by Allie Bock
Kade
JOSE GARCIA RODE HIS bull for a 94-point ride. A perfect ride was 100 but no one ever had a hundred-point ride. Any score over 90 points was good. It pushed him into the first spot, and I fell to the number two spot. I had been the number one rider in the country but with my accident, the other riders accumulated more points while I was out. The rider with the most points would lead the rankings heading into the Bull Riding Finals. It would be only a matter of time before another rider passed me up while I sat in bed watching them on TV. That should have been me. I should be the number one bull rider. But, no, I was stuck in my home with the one person I had ever loved taking care of me. At least, she was taking care of me today.
After wheeling me into my room, she helped me to bed, making sure the pillows were fluffed, and the wheelchair was placed within reach. She set a glass of water and a package of fruit pastries next to the bed on the nightstand before leaving the room.
Night fell and the house grew even more silent than normal. It was normally a quiet house with only me and Kaleb living here. He went to bed early so he could be up before dawn to start work on the ranch. My clock read midnight and the restlessness overcame me. I strained and lifted myself into the chair. Slowly, I wheeled myself out of my room and down the hall. A light came from the living room. I rolled to the doorway and stopped. Delilah sat in the corner of the couch with a lamp shining over her shoulder. It cast a halo of light onto her hair. I smiled as I thought about how angelic she looked. She hunched over a laptop and typed furiously, like a madwoman.
I cleared my throat, causing her to jump. The laptop fell towards the floor before she caught it and shut it with a snap. She uncurled her legs. She slid the blanket covering her down the couch.
“Kade, you surprised me.” She placed a hand on her chest. “My heart is just racing.” She placed the laptop next to her on the couch. She slowly stood, eyeing me.
“What are you doing here?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Don’t you have a fancy apartment in San Antonio to go to?”
She straightened her back and raised her chin a tab. “I’m working.”
“Obviously...Can’t you do that somewhere else?” I rolled my chair closer to her, backing her into a corner.
“No, I’m working here, in this house.” She sighed and sunk back into the couch. “Kaleb wants me to sleep here.”
“Why?” Of all of Kaleb’s ideas, this one was crazy.
“To care for you.” She cocked her head at me as her black hair fell over a shoulder. I wanted to reach out and stroke it. My hand raised of its own volition, before I realized what it was doing, I snatched it back to my lap.
“Wait, you are my nurse?” I narrowed my eyes at her as understanding dawned on me.
“Took you long enough.” She retorted. She drew up her long legs and tucked them under her, pulling the blanket back over her lap. “Kaleb hired me to take care of you and as part of the arrangement I have to stay here.” My brow furrowed as I looked at her. “I’m more than qualified to dote on your every whim. I can send you my resume` if you’re concerned.”
“No need.” I rolled back towards the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
“Are you cooking?” She unfolded herself from her seat.
“Only if you do everything for me. What do you want to make?” I tried to chuckle to break the awkwardness of the moment.
“Frozen pizza, ok?” She asked.
Delilah followed me into the kitchen. Her bare feet padded on the floor. She moved with the ease of being comfortable in her environment, getting the oven on and finding the pizza stone. After some time, the smells of bubbling sauce and cheese filled the air. She sat on the chair across the table from me.
“Do you want to play a game of cards?” She tapped her nails on the tabletop in a nervous gesture that she had back in high school.
“Sure. How about letting me make up a new game?” I winked at her, causing a faint blush to color her cheeks.
“I am not stripping.” She rolled her eyes at me and snapped her gum before heading to the junk drawer. She reached into the drawer and pulled out a worn-out deck of cards. My siblings and I spent many hours playing with that deck, and it was missing a few cards.
“No, I was thinking war and whoever has the losing turn has to answer a question.” I rolled my wheelchair closer to the table and leaned my elbows on it to look into her beautiful eyes.
“Fine, but if you ask something I don’t want to answer, I am not going to.” She shuffled the cards, cut the deck, and shuffled it again. She slid it across the worn wooden table. I cut the deck and she dealt the deck in half. The top cards were discarded. The first hand was laid down. She had a five of diamonds to beat my three of clubs.
