“Um… sure. I was at your place when you called. Will you call us if something changes?”
“Of course, now go. Get some rest and change.” The doctor nodded towards the nurse, who unhooked some things and pushed his bed towards the door.
Delilah reached out and brushed her hand down his good leg, “Parker, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Hank led her from the room, “Come on, you need to eat. Parker would kick my ass for not making sure you’re taken care of.”
Delilah watched as they wheeled him down the long corridor. She felt like her heart was cracking, the breath was being sucked from her lungs, “Delilah.” Hank pulled her towards the entrance, “He’ll be ok.”
Together, Hank and Delilah made their way towards Parkers truck. Hank helped her climb inside and closed the door. Delilah rested her head against the cool glass, closing her eyes as Hank slid in behind the steering wheel. Her body was exhausted, her mind worn out. The motion of the car made her eyes drift shut. The events of the last two days had finally taken its toll on her, forcing her to give into sleep.
∞ ∞ ∞
Delilah woke to darkness, wrapped in blankets. Tossing them to the side, she sat up and cleared the fog from her eyes. She was in her bed. Glancing at the clock she realized she’d been asleep for nearly two hours.
“Shit,” jumping from the bed she ran to her door. As she jerked it open, she ran into Hank.
“Whoa. Slow down.”
“What the fuck, Hank. You let me sleep?”
“Calm down,” he gripped her arms, “I just talked to the hospital. Parker is in recovery, he’s fine. You needed to sleep. Hell, you didn’t even notice me carry you inside. Get a shower. We can go see him once you’re ready.”
“Yeah… right.” Delilah turned back into her room, “I’ll be down in a minute.”
Delilah shut the door and pressed her head against the cool wood. Breathing in a deep breath, she pushed off the door and locked herself in the bathroom. She was eager to get back to Parker, but she did need a shower. Delilah took the quickest shower ever, rushing to get dressed, she hurried from her room down the steps. Her hair was wet, pulled into a tight ponytail, the water still dripping against her t-shirt.
“Damn, that was quick.” Hank laughed, “Did you even dry your hair?”
“Nope. I want to get back to Parker.”
“Alright then, let’s go.” Hank grabbed the keys. “You really love him, don’t you?”
“What?” Delilah glanced at him.
“Parker. You love him?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Good.”
Chapter 28
Delilah and Hank sat in Parker’s room, waiting for him to be brought back from recovery. The doctor told them that his surgery had gone well and that they had been able to repair the damage to his femur. He would need come physical therapy, but otherwise, he would be alright.
Delilah couldn’t contain her joy when they wheeled him into the room. His head was no longer wrapped like it had been, instead, he had a large bandage taped to the side of his head. His eyes were black and blue, his cheeks were tiny cuts. His leg was in a cast from his toes to his hip. No longer were there tubes running from his mouth, only tubes connected to the i.v. stand attached to his bed.
“He’s probably going to sleep a lot. The doc put him on some pretty good pain meds.” The nurse checked him over before leaving the room.
“He looks better.” Hank grumbled.
“Better than what?” Delilah glared at him.
“Better than death.” Hank patted his friends foot, “I’ll leave you two alone and grab us some food. Talk to him, Delilah. He deserves to know.”
“Yeah… he does. Thanks, Hank.”
Delilah sat next to Parker, waiting, needing him to wake up again. She wanted to tell him how she felt. No, she needed to tell him how she felt. All this time she pushed him away, worried it was too soon or wrong to be in love with someone this quick, but she realized it was stupid. This man had brought her back to life. Now she was going to show him how much that meant to her.
“Delilah,” the quiet sound of Parker’s voice filled the room.
“Parker.” Delilah sat up, scooting to sit on his bed. She grabbed his hand, “You’re awake. Thank god.”
“Don’t cry – I’m good.”
“Good? You almost died, Parker.”
“But I didn’t.”
Delilah gently pressed her lips to his, “I thought I’d never get to see you again.”
“Hey… I said no crying. Delilah,” Parker ran his hand through her hair, “I’m here.”
Delilah let all the emotions spill out. She couldn’t stop crying. Parker pulled her close, rubbing her hair as her tears spilled onto his chest. When her tears had finally stopped flowing, she wiped her cheek and sat up.
“Feel better?”
“God, I’m so sorry. Here you are lying in a bed and I’m acting like a baby.”
“Delilah…”
“Parker, I need to say something.”
“Can I ask you something first?”
“Um, yeah,” Delilah smiled.
“Did you talk to me when I was unconscious? I thought you were reading to me, but it’s kind of foggy.”
“Yeah – I read one of the letters to you.”
“Can you tell me about it now?”
“Parker, it’s not important. Well, I mean it is, but not right now.”
“Delilah, humor me.”
“Momma Belle was dying.” Delilah blurted out.
“Wait, what?”
“She was dying, Parker. So, if the tree hadn’t killed her, she would have died anyway.”
Parker closed his eyes, “She never said anything. I didn’t know.”
“She said that in the letter. That you didn’t know.” Delilah took a deep breath, she was ready to tell him how she felt, but they were interrupted by the doctor.
“Well, I’m glad to see you awake.” The doctor pushed into the room. “You gave everyone a scare, Mr. Masters. Let’s have a look shall we.” The doctor began checking him over, “Well, you look good considering. Your CT scan was normal, so I am pretty sure tomorrow we can probably let you leave. Baring you have someone at home to help you around. You will have limited range of motion, obviously with that huge cast.”
“He’ll stay with me.” Delilah smiled, “I’ll make sure everything is taken care of… How long will he be immobile?”
“About 6 weeks, give or take. We’ll schedule him for a post op appointment with the ortho in two weeks. They’ll have a better time frame and how much rehab he’s going to need.”
“Ok. Thanks, doctor.”
Parker smiled at Delilah, his grin filling his face, “So you want to be my nurse maid?”
“I owe you. You’ve done so much for me.”
“Is that all this is? You owe me?”
“Let’s just get you better…ok?” Delilah smiled.
“What were you going to say… before the doctor came in?”
“What? I told you the letter.”