Page 42 of Reckoning

“Ring if you need me,” the nurse said. The orderlies were pushing the gurney out of the room as she pulled up both guardrails on the bed, and she shut the door behind her as she left.

Finally, they were alone, and the adrenaline that had been keeping Briar in motion was crashing fast. She leaned over the bedrail and kissed him.

“That’s for saving my life.” And then she kissed him again. “And that’s for not dying.”

He pulled her back. “Once more,” he begged, and so she did. “And that’s for saving me. Doctor Joe said the tourniquet changed the whole dynamic of what might have happened.”

Her voice was shaking, but her gaze never wavered. “You are most precious to me. I would not want to live life without you. I’m going to go shower off all this blood in your private bath. Close your eyes and let the painkillers work. I won’t be long.”

He nodded, watching her shed his T-shirt on her way to the bathroom—seeing the slender shape of her and thinking of the hidden strength within. His last thought as he watched her walking away was how much he loved her, and wondering how he was ever going to survive their separation.

Chapter 8

Tate was asleep when Briar came out of the bathroom.

While she was in the shower, she washed his T-shirt and her hair and, after scrubbing herself, got out and began drying herself and her hair as best she could. She hung the T-shirt over the curtain rod to dry, and by the time she came out in her hospital gown, her hair was already beginning to curl. Moments later, the door opened behind her. Tate’s nurse was coming into the room.

“Oh…bless you,” she said. “You finally got all that blood washed away. It’s pretty much chaos in the kitchen, and we’re not sure if we will be able to get actual meals out to our patients, but I brought some soft drinks, some bottled water, and an apple and an orange apiece, and snack food for both of you.”

“You are an angel,” Briar said. “I’m so hungry. Tate will be, too, when he wakes.”

“If you need anything else, just buzz,” she said, and set the tray on the window ledge by his bed.

Briar went straight for a can of Pepsi and a package of peanut butter crackers, pulled the chair up by his bed, and began to eat. The urge to gobble it down was huge, but she purposefully ate it slowly just to make it last.

She stared around the room as she ate, then glanced behind her. That’s when she saw the landline phone on the table by his bed. Out of curiosity, she checked to see if it had a dial tone. Hearing the hum was the best sound ever.

When Tate woke up again, they could call Abel and Lilith if he wanted. She didn’t know where they were or how long it would take them to get here, but hearing his voice would go a long way to reassuring them that he was truly okay.

She finished the package of crackers, downed the last of her Pepsi, then peeled the orange for Tate, taking apart the sections for him, then covering it with a piece of plastic wrap from the tray and putting it within his reach. Her legs were trembling from the adrenaline crash as she sat back down, folded her arms at the foot of his bed, and used them for a pillow to lay her head.

Within seconds, she was asleep.

* * *

About an hour later, Tate woke, saw Briar asleep at the foot of his bed, and sighed. She was not only a survivor, but she was turning into quite a woman. He saw the tray of snacks, and then the orange she had peeled and sectioned for him, and began eating it, one section at a time, while thinking about what a fighter she was and how she had kept a cool head in a desperate situation. From fashioning that tourniquet, to remembering about the landline, calling for help, notifying their parents, and speaking up about not having pressure on his stitches when they moved him to this bed.

He’d known since the first time he saw her that they belonged together, and he’d always had her back when it came to trouble. But today, she returned the favor, and then some.

After finishing the orange, he used a wet wipe to clean his hands, then availed himself of one of the bottles of water and drank until his thirst was quenched before setting it aside. Everything was hurting, and he needed to shift position, but he didn’t want to wake Briar.

Part of her hair was lying across his uninjured leg, and the curls were too enticing to ignore. He reached out just to touch her, but the curls were silky-soft, and the thought of burying his fingers in them one day, and making love with her, was a dream that had yet to come true.

The door to his room opened, and as his nurse entered, he put a finger to his mouth to indicate quiet.

She smiled, nodded, checked his IV, and held up a syringe. “For pain,” she whispered, and injected it into the IV port, then helped him to the bathroom and back. Once she had him settled again, she glanced at Briar, and she got a lightweight blanket from the closet, shook it out, and gently draped it over her shoulders.

He nodded a thank-you, and then she was gone.

Finally, Tate shifted slightly to ease his leg and ate some more of the snacks as he watched Briar sleep. Her eyelids were fluttering. She was dreaming, and the pain meds were kicking in again. Weary and aching in every inch of his body, he closed his eyes and let the drugs pull him under.

Night came. A different nurse brought another tray of snacks. This time more peanut butter crackers, pudding cups, fruit cups, and bottles of water. She set it on the tray table without waking either of them. The hospital kitchen was closed, and their patients were having to eat what was on-site. But Tate and Briar never heard her come in and didn’t know the food was there. Physical and emotional exhaustion were finally taking a toll.

* * *

Abel and Lilith alternated between shock and sheer panic on the way home. The drive from the casino felt like the longest trip ever. Their conversations were brief. Panic was utmost, but knowing Tate wasn’t alone made all the difference. Briar had stepped into the gap for him in every way that counted, but as she had warned, when they were finally only a couple of miles from town, they drove up on highway patrol cars with flashing lights, guarding the eastbound lane that was barricaded off from normal traffic.

Two trucks from their local power company were on-site, repairing downed lines, and only one lane was open in and out of town. It was hard to see the damage in the dark, and when a flagman finally waved them on through, Abel breathed a sigh of relief. The relief ended when they drove into town in the dark. The few lights they could see were from homes that had generators.