“In all of your travels, where’s your favorite place to travel to?” She snapped her gum.
“That’s easy. The Chicago bull ride in January.” A questioning look crossed her face. “I love the snow. I wish we got it down here more often.” Next hand, I laid down a King of spades to Delilah’s Jack of hearts. I grinned at her.
“Where did you go to college?”
“Western New York University.” She slapped the next card down it was an Ace. I put down an Ace. We laid a couple of cards each and flipped the last one.
“I win!” I fist-pumped the air before scooping the cards into my pile. The cracked ribs shot pain through my side at the sudden movement. I grabbed my side and wheezed for a second. “Do you have any pets?”
“I have a betta fish. He’s in Katie’s room. His purple clashes with the pink of the room.” She laughed a bit at that, her eyes brightening a bit.
On the next hand, Delilah won and asked, “are you really still driving that old truck parked outside?”
I nodded as I laid down the next round. Having won that hand, I asked. “How are you available to nurse me back to health?”
“I quit my job.” She straightened the cards in front of her.
“Before or after I got hurt?” I held my breath hoping she did it for me. Wow, where did that come from?
She raised her eyebrows at me and shook her head. “Only one question.” She laid down her next hand. I won again. I inhaled and steadied my hands. Time to go for broke.
“Do you ever think about me?”
She rocked back in the chair, balancing on two legs, and stared at me. I thought that she wasn’t going to answer that one. She reached over her shoulder to twirl her hair around her finger. I leaned towards her and grasped at her hand. Her gaze held mine and the corners of her eyes softened.
“Yes,” she whispered. “More than is healthy.”
The timer buzzed for the pizza. She jerked her hands from mine and ran to get the pizza out of the oven. My mind whirled with her response. Did I hear her right? ‘More than is healthy.’ Maybe I had a shot at her affections again. She brought the golden-brown cheese pizza over to the table. She set the pizza cutter down next to my hand.
“I’m starving,” she said.
Tension settled between us that wasn’t there a moment before.
Chapter 9 September 8th
Kade
The ringing of the rusty triangle stirred me from my dreams of Delilah. I hadn’t dreamt of her in a long time. She was the one person I tried to block out of my life after that day. I let her down and broke her heart. I was a coward, and I spent the next part of my life running from that decision. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stared into the harsh light in my room. It wasn’t morning anymore. The clock read 1:00 P.M. I groaned and shifted in the bed, pain radiated out from my ribs and leg as my head pounded to a beat of its own. I reached for the nightstand only to knock the open pill bottle to the floor. The pills skittered to all corners of the room with a clatter. Zip jumped up and tried to get them.
“Zip, no!” I lurched forward to grab his color before he left the bed. Pain shot up my side and darkened the edges of my vision. I wrapped my fingers into his collar and held on. My teeth clenched. I tried to stay conscious thr
ough the next wave of pain.
The door cracked open and Delilah entered the room. She surveyed me trying to hold onto my dog. Zip attempted another leap off the bed and a grimace crossed my face. She walked over to Zip and scooped the wiggly heeler up into her arms.
“I’ll be right back. Let me take him outside.” She crossed the floor, gracefully avoiding several of the small white pills littering the rug. She shouldered her way through the door and went down the hall.
“Everything alright?” Kaleb’s voice echoed from the kitchen.
“Under control. I think Zip wanted some of Kade’s pain meds.” Her voice strained as she moved further away.
“Here, I’ll take him from you.” A chair scraped on the kitchen floor and Kaleb’s spurs rang out with each step.
“Thanks, Kaleb.”
Was it me or did her voice sound a little brighter when she talked to him? Did she have something going on with Kaleb? Is that why she is here? I straightened myself in the bed as her footsteps hurried back to my room.
“Morning, Kade. Or should I say, afternoon,” she said briskly. “I can get those for you.” She bent over and carefully picked up each stray pill. Her white T-shirt rode up on her lower back, revealing a tattoo that had horses and hearts on it.
