Feeling helpless, and raging with a completely unreasonable jealousy, Becky stared down the hall toward Tank’s room. Of course, the nurses had to take care of him. Of course, they were trained to do it. Becky knew these things, but she didn’t have to like them.
The minute the door opened, she jumped, ready to spring down the hall to make sure Tank had survived.
“Easy,” came Grace’s quiet voice, the laughter subdued. “Don’t need to run them over on their way out of the room.”
“I’m not going to run anyone over,” Becky snipped, her nose in the air as she calmly made her way down the hall.
The machines were blinking, his heart was going strong. Tank had survived whatever the nurses had done to him. Becky walked over and held his hand. Now, he just needed to wake up.
***
On her way out to the parking lot, a familiar figure passed her.
“Evening, Becky.”
“Oh, hi Pastor Rob.”
“I’m so sorry about Mr. Kimball. Has he improved at all?”
She sighed. “Nothing’s really changed, though he doesn’t seem worse.”
He nodded. “Well, praise God for that.”
“It’s nice of you to visit him,” she offered lamely. She’d forgotten that Tank went to his church.
“I’ll keep checking in,” he assured her. “And of course, we’ll keep praying.”
Becky was surprised to hear that he’d visited Tank already. She’d been in such a vacuum of her own sorrow, she hadn’t really thought about all the others who were affected. Except the kids. She always worried about how the students were taking his injury and absence. How they would feel if he didn’t come back.
“How are you holding up?” the pastor asked, concern evident on his face.
“Okay,” she responded, afraid to go into any kind of detail; afraid that he would turn it into an opportunity to badger her about going to church.
“Folks are praying for you, too, Becky, and of course, for Grace.”
“Thank you,” she replied, anxious to get away, yet somehow drawn to the peace that seemed to surround him.
“Well, I’m going to go in and see if I can tell Tank a few bad jokes; get him to try to throw me out or something.”
Becky looked up in surprise and was further startled by the uncertainty on his face, as though he wasn’t sure if his joke was appropriate.
She couldn’t help but smile. “Well, I already threatened to redecorate his house. Can’t hurt to try another tactic.”
Pastor Rob smiled back and put a hand on her shoulder. “Take care Becky.”
She nodded. “You, too.”
He turned, then stopped and called back to her. “God’s got this, Becky. Either way, God’s got this.”
“I know,” she called back, somehow, a small part of her starting to believe it was true.
thirty-three
She’d dreamed it a dozen times: Tank squeezing her hand, Tank stroking her hair, Tank waking in some sweet, gentle way, letting her know that he was okay. Becky felt the hand on her shoulder and willed it to be Tank, nudging her awake.
“Ms. Jacobs.”
She sighed. He wouldn’t call her that, or at least he hadn’t for a long time. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for him to get it right.
“Becky?”
Slowly opening her eyes, she focused on the nurse who ran the world. Becky lifted her head from the side of Tank’s bed where she’d apparently fallen asleep.
“The doctor’s on his way in,” the nurse said gently. “Just thought you might want to ...” she gestured at her face, and Becky touched her own cheek. She could feel the indent of the blanket and whatever part of Tank she’d been sleeping on.
“Right. Thanks.” She shuffled to the bathroom, glancing back at the bed as the nurse pulled the railing back into place. Tank continued to rest peacefully.
Becky grimaced at her reflection in the mirror. She had two lines down the side of her cheek that were not going away any time soon. She splashed some water on her face and reached for the paper towel. She heard the nurse talking quietly and wondered what kind of doctor brought out that meek tone. Becky imagined the doctors and pretty much all of the hospital administrators groveling to this delicate little nurse with an aura of authority unlike any she’d ever seen. She had to concede a grudging respect for the woman.
Pausing and looking in the mirror, she listened again to the gentle tone the nurse was using. Becky’s heart began to race as she considered the possibility that the nurse was using her bedside voice. Daring to hope, and fighting an unreasonable pique that Tank would wait to wake up to the beautiful little nurse instead of her, she leaned out of the bathroom door.
Tank’s head was turned away. That didn’t really mean anything, although she didn’t recall him facing anywhere but straight forward before. She looked over toward the nurse, who returned her glance with a look of such unaffected delight, Becky didn’t even try to tamp down her hope. She bolted to the bed.
“Tank?” she whispered.
He turned his head slowly, cringing from the apparent pain before settling his eyes on her. He smiled as well as he could with his cut lip. “Hey,” he said hoarsely.
Becky’s pulse roared in her head. He was awake. He was looking at her and trying to smile. She wanted to launch herself on top of him and get every bit of him awake and moving. Instead she picked up his hand and started to cry.
“Don’t ...” He tried to lift his hand to her face, but the effort seemed to drain him.
Becky lifted it for him, resting her cheek against his big warm hand, smiling through her tears.
“I’ll give you a minute,” the nurse said to Becky a moment later, “but the troops are on their way.” She stepped quietly from the room.
“What,” Tank tried to clear his throat. “What happened to your face?” He ran his thumb along the indents on her cheek.
