One of the nurses took off her latex gloves and walked over to Yvonne. “He’s okay. Something must have excited him. He’s probably just dreaming.” With that, the nurse turned and walked away.
Yvonne tiptoed back into Thomas’s room but didn’t go near the bed. Instead, she sat down in a chair and tried not to bother him. She knew full well that it hadn’t been a dream that had excited Thomas but her declaration of love whispered in his ear. A nurse brought Yvonne a pillow and a blanket, and she thanked her before propping her feet on another chair and closing her eyes.
The next thing Yvonne knew, someone was shaking her. “Huh? Huh? What’s wrong?” she asked, feeling completely disoriented.
“It’s me, Auntie Yvonne. I want to sit in here with my dad. I promise to be positive,” Jarrod said.
Yvonne straightened, and Jarrod sat down in the chair her feet had been propped on.
“What time is it?” she asked him.
“A little after eight.”
She rubbed her eyes, trying to focus. “Where’s Toya?”
“I took her home so she could change clothes. She’s at work now.”
“Thanks for taking her home,” Yvonne said as she stood up. “I need to go check on Tia. You keep your dad company, and I’ll be back.”
Yvonne went upstairs and located Tia’s room. Robbie was lying on a cot at the foot of Tia’s bed and snoring. Tia looked wide awake, propped on an elbow and channel surfing. “So, how is my baby girl doing this morning?” Yvonne asked when she walked into the room.
“Much better, Mama,” Tia said, beaming at her. “How’s Uncle Thomas? I feel so awful that he got hit by that car because he was coming to the hospital to see me.”
“It’s not your fault, sweetie, and I don’t want you to blame yourself. The person driving that car is responsible for what happened to Thomas last night.”
“I know, but—”
“I don’t want you worrying, Tia. Worrying is probably what got you rushed to the hospital in the first place. So, just concentrate on staying well for my grandchild. Okay?”
Robbie turned over, and his snoring became louder. Yvonne pointed at him. “Do you hear what you’ll have to put up with if you marry this man?”
“Leave him alone, Mama. Robbie had a rough night, too. He was so worried about us, I don’t think he went to sleep until about five this morning.” Tia leaned over and whispered. “He’s got a job. He starts next week.”
Yvonne smiled. “That’s great news, Tia. You get some rest, and I’ll come back up to see you before you leave.” She bent down and kissed her daughter on the forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Mama.”
Yvonne called Toya to make sure she was all right and then headed back to the intensive care unit. When she entered Thomas’s room, she saw a police officer standing next to Jarrod at Thomas’s bedside with a pen and pad in hand, talking to Jarrod. Yvonne thought it was odd for the officer to be standing there like that when Thomas could not provide any information right now. But then, she heard a voice that brought tears to her eyes.
“It was Marvel Williams,” Thomas said. “I looked directly at him as he ran me down.”
The police officer put the pad back in his pocket as he said, “I’ll let you get some rest now. But be assured that we will do everything in our power to catch this guy.”
Jarrod turned around, and Yvonne met his gaze with a questioning look.
“He woke up a few minutes after you left the room,” Jarrod said, coming closer to talk to her. “He got a little excited when he noticed that you weren’t in the room, but when I told him that you went to check on Tia, he calmed down.”
When the police officer left the room, Yvonne walked over to Thomas. “Hey, you,” she said.
Thomas beamed up at her. “Is that all you have to say to me?”
She raised her eyebrows in question but then figured he wanted to know how Tia was doing. “Tia is doing fine,” she said. “They kept her overnight for observation, and she’ll be going home in a few hours.”
“That’s great, but that wasn’t what I wanted to hear.” When Yvonne gave Thomas another puzzled look, he said, “I want you to whisper in my ear again.”
Laughing, Yvonne said, “You scoundrel. You were probably awake the whole time, just pretending to be knocked out so you could get me to confess my secrets.”
“Come here,” Thomas said, gesturing with his arm.
She didn’t need a second invitation. She sat down on the bed, leaned over, and kissed Thomas as if the doctors had asked her to revive him by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When she sat up again, she said, “I love you, Thomas. For as long as we live, you will always have my heart.”
“I couldn’t ask for more than that,” he said, wrapping his arms around her for another kiss.
Tia was unmarried and Marvel Williams was still on the loose. But none of that mattered at this moment. Because Yvonne was happy in Thomas’ arms. There was no place in the whole world that she wanted to be other than with the man who had stolen her heart.
The end... of this one, but the saga continues in Book 2 (For Your Love)
Coming in February 2016... For Your Love (Book 2 in the Loving You Series)
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Other Books by Vanessa Miller
Our Love
Rain in the Promised Land
Heaven Sent
After the Rain
How Sweet The Sound
Heirs of Rebellion
Feels Like Heaven
Heaven on Earth
The Best of All
Better for Us
Her Good Thing
Long Time Coming
A Promise of Forever Love
A Love for Tomorrow
Yesterday’s Promise
Forgotten
Forgiven
Forsaken
Rain for Christmas (Novella)
Through the Storm
Rain Storm
Latter Rain
Abundant Rain
Former Rain
Anthologies (Editor)
Keeping the Faith
Have A Little Faith
This Far by Faith
Novella
Love Isn’t Enough
A Mighty Love
The Blessed One (Blessed and Highly Favored series)
The Wild One (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)
The Preacher’s Choice (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)
The Politician’s Wife (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)
The Playboy’s Redemption (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)
Tears Fall at Night (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Joy Comes in the Morning (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
A Forever Kind of Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Ramsey’s Praise (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Escape to Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Praise For Christmas (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
His Love Walk (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Could This Be Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Song of Praise (Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Our Love Page 21