by L. T. Marie
Coal ran her fingers gently up and down Jay’s midriff, secretly hoping that Jay could sense her lying there beside her. She closed her eyes, eventually falling asleep with the cadence of Jay’s breathing as her only music.
Chapter Twenty-four
“Coal,” her mom whispered in her ear.
Coal stirred and lifted her head. She paused and glanced around the room, forgetting where she was. She turned to find Jay still asleep, still unresponsive.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Did she wake at all last night?”
“No,” Coal said tiredly and leaned forward to kiss Jay on the lips. “Good morning, baby.”
She climbed out of the hospital bed built for one, surprised that her mother’s first question hadn’t been how she managed to remain in the room long after visiting hours had ended. At one point, one of the nurses had insisted that she leave until the morning, but Coal reminded the woman who she was and how much her family had donated to the hospital. For once, the perks of being a Davis had paid off.
After splashing some water on her face and finger-combing her hair, she plopped down into the same avocado-colored chair as the day before and reached up to brush a stray lock of hair as it fell into Jay’s eyes. Jay hadn’t moved in two days, and Coal was starting to wonder if she ever would again.
“Honey, you have to go home and get some rest.”
“I’m not having this conversation again, Mom.” Especially after Dino telling me she’s gone it alone for most of her life. This is not going to be one of those times. Not now, not ever, if I have a say.
“How about if I stay with her until you at least grab a shower and a change of clothes?”
“Mom, I appreciate the offer, but the answer is still no.”
Coal glanced up when Dino appeared, thankful that his presence would save her from a mom lecture. “How is she?” he asked.
“There’s been no change since last night.”
“Well, you heard the doctor,” he said, his tone optimistic. “It could be days before she wakes up.”
“Yeah, and the longer we wait the more hope we give up!”
Coal pushed away from the bed and strode to the window. All the waiting, the not sleeping, and the little bit of food she’d consumed since yesterday was finally getting the better of her. Dino paled as sadness plagued his dark features but she didn’t have the energy to comfort him.
“Coal Davis, that is not helping the situation,” her mom scolded her.
“Why? Because I’m telling the truth—”
“Could you all go and fight somewhere else? I have the worst headache, and my arm is killing me,” Jay said but it came out more as a groan. Her eyes fluttered open then closed just as quickly.
“Jay.” Coal grabbed Jay’s hand. “Hey, open your eyes. Stay with me, baby.”
“Coal? What…ow…” Jay used one hand to shield her eyes in an attempt to block out the overhead lights. “What’s with the stadium lighting?”
Coal leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Shh, it’s okay. I’ll turn it down.”
“Hey, Cuz,” Dino said, his eyes misty as he placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder. “How you feeling?”
“Like crap.” She weakly lifted her arm and inspected the IV tube before dropping it back on the bed. “What the hell happened?”
Coal wasn’t surprised that Jay didn’t remember anything regarding the accident, especially after sustaining a head trauma. “What do you remember?”
“I remember being on your roof. There was termite damage. I looked down and then tripped…” Jay gripped Coal’s hand hard. “Did anyone else get hurt?”
“No, baby,” Coal said. “Only you.”
“Good. That’s good.” Jay closed her eyes.
“Dino,” Coal’s mom said. “How about we go and notify the nurses that she’s awake?”
Nodding, Dino followed Coal’s mother as Coal twisted in her chair to find Jay staring inquisitively at her.
“Now that everyone’s gone, how are you really feeling? And no macho tough guy routine with me, got it?” She knew Jay would try to hold it together in front of Dino. Now that they were alone, she wasn’t going to allow her to hold back until every ache in her sexy body was discussed in vivid detail.
“I’m groggy, my head hurts, and my arm is killing me. Otherwise, I think I’ll survive.”
“Are you sure?” Coal said. “You had me so worried.”
“I’m sure. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“Me? I was nowhere near the roof when it collapsed.” Coal stared at Jay, confused by the question. Probably the concussion. I couldn’t have gotten hurt. I remember her looking in my direction right before…
Forgetting that Jay was lying in the hospital injured or that she’d just spent the last twenty-four hours worried to death that she’d never wake up—or worse, die—she leaned forward, fury sweeping through every pore. “God damn it, Jay! You weren’t looking where you were going. You were focused on me instead of keeping yourself safe up on that damn roof! You could have gotten killed—”
Jay slipped her hand behind Coal’s neck and pulled her close, silencing her with a kiss. The kiss was one of passion and relief, and though it was all too brief, it had its desired effect. As if being doused with cold water, Coal’s ire subsided, and she stretched out on the bed next to Jay with Jay resting her chin on the top of Coal’s head.
“Baby, you could have killed yourself. What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, and then all I remember is falling.”
Coal remembered the scene all too well. The smoke and dust. Men screaming. And Jay gone. “I was so scared.”
Jay didn’t have time to answer because a couple of nurses appeared and took stock of Jay’s condition. A swirl of activity filled the room as they checked Jay’s heart rate and blood pressure. They were nearly finished with their quick examination when Jay’s doctor appeared with clipboard in hand.
“Good to see you awake. I’m Dr. Ammini. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a sledgehammer.”
