by Kyra Lennon
“So, no Macarena or Electric Slide at the wedding party?” Mitch asked, with a small grin.
“No.” Dr Morgan laughed. “None of that.”
“Can I see him?” I asked, my voice laced with desperation.
“Yes.” Dr Morgan smiled. “He’s sleeping right now, but you’re welcome to go in. When he wakes up he’ll be a little spaced out. It should wear off after a while, but don’t be surprised if he doesn’t know what’s going on at first.”
I nodded then looked from Deanna to Mitch. “Do you want to come in with me?”
Deanna shook her head. “No, sweetheart. You go in first.”
“Are you sure?”
“We’re sure,” Mitch said. “It’s you he’ll want to see when he wakes up. Go to him.”
I squeezed their hands. “Please can you call Richard and tell him what’s happening, and check on Jessica?”
“Sure,” Deanna said. “Everything will be fine, but I’ll come get you if there are any problems, okay?”
“Thanks.”
I stepped away from them and looked at my exhausted friends. Bree had fallen asleep with her head on Jude’s shoulder, and everyone else was bleary-eyed, their faces heavy with worry. Even though they’d heard the news that Radleigh would be okay, none of them could shift the concern from their eyes. I was right with them – I wasn’t ready to let my guard down completely yet. Things could change at any time; that was the nature of injuries like this. But for the moment, I allowed myself to believe he could get through it.
“You guys, if you want to go home, you can,” I said. “I’ll be okay with Mitch and Deanna. We’ll call you if there’s any news.”
“Are you sure?” Freya asked. “I don’t mind staying.”
“I’m sure. You’ve all been amazing, and I can’t thank you enough for being here with me, but you should go and get some sleep.”
“I’m gonna stay,” Bryce said, and I looked up at him. “I’ll take Cody back to your place if that’s okay, since he has nowhere else to crash. And I’ll change my shirt, but then I’ll come back.”
With an understanding smile, I said, “Sure.” Turning to Cody, I said, “I’m so sorry your trip here was such a disaster.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care. If Radleigh’s on the mend, that’s what’s important.”
“We’ll catch up properly at the wedding, okay?”
Cody smiled. “You bet.”
I hugged everyone in turn, and kissed Bree on the cheek as Jude lifted her into his arms, and as my friends filed out of the waiting, I was overcome with a huge rush of love for these people. If I could have dreamed of the best friends anyone could ever want, they still wouldn’t have been as good as the friends I had. The amount of support they’d provided Radleigh and me with was indescribable. It wasn’t just that they were there, it was that they felt every emotion with me. They knew how to handle me when I freaked out, and they didn’t care when I got snappy, because they understood. When I’d first moved to Westberg, Radleigh was not exactly up there with the most popular people amongst the team. Jude outright disliked him, and Miguel lost respect for him after the way he treated me. But things had gelled since then. Bridges had been built, and while Jude and Radleigh would probably never choose to go out together for a beer, they had a healthy respect for one another now. And Miguel and Radleigh? Maybe it would have been a step too far to call them friends, but things were much smoother between them. For all our ups and downs, we were in a really good place.
I just needed Radleigh to get better now.
Chapter Nine – More Than Words Can Say
I sat on the bed beside Radleigh, watching him sleep. If it weren’t for the beeping machine monitoring his heart rate and the wire in his right hand pumping drugs into his body, he could almost have been at home, sleeping in our bed. He looked peaceful. The covers were pulled halfway down his bare chest, and I didn’t move them any farther because I knew underneath those covers would be the bloody wound Jen had inflicted on him.
Funny. I’d always thought of her in terms of someone who had emotionally scarred him. I never thought she’d make her mark so physical. But someone who used her children as pawns, who encouraged a little boy to ruin a wedding dress, who followed Radleigh’s every move and did all she could to play us off against each other could do just about anything she wanted.
I didn’t have the energy to be angry yet. Every bit of emotion I had was going in to pleading with the universe to make Radleigh okay. When he was awake and I was absolutely certain he would make it, perhaps then I’d allow myself a moment to express my rage that she had done this. To him, and to us.
I was a complete wreck. I’d started the evening looking “hot”, but now I’d cried off my make-up, my hair was frazzled, and my white dress was filthy from sitting on the waiting room floor earlier. I didn’t know where my halo had gone, and I’d thrown my sash somewhere after it had snapped and frayed. Not that it mattered. Truth be told, even if I’d had a good night, I’d probably still have woken up looking like this. Just without the tear stains on my cheeks.
I rested my hand gently on Radleigh’s chest and slid my fingers along to his arms where I traced the pattern of his tattoos.
“You know the one thing that’s always consistent with us?” I said. “Nothing is ever bloody simple. We fought over being together, and we fought about me moving here, and we fought about me being pregnant, and about me going back to work. Now we’re fighting for our wedding. I wouldn’t change anything, though. Well, I’d change everything since Jen first arrived, but everything about us? I wouldn’t take any of it back. Even the things that felt like life-shattering mistakes at the time. I love who we are. I love us.” I moved my fingers up to his face then gently ran them through his hair. “You, Radleigh McCoy, are the only man who could make me move back and forth across the world twice in the same year. The only man who could have convinced me to go on the London Eye in spite of my fear of heights.” I let out a small laugh. “Even when we got together we were fighting. But you know what? I would rather spend the rest of my life fighting with you than being with anyone else. So… I’m gonna need you to wake up, okay? And when you do, I’m gonna need you to keep fighting to get well. Because me and Jessica? We need you, baby.”
