by Sable Hunter
“I’m stronger than I look,” she assured Presley. Robert Lee held Dwayne and as Zane was taken in, the entire family followed. “Do you see that woman with Kane’s mother?”
“Yes, is that Teresa?” she remembered what Zane had said. Teresa was Willow’s sister.
“Yea, that’s Teresa - watch out for her, she gives me the willies.” Lilibet’s speaking out of the side of her mouth made Presley smile despite her worry.
“Okay, I will,” she whispered back. They all went to a waiting room very near x-ray. Presley was going to sit by Lilibet, but another woman with a child took the seat, forcing Presley down near Zane’s mother and her niece. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she sat down slowly in the chair. It would be rude not to speak. “Hello, I’m Presley.”
“We know who you are,” Estelle spoke, not hostilely, but very, very cool. “I am Zane’s mother, Estelle Saucier and this is his cousin, Teresa Upshaw.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.” Thank goodness, she was saved from further conversation by Willow reemerging from the examining room. All eyes turned to her.
“Well, I have good news.”
Presley realized she was so tensed up that her muscles were aching, not to mention her ribs.
“Zane doesn’t have a concussion. I think I’ll keep him overnight to watch him and just be sure, and if all is well, we’ll go ahead with the operation as planned in the morning.”
Estelle and Teresa rose, “Can we see him now?”
“In a moment,” she held her hand out, “but he wants to see Presley first.”
A hiss of disapproval came from his mother. “Really?!”
She didn’t wait around to see what else was said. Moving as fast as she could, she went to the room where Zane was lying in a hospital bed. It looked barely big enough to hold his large frame. Kane stood to one side, keeping an eye on his brother. “He’s awake. Zane, your girl’s here.”
“Presley!” he held out his arms and she went into them.
“I’m so glad to see you. I’m so, so sorry that happened to you.”
“I’m fine,” he kissed all over her face, hunting her lips. She helped zero him in on her location. But he squeezed her body and she whimpered. “What’s wrong?” he immediately asked.
“Nothing,” she lied, but she moved away a bit so he couldn’t hear her hard breathing.
“I think she’s hurt.” Zane didn’t just try to rise up; he sat up all the way.
“Stop, you need to lie still.” She didn’t want him to have a set-back because of her.
“What’s wrong with her? Willow!” his voice rose and Kane came over before he climbed from the bed.
“It’s just my ribs; I think they’re bruised.” She returned to his bedside.
“What the hell? Call Willow!” Zane demanded. “How did you get hurt?”
Kane didn’t let her answer. He did. “After Shalimar knocked you down, the horse went a little crazy. She turned on you.”
“It wasn’t Shalimar’s fault,” Zane defended his horse. Then it dawned on him – “What are you saying?”
“I’m fine,” Presley reiterated, trying to stop the conversation in its tracks.
“When you went down, Presley covered you with her body till somebody could get control of the horse. Shalimar pounded Presley’s back and ribs. I bet she’s black and blue, but she hasn’t had anyone look at her yet, have you?”
“Presley!” Zane gave her a one word warning, full of emotion.
Willow came in to see what the ruckus was about. “You bellowed? I was just down the hall, everyone can hear you!”
“Check Presley, the horse pawed her.”
“You should have said something,” Willow spoke quietly to her. “Kane, could you excuse us?” Kane tipped his hat and stepped out of the room.
Willow raised Presley’s shirt. “Ouch!”
“What?” Zane asked.
“That was me, not Presley.” Willow said as she ran a gentle hand over Presley’s side. “How much pain are you in on a scale of one to ten, ten being the most pain.”
Whispering in Willow’s ear, Presley answered, “seven.”
“Seven!” Zane did bellow this time.
“He can hear like an elephant,” Presley told Willow conspiratorially.
“It’s those big ears he has,” His cousin laughed.
“My ears may be big, but they are proportional to my other large body parts,” he grumbled.
