by Taylor Hart
Cooper didn’t say anything.
It felt like God was punishing her for all the lies she’d told and her messed up priorities. She bent her head and cried harder.
Suddenly, she felt Cooper’s hand on her shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.”
It meant more to her then she could admit, Cooper’s support. She didn’t deserve it, but she needed it.
She thought of how Tom had come here for her. And the fact she’d come here for her stupid career.
But she wouldn’t do this. Allow Cooper to get hurt more. She wouldn’t allow him to comfort her. “Thank you for your help today, but I don’t know why you’d be here after what I did to you.”
For a few moments, neither of them spoke.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Cooper shrugged. “I’m not leaving.”
Unable to turn and face him, she asked, “Why not? I don’t…deserve this.”
He sighed and pulled his hand back. “Because you need me.”
It hurt, to know this was just the kind of person Cooper was. The kind who stayed when his wife had cancer. He was staying because he was him…not because of her. She nodded. “Thank you.”
He didn’t speak for a minute then asked, “Are your parents coming?”
“I told them I would let them know how he was doing tonight, and then they can decide. It’s hard for them to leave during farming season.” She sniffed. “But I’m sure your PR people are telling you to get back and start sorting everything out. With my article and the girl getting hit and now this.”
Cooper moved to one of the chairs next to Tom’s bed and sat. “I’m not leaving.”
Chapter 20
When the first rays of sunshine came through the hospital blinds, Cooper woke. He always woke early to meditate. Not because he had to, but because his soul craved it. He’d recently realized it was the best way to keep a handle on his demons.
An immediate crick in his neck reminded him he’d voluntarily sat in the hospital the entire night next to the woman who’d confessed she’d lied to him twice. Carefully, he sat up. Around three in the morning, he’d pulled a chair over and put it between London and himself. They had propped their feet and fallen asleep.
Worry swooped back into the center of his chest when he realized Tom still hadn’t woken up. He didn’t know much about brain injuries, but he did know the longer someone stayed asleep, the worse it probably was.
He turned to London and felt even more pain. She’d cried on and off the whole night, refusing to eat any food. Refusing to do anything but pray and cry and keep telling him she was horrible and he should leave.
Pulling in a long, cleansing breath, he asked himself why he’d stayed. The imprint of the betrayal when he’d read the article flashed through his mind. Then there was the throwing of his shoe.
Closing his eyes, he shook his head. Had he really done that?
Opening his eyes, he turned, staring at London’s head cocked to the side, her blonde hair in light waves around her face. Black streaks beneath her eyes.
She was beautiful.
Even though she’d lied to him. Twice. Even though she had pretty much been the catalyst for a very public breakdown.
It was kind of funny in an awful way.
Rubbing his eyes, he thought about the screech of the girl who had been the recipient of his shoe to her head and felt horrible.
Pulling out his phone, he stared down at roughly twenty texts. Most of them were from Alana. Her last one told him Sterling was trying to get a hold of him. Sterling’s was the most recent. It was from two minutes ago. I just flew in. Alana told me you’re at the hospital. I’m coming.
He stood, staring at London. It was comical how, even though this woman had lied to him pretty much since they’d met, there was a realness about her. He’d felt it every time they’d spoken about the nonprofit, about life, about God.
She hadn’t been lying then. He’d felt the realness of her in the previous conversations when he’d watched her petition the Almighty for help.
He’d felt it. The hand of God on her.
It hadn’t been a surprise, per se, feeling the Divine encircle them as she prayed. But it had been a good reminder for him.
That God was real. It touched him.
Last night as she cried, her soul wracked with pain, it’d made him look at her in a whole new light.
He moved toward the door and gently opened it.
When he got a few feet down the hall, he whipped open his phone and called his personal assistant.
“You know I just went to bed after putting out countless media fires,” Alana’s slightly grumpy voice said after the first ring.
“I didn’t mean to wake you. Why did you answer?”
“Because it’s you. How’s Tom?”
It touched him that his sassy, spunky assistant cared so much. “He still hasn’t woken.”
She sighed. “That’s crappy.”
“Listen, Alana, I want you to research the leading brain doctors in the nation and find the ones dealing with concussions. Then call me back or better yet, send me a report.”
“I’ll just get one of them on the phone for a consult with Tom’s doctor.” She hesitated. “Boss, I’m glad you want to help. I think we should, but what’s going on with the girl?”
He didn’t respond.
“Boss, you know what the article said, right?”
Not acknowledging her concern, he moved on. “Will you call me when you find out what the doctors say?”
“Grr. Okay, boss.”
He grinned. She was always efficient and responsible. “Thank you.”
Before he got to the hospital’s double doors, they parted, and Sterling walked in looking about in a frantic way. He caught Cooper’s eye and threw his hands up. “What is happening?”
Cooper appreciated his friend more than Sterling could ever know.
Sterling grabbed him in a quick hug then pulled back. “I saw the clip, man. It’s gone viral. What happened?” He looked around. “But please answer first, why are we in the hospital?”
