He kissed her forehead, then whispered in her ear.
“Yes. Relax. I am within the sound of your voice.”
“Mine,” she said, and then closed her eyes.
“Forever yours,” Hunt said, then sat down and reached for her hand, and this time when he did, her grip was strong.
* * *
The good news about Ava Ridley’s resurrection spread through Blessings as fast as the news of her death had done, but there was one person who knew before all the others, and that was Elliot Graham, the man who’d delivered the warning that saved her life.
The satisfaction of knowing his warning had been heeded was enough. And to acknowledge the spirits who continued to send him messages, he lifted a glass of wine that night in their honor.
While Elliot was in his home drinking wine, Hunt was sitting near the window in Ava’s room downing a burger and fries that Karen and Larry brought him.
Ava woke a couple of times while her parents were still there—long enough to satisfy them with her continuing recovery—and after she fell back asleep the third time, they left her in Hunt’s care.
* * *
The floor was quieter at night. Enough so that Hunt dozed off now and then. Once he’d fallen asleep leaning forward in the chair with his forehead on Ava’s bed, and woke up with her fingers in his hair.
The next time he dozed off, he went to war, then woke up with a jerk when the nurses began changing shifts. He hadn’t dreamed like that in quite a while, and the only times he went back there in his sleep were in times of stress. What had happened to Ava fell into that category and then some.
They woke Ava up taking vitals, and the moment she opened her eyes, she was looking for him.
“I’m here, baby, but I’m kind of in the way. I’m going to get a cup of coffee and then I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Yes, okay,” Ava said.
A few minutes later, the nurse was leaving as he walked in with his coffee. Ava was awake and in a reclining position.
“I remember stuff,” Ava said. “Can we talk?”
“Absolutely,” Hunt said, then put the coffee aside and sat down on the side of her bed. “You talk. I’ll listen.”
“There was a fight in the ER. Did I dream that?”
Hunt remembered the doctor telling them not to lead her memories, but if she was asking, he could answer.
“No. That happened,” he said.
She nodded, then put a hand on her chest. “My chest hurts. It hurts to take a deep breath. Why am I here?”
“What do you think happened?” Hunt asked.
“That I got hit by something. Is that right?”
“Yes. That’s right. But you’re healing, and you’re going to be fine.”
Ava nodded. “I thought it was something like that,” she said, then closed her eyes.
Hunt thought she was going back to sleep when she suddenly opened her eyes and clutched his hand.
“I need to ask you something and then tell you something.”
“Okay,” Hunt said.
“Did I die?”
Hunt was shocked by the question. “Why would you ask that, honey?”
“Because I was in light…and colors in hues I’ve never seen, and there was a voice within the light that told me I’d come too soon. The voice said I could stay or I could go back, but I had to be the one to decide. And then I saw two visions within the light. In the first one, I was standing at the threshold of what I would call heaven. And it was so beautiful and the voice was pure love and I didn’t want to leave.”
Hunt shuddered. Hearing how close he’d come to losing her was frightening.
“Then the light shifted, and I saw another vision. I think I was in this room but I was looking down. I could see a woman in a bed. I saw two people standing by the bed crying. They were my parents. I saw a man holding the woman’s hand but I couldn’t see his face, and I came closer. Then I was beside the man and I saw it was you. There were tears on your cheeks, and then I saw the woman in the bed was me, and I was thinking over and over that I didn’t want to die. I wanted you.”
Hunt swallowed past the lump in his throat and held onto her hand, but she kept talking.
“As soon as I thought that I didn’t want to die, I think I went back inside my body. But the moment I did that, I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t remember how to make anything work. But I could feel your hand. I tried to make my fingers work, but they wouldn’t. After that, I just remember waking up and sleeping and waking up and sleeping, and always, always, trying to find my way back. I want you to know that every time I found the strength to surface, it was because I was following the sound of your voice. I chose you, and that’s why I’m still here.”
There were tears on Hunt’s face again, but he didn’t care.
“I’ll be thanking God every day for the rest of my life for giving you the choice, and I’ll be thanking you every night when I hold you in my arms that you chose to come back to me. I love you, Ava.”
She sighed, and then closed her eyes again. “Love you too,” she mumbled.
Hunt slid off the side of her bed, raised the guardrail back into place, and then pulled up the covers.
Her eyes opened.
“You’ll stay?”
“Right here,” Hunt said. “Close your eyes. I’ve got you.”
* * *
Hunt took Ava home two days later. Getting hurt had hastened the end of her job. Even though she and Hunt weren’t leaving for Houston just yet, she wasn’t strong enough to return to work.
When he got her back to her house, she took a deep breath as she entered.
“Home never felt so good.” And then she glanced at him. “Or looked as good. You plan on keeping that three-day beard?”
“No. It makes me look too much like Dad. Are you doing okay? Where do you want to land, sugar? On the sofa in the living room, or do you want to lie down on your bed?”
“I think I just want to prowl the house for a couple of minutes. You know…make myself a glass of tea. Sneak a cookie or something. I was an impatient patient. I admit it.”
Hunt grinned. “I don’t know about that. I like your sass. But I’ll turn the bed back just in case, and then I’m going to shave.”
“Make yourself pretty for me,” Ava said, and turned to walk away.
Hunt stood, watching the way she was moving. She walked a little hunched over, favoring the pain in her chest, but she was steady on her feet. He started to leave, and then waited a couple of minutes until she came back. Once she was settled in her chair with her feet up, he kissed the top of her head and left her alone.