He had lost a lot of blood, but as long as he was breathing, she wouldn’t give up hope. Throwing aside the blanket, she wiped away her tears, and marched inside fighting off hands that grabbed at her while someone told her they needed to examine her, too. She wouldn’t listen. She was determined to make sure the doctors did everything possible, and told her what each of those possibilities might be. This was the man she loved, damn it. She was going to make damned sure he woke up so she could tell him.
***
Chapter Fifteen
Jed opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. Whatever he drank to get this hangover, he was never touching again. Okay, so he’d said that before. This time he meant it, he thought as he tried to lift his hand to massage his aching temples only to have a new pain slice threw his body.
“What the hell?”
“Hey, cuz. Take it easy. You gave us quite a scare, but the doctors say you’ll be okay.”
“Steve?” Jed asked. He forced one eye open a slit as he turned his head toward the voice. “What the . . . Where?” He opened both eyes, then chanced trying a bit wider and took in the room. Pale greens and blues covered the walls, but there was no mistaking the metal railing on his bed. “Hospital?”
Steve reached beside Jed and pushed a button on a cord as he spoke. “Yeah, you’ve been out of it for a couple of days.”
“Days?” He’d been lying in bed for days? Then the cobwebs blurring his memory disintegrated as if touched by a flame. “Chaney,” he demanded grabbing at Steve’s shirt with his good arm. “Where’s Chaney?”
Jed let Steve pry his fingers from his shirtfront, but held his hand in a determined, but strength sapping grip.
“Chaney’s fine. She’s at the ranch, doctor’s orders.”
Jed started to pull himself up using Steve’s hand as a lever but his cousin had other ideas. Jed found himself flush against the bed in a split second.
“Don’t even try,” Steve told him. “You move from that bed and Chaney will have my head. Believe me that is one woman I don’t want mad at me. My guess is the doctors are a little afraid of her too. You should have heard her ordering them to save you.”
“She’s okay?” Jed asked. He doubted he would believe it until he saw her, but he had to ask.
Steve nodded. “Just worn out.”
Another terrifying thought gripped Jed. “And the baby?” If she’d lost another child because he had been too stubborn to tell her he loved her, he wasn’t sure what he would do.
“Baby’s fine, too,” Steve said with a grin. “Finding out I’m going to have another little cousin running around was a nice surprise. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Chaney didn’t want . . .” Jed’s voice drifted off and he looked away. What was he supposed to say? Chaney didn’t want him?
“Hey, it’s all right,” Steve said. “I understand how people worry about telling people too soon. You don’t owe anyone explanations. It’s your and Chaney’s business.”
Business was right, Jed thought. That’s all it was to Chaney a business arrangement. His head pounded resisting the tease of a memory that had him doubting that thought. He realized Steve was speaking again and gave up trying to catch the elusive memory.
“Here’s the doctor. I’ll let you two talk. I need to call the house and tell everyone you’re awake. Chaney’s chomping at the bit to see you,” Steve said as he stepped toward the door.
“No,” Jed barked propping himself up on his good elbow although pain sliced through every muscle in him. “No, I . . . don’t want Chaney here.”
Steve turned back and Jed couldn’t hold his questioning gaze.
“Why not? She’s worried sick about you. If the doctor hadn’t ordered her home to rest this morning she would have been here instead of me.”
“Then tell her I’m fine,” Jed said forcing himself to look at Steve’s face. He couldn’t face her yet knowing he had failed her again. “But do not bring her here,” he demanded pounding his good fist on the bed.
“That’s enough, Mr. Sampson,” the doctor interrupted looking at Steve. “If your cousin isn’t ready to see anyone, then please respect his wishes.”
Jed watched Steve consider the doctor’s words. The pounding in his head was such Jed feared he would pass out before his cousin left.
“What about Dad and Ash?”
“No, not yet,” Jed croaked out before losing the battle to hold himself up and falling back against his pillows.