Becky turned her head and nipped at him. “You would ask that.” She leaned down and grazed his lips with hers while they were still alone. “Those are Tank dents,” she said, lifting her head so she could look at him again, take in the glory of his green eyes. “I fell asleep on some part of you,” she explained, picking up his hand again.
“Which part?” he tried to grin.
Becky grinned back. She could hear hospital personnel hustling down the hall toward them. “I have to call your sister, and everybody,” she said, hating to pull away. “The doctors are probably gonna want some time alone with you.”
“Don’t leave,” he said, trying to grip her hand. Becky’s heart leapt into her throat.
“I’ll be just outside the door,” she promised. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The doctor walked into the room, barely waiting for a response to his light tap on the door. A trail of medical staff followed him.
“The big guy’s awake,” he said, beaming. “Miracles do happen.” He smiled at Becky. “They’re calling his sister, but you might want to try to touch base, yourself. If we could have a few minutes with him?”
“Of course,” Becky replied. She squeezed Tank’s hand again, marveling at the fact that he was looking back at her, helpless as a baby, but looking back at her. She leaned down and kissed his knuckles. “I’ll be right back,” she said, then reluctantly withdrew her hand from his. She backed from the room, eyes glued to his as she ran into the partially closed door.
She jumped, turned, and darted from the room. When she got into the hall she fell on her knees and cried.
***
While tests were run and the medical people were doing whatever else they needed to do, Becky pulled out her phone and started making calls. Her conversation with Tank’s sister involved mostly squealing on Grace’s part. Somehow, Becky had gotten through before the hospital staff did. She was pretty sure the conversation ended with Grace’s promise to beat it down to the hospital.
Her call to Maddy was almost as fun. She wished she could call the students in their class. S
he wanted the world to know that Tank was awake. Next on her list was Ed Davidson. He choked up immediately, thanked the Lord, then thanked Becky for calling. She smiled as she hung up. Tank had touched a lot of lives. A lot of people were going to be smiling and thanking the Lord today.
By the time Becky got permission to see Tank again, Grace was running down the hall toward her. They grabbed each other in a fierce hug, then turned to the doctor for a debriefing. It sounded as though Tank’s coming around when he did was a significant factor in his positive prognosis. Full recovery would likely take six months or longer. The doctor made several references to the need for Tank to take it very slowly. Grace and Becky were fully on board for keeping Tank in line, at least in theory.
In her excitement, Becky felt like she missed half of what the doctor said, but figured there would be time to sort through the information. Surely, they wouldn’t release Tank without someone having a clear idea of his care in the coming weeks. Once the doctor excused himself, Becky pulled back and urged Grace to go in to see Tank by herself.
“I’ll give you two some time,” she offered.
“Are you kidding?” Grace said, grabbing Becky’s hand. “I want to get this wedding thing settled. You’re coming with me.”
“Don’t!” Becky laughed. “Let him wake up.”
Grace grinned and all but flew to her brother’s bedside. “Hey, you big jerk. Thanks for putting us through hell this week.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “You need a shave. Have a nice sleep?”
Tank grinned and looked past her to Becky. “I want to get out of this bed,” he growled.
“And there he is. Sorry, you can’t.” Grace pushed on his shoulders for good measure. “Getting flabby, Tank. You’re going to have your work cut out for you.”
He shifted underneath her, his powerful frame itching to move and prove her wrong. “Give me three days,” he mumbled, lifting his hand and then letting it drop to the bed.
“Ha. We’ll see about that,” Grace replied, deep affection lacing her flippant words.
“When can I go home?”
Becky noted that his voice was stronger. He’d lost most of the rasp from earlier.
“The doctor will check back in sooner or later. I’m sure we’ll find out then.”
Grace turned and gestured for Becky to come closer, so she rounded the bed and stood on the other side. Tank followed her movement, squeezing her hand in response when she took a hold of his.
“Mom and Dad send lots of love. They fly in tomorrow. Nice timing for them. They had a hard time getting out of Aruba once they really started trying.” Grace rubbed his arm. “I think they were hoping you’d come through this faster. Well, we all were.” She sighed, smiling. “So ... how did it happen? What did Becky do to wake you up?”
Becky glanced at Grace and grinned, then looked back into Tank’s eyes. She couldn’t get enough of them.
“Well,” she answered for him, “Tank, being the charming guy that he is, waited until he could be alone with that cute little nurse to wake up.” Becky narrowed her eyes at him playfully. “Not sure what she did to inspire him. I’d stepped out of the room.”
He grinned back. “Yeah, she asked me out.”
Becky rolled her eyes, linking her fingers through his.
“Wow. Not cool, Tank. Becky’s been here all week. Should have timed that better.”
He turned slowly to Grace. “All week? How long have I been out?”
Becky and Grace exchanged glances. “Eight days,” Grace replied. “The fire was a week ago yesterday. You remember that?”
Tank closed his eyes. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. Becky watched his chest rise and fall, every movement a new miracle. “Doctor was checking my memory, so I just relived that a bit.”
He kept his eyes closed and Becky grew nervous. She wanted to poke him and wake him up again. Instead, she rubbed his hand with her thumb. He turned toward her but didn’t open his eyes. “What day is it?”