A tear slipped down my cheek and I moved from the bed to the chair beside it. Pulling it as close to the bed as I could, I took a hold of his hand and rested my head on the mattress beside him, silently crying until I fell asleep.
**
The sensation of someone stroking my hair roused me from my slumber and I blinked a few times as I tried to work out why I wasn’t in my own bed. Or any bed. The first thing I noticed was that my skull was still pounding, and within seconds, I remembered why. Slowly, I lifted my head, and as I straightened up I was greeted by Radleigh’s incredible blue eyes. They looked paler than usual, tired and pained. But a smile spread across his face.
“Hey, baby.”
The sound of his voice, albeit croaky and weak, made me let out a sigh of happiness. “Hi.”
“Come here.”
I pulled my sleepy body from the chair and up onto the bed. Radleigh was still lying flat so I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his lips, letting them linger for a moment, relief pouring through me that he was awake. Tears began to drip from my eyes as I stared at him.
“Have you been awake for long?” I asked. I had no clue how long I’d been asleep, but as I became more alert, I saw the sun was starting to stream through the window.
“A couple of hours on and off,” he said. “Mom and Dad came in, and the cops were here too, but you were totally out and we didn’t want to wake you.”
“You should have.” I snuggled my head against his chest and carefully placed my arm across the uncovered part of his torso. His arm moved around me and I breathed in deeply. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore, but I’d feel a lot worse if it wasn’t for the drugs. I’m not supposed to move which is go
nna be real good fun when I need to pee.”
I laughed through my tears. “We’ll cross that hurdle later. God, I can’t tell you how good it feels to talk to you.”
“Don’t cry, baby,” he whispered. “I’m going to be fine.”
“You’d better be. Because a few hours ago, I wasn’t sure of that and I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
My slow trickle of tears gave way to sobs, and Radleigh’s arm tightened around me as much as he could manage. His fingers found my hair again and he curled his fingers in it. “I know. I was scared too. If it hadn’t been for Bryce, I don’t think…”
“Please,” I interrupted. “Please don’t say it.”
“Look at me, Leah.”
I didn’t want to move out of his arms so I adjusted my position slightly so I could raise my head a little. He had tears in his eyes too.
“I couldn’t leave you,” he said, gently. “The whole time before I blacked out, you and Jessica were all I thought about. There’s a lot I can’t remember, and a lot of things I remember that might not have even happened. I kept losing consciousness and I don’t know what was a dream and what was real. But Bryce… he was talking to me. About you and Jessica. He reminded me of things that had happened between us. And all the things we’re going to do. He told me I had to keep fighting. And that was all I wanted. To keep fighting so I didn’t leave you. When I felt myself really falling asleep, the only thing I saw was you. You and our baby girl. I didn’t know if I was going to wake up.”
Closing my eyes as his tears fell, I held him tighter. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for fighting.”
“I told Bryce, you know? Before I blacked out, I told him to tell you how hard I fought because I needed you to know. If I didn’t make it, I needed you to know. I never wanted to leave you.”
Unable to force anymore words out past the lump in my throat, I sobbed against his chest. As afraid as I’d been, to think of how terrified he must have been as he closed his eyes, not knowing if he’d ever open them again, made my heart hurt.
“I love you so much, Leah.”
“I love you too. More than words can say.”
We lay together for a long time, so long that we both fell asleep again for a while. We were woken by a nurse who needed to check on Radleigh’s wound, and he told me to go home and get some rest. I would have argued, but since I was still wearing my hen party outfit and was covered in dirt, I really couldn’t. I kissed him before reluctantly leaving him behind, and as I closed the door to his room, I sighed. It was eleven-fifteen and I’d barely slept, and hadn’t eaten a thing in sixteen hours. I felt disgusting, and probably looked even worse.
As I walked back into the waiting room, I saw Bryce sitting in one of the chairs, his head down and his eyes barely open.
“Hey,” I said, softly. “What are you still doing here?”
Blinking, he looked up at me. “Hey. I was waiting for my turn to see Radleigh.”
Knowing what he did to save Radleigh, and that he’d been there all night with probably even less sleep than me, I walked over to him, knelt in front of him, and wrapped my arms around him.
“Bryce… what the hell would we do without you? Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
Hugging me back, he said, “I didn’t do anything.”
“When you see him, he’ll tell you what he told me. You saved his life.”
“I-”
Pulling back from him, I placed my hands on his face to make him look at me. His eyes met mine and I smiled. “Bryce. You saved his life.”
I kissed him on the cheek, and as I pulled away, Bryce said, “I love you both, Leah. And you deserve to be happy. The only thing I did was keep talking to him.”