“Ewwwwww,” Willow reacted the way Zane expected. She was glad he was talking; it kept him from hearing Presley’s almost silent groans. “We need to get you in the ER, you may have cracked some ribs and I need to wrap you with a compression bandage and get you a pain pill or two.”
“I can’t,” she mouthed. “I don’t have any insurance yet,” her eyes begged Willow not to say anything.
“What did she say?” Zane was listening intently.
“I’m sorry,” Willow gave her a half smile of apology before she ratted her out to Zane. “She says she doesn’t have any insurance. What kind of two-bit outfit are you running, Cousin?”
“Damn!” Zane shut his eyes. “The insurance doesn’t kick in for new employees until thirty days has passed.” And a pay period hadn’t passed for her to have collected a check from her new position, so he knew exactly how little money she probably had. Her one room apartment weighed heavy on his mind. Well, it would be but a day or two that he’d propose and she’d belong to him. Hell, she belonged to him, now. What was he thinking? “I’ll pay, I’ll gladly pay any charges for the ER or whatever she needs. Just help her, Willow.”
“Wait!” Presley protested.
“That’s all I wanted to hear, come on,” she led her out of the door before Presley could argue.
When they had gone, Kane came back in. “I’m glad your little lady is getting seen about.”
“She should have been taken care of immediately.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. I was in here with you. I thought she would have sought out some help for herself.”
“You’re sticking close to me, aren’t you?” Zane lay back against the pillows. He was a tad dizzy; he didn’t like feeling this way at all. He wanted Presley.
“I’m sticking to you closer than a brother.”
“I do owe you for all of this, Kane. If this operation works, it will be because of you. You are giving me my eyesight.”
“I’m just hoping that you’ll have a better outlook on the world, after all – you’ll be looking at it through my eyes.”
Zane knew Kane was joking, but he couldn’t shake the fact of how great a miracle this could turn out to be for him. Willow’s long-ago promise might finally come true. He might see the world for the first time in over five years, and his brother had made it possible. “If I am blessed enough to see the world again - to watch a sunrise, to see my family and gaze upon the face of the woman I love – it will be more than I ever expected or deserved. I’ll never be able to repay you.”
“Ha! Don’t get to grateful. Wait till you see the dent I put in your Mercedes when I came sliding into your yard earlier.”
“Hell.”
Chapter Ten
“Zane has always been stubborn,” Estelle sipped coffee and crossed one elegant leg over another. “Men have to be shown the error of their ways. They can’t always figure it out for themselves.”
“I’ve called Margaret; she’s just waiting on word of the final outcome.” Teresa flung down a dog-eared copy of a Reader’s Digest that had seen better days. A man with an anxious look on his face paced back and forth in the hall nearby. Estelle and Teresa ignored him. Some people were just below their notice.
Mrs. Saucier seemed to have all the confidence in the world. “Once he sees Margaret and that unfortunate looking upstart side by side, he will realize which one is more suitable as a companion.”
“I hope so. Although if this operation fails like the previous one did, she probably won’t stay.”
“H
mmm, you’d think our money would be more of an incentive.”
Robert Lee held Dwayne’s hand, he had been standing listening to the women discuss his son’s future like they were pulling the strings. “I think both of you need to mind your own business. Both of my boys are exceptional. They might not have followed the path I hoped they would, but I do believe they are better men for the choices they’ve made.” Neither woman responded, so Robert Lee and Dwayne turned to head back to the nursery and look at the newborns. He talked to his grandson, who was too young to understand. “And as for the women they’ve chosen, we should all be so lucky. Think before you marry, Dwayne.” Dwayne nodded solemnly at his granddad.
*****
Willow helped Presley dress. “No cracked ribs, you are lucky, just some bruising. You’ll be as good as new in a day or two.”
“Yes, I think so.” She wanted to get back to Zane. “What are his chances to see again?”