“I didn’t know you had a tramp stamp,” I growled at her. She looked up sharply and glared. A look of hurt crossed her face.
“You don’t know everything about me.” She retorted before crawling further under the bed to reach a few more.
“Really? I know quite a bit.” I crossed my arms, my jaw clenched as I thought about who else saw her tattoo. A shot of jealousy bolted through me. I didn’t want anyone else to see her like that, and that thought surprised me.
She scooted from under the bed and sat back on her heels. She cocked her head as her black hair fell to the side. She pushed it out of the way before standing up.
“Like I know you and Kaleb have some sort of thing going on. I can see the way you look at him. You taking care of me is some sick joke to you, isn’t it? ‘Look at the poor, helpless Kade Kisment. He can’t even get out of bed on his own.’” I glared at her. Her brown eyes went dark as the color left her skin. I knew I was right.
“You are a jerk.” She twisted the cap on the bottle and threw it at me. It hit me in the forehead before I could catch it. She stomped towards the door, pausing over her shoulder. “You gave up every right to me the night you walked out on me...on us.” The door slammed behind her. She stormed to the kitchen. Her steps pounded on the floor. I could feel the vibrations in my room. Kaleb’s voice mixed with hers, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then, the screen door slammed, and the house was quiet for a minute. I swallowed the pain medication I needed dry as the water glass was empty. I leaned against the headboard and closed my eyes until the door creaked open and Kaleb blocked the doorway with his big frame.
“When she comes back you are going to apologize to her.” He glowered at me.
“Everything I said was true.”
“You wouldn’t know the truth if it ran you over and gored you with its horns. Apologize when she comes back.”
“Or what?” What could he do to me? I raised my chin to him.
“I am taking you to a rehab facility and leaving you there.” He crossed his arms. “Kurt already suggested that if you run out Delilah.”
“You wouldn’t,” I said, glaring right back at him. I hated that Kurt threw his money around to get people to do what he wanted.
“Don’t make me do it.” He was gone with the door shut firmly behind him.
Apologize to Delilah? Kaleb’s insistence all but proved that they had a thing going on. They were probably cuddling on the couch and having a good laugh at my expense. I punched my pillow and allowed sleep to replace the anger I had inside, at least for a while.
A couple of hours later, I couldn’t get comfortable. My back and butt hurt. My head ached and my mouth parched. My tongue was heavy in my mouth. The water glass next to the bed was empty, and my wheelchair sat across the room. There was no way I could hobble, hop, or crawl that distance. Plus, once I got there, I wouldn’t be able to lift myself into the chair. A sigh of frustration left my lips.
“Kaleb!” I called. No response. No steps came. No swearing at me that he will be right there.
“Delilah!” No response to that one either. The house was stiller than normal. I picked up my phone and called Kaleb.
“What.” He answered.
“I need help,” I said.
“Call Delilah or figure it out.” The line went dead with a buzz.
I scrolled through my phone. I didn’t have her on my contact list. I dialed the only number I remembered of hers. It went straight to voice mail, and it wasn’t a helpful voicemail as it was one that repeated the numbers back to me. I hung up. My only other option was to try Damien, Delilah’s brother, and someone who had been one of my closest friends growing up. It was the middle of the afternoon, but I was starting to become desperate. Damien’s phone rang a couple of times before he answered it.
“Hi Damien, it’s Kade.” We’d been friends for a long time. Hopefully, he’d help me. I crossed my fingers.
“Hey, buddy. How are you? Long time no see,” he said hesitantly.
“Could be better. Could be worse.” I laughed bitterly. “I’m home for a while with an injury.”
“I heard. The rumor mill has been busy.”
“Anything good?” I asked, maybe small talk will soften him up.
There was a silence from him. Damien wasn’t a talkative guy, but he was straightforward. There was something he didn’t want to share. “Nah, just all about you. Would you be up to going out some night? Pete needs a real bachelor party with the guys.”
“Sure. I can wheel it. I had forgotten that Pete was engaged.”
