No Broken Bond

by Angel Payne

“With work and little else,” I cut in. “You never go on dates, and the only time you go out is when one of us drags you.”

  I let all that hang in the air, but Claire picked up the ball and ran with it.

  “You are beautiful, smart, clever and funny.” She wrapped an arm around Taylor’s shoulders. “You have so much to offer a man, yet you’re never interested in the ones constantly panting after—” Her self-interruption came with a perfect O of her lips. “Oh. Wait a second. Are you a lesbian?”

  I wanted to swoop up my phone and capture the next few beats on film. The perfect circle of Claire’s lips. The wild reaction shot on Taylor’s face, brows leaping and eyes bugging.

  Priceless.

  “No! I’m not a lesbian—”

  “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, honey. If that’s what you like, then that’s what you like. Everyone deserves to love and be loved. This is a no-judgment zone.”

  “Good to know.” Now Taylor got her turn to laugh. “Except that you’re being ridiculous.” And to mete a little pap-pap across Claire’s hand. “For the record, I like boys, Claire. Men. Good old-fashioned dick.” She chuckled again, shaking her head. “Maybe the experts are on to something. Maybe hormones do make pregnant ladies crazy.”

  All three of us giggled over that one. “Shit,” Claire groused. “It’s probably the truth. But do you blame me? I mean, I look like the Goodyear Blimp here!”

  “Shut. Up.” I wadded one of the paper breakfast napkins and lobbed it at her. “You’re gorgeous and I’m not the only one who thinks so. The enigma himself can’t keep his damn eyes off of you.”

  “Psssshh,” she rebutted. “Seriously, look at my feet. It’s nine in the morning and they already like Barney Rubble’s. If this keeps up, I’ll be wearing Vans with my business suits.”

  “Well, you’d rock the look,” I piped in.

  “Thank you. You guys are the best.” Claire huffed up to one of the stools, leaning back enough to rest folded hands on her big tummy.

  With the balance of the universe restored, at least in here, I stepped back, phone in hand. “I’m going to go call the hospital and see how Fletcher’s night went, then I’ll need to head over there. Drake had some client appointments this morning, so I’m point on Fletch Watch. I’ll be right back.”

  I went into our bedroom for privacy. I wouldn’t mind if the girls heard the conversation, but over the past few days I’d been getting more morose after the nurse cheerfully reported he’d had ‘a great night with no changes’. Now, I was even feeling foolish for the tears. The accident hadn’t killed him. He was technically still here and every member of the medical team viewed his steady status as the best news—but every day that clicked by in which he ended the day as still as he’d begun…

  They got harder and harder.

  Heavier and heavier.

  Time’s special weights around my ankles, dragging me into dark waters I couldn’t tread.

  “Chicago Memorial Neuro-ICU.”

  “Good morning, Maya.” I recognized the nurse by her subtle Calypso accent. “This is Talia Perizkova.”

  “Talia.” The woman threaded exotic warmth through my name. “Yes, yes. Fletcher’s girl.”

  My smile spread from ear to ear. She gave me the dopey look whenever I sat at his bedside. ‘You need to wake up, Mr. Ford, so your pretty girl can see your smile.’ Her sweetness always warmed my heart.

  “How was his night?” I took a calming breath, steeling myself for the usual.

  “Well, my dear…” She lilted it into a purposeful pause. “Today is the day you get to ask him for yourself.”

  I dropped to the unmade bed. My heart hit my stomach at the same crashing speed, only to bounce up and lodge in my throat. “I’m…sorry. Wh-what did you say?”

  “He’s awake.”

  She answered so matter-of-factly, I thought I’d misunderstood her. I took a long second to replay the miraculous words only to shake my head, unwilling to believe them.

  “I’m sorry,” I repeated. “I actually thought you said—”

  “I did.”

  “You…what?”

  “Your man has regained consciousness.”

  Tremors overtook me from head to toe. “Oh. My. God.”

  Her confused hum filled the line. “You…did not know this?”

  “No. Shit. No. If I did, I’d already be down there.” I had to call Drake. I couldn’t wait to call Drake.