“Do you want me to come back later?” Steve asked his hand on the doorknob.
Thankful he didn’t hear any condemnation in his cousin’s voice, Jed tried for a smile. “Yeah, that would be good.” Steve nodded then walked out the door.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Sampson?”
“Great. When can I get out of here?” Jed appreciated the doctor siding with him about visitors, but he wasn’t staying in the hospital long. He had spent more than enough time in them already the past month.
“At least a couple more days.”
“Like hell,” Jed replied. The fact that the doctor didn’t seem the least bit ruffled by Jed’s protest irritated him further. That’s when he really looked at the man and realized it was the same doctor who had set his uncle’s arm and seen Chaney after her fall.
“I’ve grown accustomed to that response from members of your family, Mr. Sampson. It doesn’t bother me.” The doctor made a show of looking over Jed’s chart. “I have back-up, your uncle and cousin have assured me they will follow any instructions I give them for your care.”
“I don’t need care. I need to get out of here. Where’s my real doctor? I thought your specialty was broken bones.”
His throat was dry, his shoulder ached and his head felt like one of Chaney’s cows had kicked him, but he needed to get out of here. The man smiled rather than look put off by Jed’s insult. Jed had a feeling that was a bad sign.
“My specialty as you call it is emergencies. I spend most of my time in the ER, which is why I’ve gotten to know your family so well. As to your care, you have lost a lot of blood and had a bad concussion. You’ve been unconscious for two days. We need to make sure there’s no hidden damage.”
Jed glared at him but remained silent.
“Besides, if I release you my suspicion is you’ll do something you shouldn’t and undo all the work we’ve done. To be honest, I don’t want to face Mrs. Sampson when that happens.”
Jed broke eye contact with the doctor’s last words. “Chaney has enough to take care of without worrying about me.”
“I agree, so you’ll be staying here for a couple of days. Then--”
“No, I told you I’m leaving when Steve gets back.”
“Mr. Sampson,” the doctor said deliberate patience laced his tone. “Your discussion with your cousin obviously wiped you out. You do not have the strength to leave the hospital.”
“Give me something to eat and a couple more hours of sleep and I’ll be fine.” Jed turned his head away from the doctor. He found what he was looking for on the table beside his bed. Grabbing his cell phone, he flipped it open. The keypad looked smaller than before and the numbers wouldn’t stop floating.
“Mr. Sampson,” the doctor said all patience evaporated from his voice. “I am the doctor, not you and when I tell you that you are not ready to walk out that door yet, it is the truth. Your body needs more fluids and nutrition than a little food will supply. Complete rest and . . . your . . .”
Jed returned his gaze to the doctor and raised an eyebrow at his hesitation inviting him to continue.
“Your emotional state has me concerned.”
“What emotional state?” Jed kept his voice free of any sign of the irritation building in him.
“Your refusal to see your family for starters. I can understand not wanting your daughter to see you with all the monitors and tubes. Parents often believe that will be too scary for children, but Ashley has already been in once. Mrs. Samp--”
“What
?” Jed bellowed forgetting control and rising to a sitting position, or the best imitation of one with one arm plastered to his chest and the other with an IV in it. Nausea cramped his stomach and the hammer in his head did double time. He fought both unable to believe Chaney would have done such a thing.
“Your daughter wouldn’t believe anyone that you were okay. She kept crying that you were dead and she was all alone. Mrs. Sampson brought her in and asked for a few minutes to assure her you were going to be all right. I believed it was the best thing to do under the circumstances.”
Jed didn’t relax with the explanation. If anything, he tensed even more. “What circumstances?”
“Your daughter’s near hysteria, your lack of response to any stimuli, your wife’s condition.”
“What’s wrong with Chaney?” Jed demanded straining against the IV’s restriction.
“Nothing,” the doctor assured him while encouraging him to lean back, though Jed didn’t budge. “She has a few bruises from the ordeal, nothing serious. After all she has been through the stress was building up and that isn’t good for any pregnancy. That’s why we needed to calm Ashley down, though, and it worked.”