“He wasted no time. The gal is Melanie. You remember? She started the dress shop back up... A real sweetheart.” The unsaid hung in the air. If I’d paid attention to the people that mattered to me, I’d remember.
“I think I met her last time I was home.” She must have been the pretty brunette hanging around Pete. Good for him. “I was calling to get Dee’s number.”
Another silence.
“Do you want to talk to her?” His voice dropped and sent shivers up my spine.
“That’s why I called you.”
“Hang on.” It sounded like he put the phone down. “Dee, Kade is on the phone for you.” He shouted. Her response was muffled. Damien laughed. “Sorry bro, she says you can kiss her behind. That you are a self-centered jerk and unequivocal something that I am not going to repeat with my mother standing here.”
I sighed, that was so Delilah. “Fine, can you tell her I am sorry and... that I need her.”
A very pregnant silence followed, and it seemed to go on forever.
“What are you sorry for and why do you need her?” Damien was quiet, and the words rumbled in the air. “She is my baby sister.” The protectiveness of his little sister came through the line loud and clear.
“Tell her I am sorry for what I said to her today and I need her help to get out of bed.”
Damien gave a short sharp laugh at that. “I’ll tell her but that is all.” The line went dead.
What is with people hanging up on me today? I tried to plump the pillows. I scooted one down on the mattress to sit on. It helped the numb sensation in my lower extremities. I flicked the TV on to distract myself from the discomfort I was in.
On the eighth episode of Friends, the screen door banged. Finally, my salvation is here. Heavy footsteps stomped to my room and the door flung open like it was in a hurricane.
“Kade Tanner Kisment, you are the slime on a toad’s belly for calling my brother.” She stomped toward the bed. She never looked madder or hotter. Her cheeks were flushed a rosy pink. Her shiny black hair floated around her face and down her shoulders. Her T-shirt rode up her flat abdomen as she flailed her arms around her face so mu
ch I got lost in her looks.
“Are you even listening to me?” She shouted.
I mentally shook myself. “Huh?”
“You called my brother to have me come over.” She poked me in the chest with each word, hard.
“Ouch.” I rubbed at the spot. “I am sorry. I was mean but I need your help. Please.”
Her look softened a bit, and her arms went back to her side. She stopped for a second and then grabbed the wheelchair from the corner.
“You’ve never apologized to me before. For anything.” She said so quietly I almost didn’t catch it. She was right I never apologize for anything. Boy, did I have a lot to be sorry for with Delilah. She brought the chair closer and helped me in it. She pushed me out of the room into the hallway.
“Where to next, your highness?” She did an elaborate curtsy and gestured around the house. I smiled at her and got an almost genuine smile in response.
Delilah
KADE WAS INFURIATING. When he walked out on me eleven years ago, he never looked back. I had called him and left him messages. No answer. But I had to get on with my life. I would have never thought I’d find myself pushing his wheelchair around the house. He wanted to go sit outside on the porch, so I wheeled him out the door.
“Where are you going?” He called over his shoulder as I set the brake and headed back into the house.
“To get some pillows or something. I bet your backside is sore.” I pushed through the door. “You don’t have any padding back there,” I muttered as I swept up some pillows and a comforter from the couch to add to the swing. “Here you go.” The swing swayed gently in the breeze as I arranged the pillows and blanket to pad the wooden swing. “You can sit here with your leg propped up.”
Kade rolled close to the swing. As he reached out towards me, our hands touched, electric sparks tingled up my arm as I helped him into the swing. The old flame of desire flared at his touch. It reminded me of how gentle and caring he was when we were a couple. He loved me and showed it all the time. I tamped down the old feelings and focused on being a nurse. The rust chains creaked as he sat down. His sky-blue eyes met mine and my heart pounded. I broke the contact, lifting his right leg onto another pillow. “Here’s some ice.” I packed it around the leg. I wiped my hands on my pants. He caught my hands in his and rubbed his thumb over the back of mine. A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. Unsaid thoughts swirled in his eyes and drew me in. Was there still something between us? Could there be something between us? Or is there too much hurt? I mentally shook myself back to my job, trying to not let my heart fall for Kade all over again.