Stepping back and marking a chart, Willow twisted her mouth to one side as if in deep thought. “His chances are excellent, in my opinion. I promised him a long time ago that I would help him. To keep my word, I’ve traveled to Spain and Sweden to study new methods of replacing damaged corneas. In the last five years, there have been great strides in the methodology. We’ve been through this once before, but the transplanted corneas that I used were rejected by Zane’s body. There was no rhyme or reason for it; it was just the way it was. But this time it’s going to be different. Using Kane’s stem cells is as close to using Zane’s own as we’re going to get.”
Presley looked at Willow. She was beautiful. Her career was fulfilling, she was passionate about helping people, but Presley wondered if she was lonely. “I know my gratitude may not mean much, but I thank you for what you’re doing for him from the bottom of my heart. How are you able to practice out of this hospital?”
Willow actually blushed. “I have a friend on staff here. He granted me special privileges.”
“Oh really?” Presley was about to ask about those special privileges, but Willow didn’t give her time.
“Let me warn you.”
“Warn me?” Presley was confused.
“Teresa and Estelle don’t approve of you. Don’t be surprised at what they may pull. They’re not above attempting to manipulate the situation.”
Presley didn’t have a clue what Willow was talking about. “Okay, I’ll be on my guard.” Right now, she wasn’t worried about his family, she was worried about Zane. “Can I go to him now?”
“Sure, just be careful and take those pills when you need them.”
Presley nodded her thanks and gathered her things. “I will. And you do be careful when you are operating on Zane. He’s the most important person in the world to me.”
“I will.” They looked at one another with mutual understanding.
With hurried steps, she returned to his room. Visiting hours was long past and she didn’t know how long they would let her stay. A nurse was checking his vitals, so Presley put her things on a chair and stood in a corner. Several bouquets of flowers had been placed on a side table, word had gotten around.
A mirror hung on the far wall reflected her image. Presley looked at herself and tried to imagine Zane seeing her for the first time. What would he think? She soothed her long hair and let her gaze flow from her hair to her shoulders, down over her breasts and waist and hips. All in all, she wasn’t an unattractive woman. If it wasn’t for her misshapen mouth, she would be presentable. Stepping closer to the mirror, she placed a finger over the dividing red line, picturing what she would look like if it were to vanish. Could plastic surgery make her beautiful? Would Zane want her to have her lip reconstructed?
“Presley?” he called when the nurse had exited.
“I’m here.”
“Yes, I knew you were. I recognized your footsteps and the baby sweet smell.” He held out his hand. “Do you feel better?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just bruised.” In five steps, she was at his side, her hand in his. “How about you?”
“Never better, I could go home if it weren’t for the operation, Shalimar just knocked the wind out of me.”
He had on one of his own shirts. She smiled. They hadn’t been able to get a hospital gown on Zane Saucier. His arms strained the material, as always. “Do you have to get your shirts special made?” she asked absently. To make herself happy, she kneaded his massive biceps. Touching him was a privilege she appreciated.
“Yes, I get them custom made,” he admitted. “You like my guns, don’t you? I turn you on.” With a smug look, he patted the side of the bed. “Sit by me.”
His invitation did not go unanswered. “I love how your arms feel wrapped around me. You make me feel safe and worthwhile.”
Holding out one arm, he invited her to lie down beside him. “I’ll hold you as gently and carefully as I would a newborn.”
She settled down by him, and he cradled her close. “Willow wrapped my ribs with a binder bandage, so I’ll be fine. Will I get in trouble for being up here with you?”
“You let me worry about that,” he needed to hold her and he’d be damned if some nurse was going to deprive him of the only dose of medicine he needed. The nurse did come in and although she eyed them with a disapproving glance, she didn’t do anything but turn down the light. “Is she gone?”
“Yeah, but she didn’t look real happy.”
“Tough. This isn’t exactly how I hope we’d spend tonight, but at least I can hold you while we sleep.”
Presley soothed her hand over his chest. He was so dear to her. “I’m so nervous for you.” The idea of him going under the knife just made ice run through her veins.