  “He is still very groggy but talking to his parents right now. Ms. Perizkova…” She replaced the hum with an irked huff. “Mr. and Mrs. Ford said they had called you and Mr. Newland. I truly thought you already knew, or I would have called you myself.”

  “It’s all right, Maya.” I threw all the joy of my heart into the reply. Not even the stabbing pain of Francine’s and Richard’s assholery could drown my elation. “I understand—and I’ll be there shortly. I’ll call Mr. Newland now. Thank you! Thank you so much!”

  With my phone pressed to my ear, ringing through to Drake’s cell, I raced out into the living room so the girls really could hear my conversation.

  “Hey, baby.” His deep timbre was so damn hot. For the first time in a week, I closed my eyes and actually allowed myself to think it. His sexy baritone took away the last of my reserve.

  “Drake.” So much of my relief and joy poured into it, he responded at once. I listened to tire rubber against road, and sincerely hoped he’d hit the brakes someplace safe.

  “Is he awake?”

  I nodded through tears, thickening and rolling as Claire and Taylor screamed. Remembering he couldn’t see that, I plowed on. “Yes. Yes. I called to get the morning report and Maya said he’s alert. I’m heading there now. Can you meet me?”

  “An army of hellcats couldn’t keep me away. Why don’t I pick you up? I’m leaving my last appointment now.” The Range Rover’s engine could be heard as he accelerated.

  “I’d like that. Yes.”

  “I’ll text you when I’m downstairs.”

  “I’ll already be waiting.”

  “Better plan. You always have them.”

  “I love you, Drake.”

  “I love you more, baby.”

  As soon as I set down my phone, my girlfriends swarmed me in celebratory hugs—and yes, buckets of tears all around. “Thank God. Thank God he’s okay.”

  “Whoa. Killian really owes his cousin now.” Though Claire said it beneath her breath, Taylor and I heard her clearly. The result was a dorky three-way laugh—ended first by Taylor, who was still way too unnerved by the subject of Mac for anyone to dismiss. I imagined we’d receive a temperature reading on the two of them sooner than later—but right now, the most important update of the day still chimed in my head like celebration bells.

  Despite the bells, I pulled back and extended both hands. Flattened them on the air, putting a visual to the calm I forced back into my heartbeat. Okay, calm down. To my friends, I said, “Let’s just wait and learn about his condition when I get there. They keep telling us he may have a long road to recovery. It’s important we don’t lose sight of that.”

  “Ohhhh, no.” Taylor swept an arm in the air, snapping her fingers at the peak. “We need to celebrate, girl. Rejoice in every single milestone as they come. Every achievement is worthy of a party!”

  I joined Claire in indulging her with laughs. The woman’s optimism was always so infectious, blooming in every inch of every room she entered—but this time, just beneath her verve, I detected a strange energy. It snuck into her blue-gray eyes, giving her a far-off look for several moments. Her body was still here, but I was certain her mind had suddenly jumped far beyond my living room.

  “Hey.” I touched her arm, bringing her back to the present. “You okay?”

  She jolted, gazing at my hand as if she didn’t recognize it. The next moment, she was back to recovering with her trademark no-fucks-given grin.

  Nice try, girl.

  Her veneer was becoming more and more tran
sparent. I showed her I knew that by narrowing my eyes, undaunted by her upturned paddle of a hand.

  “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” I went full throttle on feigning innocence, but I wasn’t the only one punching through masks today.

  “Don’t go there,” she accused. “I see it on your face, sister, and I’m not pickin’ up what you’re throwin’ down. This is all about you right now. You and that sexy god of a man who’s waiting for you. Men,” she corrected with a mischievous wink.

  I threw up my arms. “Fine. This slides for now because I can’t even think straight—but we will revisit ‘you’ eventually.”

  Her eyes adopted a mock-pissy mien. “Did you really just air quote at me?”

  I folded my arms and sashayed my head. “I totally did.”

  “Air quote at you?” Claire finally chimed in. “Is that like ‘caps-lock text shout’ at someone?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Well, hell.” She giggled. “Guess you’ve earned the right to it this week, girl.”