The doctor chuckled. “I’m sure your body agrees with that assessment. I’m going to do a routine exam. First, though, do you have a headache…blurry vision…nausea?”
“A headache.”
“On a scale from one to ten?” She shone a light in Jay’s eyes, making her wince.
“I’ll say seven, and now I change my mind about the nausea thing.”
“You sustained a head injury,” the doctor said calmly, but her eyes maintained a certain level of intensity that Coal had seen on people like her father when they were assessing a serious situation. “It’s going to take a few days before the side effects diminish.”
“How about my arm?”
“That, I’m afraid, will take a lot longer to heal. You broke both bones in your forearm and your collarbone. You’ll be in a cast for about six weeks. After that, you may have to do a little physical therapy and some light work until you’re fully recovered.”
Jay studied her arm. Not only was she right-handed, she needed both hands for work. Six weeks or more without a paycheck was bat crazy. She needed out of that hospital and would sign out against medical advice if that’s what it took. “Doc, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I have to speed this recovery thing up. I got to get back to work.” Jay threw the covers off her body and tried sitting up when a wave of dizziness hit. She wavered and sank back into the pillows with a groan.
“Unbelievable,” Coal said angrily. She placed her face within inches of Jay. “You try that stunt again, and I will have them handcuff you to this bed if necessary. This is not the time to be pig-headed. You will not give the doctors trouble. And you will not go back to work until Dr. Ammini tells you it’s okay. Got it?”
“Coal, you know my situation. I have to—”
“What you have to do is get better. Don’t worry about work. We’ll figure somet
hing out.”
“Easy for you to say,” Jay shot back. She was tired, and this entire day was surreal. Having a head injury. Coal by her side acting as if nothing had happened between them. Maybe it was a dream and she hadn’t awakened yet. When Coal linked their fingers, Jay relented with a sigh. “And you call me pig-headed.”
“I can see you’re in good hands,” the doctor said with a wink. “I’ll be by to check on you later.”
Coal adjusted Jay’s pillow and pulled the sheet up to cover her chest. She sat back down in the chair, placing her hand in Jay’s once more.
“Are you always this bossy?”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” She leaned forward and kissed Jay softly on the lips. “Now sleep. You need your rest.”
“I don’t…want to…sleep.”
“I know. But close your eyes anyway. I promise, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
As Jay began to drift off, the last thing she thought she heard was something about wild horses and Coal not being dragged away.
Chapter Twenty-five
“Is she asleep?” Dino asked.
“Yeah, for the last few hours.”
Since Jay had slept off and on since that morning, Dino had decided to go get lunch while Coal sat by her bedside. Every time Jay woke, she appeared stronger than the time before. They had argued with one another about Coal not going home and getting rest. But Jay had lost every argument and Coal decided she’d take the arguing over the silence any day.
“Does she remember anything?”
“She remembers everything,” Coal said in relief, kissing her hand.
“Great. When she wakes up she’s going to kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you, Cuz,” Jay said with a grin, never opening her eyes. “But I think I deserve hazard pay.”
“Ha! You’re lucky I don’t garnish your wages for the hole you made in Ms. Davis’s roof.” In what appeared to be an unusual gesture between the cousins, Dino leaned forward and kissed Jay on the forehead. “How you feeling, Cuz?”
Coal smiled, enjoying their childish bantering. They needed each other even if neither one of them knew it.
“I keep telling everyone I’m fine.” Jay scowled. “But the doctor said six fucking weeks before I can work.”
“That’s not exactly what the doctor said, sweetie. She said six weeks in a cast. After that you might be ready for light work. And you will not work before then.” Coal threw Dino an “agree with me or else” look.
“If that’s what Doc says then that’s how it has to be.”
Jay spoke softly, calmly. “Coal, I need to talk with Dino alone. Can you give us a minute?”
“Of course. I’ll grab a cup of coffee and be right back.”
Jay waited until she could no longer hear Coal’s footsteps before she unloaded on Dino. “Cuz, I can’t be laid up for almost two months. I can’t afford it and you know it. Coal doesn’t understand. She forgets that I’m different from her. You know my situation. I’ll lose everything.”
When Jay hadn’t been able to sleep, she thought of nothing but how she was going to get back to work and what she would say to Coal about whatever it was that was going on between them. She was still confused as to why Coal was there with her after basically telling her to get lost less than a week ago. But the truth remained, she wanted Coal there, even though she knew she was being selfish.
“Calm down. I’ve got everything covered. Including Tia’s house.”
“I don’t need charity. I need to get out of here!” Jay tried to push out of bed, but she was still weak and her collarbone protested the movement. A stabbing pain shot down her arm, and she grunted, biting back a string of curses.
“Jesus, Jay! You need to stay put until the doc releases you.”
Jay tried a second time to get out of bed when Coal appeared and threw her an incredulous look. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Why doesn’t anyone understand I can’t stay here any longer?” Jay slammed her head back into the pillows, ignoring the pain the motion had caused.
“Look. You just came out of a coma, your arm is useless, and now you’re being combative. If you don’t knock this shit off right now, you’re going to piss me off!”