Jed remained upright for a few more seconds then eased back down to the pillows and closed his eyes. “I’ll give you until tomorrow morning, Doc. But no visitors, except Steve.”
“Mr. Sampson, your wife needs to--”
“None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me,” Jed interrupted the man opening his eyes and spearing the doctor with the hardest most determined glare he could manage. “My wife needs to get on with her life. No visitors or I pull out this IV and leave now.”
***
Chaney hugged Steve as tears of relief streamed down her face.
“That’s wonderful!” she exclaimed then released him. She began thinking of everything she needed to get together before going to see Jed. “I can’t wait to see him, and oh, Ash is going to be so excited. I have to find her and we can leave--”
“Chaney?”
The softness of Steve’s voice caught Chaney’s attention faster than a demand would. Foreboding crawled over her skin like a scorpion waiting to pounce. She froze unable to meet Steve’s gaze.
“He, uh, Jed--”
Steve’s inability to speak broke through Chaney’s fear. Not knowing something was much worse than knowing and dealing with it. If nothing else the past few weeks, hell the past twelve years had taught her that.
“Spit it out, Steve. What’s wrong with Jed? Did he jump out of bed and tear his stitches? Have amnesia? Brain damage?” Each possibility that leapt into her mind was worse than the one before. “What?”
“No, he’s okay, physically,” Steve assured her. His hand reached for hers before he continued and Chaney’s feeling of doom increased. “He doesn’t want to see anyone.”
Relief made her knees weak. “Is that all? Did he think I was going to parade the town through the hospital? I’ll make sure everyone knows that only family can visit--”
“Anyone,” Steve cut her off.
Chaney felt as if a vise squeezed her heart. She leaned back against the desk for support. “Anyone being. . . me.” Oh God, she knew she’d ruined it but prayed she would be able to fix it if Jed would just pull through.
“No, Chaney, it isn’t just you. Jed doesn’t want Dale or Ash or anyone to see him right now. I’ll go check on him later and see if I can change his mind.”
“He’ll see you?” Steve wouldn’t meet Chaney’s eyes and that told her more than any words could.
“Chaney, it doesn’t mean anything. Jed probably just wants me to be his errand boy while he’s laid up. You know I’ve never been able to cross him.”
“It’s all right, Steve, you don’t have to make excuses. I know exactly what Jed means.”
She pushed off from the desk and walked around it. After shutting down the computer, she straightened a few papers before looking back up at her brother-in-law. With every ounce of control she had, she sent him a smile. “We need to tell Ash, Jed’s awake. I’ll tell her the doctor said he needs more rest for a while though, so she might not be able to see him for a day or two. Think she’ll buy it?”
“If you tell her she will. She minds you better than anyone else.”
The compliment was bittersweet. She and Ash had built a great relationship in the past couple of days. They had spent hours planning for Jed’s return home. They made menus of all his favorite foods, bought books for Ash to read to him, and extra pillows for her to fluff for him. Now Chaney had to accept that none of that was going to happen, at least not here. Ash wouldn’t have to do anything Chaney said because there wasn’t a doubt in Chaney’s mind that Jed was planning to leave her.
She shook off the morose thoughts. There would be plenty of time for crying later. Before Jed’s release from the hospital, she would simply pack everything up and send it over to Dale’s ranch. Then, Ash could take care of her father there.
“Let’s go give Ash the good news,” she said casting a grin at Steve’s concerned expression. “Then maybe a piece of Martha’s apple pie to celebrate.”
Late that night Chaney stared at Jed’s sleeping form. Her hand stroked the cold glass in the door that separated them while imagining she touched his warm skin. She would respect his wishes and not visit him, but she had desperately needed to see him.
