“Sara and Brea brought these for you.”
The doctor — Alec Collins — and a nurse enter the room and walk over to the bed.
“I see our patient is awake,” the doctor says, and Angel blinks.
We step out of the way and let Alec and the nurse get closer to assess her. The nurse gives her a drink of water. Alec holds her hand that isn’t in the cast.
“Angel, I’m Dr. Collins. Can you squeeze my hand?”
She closes her eyes and concentrates as she squeezes.
He nods and says, “Very good.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“Yes,” she says in a very raspy voice.
He touches her broken hand and feet. I know he is checking for blood circulation.
“Alec holds the cup of water to Angel’s mouth and angles the straw to her lips. Take another sip of water; it’ll help with the discomfort in your throat. Can you tell me where you are?”
In a very raspy voice that doesn’t sound like hers, she replies, “Bed.”
She looks around the room and asks, “Hospital?”
“Good, do you know why you are here?”
She blinks a few times and nods her head yes. She squeezes her eyes closed. He releases her hand and walks over to the monitors where the nurse is standing. The nurse adds something into her IV. Pain meds, I assume. Angel immediately drifts off to sleep.
The doctor walks back over to us and tells us he gave her morphine for pain and that she has some memory.
“Her memory seems to be mostly intact. She will come to more and more as time passes. She should sleep for a few hours from the meds I just gave her. Now would be a good time to get something to eat or shower if you want. I’ll be back in shortly.”
He nods and exits the room.
I look down at my clothing.
“You should go home and shower and eat something; we will be right here with her,” Maria says.
“Are you sure?” I ask, looking at Angel and not at Maria.
“Sí, señor.”
I look up and say, “I’ll be back in an hour. Thank you.”
I go home and shower quickly and eat a sandwich and a banana. I look around the apartment and realize just how long it’s been since I have been here last. I put some hygiene items, a couple changes of clothes into a duffle bag, along with some protein bars, a few apples, and some bottled water. I call my Dad and let him know Angel is starting to come to. I call Police Detective Evans and let him know she is off the ventilator but isn’t well enough to be questioned, but I’ll keep him informed. I text Donovan and Vincent and update them as well. They will call Sara and Brea.
I walk into the hospital and Sara and Brea are there, holding a bunch of balloons that say, “Get well soon. We miss you,” and a balloon with a bear with his arm in a cast, a thermometer in his mouth, and his head wrapped up in gauze. I laugh to myself. I think it’s the first time I have laughed in days. I walk over to them and lay the duffle bag in the chair next to them. They stand and I bend down to hug them. We get a cup of coffee and talk for a few minutes.
They walk into Angel’s room with me carrying the half dozen balloons. People stare at us but don’t say anything. Alec looks up from his computer with a raised brow. I hold up a finger to indicate that we will be here just for a minute.
“Angel’s sisters,” I say, grinning.
“Really?” He smiles and looks away, not waiting for an answer.
We enter the ICU room where Angel is. They are just finishing up doing another CT scan. Maria and Raúl are standing near her bed. Brea lays the balloons next to a bouquet of flowers on the window sill.
“These from you?” she asks, smiling and touching the two dozen white daisies.
I shrug my shoulders and say, “I wanted her to wake up to something other than white, sterile walls.”
“You did a great job, Mason. Those are her favorite flowers.”
“Thank you. She told me that she likes daisies.”
We walk over to Angel’s bed. Her eyes are open and she is smiling at Sara. Sara is holding her hand and stroking her fingers. Maria is holding a cup to Angel’s mouth with the straw to her lips. Angel drinks the water. Maria sets the cup down and Brea moves in closer to the bed. Brea strokes Angel’s cheek and tells her she was so scared. Sara has tears falling onto her cheeks. I stand back and watch the exchange among friends. Angel has tears running down her cheeks, and Brea starts with her own tears. Maria and Raúl wave to me as they exit the room. Maria is also crying, happy tears this time. Angel squeezes Sara’s hand before she drifts off to sleep.
Sara and Brea leave shortly after.
The doctor comes into the room and says, “We have good news. The CT scan revealed the swelling is almost completely gone from her brain and she has normal brain activity. We can move her out of ICU and into a private room later today. She may still suffer from some amnesia, but we won’t know until she starts talking. It seems she is recognizing her family and friends. We will still need to operate on her right leg and set the bone but that won’t be for another couple days. We want to get her a little stronger first. She is no longer critical. It is still difficult for her to talk from the ventilator tubes being in her throat and because the broken ribs are causing her pain. We will still be medicating her heavily to try to control her pain so that will add to her groggy state.”
Taking a deep breath, I fall into the chair behind me and say, “That is great news.”
I send out a group text telling everyone. Angel wakes up a few times and stays awake for longer periods; she is able to form some words, but I do most of the talking. She holds the small monkey stuffed animal that I placed in her bed with her a few days before. The monkey holds a heart that says, “I wuv you.” She looks at the monkey and holds it up to her lips and kisses it before looking back up to me. I bend down and kiss her on her lips. She returns my kiss, and I smile. I pull away a little and her eyes also reveal a smile, a twinkle I haven’t seen in them in days.