“Saturday,” the women answered together. They exchanged tentative smiles over the bed. Tank grinned a little himself.
“I’m tired,” he said.
“We should let you rest,” Grace said. “I should, anyway. If you’re going to be all recovered and everything, I might as well go back to the shop.”
Becky held onto his hand. She didn’t want to go. She didn’t care if he slept, she just wanted to be there when he woke up again.
“See ya, Gracie,” Tank said sleepily.
His sister looked down at him, the tears finally starting to fall. She leaned down and kissed his cheek and then just stood and stared at him. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered.
“I can’t either,” Becky replied. She finally looked up at her friend. “Guess I should head out with you?”
Grace started to shake her head and Tank squeezed Becky’s hand. “Don’t go,” he mouthed, barely making a sound.
Becky looked sheepishly at Grace, who only beamed in response.
“I’ll stop by later,” she said. “And bring coffee.”
“That would be great,” Becky replied, pulling her chair up close to the bed.
Grace gave them one last affectionate glance and left the room.
***
It was an effort to open his eyes, but Tank was tired of being tired and done with being prone. The sooner he could get his wits about him and get a little strength back, the sooner he’d be home again.
Before his eyes finally obeyed, he felt a hand in his. Becky. He turned his head gently in her direction and forced his eyes open. She was folded into the chair right next to the bed, one hand holding his, the other propping a book against knees that were somehow bent so that she fit sideways. Tank grinned.
“Hey,” he greeted her.
Becky dropped the book and he winced at the clunk! as it hit the floor. “Oh, sorry,” she said, jumping out of the chair. “How are you?”
“Better. I wanna go home.”
She smiled tenderly down at him. Becky. Smiling tenderly. He blinked. He must have really scared them.
“You need to rest. You’ll get home soon enough.”
“You coming with me?”
“Where?” She looked puzzled.
“Home. Someone’s gonna have to take care of me.” He wished he had the strength to pull her down next to him. He just wanted to hold her. Then he wanted ...
“I think your parents will do a good job of that.”
He came out of his daydream with a jolt. “When are they coming?”
“Tomorrow, Grace said.”
He closed his eyes. “When did I talk to her?”
“Late this morning.”
“Right. She left to get us coffee.”
“She’s bringing me coffee. Not sure what your diet is right now.”
He could hear the teasing smile in her voice. He really wanted to see her, but he was so tired. He finally forced his eyes open.
“I’m gonna rest for a few minutes, then I want to talk.”
“Sounds good. I was really excited to read again.”
He smiled, then winced. “Ow. It hurts to smile.”
She reached out and touched his chin below his lip. “So sorry.”
He wanted to kiss her fingers, but he just couldn’t find the energy. “Thanks for hanging out.”
“Thanks for waking up.”
He squeezed her hand. He really wanted his strength back. “I’m going to be really well-rested when this is all over.”
“You’d better be.”
“I hope you’re ready.”
“For?”
His smile was his only response before he drifted back to sleep.
***
“So, are you done?”
Becky was slightly less startled when he woke the third time. She managed to keep a hold of her book as she turned to him and squeezed his hand. “Done with what? My book? Hardly.”
“Nah. Not your book. Are you done being done with men?”<
br />
She put her book down and turned fully to him. She wrapped both of her hands around his big one. “I don’t know. Are you done with that nurse?”
He grinned. “Depends on your answer. She was cute.”
Becky sort of lunged at him and he grabbed her hands. His strength was definitely returning.
“Let’s get married, Becky. You wouldn’t say no to a helpless man in a hospital bed.”
He wasn’t looking or acting so helpless anymore.
“Nice - add some pressure. Play on my compassion.”
“Whatever it takes.”
“You should ask me when you can stand and kiss me properly.”
“I’ll haul you into this bed and kiss you properly.”
He still had a hold of both of her hands and he gave her a little tug. She didn’t doubt he could do it. She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.
“So, yes?”
“So,” she answered slowly, “strong possibility.”
He pulled her hands wide, effectively toppling her onto his chest. He let out a huff of air, and Becky scrambled to right herself.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking for any kind of leverage to lift herself off of him.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m good.”
“Tank, I can’t stay like this. The door’s wide open.”
“Then kiss me and I’ll let you go.”
She looked at his lips and back into his eyes. It was all the invitation he needed.
“Tank, you can’t ...”
Turns out he could.
thirty-four
Six weeks after the fire, Tank was pretty much back to his regular schedule. He took it easy during his P.E. classes, but other than that, he was working full time. He’d even stopped over at the house on several occasions to check out the apartment. Tank knew that it would be months before he was fully recovered, if he was lucky, but he felt good. He felt very lucky. Blessed.
His parents had come and gone during the first week of his convalescence. It was enough time for all of them. He loved his folks, but even his big house couldn’t contain all of the personalities in his small family. They’d been as incensed as they could reasonably be with an invalid when he told them he’d turned down the ESPN job. Their subsequent attitude toward Becky was barely civil.
Done With Men Forever (Clairmont Series Book 3) Page 28