Throughout the day, she had forced herself to accept what Jed wanted. A break. A clean break from the ridiculous demands she had placed on him. She had half expected to find a lawyer on her door with divorce papers or worse annulment papers to prove he wished their time together had never happened. Then she remembered the child she carried and knew Jed would never do anything to keep him from his child. If he decided to divorce her, she deserved it.
Jed had done everything he could to prove he loved her and put the past behind them. But no, she wouldn’t listen to explanations. She always had to have the last word. Her stubborn, pig-headed, McBride pride had forced him to--
No, she wasn’t going to do this. The past was the past and she had to focus on the future. Hope still lived as long as Jed was still in town. He planned on leaving the hospital tomorrow. Steve had called her earlier in the evening with that news. He had not told her where Jed planned to go. She didn’t bother hoping it would be to her, but prayed he would at the very least go to Dale’s. Unfortunately, she knew Jed’s personal need for space. When he was a teen, she would often find him sitting in the middle of a pasture as far away from everyone and everything as he could get.
Remembering those times, she hoped he wouldn’t decide to barricade himself in a hotel somewhere. He needed his family around him. She just hoped he would accept it rather than try to fight through recovery on his own. Basically, she prayed he didn’t let pride blind him to their love and concern, the way she had allowed hers to keep them apart. That thought reminded her of when she entered the hospital a little while ago.
Passing the nurses’ station, the woman had smiled at her, but it was a sad smile. Chaney knew she felt sorry for her, knowing that Jed had specifically requested his wife not see him. It had been easy to swallow her pride then and promise not to go in his room. She was thankful when the nurse nodded.
After standing here and watching him through the window for an hour, Chaney understood his request. She and Jed were more alike than he wanted to believe. He needed time to come to terms with things. He probably wasn’t even sure what he needed to come to terms with. She hadn’t until Belle had all but kicked her in the head earlier in the day.
It was hard to believe someone could love you when you’d spent the majority of your life thinking otherwise. Someone telling you, even someone you loved couldn’t change that. It was something you had to realize on your own.
Belle deserved a lot of the credit for making Chaney believe it, but the possibility had started weeks ago. It all started when Jed forced himself into her life at the Low Down Bar and Grill. Sure, he’d had his own a
genda when he had agreed to the marriage, but she knew that wasn’t why he accepted her proposal.
Jed never put him or his needs first. Even though he hated the ranch because it represented everything that had come between them, he accepted her proposal. Now she knew why. He loved her. A man wouldn’t agree to something that would cause him pain unless that was true. Her job now was to make him believe she loved him, because she did, with all her heart. If it meant giving him some time and space to realize it, she would give him that.
Still, her heart clenched in her chest with fear that even if she did as he asked, he wouldn’t believe her. The way things looked, if Jed got his way, she might never get the chance to tell him she loved him. She understood he needed time to accept things, but before she abided by his wishes, she needed to touch him one more time. Even if he didn’t know she was there, she had to tell him.
After looking around to make sure none of the nurses were watching her, Chaney pushed the door open.
The moment she stepped into the room an uneasy feeling came over her. That eerie, clammy skin feeling that always came over her right before something bad happened. It stole her breath and kicked her heart rate into high gear.
In quick strides, she crossed to the bed. Before her hand even touched his face, she felt the heat of his fever. Jed was on fire. Her hand cupped his cheek and his face turned to her. His eyes opened but she could see they were unfocused. Then he smiled.
“Chaney, girl,” he croaked through a dry throat.
Pressing urgently on the call button beside his bed Chaney tried to suppress the panic that threatened.
“I love you,” she said, stroking his face. She leaned forward and placed a quick kiss to his dry lips before a nurse burst into the room.
“He’s on fire,” she told the nurse.
The nurse did a quick check on Jed’s temperature then hurried to the door. “I’ll page the doctor.”
Chaney felt him drifting away from her again. No, she couldn’t lose him. She wouldn’t let fate play such a nasty trick on both of them.
A Daring Proposal Page 23