Assuming the news about Tom getting hurt hadn’t been reported yet, Cooper gestured to the doors. “I need to go grab something to eat. Come with me.”
Sterling moved with him, giving him a confused look. “Explain …”
Cooper ran his hand over his face and kept walking toward his car. “London’s brother got hurt in a climbing accident yesterday. He was freestyle climbing.” Cooper got to his car and unlocked it with his key fob.
Sterling paused at the passenger side door. “Crap.”
Cooper let out a breath, hating that Tom was still unconscious. He slipped into the car. “I know.”
They buckled up, and Cooper turned the car on. “I’ve been with London all night.”
Sterling sighed and shook his head.
Cooper sped out of the parking lot and toward town to his favorite bagel place.
Sterling was quiet for a second. Then he asked, “So why did she publish that trash about you?”
Appreciating that his friend was angry for him, Cooper didn’t answer for a second. He told Sterling the whole story—about Nadia leaving him, then helping her fight cancer, and her death.
Sterling stared at him, taking it all in.
After pulling into the parking lot of the coffee and bagel shop, they sat in the car as Cooper finished the story. A heavy silence settled when he stopped talking.
They both reached for their door handles at the same time and went in. Cooper ordered for himself and London before turning to Sterling. “What do you want?”
Sterling ordered quickly.
For a few minutes, they both just started out of the window while waiting for their food. When it arrived, Cooper grabbed the sack and hurried toward the car.
Sterling stopped him right outside of the shop, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Do you think you should really be involved with this girl?”
Cooper’s heart raced. How could he explain ever
ything he’d felt for her? How somehow he knew the girl who’d written that article about him wasn’t who she really was? Wasn’t the compassionate person he knew she was. “I’m fine. It’s fine, man.”
Keeping the serious expression on his face, Sterling let him go, and they both got into the car.
Cooper didn’t talk on the way back. He actually found himself chanting, or as London would say praying, for Tom. That he’d recover quickly. Praying for her too.
When they parked in front of the hospital, Cooper didn’t move. Neither did Sterling.
Sterling opened the bag and pulled out Cooper’s bagel then his own. “So I can’t warn you off from her?”
Cooper took a bite and shook his head.
Sterling unwrapped his bagel, but only stared at Cooper. “Dude, I think you need to rethink this chick. She obviously has issues. And she’s caused a crapstorm of a media mess for you.”
Cooper took another bite, thinking about what Sterling said.
“How can you trust her? Yeah, I know you think she’s good. You think you saw the real her, but you have to think about yourself. Think about what she did to you. You’ve got to protect yourself, man.”
They sat in amicable silence for a few minutes, both eating and thinking.
Cooper didn’t know why his gut told him she was good. All he knew was the only clear thing to him in this moment was London. He needed to be here for her. Squishing up his wrapper, he put the trash in the bag and took a long swig of orange juice. He turned to his friend. “Maybe love isn’t about feeling protected.”
“What?”
Cooper was analyzing all of it. “Maybe, for me, love is learning how to feel vulnerable again.”
Sterling snorted. “I don’t think you have to learn it from a woman you can’t trust.”
Cooper thought about it for a few moments. “Maybe she needed to learn it too.”
Sterling frowned. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Thanks for coming.”
Sterling let out an exasperated sigh. “You’re not going to do anything I said, are you? Have you even heard me?”
Cooper got out of the car. “I’ll catch you later.”
Sterling rolled his eyes. “I’m going to sit here until I finish my breakfast bagel.”
Cooper snatched the coffee and bagel he’d gotten for London and smiled. “Thanks for coming.”
Sterling nodded. “Anytime.”
Chapter 21
The soft clicking sound jolted London awake. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Cooper sitting back in the chair next to her. He handed her a coffee and a small bag. “I figured you needed fuel so you can be in tip-top shape for whatever your brother needs today.”
She ignored the offerings, instead standing and going to Tom’s side. She reached for his hand and felt the intense urge to cry all over again. “No, thank you.”
Leaning down, she gently pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “C’mon, come back to me.” Emotion surged in her chest, but she sucked in a breath and pushed it down. Her eyes were raw from yesterday, and she knew she needed to keep a clear head.
She was famished and making herself sick wasn’t going to help Tom. Reluctantly, she turned back to Cooper.
He held out the coffee and bag to her, and this time she took it. “I’m only eating so I can keep a clear head.”
“That’s a good reason.”
Gingerly, she picked off the bread of the sandwich and only ate the eggs and bacon. It tasted good despite her lack of appetite. “Thank you.”
While she ate, London’s mind whirled with trepidation. If Tom didn’t wake up today, she didn’t know what she would do. The thought of more tests and of her parents having to come was overwhelming.
Picking up her phone, she saw ten texts and five missed calls from her mother. She pushed the call button and stood, moving for the door. “I’m calling my mom back. Would you come get me if he wakes?”