“I wuv you,” I whisper to her and kiss her again.
It feels so good to have her lips respond to mine. I don’t want to move. I want to deepen our kiss and climb in bed and lie with her, but of course, I don’t. Someone clears her throat before entering the room.
Maria is walking towards the bed. She is carrying a cup of soup and a red lollipop. She smiles as she walks over to Angel.
“Hi,” Angel whispers.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Maria looks over at me and grins.
“No, nothing,” I say, clearing my throat and returning her grin.
“I brought you some homemade soup and your favorite treat. The cute doctor said you can eat small amounts of soft food today. I know how much you loved your Mamma’s soup. It won’t be as good as hers, but I tried.”
She sets the soup on the table and holds the lollipop up for Angel to see it. Angel flinches when she moves to reach for the sucker. Maria unwraps it and hands it to her. Angel places it in her mouth and sucks on it. It’s the first thing she’s had in her mouth other than water in days.
I didn’t know she liked suckers. It dawns on me I barely even know her. I feel like I have known her forever even though it has been only a couple months.
The nurse comes into the room and announces they are moving Angel into a regular room. Angel hands the sucker back to Maria. I kiss Angel and start to load her personal items onto a cart the nurse brought in with her. I didn’t notice all the flowers that were in her room until now. Sara and Donovan sent roses, and Mom, Dad, and Madison sent a red star gazer lily. Mom always sends lilies for every occasion. Brea and Vincent sent a bouquet of wild flowers. Maria and Raúl sent a large bouquet of pink Dahlias, a native Mexican flower. I also see a single yellow rose with no card in a small bud vase. I load up the flowers, balloons, the soup Maria had made and Angel’s romance novels and follow the nurses and the hospital bed out the door and down the hall. Maria walks beside me.
�
��Where is Raúl?”
“He had a call from George Walters that he had to take. He’ll be up soon.”
We wait outside and let them get Angel situated before we enter the room.
“I have to pee,” I hear Angel say in her raspy voice.
I look over and the catheter is hanging low from her bed rail. I busy myself with placing the flowers around the room so Angel has a view of the flowers from every angle. The nurse explains to Angel that she has a catheter inserted that is draining her urine straight from her bladder and although she feels like she needs to pee, her bladder is indeed empty.
“I still have to pee,” Angel insists.
I walk over to Angel and smile. She looks embarrassed when she sees me.
“You have to pee, Angel?”
“Yes.”
“As you know, you can’t get up.”
“I know, but I need to pee.”
“I’ll close the curtain to give you some privacy and you try to pee from right here. Closing your eyes and concentrating may help relax your bladder and you’ll be able to release some urine your bladder is retaining. Maria and I will be right on the other side of the curtain, if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
Maria and I continue to put out her flowers. Maria looks at the small bud vase holding the single yellow rose and sets it further back in the window sill out of view.
“I’m done,” Angel says.
Maria pulls the curtain open, and I go into the bathroom to get her a washcloth.
“Feel better?”
“Yes.”
“It helped?”
She nods.
The nurses just look at me. That’s right. I know a few things, too. I wipe off Angel’s face and hands for her and Maria applies some ChapStick to Angel’s lips and some hand lotion to Angel’s left hand and right fingers. Angel smiles and I know she feels better. The curtains are open, and the room is much brighter than before. Angel closes her eyes, and I partially close her curtains to make the room darker. She soon drifts off into a slumber.
Angel sleeps for an hour or so before Raúl enters the room with a genuine smile. He is thrilled to see Angel has been moved to a regular room. Maria walks him over to the window and points to the yellow rose. His smile immediately leaves his face and stress lines forms on his forehead. He grabs his phone and sends out a text.
I sit with Angel by her bed. Maria feeds her some soup and she eats. Sara and Brea come in and visit, and they bring a big bag of red suckers. I asked them to bring her some and they get the biggest bag they can find. Brea opens up the bag of suckers and soon all the girls in the room are sucking on one. Dad, Mom, and Madison stop in to check on Angel. Angel is embarrassed at meeting my family for the first time. They hug her like she is family. Dad and Raúl walk away from everyone and stand near the window sill looking out the window that is facing the parking garage.
I stand away from Angel’s bed, but I am close enough for her to see me and know I am still in the room. She listens to Mom, Madison, Maria, Sara, and Brea as they talk about something — I have no idea what. I watch her intently not listening to the conversations in the room, but just looking at her. She looks up at me a few times and smiles.
Angel drifts off to sleep and everyone leaves for the night.
A chair in the room reclines to a makeshift bed. I close the blinds, turn off the lights, and lower her bed rail and scoot the chair in as close as I can next to her. I rest my head next to her torso and hold her left hand careful not to bother her IV. I close my eyes and thank God for bringing her back to me.
I feel Angel stroking my hand. I raise up and smile at her. She is looking at me.
“Hi, Handsome.”
My heart skips a beat. I love when she calls me that.
“Hi, Beauty. Sleep well?”
“I did, thank you. You’re here a lot,” she says as she tries to swallow.
