hours, now fidgeted awkwardly. It was, however, the raw emotion on Steve’s face that broke Katie’s heart. She’d been engaged to him for two months, and not once had he looked at her the way he now looked at Penelope.

  Steve stared at Pen, his face a mixture of open hunger and closed pain.

  Penelope stared at the floor, a polite smile camouflaging the desperation in her eyes.

  Katie stared at both of them and then at Tyler, and a hopeless sorrow overwhelmed her.

  She could have wept for Steve. Pen had walked away from him just like Tyler had walked away from her. Just like Tyler, Pen had a fifty percent chance of developing Huntington’s Disease.

  Indeed, fate could be very, very cruel.

  At six a.m. the next morning, there was some good news. Instead of decreasing the dosage of sedative, the neurosurgeon elected to stop it altogether. She’d monitor Tyler’s progress, and if he became too agitated she’d reintroduce the Hypnovel. In the meantime, things were looking up.

  Four hours later there was absolutely no change. Tyler was still fast asleep.

  Five and a half hours later, Steve, who’d paced the length of the room obsessively for the last thirty minutes, burst out, “I have to get out of here.” He clenched and unclenched his hand. “I’m going to get some coffee. Kate? Would you like something?”

  Feeling a little stir-crazy herself, she briefly contemplated going with him, but if Tyler woke up and she wasn’t there she’d never forgive herself. “I’d love a long black, with an extra shot of coffee and two sugars.” Usually she liked the drink milky and bitter. This morning, she needed a powerful caffeine-and-sugar hit.

  He nodded, and his gaze slid across the room. The lines around his mouth tightened. “Pen?”

  Pen shifted in her seat. She frowned and looked uncertainly at her sleeping brother. “I think I’ll come with you.” And then she added hesitantly, “If you don’t mind?”

  Steve motioned with his head towards the door. “Let’s go.” He held up his phone to Katie, and she nodded in response. If anything happened Steve was a phone call away.

  Katie stared thoughtfully at the closing door. Steve had taken Pen back to her hotel last night. Had they had a chance to talk? She’d considered asking, but really it was none of her business.

  She took out her book. If she didn’t focus on something other than an unconscious Tyler, she’d lose her mind. With every intention of reading aloud to him, she opened Pride and Prejudice and instead stared in silence at the inscription.

  ‘Sweet Katie,

  You were right.

  We cannot replace the things we love and lose no matter how hard we try.

  Enjoy the book anyway,

  T’

  He was right. She’d tried to replace him, and look how successful that had been. She still loved him with all her heart. God help her, she was not going to lose him now. Not again.

  Not. Ever. Again.

  That’s when the anger hit, with such intensity it almost knocked her over.

  She was suddenly incensed. Infuriated that just as she’d been this close to getting him back, everything had fallen apart.

  More than that, she was outraged at Tyler’s audacity. How dare he storm back into her life, make her fall in love with him all over again and then go and get himself almost killed on his damn motorbike? How bloody dare he?

  “You idiot.” She slammed the book down. “You brainless, stupid fool.

  What the hell were you thinking buying that godforsaken bike, anyway?

  You weren’t sick. You didn’t have the gene. There was no point taking those dumb risks anymore. But that doesn’t matter, does it? Oh no.

  Not to you. You cannot listen to reason. You never could. You still went ahead and bought it anyway.”

  She jumped up, knocking her chair over in her haste. “Just like you always go ahead and do everything without reason. You left me, goddamn it! No matter how many times I begged you not to go, you just left. You didn’t stick around to talk about it. You didn’t give me a chance to think about it. You just left.” Her voice grew louder, shriller.

  “Twice,” she yelled as an afterthought. Tears streamed down her face.

  “You left me twice, you bastard. You will not, I repeat, you will not leave me a third time. Got it?”

  She paused, took a deep breath and blew her nose. She had to calm down.

  Losing her cool didn’t help matters. She straightened the chair she’d knocked over.

  It made no difference. She was still livid.

  “Wake up, Tyler. Wake up and talk to me, you stubborn idiot. Don’t think for one minute I’m going to let you get away with this. Don’t think I’m going to let you carry on sleeping here without knowing that I love you. Damn you, Tyler, I love you! Wake up. Wake up.” She stopped and stared at him, silently imploring him to respond.

  He didn’t.

  “Open your eyes and talk to me, damn it. I’ve had enough, you hear me? No more crap from you. No more risks, no more bikes and no more walking out on me. I can’t take it. I won’t. You open your eyes, and you look at me, and you apologize for buying that hulk of metal. Now.”

  No response.

  “Wake up and listen to me tell you I love you. Only you. Always.”

  Not even a flicker of his eyelids.

  “Open your eyes, Ty, please,” she said between sobs. “Do it for us.

  Wake up so I can tell you I love you. Wake up, so we can be together.

  Please, Ty, please, wake up.”

  Still he slept.

