“Wh...why wouldn’t I forgive you?” Her voice was raspy as she tried to croak out every last word that she spoke, but it was still the most beautiful sound in the world.
I was instantly on my feet, climbin’ into the bed next to her, careful to not hurt her in the process. “Oh my god, baby. I can’t believe you’re awake. I was so scared.” I gently pressed my tremblin’ lips against her bandage covered forehead.
Without saying a word, her free hand pushed back through my hair, pulling my face down to hers, lettin’ her lips fall against mine. I breathed a small sigh of relief as I deepened our kiss, tenderly wrappin’ my arms around her waist as I pulled her into my side.
I wasn’t sure how long we’d been sittin’ there in silence, until the small bubbly red-headed nurse came boundin’ into the room. “Looks like someone is feeling better.” She smiled as she made her way over to the monitors that sat next to Diem’s bedside.
“I am.” Diem managed to squeak out between yawns.
“You’re tired.” I sighed. “I’ll let you get some rest.” I moved to push myself up off of the bed, but Diem’s hand was quick to reach out and pull me back down.
“Don’t you dare leave.” She smiled.
“Never.” I whispered before placin’ a chaste kiss on her forehead. “But there are some other people here that would love to see you.”
The red-headed nurse’s head quickly snapped up, “Only one visitor at a time, unfortunately.” She spoke in all seriousness.
“I understand.” I gave her my best megawatt smile, hopin’ that she would find it in her heart to bend the rules just a tiny bit. She was quick to stop dead in her tracks as she couldn’t look away from my stare.
“Oh alright, but only two other people besides you at a time.”
“Ah, thank you so much…” I quickly glanced down at her badge, “Bonnie. You’re the best.” Red began creepin’ up her face as her blush took over every inch of her ivory freckled skin.
“Love, I’m goin’ to go grab some of them to come back. Any particular order you would like to see them in?” Diem immediately looked away, and I couldn’t help but notice the change in her demeanor. “Is everything ok, baby?” I tucked my finger under her chin to pull her face towards mine, when I noticed a stray tear fall down her flushed cheek. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I slid back onto the bed to better comfort her.
“It’s all a lot, Jo. All of this,” she pointed between us, “It’s all just so much.”
“I know, D. I know. And I’m so sorry you got put in this position. I hate myself for it.”
“I don’t want you to hate yourself for it, that’s not why I’m saying this. I just wanted you to know.” I nodded, acknowledging that she just needed her feelings validated at the moment. “Is my father here?”
Shit!
“Um, yes.”
“What happened, Jo?” Her tone of voice was somewhat harsh, but I completely understood why, but I still hated that I had to be the one to tell her what happened.
“Let’s just say, Kayla and y’all’s dad didn’t have the most pleasant reunion.”
“Bloody hell! I can’t believe this happened.” She let out an aggravated sigh as she pushed her fingers back through her hair. “Wait...did you say Kayla is here?”
I smiled at how quickly her anger turned to excitement. “Yes, my love. I did say that Kayla is here. So is Madison, Glenn, Cami, and Troy.”
“Oh, I’m completely overwhelmed. I can’t believe they all came to see me.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’ll run out and have your dad come first.” I stood and started makin’ my way over to the door, when Diem called for me. “What’s up?”
“Don’t send my father first. He can stew in his own anger for a bit longer.”
“You got it. I’ll be right back.”
I was halfway out to the waiting room when my phone started buzzin’ in my pocket. Without checkin’ caller ID, I slid my finger across the bottom of the screen. “Hello?”
“Mr. Green, it’s Coach Grady. I just wanted to check on you and your girlfriend. I just saw footage of the crash on the news.”
“Wow, thanks so much for callin’, Coach. It’s been a long twelve hours to say the least, but she’s doin’ well.”
“Glad to hear it. I hate to even bring this up at a time like this, but I can only suspend practice for ya for one day. Luckily we’re at the end of the week so there won’t be practice tomorrow, but we do have our next preseason game on Saturday. Will you be good to start?”