He rubbed her neck, threading his fingers through her hair. “I’m nervous about the operation, but the possibility of being able to look into your eyes, to see your face, to share a dream with you that we both can see unfold – I can’t let that chance pass me by.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Don’t worry,” he kissed her forehead. “Everything will be fine. As long as you’re with me, I can handle anything.”
*****
They came after him early the next morning and it was the longest four hours she had ever spent in her life. Presley had been told what would happen. Willow had taken stem cells from Kane’s sclerocorneal limbus and cultured them on an organic contact lens made with amniotic membrane. Now, she was planting that amniotic membrane onto the ocular surface of Zane’s eyes in the hope of regenerating the damaged corneas and restoring his sight. It would be about six days before the results would be clear, but there could be some indication right away. Since the procedure was still experimental, there were no hard and fast rules, but it was possible that Zane would have some ability to see very soon.
The waiting room was full of Zane’s family and others. Lilibet had brought Presley some coffee, but she had morning sickness and wasn’t feeling that well herself. Dwayne was running between his Dad and his Grandpa, and Estelle and Teresa were whispering in the corner. She hadn’t even tried to keep herself occupied; her heart and soul were in that operating room with Zane. When the waiting room door swung open, Presley’s head jerked up hoping it would be Willow with good news. It was her – Presley held her breath.
Zane’s cousin walked in, pulled the mask off of her face and smiled. “I have every reason to believe the operation was a success. It will be a couple of days before we take the bandages off, but the preliminary test was good. His pupils reacted to the light.”
Presley sagged against the wall in relief. “When can I see him?” Estelle huffed her disapproval, but Presley didn’t care.
“He’s resting right now. But he asked for you a few minutes ago. I don’t want any more than two of you in there at a time, but Presley can stay with him after the family visits. I think he would want her there.”
“Good. Thank you, Willow.”
Robert Lee and Estelle went in first. Kane and Lilibet, relieved that the worst was over
took Dwayne to get a hamburger before their turn came. When everyone had dispersed, it left Teresa and Presley alone in the waiting room.
“Can I get you a soft drink?” Teresa asked. Presley was surprised at the other girl’s friendly smile.
“No, I’m fine – thanks.”
“I know you’re relieved. We all are.” She opened her Prada purse and took out some pictures. “This is Zane during happier times.” Presley took the photographs and began to look at them. Zane did look happy. She stared hard at his eyes and how they looked focused on the camera. There wasn’t a man in the world as handsome as he was. Flipping to the next photo, she caught her breath.
“Who’s this?” There was a beautiful, elegant woman hanging on Zane’s arm. She was looking at him with adoration.
“Oh, that’s Margaret. She was the love of his life. They were together for almost two years. Everyone knew they were going to get married – but his accident derailed their plans.” Teresa huddled over the pictures with Presley, like school girls looking at a yearbook. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” an ache was forming in Presley’s heart. If this was the kind of woman Zane had considering marrying, he was going to be sorely disappointed with her. “Why aren’t they still together?”
“It was a misunderstanding. Secretly, I think they are both still in love with one another,” Teresa stopped with a gasp and placed her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, I forgot you and he . . .” she winced making much over her supposed faux pas.
“It’s okay,” Presley lied.
“I know, but these aren’t things a current girlfriend likes to hear. You just never know, we all thought they were going to get back together after Zane had the first transplant. But it failed and they couldn’t handle the strain. Who knows?” she shrugged her shoulders. “Two beautiful people like that deserve each other though, don’t they?”
Presley couldn’t decide if the other girl was naïve, stupid or just horribly cruel. She smiled politely, returned the photographs and walked off. Maybe she just needed some air. As she went toward the elevator, she passed Kane and Lilibet returning and told them she would be right back. When she got outside the hospital, she almost collapsed against the retaining wall that sheltered the air conditioning units. Why wasn’t this getting any easier? Zane loved her. He said he loved her. Still the fact remained that he would soon see her face to face – would he love her then?