  “Get up, you son of a bitch. Get up and face the facts. It’s just you and me now, and I will not allow you to leave me again. Ever. You got that? Ever!”

  The man on the bed was still.

  “Please wake up, Tyler.” She dropped her head into her hands. The fight flowed out of her. “Please. Wake up,” she whispered. “Please.” She couldn’t talk anymore.

  For a very long time she stood with her head in her hands as the tears fell down her face, through her fingers and splattered onto the floor.

  She cried until something touched her leg, and a scratchy voice said, “Katie?”

  And then she cried some more, because for once in his life Tyler had finally listened to her. he’d woken up.

  It took a while for Tyler to shake off the general confusion and to slake his impossible thirst. If someone had given him more than a drop of water each time he complained, he wouldn’t have been so damned dehydrated. But everyone kept assuring him it was for his own good, and they didn’t want him throwing up whatever he’d just swallowed down.

  Apart from the thirst he wasn’t cognizant of much. He knew there were people around him all the time. Katie, Steve, Pen. Pen? What the hell was she doing there?

  He would have asked, but it was just too
damned hard to talk. His arms were on fire. He felt as though someone was tickling them with a blowtorch. His head threatened to explode if he moved it too quickly at any one time. It was easier to drift back to sleep.

  Time passed in a painful haze. He had no idea how much an hour? A day? His body seemed to crave sleep, and he submitted to the urge willingly, until little by little he became more aware of the world around him. Of the people around him.

  Doctors, nurses, Katie, Steve, Pen. Pen? What the hell was she doing there?

  Where was here? Was he in hospital? Was Pen visiting him in hospital?

  Then came the time when he woke up and his head was clear. His first thought as he opened his eyes and saw Katie’s beautiful face was that no matter how many times he’d drifted in and out of consciousness, no matter how long he’d slept, whenever he’d woken up, Katie was at his bedside.

  He glanced around the room. Noticed the glass walls and long corridors beyond them. He heard the constant beeping of machines. He was in hospital. Well that would explain the blinding pain in his temple and the burning in his arm. But what was he doing here, and how long had he been here?

  He looked back at Katie. She must have fallen asleep reading, because her book had slipped onto her lap, and her cheek was pressed against the wing of an armchair. Her hair was curly and wild, just like it used to be. When they were lovers. Before she and Steve got engaged.

  He didn’t move or speak as he watched her. He knew she shouldn’t be here. She should be with her fiancé. Yet there she dozed, curled up beside his bed, waiting for what? For him to wake up?

  Why?

  Even with the millions of questions pounding away at his head, he didn’t disturb her. This was most likely the last chance he’d get to see her sleep and he would not wake her for anything. Time stood still as he memorized every line and freckle on her face. Memorized the way her lashes brushed the skin below her eyes, and the way her chest rose and fell rhythmically with every breath she took.

  For this silent moment, he could still pretend she was his. Could still pretend he’d achieved his goals and gotten her back. From now on the pretense would have to do. He’d never have the real thing again.

  Besides, if he let himself think about the reality of their situation again, the pain in his chest would most likely outweigh the pain in his arms and head a thousandfold.

  Just what in hell’s name had happened anyway? Why was he in hospital, dealing with all the pain? He was pretty sure he’d asked someone before, but he couldn’t remember the answer, and he couldn’t remember who he’d asked, so a fat lot of good that had done.

  Eons later, he noticed a clock hanging above the door. 5:21. How long did he have before Steve walked through those doors and reclaimed the woman he loved?

  Movement caught his eye. He turned in time to see Katie stretch and rotate her head from side to side. She stopped dead when she saw him looking at her and stared into his eyes, searching.

  “You’re awake,” she said at length.

  “Yep,” he agreed.

  “No. I mean you’re really awake.”

  “And I have been for the last forty-odd minutes,” he told her.

  She sat up. “How do you feel?”

  He considered the question carefully. “Like I’ve been hit by a bus.”

  “Not quite,” she said in a choked voice. “But close enough.”

  “What happened to me, Katie?” Damn. He wished he knew, but he didn’t have a clue.

  “You don’t remember?” She eyed him cautiously, sat a little straighter.

  “Nope. Last thing I remember is checking out of the hotel.” He hesitated, then remembered a little bit more. “I was coming to see you and Steve.”

  Katie bit her lip. “You were in an accident.”

  Tyler was stunned. “I was?”

  “Yeah, Ty.” Her voice broke. “You came off your bike.”

  “I did? No way.”

  “Someone shot a red light. He he hit your back wheel doing over sixty kilometers an hour.”

  “You’re kidding.” She had to be. He had no recollection of the incident.

  “I wish I was.” Her face was pale.

  She wasn’t kidding. This was not something Katie would kid about.

  “How long have I been here? A day or two at the most,” he reckoned.

  Katie took a deep breath. “Five days.”

  He gaped at her. “What?”

  “You won’t remember most of it,” she said. “You were heavily sedated.”

  “What day is it?” Last he could remember it was Tuesday.