I couldn’t help but weigh out my options at the moment. I knew if Diem knew that I was skippin’ out on practice, and possibly missin’ a game, she’d be pissed, but it didn’t feel right leavin’ her at this time. “Is it possible for me to sit out this game?” I held my breath as I waited for him to answer.
“It’s not like you’d be playin’ much anyway, but I can only allow you to miss this one game.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief, “Thank you so much, Coach. I swear this is the only game I’ll miss.”
“I know you wouldn’t miss it unless you felt it to be completely necessary. Take care of your girl, and we’ll see you at practice on Monday.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh and, Joey?”
“Yeah?”
“We fly out on Thursday to Arizona.”
“Right. Got it, Coach. See ya on Monday. Tell the guys I say good luck.”
“Will do.”
I hung up the phone, and was instantly irritated. I hated missin’ games unless I was sick or hurt. My guilty conscious began to run rampant, but it didn’t have too much time to get away from me, because Kayla was runnin’ up to me as I exited the doors.
“Oh my god, is she ok?” Her arms were flyin’ up around my neck, pullin’ me into a tight hug that had me gaspin’ for air.
“She’s fine, KJ, but you’re makin’ it hard to breathe.”
She instantly dropped her arms, “Sorry. Oh, I’m so glad she’s fine. When can we go back and see her?”
“Right now actually. I was gonna take you and Troy back first.” I glanced in Troy’s direction as I spoke, but she was shakin’ her head in disagreement.
“That’s ok, I can wait.”
“No, you can’t, and I insist.”
“Ok.” I could tell that she was beyond excited, but was just tryin’ to be polite.
“Come on, I’ll take you girls back and then I’ll come back out here to hang with the guys.” I made my way over to Cami, and held my hand out for her to take it. “Come on, sis. You’re not gettin’ left out of this.” A smile broke out across her face as I helped her into a standin’ position. It was crazy how pregnant she was lookin’ these days.
I immediately deposited the girls into Diem’s room, gave Diem a long loving kiss, and then headed back out to the waiting room where my girlfriend, and best friend’s dad sat, waiting to punch me in the face, I’m sure.
Chapter 50
Diem
“I seriously can’t believe you ladies flew all the way out here because of me. It honestly means so much.”
“Nothing could’ve kept us away.” Kayla smiled as she pulled me into a deep hug.
“So I hear you had quite a run in with our father.”
“I did. I definitely gave him a piece of my mind, and I can’t even describe how much lighter I feel after getting all of that off my chest.”
I picked at a loose strand of thread on the atrocious hospital blanket that covered me as Kayla continued to tell me all about her confrontation with our father. Even though I was still quite angry with him, I started to feel sorry for him. But I also empathize with Kayla. It was a hard road to try and stay on.
“Kayla, I know it’s early days with you and Dad, but do you ever think you may find a way to forgive him?” Kayla’s mouth dropped open in shock, and I instantly knew I’d mucked it all up between us. “I’m sorry. I should just mind
my own business.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Kayla pulled my hand into hers, giving it a tight reassuring squeeze. “Maybe someday, but for now, I have to protect myself, and if that means not speaking to him for awhile, then that’s what I have to do.”
I nodded, “I completely understand.”
“So enough about him. How are you feeling?”
“I’m ok, I suppose. They have me on some pretty heavy pain killers, so I’m not feeling any pain, but I just know these next couple of months are going to be the worst. How’s my little nephew doing?”
“Fantastic. I’ve been havin’ a hard time sleeping since the whole kidnapping ordeal, but the baby seems to be doing well.”
“Brilliant. I’m so happy to hear it.” I glanced around at the other two women that were here to see me, and I couldn’t help but smile. “You ladies are so amazing for coming to see me.”
