Page 86 of Everlasting Vows

We glance at each other. I know Jase messaged Abbi this morning telling her to take her time, but at some point we need to go home and Murphy needs to navigate his new reality. Now that he’s awake, they’ll start him on a program to get him mobile again, and while we can support him from the sidelines, most of the work will need to come from him.

“I’m not sure,” Abbi tells Prue. “The doctor explained the process to us, and now he’s awake, they’ll move him stateside so they can work on making him independently mobile. We can’t be with him every step of the way, but I’d like to stay here with him until he’s transferred home.”

“Me too,” I add.

“Yeah, that makes sense. And maybe Luke and I can spend some time with him once he’s in the country again,” Prue offers.

My chest warms. Prue and Murphy have always been close. Murphy took his role as the older brother very seriously and was always protective of his younger sister. This will be a good opportunity for Prue to return the favor and watch over her brother.

Abbi and I smile at our daughter, and I know she’s as proud of her as I am. “That sounds perfect.”

We say our goodbyes, and our focus returns to Murphy. His chest rises and falls evenly as he sleeps. The machines monitoring his stats beep steadily, and I return my phone to my pocket.

“He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” Abbi murmurs without taking her eyes from our son.

“Yeah, Abs. He’s going to be okay.” I murmur as I take her hand in mine. “We’ll make sure he has the support he needs every step of the way. When he stumbles, we’ll pick him up, just like we did when he was learning to walk for the first time.”

She turns her head, studying me. “This is going to be different from then. It’s not just learning to walk again, Nix. He has to relearn who he is as a person and deal with his demons.” She gives me a meaningful look.

I dip my chin. “I know something about that, Abs.”

“I know you do.” Her bottom lip trembles, and her eyes grow shiny.

Reaching out, I tug her into me the best I can with the arms of our chairs between us. “I promise I’ll make sure he deals with them straight away. I can surround him with people who have been where he is, and I can introduce him to Harry.”

She smiles at me. It’s tremulous and small, but I’ll take it. I’m asking her to put her faith in me to get our son the help he needs, and she’s trusting me. It’s more than I deserve. I won’t let her or Murphy down.

Not this time.

Not ever.

Hours pass with Murphy in and out of consciousness. Every time he wakes, Abbi immediately flips into momma mode, ensuring he has water to drink and the nurses’ attention if he needs it. She fusses over his bedding and pillows, and she fusses over him. She’s always been such a great mom.

While she cares for our son, I look after my wife. Her body needs to heal from the trauma it was dealt last night at my hand, so I ensure she takes her pain medication for her throat and eats and drinks regularly. Guilt almost drowns me as I watch her struggle to hide a wince every time she swallows. Abbi’s always been good at concealing her physical and emotional pain. I forgot that for a while and thought everything was okay between us.

I force her to take short walks up and down the hallway to stretch her body and encourage her to nap while Murphy’s napping.

The lights in the room appear to be brighter, and when I look out of the window, the sky is considerably darker than the last time I looked. Climbing to my feet, I wander to the window and look down at the street below. The streetlights have been switched on, and cars are driving with their headlights on. It’s so easy to lose track of the day when you’re stuck inside four concrete walls.

A staff member brings in a tray of food for Murphy. “Dinner,” he announces, then leaves to deliver dinner to the person in the next room.

Abbi looks across at me. “Do you think we should wake him?”

“I guess they want him to eat, so maybe we should.” I shrug and head over to the table and lift the lids off the dishes.

Soup. I lean down to sniff. Pumpkin, I guess.

Steamed fish, soggy beans, carrots, and mashed potatoes. It doesn’t look that appealing, but I guess it’s nutritious.

I lift the last lid. Pudding. Judging by the dark brown color, I guess it’s chocolate. He’s always been a fiend for chocolate, and if he only eats this, I guess it’s better than nothing.

Abbi gently rouses him, but he’s not happy about it. The furrow between his eyebrows takes me back to when he was a toddler and Abbi would wake him from his afternoon nap so he didn’t oversleep. She was always good at keeping the kids on a schedule.

“It’s time for dinner, Murph,” Abs coaxes him softly.

“Just wanna sleep. Tired,” he grumbles.

I grab the pudding and wave it close to his nose so he can smell the chocolate. “There’s chocolate pudding.”