  Afternoon.

  Damn, he’d missed his appointment with the estate agent.

  “It’s Sunday morning.”

  He lay back on his pillow and stared sightlessly at the ceiling.

  “Christ, I’ve lost nearly a week.” He began to lift his arm to rub his eyes, but pain shot from his wrist to his shoulder, and he dropped it quickly and groaned out loud.

  Katie jumped up and checked his drip. Your pain medication has run out. She reached for something behind him and he heard a buzzing sound. “You broke your arm, Ty. Badly. It’ll take a while before it feels okay.”

  Even before she’d finished speaking, the door opened and a nurse walked in.

  From then on, Tyler had almost no time to speak to Katie. Hospital staff bustled around him, changed his drip, checked his blood pressure, took his temperature, drew blood. Katie was hustled out of the room when a woman walked in. She introduced herself as Dr. Lavine and proceeded to ask about a thousand questions as she gave him a thorough physical exam.

  By the time she left the room, she was smiling and he was exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep. Not until he’d spoken to Katie again.

  She stood on the other side of the glass wall, talking to the doctor.

  Then she turned around and stared straight into his eyes. He couldn’t read her expression at all until her lips tilted up and her eyes filled with tears.

  Katie started to cry and smile at the same time. She opened the door to his room and walked back inside, alone.

  “Ty…” she said, at the exact moment he said, “Katie…” she smiled again, wiped her eyes and said, “You first.”

  He nodded, too tired to be chivalrous. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry, Katie.” His lids were heavy, but he forced them open. “I should never have come back. It wasn’t fair of me to interfere with you and Steve.” He lost the battle and allowed his eyes to close. “Good luck with him, sweet Katie. He’s a good man. You won’t be sorry you chose him.”

  She snorted above him and took his hand in hers. The hand on the arm that didn’t hurt so much. “You stubborn jerk. If you hadn’t left the house that night, you would have known I didn’t choose him. I chose you.” Warm skin touched his fingers, and he realized she was kissing his hand. “It’s always been you, Ty. Right from the first day we met.

  You’re the only man I love like this. The only man I could ever have chosen.”

  The physical pain was still there, as was the exhaustion, but his chest suddenly felt lighter than it had in years. A sense of contentment settled over him.

  Moments before he drifted off into a happy sleep, he heard her say, “I love you, Tyler Bonnard, but I swear if you ever climb on a motorcycle again, I will strangle you with my own two hands.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  I must be out of my mind, Katie thought as she crouched in that awkward frog stance and stared wildly out the door. Icy wind whipped the few stray strands of her hair into her eyes. She breathed a silent, desperate, last-minute prayer.

  Strong arms circled her shoulders, and for the briefest second she leaned into the hard torso behind her. Then she crossed her arms over her chest and watched him count down with his fingers.

  Three.

  Her heart beat crazily in her chest.

  Two.

  Breathing became difficult

  One.

  Panic surged through her lungs.

&
nbsp; He jumped. Left the solid floor of the plane and leaped into the air.

  Katie had no choice. She went with him, plummeting at breakneck speed to the earth below, gaping in disbelief at her stupidity and recklessness. Hadn’t she sworn blind she would never do this again?

  They fell, dropping from fourteen thousand feet, to thirteen, twelve, eleven.

  This time there were no wispy, cottony clouds to break their fall.

  There was just land. Hard, unyielding, unforgiving land racing up to meet them.

  She was terrified. Utterly, completely and absolutely terrified.

  The frigid air had her arms frozen in mid-flight. The pounding of her heart was deafening. Her life was in the hands of the man behind her, the man to whom she was strapped. One wrong move from him and neither would lift themselves up again once they hit the ground. It was all up to him.

  And just like that, Katie opened her mouth and whooped in sheer joy. She whooped at the thrill of freefalling through the air, with nothing besides the man behind her to prevent her untimely demise.

  The earth might be hurtling towards them, but by God, Earth had never looked more stunning.

  Fields of rainbow greens were scattered with dark lakes, rooftops and trees.

  The breathtaking beauty of the land below could never be replicated by an artist’s brush.

  This was the way to view the world while plunging towards it at the speed of light.

  There was a small jerk, and as quickly as she’d fallen, she stopped.

  It took a good few seconds, but her stomach finally caught up with her as she floated, light as a feather, through the startlingly clear air.

  “You okay?” Tyler said in her ear.

  Okay? She was more than okay. She was on top of the world.

  Suspended in animated slow motion as they drifted over roads and valleys. Below her was the world, and behind her was her world. Tyler.

  One hundred percent recovered from his accident, and healthier than the day he’d arrived at the airport. Except, perhaps, for the metal pins in his arm.

  Once he’d regained full consciousness on that Sunday morning three months ago, it had taken less than a week and he was released from hospital. After three follow-up appointments to sort out his arm, another MRI and a lengthy visit to the neurosurgeon, Tyler was given a clean bill of health.