I hold the cup and straw to her mouth. She takes small sips.
“You didn’t think I would leave you here alone, did you?”
“How long have I been here?” she asks, confused.
I have to think, I’m not sure.
“Five or six days, I think?”
“Have you been here the whole time?” she swallows.
“No, I went home and showered.”
“How many times?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t count.”
I didn’t count, but I know it was once.
“Mmmm ummm,” she says as she grimaces.
“You’re in pain.”
It’s not a question but a statement.
She nods and I call the nurse.
The nurse comes in and administer more pain meds into her IV and Angel drifts off to sleep again.
I drift off to sleep and wake up to my phone alerting me to a text message. I read it and it’s from my Dad.
Dad: Are you free to meet with me at the hospital later this afternoon?
Mason: Of course, what’s up?
Dad: It’s nothing, I just have a few things to discuss with you.
Mason: Are you sure it’s nothing?
Dad: It’s nothing for you to worry about. We’ll talk later. I love you, Son.
Mason: See you later. I love you, too.
I look at the clock and it says 5:24. I look out the window and it’s still dark outside. Dad is up pretty early, even for a work day.
I pick up one of Angel’s romance novels from her bedside table and open it to the bookmark. I read to myself and blush. I was going to read it aloud to her but decide Fifty Shades Darker isn’t the kind of book you read in public or aloud for that matter. I look at the author’s name: E.L. James. I think I know why she didn’t list her first name. Laughing to myself, I lay the book down and pick up another one: Collide by Gail McHugh. This book also has a bookmark in place. How many different books can one person read at once? I open it and begin reading to myself. This is very amusing: A drunken guy named Gavin, is at a rehearsal dinner giving a drunken speech about the bride-to-be, name of Emily, with whom he is in love. Only in the fictional world would this happen.
“Reading something funny?” Angel smirks.
“I was going to read to you from Fifty Shades Darker but decided against it.” I show her the book Collide and ask, “Your book boyfriend?”
“One of them, yes. I love Gavin Blake.”
She looks at the book on the table, Fifty Shades Darker, and lifts her chin in that direction. “A guy could learn a thing or two from reading that book,” she rasps.
I look at her, deadpan, and say, “A guy could learn more than a thing or two from that book.”
I lay the book Collide down and lean into the bed near her.
She grimaces as she tries to take in a deep breath.
“I’m glad you’re up. How are you feeling?”
“In pain. How long am I going to be like this?” she asks with tears in her eyes.
“Beauty, I don’t know for sure. They still have to operate on your leg, but I’m not sure when that will be. We can ask your doctor the next time he comes in. You are making remarkable improvement, and I am so proud of you.”
I lean in and kiss her and ask, “Do you remember anything about the accident?”
“Bits and pieces. Thank you for staying with me.”
“You are more than welcome, Angel. I’ll be here as long as you are.”
“Really?”
“Really, Boy Scout’s honor,” I say, holding up my index finger and my middle finger together. I rub my thumb across her knuckles and soon she is fast asleep.
I grab my duffle bag and use the private shower in Angel’s room. When I return she has a food tray with soft foods and clear liquids sitting on her table. I put my duffle bag over by the window and pull my phone charger from the bag and charge my nearly dead phone. I eat a protein bar and down a bottle of water I had stashed in the duffle bag, before turning to help with Angel’s tray.
When I turn around, Angel is
watching me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I say, looking at her.
“You didn’t.”
The nurse walks in to help Angel with her breakfast, but I tell her I’ll take care of it. The nurse smiles and leaves.
I walk over to Angel’s meal tray and remove the lids from the cups and bowls.
“Well, it looks like you have chicken broth, beef broth, red Jell-O, and vanilla pudding.”
I look at her and she is scrunching up her nose. “What will it be, Beauty?”
“Bacon and eggs.”
“Wrong answer. You have to eat something. Pick one or I’ll pick it for you.”
“I’ll have the Jell-O.”
“Wrong answer again, pick something else.”
“Ugh, the broth?”
“Good choice.”
“You say that like I had a choice,” she says, frowning.
I clear the table and scoot the table up to her. I want to feed it to her, but I know she needs to try to do it herself. She is right handed, so using her left hand will prove to be difficult. I lay the paper napkin on her chest and place the spoon in her beef broth. When she spills more than she eats, I remove the spoon and hand her the cup of broth to drink.
“You couldn’t have done that first?” she says, smiling.
“I could have, but I wanted you to try the spoon with the soup first.”
“How far are you going to push me?”
I wink at her and say, “As far as I can.”
I take her empty broth cup and place the bowl of Jell-O on her table with a spoon in it.
“Now, you can have the Jell-O.”
“Why thank you, doctor.”
The nurse walks in and asks if Angel wants a bed bath: “The doctor said we can remove your gauze from your head today. You have a laceration in the back of your head with some staples so we’ll have to be careful with it. We also have a no-suds shampoo cap we can use to wash your hair with. The doctor said we can remove your IV later today if you can keep your food down.”
Starting Over Trilogy Boxset Page 18