“I know I didn’t fly to see you, but I’m so relieved that you’re ok.” Troy’s arms were instantly around my neck, as I tried to hug her back with my one good arm. “You’re such an amazing friend.”
“Duh.” She laughed as she pulled back, swiping away a tiny stray tear.
“Don’t you dare cry.” I playfully slapped her arm as a fit of laughter took over.
Before I knew it, the entire room was full of laughter, and my heart swelled beyond words at the amazing people that sat around me.
The girls and I spent quite a bit of time together, laughing, sharing brilliant stories of our childhoods and more, but suddenly I began feeling quite exhausted. I was struggling to keep my eyes open, but the heavy amount of medication I was on was winning the battle. Kayla must’ve noticed, because she was shushing Cami and Troy, and then they all suddenly started to walk out of the room. Before Kayla could escape, I called out for her to stay back for a brief moment. Her expression was one of complete and utter concern, but I was quick to suppress her anxiety.
“I need some advice about Joey.”
“Oh thank god.” She breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. I reached out to rub her back reassuringly now that she was sitting on the bed with me. “I thought it was serious. Not to say that what you’re about to say isn’t serious. I didn’t mean it like that.” She groaned.
“Kayla, don’t be silly. I know I must seem pretentious, but I can take a joke.” I gave her a half-hearted smile and a small laugh.
“Diem, none of us have ever thought that you’re pretentious. Hell, I don’t even think Joey or some of our other friends even know what that word means.”
We both broke out in a fit of laughter at Joey’s expense, and I know I should’ve felt bad for doing so, but knowing the relationship between Jo and Kayla, I knew she wasn’t being serious.
“Ok, ok. Tell me what’s going on.” Kayla sat in the chair next to my bed, crossing her arms across her chest.
“I told him that all of this was too much, and now I feel like a complete knob.”
“I’m sorry, a what?” She laughed.
“You know, a dick. It’s actually quite self explanatory.” I smiled. “This literally took our relationship to an entirely different level, a level I wasn’t prepared for. I’m being followed day in and day out. People are now chasing me down and running me off the road. I shudder to think what could’ve happened, compared to what actually did. I love him, Kayla. I really do, but I’m not quite sure where we go from here.”
“Diem, look at me.” I slowly lifted my head to make eye contact with her. “That guy out there loves you more than life itself. He would literally give you the world if it were humanly possible. The only ever time I’ve seen him act anything close to the way he is now, was when he…”
“Was in love with you?” I muttered under my breath.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Stop. There’s absolutely no need to apologize for that, or anything else for that matter. I know how Joey felt about you, and how he feels about you now. He absolutely adores you, and I can’t blame him. You’re an amazing person, and you have the biggest heart of any human being I’ve ever met, and I’m absolutely comfortable with the relationship you both have. It shows me just how lucky I really am to have someone like him loving me so unapologetically and completely. I would never dream of leaving him because of his life, but part of me is terrified that if I don’t, something worse could happen.” I wasn’t sure where to go from here with the conversation, and I was afraid that Kayla would instantly take Joey’s side and cut me out of her life. It feels like I’m constantly living in fear of one thing or another these days.
“Diem, you do know that I’m always going to be here for you, right? Even if things don’t work out with Joey, I’m your sister, and I always will be.”
“But Joey is your best friend.”
“Well...actually…” she laughed, “Cami is my best friend, but Joey is definitely an extremely close second. No, in all seriousness, of course Joey is one of my best friends, but that doesn’t make you any less my sister. I want nothing more than to have you join that best friend circle at some point. I know we’ve got quite a ways to go, but I will never choose between you and a friend, and I know that you’d never ask me to. It just makes certain things a bit trickier if y’all breakup.”
“I just don’t know anymore, Kayla. He’s who I see myself spending my days with, but every day I wake up terrified of what will happen to me next. What do I do?”
Kayla stood, and then sat back down on the bed next to me. “What is your heart telling you to do?”