  “Week?” I returned. “What about the last year?” I rolled my eyes and went for new air quotes. “‘Life with Strongly Opinionated Men’. I could write a survivor’s manual.”

  Claire bumped the giggle to a full laugh. “Oh, is that what you call them? ‘Strongly opinionated’? Oh, my God. I need to write that down, use it on Kil.” Her eyes danced with burnished flecks. “It’ll probably earn me some sort of evil punishment.”

  Under normal circumstances, Taylor and I would be all over that little tidbit like white on rice, but nothing was normal about today—as I was reminded by the alert ding of my phone.

  “Drake’s downstairs.” My voice wavered with excitement and joy.

  As we walked to the elevator, Claire quickly dialed Killian. “Hey, Chicago. No, I’m fine. Great news, though—Fletcher’s awake. Yes, really. I’m still at Talia’s, but Drake’s here to take her to the hospital. Yes. Yes, that’s fine. Okay, we’ll wait for the car here then we can meet up with them at the hospital? No, you’re right. Yes. Okay. Yes, I’ve had breakfast.” A quick pause as he fired another question. “Yes, I’ve taken my vitamins.” Pause. “Yes, she’s kicking like crazy this morning.” Another. “Yes, I love you, too. Okay, bye.”

  On the elevator landing, Taylor and I watched from our end of the conversation, our jaws completely slack.

  “What?” Claire’s huge sienna eyes added to her soft maternal innocence.

  “Unbelievable.” Taylor uttered it to me more than her.

  “Right?” I volleyed.

  “What?” Claire demanded.

  Taylor shook her head, her blonde waves crowding her face. “He loves you so much. It makes my heart hurt just witnessing it.” She rubbed the center of her chest, a pained look on her face. “No, really. It hurts.”

  Claire brushed a toe over the marble floor. “Well, you’ll be out of your agony soon. Kil’s just in papa-bear protective mode right now.”

  “Bullshit.” I disguised the word by pretending to sneeze.

  “Huh?”

  There were a couple of quarters in my coat pocket. I grabbed her hand, turned it over and smacked the change into her palm. “Here. For the clue you need to buy. Because that man loves you that much.”

  She looked away, shy at first, before lifting her head with a wry laugh. “Yeah, fine, okay—I’m the luckiest girl on the planet.”

  We formed a tight group hug in the middle of the elevator car, circled around Claire and her belly. When the door slid open, we were just disengaging, sniffly noses and teary eyes all around.

  Standing right in front of the lift was my dark beast of a boyfriend—who stopped dead in his tracks when realizing he was less than six feet away from three overly emotional women. If he could’ve escaped, through any egress possible, he likely would have.

  His midnight eyes were wary, trying to gauge our next move. Claire and Taylor, having already hugged me goodbye, turned at once for him. When they jointly moved in, whispering their excitement about Fletcher’s breakthrough, he visibly relaxed. He attributed the emotional display to our recent news, which I guess was on the ‘approved emotional instigator’ list.

  As soon as the girls cleared out, Drake strode straight for me. He wrapped me close in his massive arms, kissing my hair, my forehead, my nose—before consuming my mouth in a searing kiss.

  Wow.

  “This is the best day already, baby.”

  I nodded, stroking the powerful jut of his jaw. Just like that, I was on the verge of losing it again. So many emotions collided, having built up over the last seven days. Hope. Despair. Desperation. Reflection. Frustration.

  And now…

  Gratitude.

  “Let’s go see our guy.”

  The drive to the hospital seemed eternal. Traffic was heavy as people set out for early lunches in the gorgeous sunshine, adding to the existing congestion of the bustling downtown corridor. My anticipation added to my impatience. I held off telling Drake about Francine and Richard neglecting to call us with the news. Today was a day for celebrating, just as Taylor had decreed. Besides, I carried no illusions about the journey ahead, and knew Drake was on the same page. We had a long road ahead of us and an uphill battle wasn’t the right way to start.

  By the time we reached Fletcher’s room, the pound of my heart shook my whole body. My pulse throbbed in my ears. This was more nerve-racking than the first kiss I’d shared with these two, so long ago in Vegas. It was more daunting than the first time we’d made love, on that same trip.