“And that, right there, is why you’re so bloody amazing.” I took his hand in mine. “You’ve been with us through everything. Anyone else would have picked a side when Radleigh and I fell out, and since you’re his friend, I’d have expected you to choose him. But you didn’t. You never have. The only thing you’ve ever done is help us to smooth things over. Even now, when you’re exhausted and everyone else has gone, you’re still here. I just want you to know, in case we don’t say it enough…we love you too.”
Bryce squeezed my hands then brought them up to place a kiss on my knuckles. “I know.”
Chapter Ten – One More Hurdle
In a sleep-deprived zombie-like state, I arrived home to find Cody had already gone. He left me a note on the table by the door, thanking me for letting him stay, and telling me he’d call later to find out how Radleigh was.
I was alone again.
I turned on my mobile for the first time since last night, and a barrage of bleeps to tell me I had texts and voicemails hit me like a hammer to the skull – which, incidentally, was still killing me. Before I tackled any of the messages, there were three things I had to do. Call Deanna to check on Jessica, eat something so I could take some painkillers, and get my ass in the shower to clean off more than twelve hours of crap. I couldn’t wait to throw on some clean clothes.
I called Deanna on the way to the kitchen and put her on speakerphone while I made myself a sandwich. I’d eat properly once I’d showered, I just needed something to fill the gaping hole in my stomach. Since I hadn’t checked my messages properly yet, Deanna informed me I had had a call from the police. Jen had been picked up and was being questioned. Knowing she was no longer roaming the streets was a weight off my mind, and I hoped the psychotic bitch got locked up for a long time.
After a long soak in the shower, taking my time to wash all of the stress of the night before off me, I threw on some jeans and an unusually plain white t-shirt and headed back downstairs to make a bucket of coffee and something more substantial to eat before picking up Jessica and taking her to see Radleigh.
While waiting for the coffee to brew, I grabbed my phone to start answering some of the messages I’d received, but as soon as I had it in my hands, the home phone started to ring. I rolled my eyes and tapped out a text to Stacey as I walked down the hallway to the phone, and sent it off quickly before picking up the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is this Leah?”
The male voice sounded nervous, and it wasn’t a voice I recognised. I hadn’t seen the newspapers yet, but it was probably safe to assume Radleigh being stabbed had made headlines. I was suspicious of who the caller might be, but had it been a journalist, they would have been barking questions at me already.
“Yes,” I answered cautiously. “Who is this?”
“I… It’s James Winters. I hope you don’t mind me calling you, but I spoke to Radleigh’s parents and they told me it was best to talk to you. There are some things I need to organise, and Deanna said you would be able to help.”
So this was James. The James Jen had married. The one she’d cheated on and was maybe thinking of going back to before she’d knifed Radleigh.
But none of that was his fault.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “How can I help?”
James sighed. “This is so damn awkward. I know you must be crazy busy right now, and you don’t know me at all or owe me anything, but I’m all the way in New York while my children are in Los Angeles staying with someone they barely know. I’m going out of my mind.”
His voice sped up as he spoke, and although he was right, I didn’t know him or owe him anything, my heart went out to him. It was clear from his tone that he was desperately worried about Jayden and Harley, and it was down to him now to clean up the mess Jen left behind.
“It’s okay,” I said, gently. “I understand. You must have a lot to deal with. What do you need?”
“In about two hours, I’ll be on a plane to L.A. I get in a little after six this evening, and the first thing I’m going to do is go see my boys. But I’ve arranged with Jen’s friend for her to keep them for one more night because what I really need to do… is talk to Radleigh.”
Of course. Because with Jen in jail – and
hopefully with no chance of release anytime soon – James no longer had any legal right or obligation to keep Jayden. Jayden was Radleigh’s son, and at some point, a decision would need to be made about where he would live. The thought of it had lingered in the back of my mind overnight, but Radleigh had been my main focus. Now I knew he would be okay, serious things had to be discussed.
“I know this is a terrible time,” James went on. “I feel awful about what Jen did, and I don’t want to hinder his recovery, but I need to get my boys back, and the sooner I can talk to Radleigh, the better. Do you think he’s well enough to see me later? Will he be willing to talk to me?”
I blew out a breath. “I can’t see that there would be a problem, but I’ll call him and see what he says. If you leave me your number, I’ll call you back and let you know.”
“Thank you. I’d really appreciate it. It’s just… it’s… with everything that’s happened, not just recently but… before… I haven’t talked to him since I left L.A. We used to be friends. I don’t know how he’ll feel about seeing me again.”
Yeah. Had to be pretty rough coming back to face the guy whose girl you stole, because several years later, she went batshit crazy and stabbed him and now you had to deal with potentially splitting up two young brothers because said girl couldn’t keep her legs closed. However, Radleigh had said he wanted to talk to James, and this was his chance.
“Honestly, I think he’d rather deal with you than her,” I said. “I’m sure it will be a little strange at first, but I think you can both be adults about this.”
“Do you know…” There was a long pause before James finished his sentence, and I waited without interrupting. “Do you think you and Radleigh will want Jayden?”
The crack in his voice hurt my heart. He’d been Jayden’s dad for five years, and now he faced the very real possibility of losing him, not to mention suddenly becoming a single father with a wife who was in prison for stabbing her ex.