“My heart and my head both say to fight for us, to stay with him, because that’s who I see my forever with.”
“Then all I can tell you, is to follow your heart. Do what makes you happy. Fuck everyone else. I’m sure if you express all of this to Jo, he will find a way to keep you protected.”
“But that’s the problem right there. He already has a demandingly stressful career with being in the public eye and all, but I can’t ask him to give that up just to make sure I’m safe.”
“In all fairness,” she smiled, “you’re not asking him to give it all up. You’d just be asking for a security detail, or maybe a driver. Something along those lines. Would you be comfortable with that?”
I shrugged my shoulders and instantly squealed out in pain, forgetting all about my broken clavicle. I reached for my button to administer the morphine, and within seconds, I was feeling relief. Kayla’s eyes were locked on me, fear written all over her face.
“I’m ok. I promise. Now back to the conversation. I most definitely don’t want to feel as though I’m a child going through life with a nanny following me around.”
“It wouldn’t be like that. My personal opinion? Talk to Jo about all of this. Tell him your concerns, and be open to his suggestions. He might surprise you.”
I nodded in agreement, knowing that it was a conversation that needed to be had. “Thank you, Kayla. Seriously, this means so much.”
“Anytime. That’s what sisters are for.”
Kayla bent forward, giving me a long heartfelt hug. As my eyes fluttered open, they went wide with shock as I saw our father standing in the doorway. Kayla and I were still wrapped up in our embrace so she didn’t notice right away. My feelings were instantly all over the place, not knowing what he was going to say to Kayla, or what Kayla was going to say to him. Knowing I couldn’t control this situation was absolutely killing me, but I also knew that this needed to happen.
I pulled back slightly, clutching Kayla’s chin gently in my hand. “Please just stay and talk to him.” I whispered just as she turned to look in the direction that I was now looking in.
“No way. I can’t do this right now.”
“Yes you can. You can because you are the strongest woman I know, and nothing can faze you. Just listen to him. That’s all I’m asking.”
Kayla let out an audible sigh before turning towards our father who was now taking a seat in the chair that Kayla was previously
occupying.
“I know you want absolutely nothing to do with me, and I completely understand, but if you could just hear me out for five minutes. After that, if you never want to speak to me again, I’ll leave it at that. I promise.”
I could see that Kayla was trying damn hard to hold in the tears threatening to betray her stoic facade towards our father, but with a gentle touch to her hand, she shook them away, and focused back on him.
“You’ve got five minutes. That’s all.”
“I know how much you must hate me. Hell, I hate myself more and more every day for what I did. When I first left…”
“No! You don’t get to immediately start with all of that. You don’t get to tell me how hard things have been for you over the years. So pick somewhere else to start.”
Dad nodded and continued, “First and foremost, I’m sorry. I know those two words will never mean enough to you, but I am truly sorry. You don’t know how many times I wanted to reach out to you, but I was told if I ever did that your granddaddy would hunt me down and shoot me where I stood. It’s not an excuse by any means, but your granddaddy is a scary guy, and not someone I want to mess with. I’ve thought about you every single day, and I know that doesn’t make up for how you feel, but it’s the truth. Everything I did when it came to you has been wrong. I don’t expect your forgiveness any time soon, or even at all, but I would love to have the opportunity to at least tell you my side of things. Would you ever be open to that?”
The room went eerily silent, and I could tell by the expression on Kayla’s face that she was mulling it over in her mind. I squeezed her hand, willing her to answer, but letting her know that I was here for her no matter her decision.
“I don’t know.” She whispered.
“And that’s ok too. I’m not going anywhere, so any time you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
I could see the hope in my father’s eyes as Kayla’s answer resonated with him. At least it wasn’t a no.
Chapter 51
Joey
“Are you afraid she’s tryin’ to take out her dad right now?” I joked as Madison sat, nervously bouncin’ his knee.
This Family of Ours (Raine #6) Page 31