Cooper nodded.
She spent the next five minutes trying to calm her frantic mother, feeling herself getting more and more frantic too. Finally, she told her mother she would call her back after she spoke with the doctor who should be doing rounds soon.
Walking back into the hospital room, she found something she never thought she’d find. Cooper standing next to her brother, his hand on Tom’s hand, his head bowed.
It looked like he was praying.
She didn’t move, and he didn’t look up for another minute.
He pulled his hand back and stared up at her with his hazel green eyes. The ones that looked magnetic and passionate when he spoke. The ones that had looked hooded and dark yesterday morning before he’d kissed her.
Now they were clear, kind, pure.
Her heart pitter-pattered, and she felt everything inside of her being pulled to this man. Not just him, but his spirit.
It had seemed so new-agey and silly and impossible until she felt her spirit connect to him in a way she’d never had with Dillon. Or anyone.
All London could think of was flying. Soaring, not choppy like the helicopter, but smooth, like a bird on a cool sunny day. Synchronized with the other birds, there was no need for radio, no need for hand signals. They were just on the same wavelength.
It hit her with such force that she crumpled, putting her head down and crying. What had she done? What had she been a part of for this man? Revealing his deepest secrets, his pain, his beauty, his most inner self. She had selfishly used it for her career. Now, he was here praying for her brother.
Trembling, she turned and fled down the hospital hall. In no time, Cooper was beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders, guiding her.
Hiccupping with hysteria, all of the horror of being here flashed through her mind. Her brother., her life; it was all a mess and she felt herself collapsing into him.
He wrapped her in his arms. “Shh. It’s okay. Tom will be okay. I can feel it. I can.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, she let him hold her. Even though she shouldn’t. “I’m horrible, please leave.”
He didn’t say anything.
“I did this. I should have gone home. But, I didn’t have the integrity to tell Marcia to shove it. And so I hurt you.” She sniffed and more tears ran down her face. “And I hurt my brother.” Her knees buckled and she fell into Cooper.
Cooper gently guided her back toward Tom’s room. In the doorway, she heard the sound of the loud, long blare of the monitor. A nurse pushed past them, ran to Tom’s side then yelled over her shoulder. “Code!”
Chapter 22
Cooper held London on the side of the room as the doctors worked, yelling at nurses. Screams shrieked out of her, and a doctor ordered someone to get her out of there.
“No!” She yelled as Cooper pulled her out, hating to be the one to do it.
But there was no one else. She had no one.
She fought against him, tears and snot mixing down her face as she struggled against him.
He held her steady, getting her out of the room and just holding her. “London! Stop!”
She stopped struggling and jerked out of his arms. For a second, she stared at the room. Then she turned away from him, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She pressed a button and put the phone to her ear.
“Mom, you need to come. Something’s happening. They’re yelling and trying to work on him. Mom, I’m afraid.” London hunched over, moving to a wall and holding on to it.
It broke his heart watching her. Just being here reminded him of the endless nights in the hospice unit with his wife.
She put her phone away and slid to the floor, her head against the wall as she cried.
He did the only thing he could do. He stayed.
Chapter 23
London didn’t remember when Cooper helped her up off the hall floor. All she remembered was him taking her to the lobby and sitting next to her. All she could think about was Tom. Think about summers on the farm and the smell of hay as they mucked out stalls and got
into fights throwing hay at each other. She thought of riding with him and spending hours exploring the woods behind their home. She thought of when they’d found that old, abandoned shack in the woods and made it their fort, only to run home that night because they were too afraid of the ghosts.
They’d made a pact never to go back.
She thought of when he’d left for boot camp and how her mother had broken down and cried for days.
She remembered how proud she’d been of him when he’d come home, strong and proud and purposeful. The military had given him a purpose.
She remembered how all he’d wanted this week was for her to come home and see him. Instead, he’d come here to see her.
If she had gone home, none of this would have happened. Another round of sobbing came out of her.
Cooper’s hand covered hers. “London, it’s going to be okay.”
Ripping her hand back, she shook her head and tried to get a hold of herself. “This is all my fault. All of it.” She couldn’t stop crying.
Cooper didn’t speak. He just sat there in a silent, supportive way. It made her feel even worse.
She stood, moving toward the hall and down to Tom’s room.
There was an orderly standing outside of it. “Ma’am, you can’t go in there.”
Wanting to shove the orderly out of the way, she opted to clench her fists and stand there waiting.
Everything hung in the balance. Life. Death. Time. Her life mingling with her brother’s life.
And it was all her fault. Her and her selfishness.
Cooper came toward her.
She couldn’t take it anymore. “Leave!” She shouted. She didn’t deserve him. She couldn’t stand the reminder of it all.
Stunned, he stopped a few feet away. Those dark green eyes looked at her in disbelief.
London had no one to vent on except him. “Just leave!” She shouted before turning her back.
After a few interminable seconds, footsteps sounded his retreat.
Chapter 24