Jay studied Coal in shock. No one had ever talked to her that way before. She hoped Dino would offer his support, but the chicken shit was already halfway out the door.
“I have errands to run,” he said. But Jay caught him suppressing a smirk. “I’ll drop by tomorrow. Feel better, Cuz.”
“Great.” She let out a weary sigh and closed her eyes. “Think you’re pretty tough, don’t you?”
“Only when I have to be,” Coal said, but the anger was gone.
Left wounded in body and soul, Jay hung her head. She was bleeding from some deep place inside that she’d never allowed anyone access to except for Coal, and now she couldn’t stop the tears even if she tried.
“Oh, God, Jay. What’s wrong?”
Coal moved onto the bed and leaned Jay into her arms. Jay shook uncontrollably. She allowed the tears to come, letting the only woman she’d ever loved ease her suffering. But Coal didn’t love her in return. And the longer Coal held her, the more Coal’s parting words slammed into her like heavy surf after a storm.
This was a mistake, Jay. A big mistake.
That’s what Coal had said to her. That’s what left the cloud of doubt hanging over her until she was bogged down with so much uncertainty, she crumbled. “I don’t know what to think, Coal. You tell me I’m a mistake. That what we had was a mistake. Then you show up here after disappearing for a week and act as if the past didn’t exist.”
“Look, I know you don’t trust me. And I don’t blame you. And for all I know, after seeing you with that woman at the club, you may have even moved on. I don’t know what to say except that I’m sorry I hurt you. These last few months, my life has been more complicated than usual, and I wasn’t sure how to explain my situation to you before, but now I want to try.”
“But that’s just it. You shouldn’t have to try. You said you loved me. So telling me things should come natural. I gave you my heart and you cast me aside without so much as an explanation.” The pain in Jay’s heart matched the pounding behind her eyeballs. She couldn’t do this again. Not without losing some vital part of herself.
“Jay,” Coal said desperately. “I know you don’t understand, but I had to say those things. I had to protect you from my father. He’s a powerful man. And you don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Your father?” What could Coal’s dad possibly have said or done that could force Coal to break things off with her? “Now I’m really confused.”
“I know you are. And I promise, after today, I will tell you everything. Even if you choose not to be with me, I at least owe you the truth.”
“Damn it, Coal!” Jay’s frustration with the entire situation finally getting the best of her. “Just tell me.”
“Not yet.” Coal leaned down and kissed Jay quickly. “There’s something I need to do first. Something I should have done a long time ago. I just hope when it’s all over, you’ll forgive me.”
“Hold on—” Jay called out to her. But Coal was already out the door.
Chapter Twenty-six
Jay tried to down a few bites of pudding, but she’d lost her appetite. She’d snapped at the nurses, refused any more pain medication, and had hung up on Dino when he called to check on her after a lengthy chastising from him. After he had used the terms dumbass and moron in the same sentence, she hadn’t wanted to listen to him anymore and slammed the phone in his ear. The more she stared into the empty room, the more Dino’s words rang true.
All she’d been thinking about for the last few hours was what Coal had said to her. What did Coal’s father have to do with their breakup and was Coal planning to face him and do something she was going to regret? More importantly though, what exactly would that be?
The longer she lay there,
the more she understood that it was time to stop feeling sorry for herself. Maybe she hadn’t amounted to much at this point in her life, but damn it, she wasn’t a slacker. She was worth something in this world. When she’d been younger, she’d spent years blaming herself for her mother leaving. She hated the fact that her mom left her with her dad and wished she had taken her with her. But then she’d never have grown up with Dino. Would have never spent summers hanging out in a tree house that she’d built with him and laid around lazily with her cousin Dakota. Wouldn’t have worked in her uncle and aunt’s restaurant only to be given the chance to work as a contractor with Dino. That job had led to her meeting Coal. She’d finally fallen in love. Thought about building a life with someone for the first time. Then Coal took a hammer to the idea and shattered her dreams along with the foundation they had tried to build.
She’d spent so many years trying to build things that in the process she’d forgotten to forge a foundation for her future. What she wanted now, she never would have considered a few months ago. A family, a loving partner. These were the foundations that shaped her future, but none of that would be possible without the stability Coal offered her. Coal’s strength, her conviction, her iron will. Jay had come to love all those traits. She knew in the deepest reaches of her soul that Coal was everything to her, and this time, she wouldn’t allow someone to walk out of her life. No, this time, she had the power to make things right.
She knew with every beat of her heart that Coal was the one person who made her feel as though her life had purpose. Coal’s optimistic attitude and why she didn’t just embrace life but commanded it like she would a horse made Jay want to be a stronger person. Whatever Coal’s deal was with her father, it had to be major for Coal to push her away. In the past, she’d seen the fear in Coal’s eyes when her father had been near. If he did have something to do with separating them, no way could she allow Coal to face him alone. Besides, she refused to sit there any longer and pretend that being with Coal was a bigger mistake than being without her. The time had come to swallow her pride and fight for the one thing she shouldn’t have allowed to slip through her fingers in the first place. As she picked up the phone, the only thing she could do was pray it wasn’t too late.