  When we approached the nurses’ station, Maya came out from behind the desk. She warmly hugged me then Drake.

  “He has been asking for you two nonstop,” she declared with a smile. “And your timing is perfect. His parent just left for lunch.”

  “Thank fuck,” Drake gritted.

  I calmed him by squeezing his hand.

  “You can both go in together if you promise not to get him too agitated,” Maya offered.

  I let go of Drake to grasp her hand in appreciation.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  She lifted a finger. “Now I must ask one request.”

  “Of course.” Though I wasn’t sure we could truly deliver. If she asked us to wait even five more minutes to see Fletch, my heart would likely burst from my chest and race into his room, anyway.

  “If he is sleeping, please let him. I think the Fords might have worn him out during their time.”

  Her face was sorrowful by the end of her statement, sparking my curiosity. Why did I get the impression there was more to what she was saying?

  I have to stop with the second-guessing.

  Right now, nothing mattered more than seeing him. I needed to gaze into his beautiful blue eyes. To behold his wide, wicked smile.

  Finally, finally, Drake took my hand. We paced quietly as we went into Fletcher’s room. I still wasn’t feeling his hum in my head but was convinced it would return any moment now. He was still ‘groggy’, as Maya had described it. That had to be the explanation. He’d just woken up from a coma, for heaven’s sake.

  We approached cautiously. The curtain was drawn, blocking his bed from view to anyone entering or walking by. I had no idea what to expect. I was so nervous. Still so damn scared.

  As soon as I saw him, all my breath left me.

  He was propped higher in his bed than before and the horrible ventilator tube had been removed. The room was strangely quiet without the low hum of that machine. The lights were dimmed, so the room’s main illumination came from a swath of sun streaming through a part in the curtains. That beam stretched over the bottom of the bed, right across Fletcher’s feet. It probably made him uncomfortably warm. I’d have to fix that.

  As if he sensed us here, his eyes fluttered open.

  Screw breathing at all.

  I rushed to him. Drake mirrored me, doing the same on the opposite side. Fletcher was unnaturally still. Slowly, he gazed at me, then Drake. Back to me. />
  Then Heaven gave me my miracle.

  A small smile spread across his dry, cracked lips. I sobbed. Just that action was clearly exhausting for him. He was still so banged up. It had only been a week since that truck had turned his car into a modern art piece.

  “Hey, you.” My voice was so quiet, lost somewhere between my heart and my mouth.

  “Tolly.” His rasp barely had volume. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.

  “Hi, baby.” I grabbed his hand, pressing my lips to the bruises on his knuckles. Just as swiftly, I lowered it. My action had hurt him. I could see that even without our bond in the deep creases across his forehead. “Sorry,” I whispered. “I’m just so happy.”

  “Brother.”

  As soon as Drake said it, in a whisper as shaky as mine, Fletcher’s eyes darted to him. Drake reached down, covering the pale hand on the sheets with his seemingly larger, tanner one.

  “Fucker.” There was a lot more confidence in that bite. Drake even added a sarcastic snort. “You gave us quite a scare, you know.”

  Fletcher’s grin spread. Miracle number three. “Oh, here we go.”

  “Damn straight, here we go.” There was nothing but affection in Drake’s drawl. Miracle number four. Their banter was back, and I had the oceans of tears in my eyes to prove it. A bright drop even slid down Drake’s cheek before he dashed it away.

  “I’ve never been so happy to see your beautiful eyes in my entire life.” I said it to give Drake a second for self-composure—but also because it was true. I leaned in, running my fingers through Fletcher’s thick golden hair, pushing it away from his forehead. “Wow. You really need a haircut now, Mr. Ford.”

  “I love it when you call me that, Ms. Perizkova.”

  I coyly pursed my lips. “I know.”

  His face tightened again. Alarm shot through me, until I observed the difference with this grimace. It was confusion, not pain.

  “How long have I been like this?” His words were slow but he was putting them in the right order. Mac had warned us that might not be the case when he woke up.

  “A week,” I supplied. “The longest one of my life. Of all our lives. Oh, my God, I still can’t believe this. I’m so thankful you came back. Thank you for coming back!”